"Dear" doctor that just yelled at me

Nurses Relations

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I am staying late to chart because of my horrific shift. I am not even in charge of your patient anymore, but trying to be helpful to your demands, I ask what I can do for you. You are short with me.

What you don't realize, dear doctor, is that I have had 12.5 hours of hell. My trach/vent/quad patient nearly crumped last night starting when I took report and walked into the room. They were in a lot of pain, vomiting, and having breathing difficulties. We had to take the patient (vomit and all) down to radiology in the middle of the night which involved coordination of six people. Vent bumped agains the elevator door and broke, and while RT was taping the vent tubing back together we were bagging the patient, (vomit and all). Got patient back upstairs, patient still looking like poop. Three doctors at bedside deciding what to do. Me and charge nurse advocating for patient to do something because the status quo was not acceptable. Going round and round about that. Didn't have time for lunch, started having low blood sugar fainty feelings, drank two orange juices for lunch and kept working to save their life. In the meantime patient has stooled out one end, vomited out the other, and I have to change them and redo their sacral pressure ulcer dressings and give pain meds, and reassure patient, and reassure family. And then adjust salem sump tubing and clean up more vomit. And that's how my night went. And I will be here for another hour charting on it, and finally eating my lunch.

So when you walk up like an overdressed rooster and demand to speak to the nurse about your very stable post-op patient who is on a full diet and no pain issues, and you point at me and growl "Why hasn't this foley been removed????" I calmly tell you it's (a) because you never put in an order for a foley to be removed and in peds we require an order, (b) do you really want me to call you in the middle of the night about a foley removal, and © I was saving someone's life all night long. So go ahead, walk in there and badmouth me in front of the family because I "forgot" to remove the foley last night. Wish you could walk a mile in my shoes buddy.

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So what did you say?

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

Handled very well! Sorry you had such a busy night and thankfully you were there! I wouldn't have done nearly so well.

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So what did you say?

I told him like it was. With a smile on my face and fire in my heart. ;-)

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I told him like it was. With a smile on my face and fire in my heart. ;-)

...and a spoonful of sugar. ;)

^5!!!! :yes:

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I told him like it was. With a smile on my face and fire in my heart. ;-)

Nice, our docs are usually pretty on top of what we do so they don't get up in our face.

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Nice, our docs are usually pretty on top of what we do so they don't get up in our face.

Most of our docs are pretty nice, too, and they appreciate what we do. But I find that some of the surgeons have no clue what bedside nursing is about.

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Most of our docs are pretty nice, too, and they appreciate what they do. But I find that some of the surgeons have no clue what bedside nursing is about.

Lol that's surgeons everywhere. Sometimes you will find a cool one...

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I have yet to come across a surgeon that I like. I work as a secretary while in nursing school and I can tell you most definitely I will not be working in a surgical practice.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Most of our docs are pretty nice, too, and they appreciate what we do. But I find that some of the surgeons have no clue what bedside nursing is about.
Ah...the surgeon...they are by nature...arrogant, self centered, with big egos. I ignore their bad behavior and consider the source.

You did good ((HUGS))

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I also remember for every nursing horror story like you have experienced, the doctors have had the same or worse too.

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I like when you told the doctor he didn't write an order and you didn't want to wake him up in the night. I'm sure he understood that.

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