Rude nurses

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I used to be a nurse before I went into medical school. I have a BSN. I recently graduated and this is my first week as a physician. I swear the nurses are just not nice. I don't remember being so mean to doctors. None of the nurses know that I used to be a nurse and I don't know if it really matters but what would you do in my situation?

Maybe because of my age? I don't know. I am 26 years old but some people say I look much younger.

Should I mention my background in nursing?

Define rude. Examples?

4 Votes

Mountains of responsibility, understaffed, and left hung to dry

3 Votes
3 minutes ago, fibroblast said:

Mountains of responsibility, understaffed, and left hung to dry

The reason I am no longer an RN

2 Votes
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
On 7/3/2019 at 9:21 PM, rnbsn2md said:

I used to be a nurse before I went into medical school. I have a BSN. I recently graduated from this is my first week as a physician and I swear the nurses are just not nice. I don't remember being so mean to doctors. None of the nurses know that I used to be a nurse and I don't know if it really matters but what would you do in my situation?

Maybe because of my age? I don't know. I am 26 years old but some people say I look much younger.

Should I mention my background in nursing?

There could be so many reasons why this is happening, but it's not likely to be anything about you in particular.

My suggestion is that you let go of the need for their approval, and instead focus on being the best MD you can be. Just let them be rude and don't sweat it too much. You may find that they come around eventually. Or they might stay ***y. Either way, just be a good doc and let it go, as long as you are all taking reasonably good care of your patients.

3 Votes
Specializes in Psychiatric and emergency nursing.

A lot of this isn't adding up for me. Graduated HS at 16? Okay. OP would have had to have been at least 18 to begin nursing clinical, so a minimum of 20 prior to graduation. Three years of nursing experience would have made him/her 23. Newly graduated at 26? Completed medical school in three years, all while working full time as a nurse? Nope, not buying it (If my math is bad however, the OP is welcome to come back and correct me). I found it difficult enough to keep up with the classwork and clinical hours required for my nurse practitioner while working full time.

In any event, I try to be at least professional with all physicians I come across just due to virtue of education and degree, but nice is reserved for when said physician has proved themselves to me as worthy of my respect. Is it possible that OP is misconstruing busy, overworked, underpaid, and blunt as rude?

5 Votes

This thread leaves a lot to be desired and is filled with cattiness.

I'm sorry your first week was hard. I always loved working 7/1 and being there with brand new docs to help them find their footing, but other nurses feel differently. I even worked with a nurse who would take off the first week of July each year to avoid interns. Different personalities, different levels of patience, different interests in teaching... There's no excuse for acting rude to anyone on the interdisciplinary team, regardless of clinical background (or lack thereof). I think some nurses like knowing when docs have a nursing background, and I think others act ugly towards them and have some ridiculous traitor mentality. Try to focus on your work, and being kind and approachable while doing it, more than caring what people think about you. Once they see that you're competent, they'll probably be a bit kinder. If not, meh... It's nice to have friends at work, but not necessary.

Good luck!

1 Votes

In any case, I would not announce my nursing background, even if it is true.

It simply isn't pertinent.

0 Votes
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
On 7/3/2019 at 8:21 PM, rnbsn2md said:

I used to be a nurse before I went into medical school. I have a BSN. I recently graduated from this is my first week as a physician and I swear the nurses are just not nice. I don't remember being so mean to doctors. None of the nurses know that I used to be a nurse and I don't know if it really matters but what would you do in my situation?

Maybe because of my age? I don't know. I am 26 years old but some people say I look much younger.

Should I mention my background in nursing?

To what end would you mention your background in nursing? If you're 26, people will have difficulty believing that you used to be a nurse. Your difficulty getting along with the nursing staff may very well be because of *your* attitude. I've always gotten along really well with the providers at every hospital I've ever worked, and I've worked in several of US News & World Report's top rated hospitals. But there is that one intern in every graduating class who has a chip on their shoulder or is rude to the nursing staff. Inevitably, they complain that the nursing staff is rude to them.

Think about how you're treating the nursing staff. Interns are there to learn from the nurses as much as from their attending, resident, chief resident, fellow, etc. Are you willing to learn from the nursing staff who have been nurses longer then you've been alive? If not, check your attitude.

3 Votes
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
On 7/4/2019 at 10:54 AM, caliotter3 said:

Can't imagine a real doctor wasting the time to come here to troll, no matter what their age. To have to bring age up just shows a deeply embedded insecurity, if in a different universe, this could even be true. SDN material.

This wouldn't be the first real doctor to come here and troll. I personally witnessed a physician trolling on AN on a slow night in the ICU.

0 Votes
On 7/4/2019 at 11:54 AM, caliotter3 said:

Can't imagine a real doctor wasting the time to come here to troll, no matter what their age. To have to bring age up just shows a deeply embedded insecurity, if in a different universe, this could even be true. SDN material.

I’m trying to follow this somewhat odd conversation chain, please bear with me. Is this a physician? Maybe. I personally can’t picture any resident using the phrase “nurses are mean to me” and I honestly don’t know how old any of them are (to me they all look 19 LOL). What is SDN? Can’t figure out that one, thanks.

0 Votes
Specializes in Psychiatric and emergency nursing.
9 minutes ago, Waiting for Retirement said:

I’m trying to follow this somewhat odd conversation chain, please bear with me. Is this a physician? Maybe. I personally can’t picture any resident using the phrase “nurses are mean to me” and I honestly don’t know how old any of them are (to me they all look 19 LOL). What is SDN? Can’t figure out that one, thanks.

SDN is the student doctor network. I enjoy going over there to read the forums from time to time, just to see what new anti-nurse practitioner rhetoric may have surfaced.

0 Votes
On 7/4/2019 at 3:30 PM, dennis8 said:

It may seem strange, but I find it very believable. I don't know where OP is from, but in many Asian countries, students start college early due to different academic systems. I was born in the US but studied abroad for high school and college and I got my first bachelors degree by age 18. Here in the states, I know of 2 people personally who got their bachelors degree in nursing by age 19 from American colleges. Some people accelerate early, skipping a grade or two if they meet criteria. Everyone's personal situation is different.

To OP, I am 28 years old but look younger than my age. I work as a case manager right now and some people give me bad stares. One of my previous coworkers in med surge whom I have now lost respect for told me "case management is a specialty that you go into once you're old or become disabled." Your situation might be a jealousy or insecurity issue on the part of those nurses.

Exactly.

For OP - try to not let them get to you. Be pleasant, let them see that you are human. Be courteous but not timid. You are a physician, a brand new one. You are there to learn. You need to try to make friends with the staff, but there are limits to what you should put up with in the way of rudeness.

I think jealousy and personal problems account for a lot of the misery that some people inflict upon others.

Try to tune it out. Try to give it some time. Be as courteous and respectful as possible.

And remember that nurses with experience find the July 1 changes scary. All of these new doctors, like you, all of a sudden being in charge of patients' care. And these nurses really do have more knowledge and experience than you, and they know the system better, and they might feel more protective toward patients at this time of the year. It's a bad time to be sick and a hard time for nurses to have to deal with new house staff.

You will have to decide whether to tell anyone you have RN experience. Some might be interested and not threatened, some might think you are saying that they should trust you more because of your RN experience, some might be more jealous. Who knows how people will react?

Best wishes. I think things will get better with a little passage of time.

0 Votes
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