Rude Resident Physician!!

Pepperlady · Jan 31, 2009

So my guess is that he is about 5'6" tall and is suffering from what I (and I am sure others) have come to call short-man syndrome. He must attempt to make others feel bad in order for himself to feel good.....

Its terrible that he has treated you that way and it is inexcusable. Are others having issue with him?? Is there someone you can go to about his behaviour, how it affects the unit and the morale?

We had one just like that in the ICU I worked in .... I convinced myself to feel sorry for him for having such low self-esteem and to chuckle everytime he was inappropriate , he never changed, still treats staff like crap, but has such little respect from anyone that it reflects only on him.

nightshift82 · Jan 31, 2009

This immature resident obviously has a lot to learn and you might as well help him!!!! It makes no difference your age or vocation. You should have a way to report this incident. Report it to your manager and write it and send the report. This is a form of harressment and a new focus for JACHO. It needs to be stopped now or it will just get worse if he feels he can get away with these behaviors. These behaviors could intimadate and cause inaction and injury to a patient. Plus it not right and we don't get paid enough to deal w/anyone like this. Keep your head up high and keep moving forward.

Melinurse · Jan 31, 2009

]Document each of these incidents and send to your nurse manager. Our job is stressful enough without that kind of behavior.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2009

Eh, I think he is compensating for something. Ask him about the size of his........feet. lmao

I had a resident be rude to me once. I sent her packing back to her unit (she was visiting another resident, gossiping, off of her floor) steamed as all heck.

I was working with the resident on my unit, getting a very difficult pt's meds in order. I had the pt. up on screen, my notebook in front of the computer and went through the meds with the resident so we knew what the pt would be on the next day for D/C. Once that was done, I would be able to write up the entire D/C paperwork for the day nurse. This pt. had to leave very early so we wanted accomodate them.

My resident asked me to go ask the pt. a question, so I did (yes, yes, I minimized my screen while away). When I came back, the new resident was in my seat, chatting about..........whatever she had done the last night she was off. She gave me a half hearted giggle and said something to the effect of "Oh, I took your seat. Sorry, wont be long. Were you doing something?"

****** me off. So I sat near them and waited five minutes. She didnt leave. So, I did what every traveler who isnt concerned with what a resident thinks....we are leaving in a few weeks anyway........would do.

I played dumb, like I had never worked in a teaching hospital and didnt know what a resident was. Proceeded like this:

"So, what is the proper term/title when addressing a resident? I cant call you doctor, your not a doctor yet. I dont think the real doctors would appreciate me calling a resident a doctor. What do people call you?"

She was annoyed as all living heck but tried to hide it. Told me the proper title was indeed "doctor". I acted surprised, then feigned embarassment over not knowing:

"Wow, I learned at a hospital that was not a teaching hospital so I didnt know. We had the big time doctors there, not residents. I'd hear them talking about "bothersome residents with their stupid questions" and stuff so I figured you werent called doctors. See, I've only dealt with real doctors before so I didnt know the correct title."

She stormed off the unit, red faced. I never saw her again. The resident I had been working with finished the orders to the D/C paperwork. To this day, I think she knew the truth about what happened. She acted a little annoyed with me, but kept laughing for no reason and was smiling from ear to ear. Even said as she was leaving "I cant get work done with her around, guess that wont be a problem on this unit anymore. I might have to make this my home base".

Never had the incident mentioned to me again, except by a student nurse who apparently didnt get the joke/jab. "I cant believe you said that, you should have asked me or someone when they werent around. That resident is a firehouse. Watch out".

Watch out indeed. The review I got from that place still today is the best review I have.

jomaezelle · Jan 31, 2009

wow, that resident is so mean. yah, try documenting that and tell the nursing supervisor.

2bnursejacksonrn · Jan 31, 2009

I it were me, I would have told him unless he wanted to have my foot surgically removed from his **s, he should have some respect when speaking to a medical professional. Just because doctors had to do a few more years in school, doesnt give them the right to demean what you do. Without you, he could get NOTHING done. Period. Remind him of it and PLEASE, report this man to the nearest Authority for harrassment. Good luck

RNbabe · Jan 31, 2009

Thanks for all your guys' replies. Makes me feel better!

RN1982 · Jan 31, 2009

The one thing you need when having difficult residents are attending physicians to back you up. I had a resident giving me a hard time one night so I told the attending what the problem was and he called up the resident, who was in the OR at the time, and ripped him a big one. Also, you can't let these rude docs demean you. And I for one, am not one of those nurses who submit and say "yes, doctor." The other night for me was rough and I was giving a bolus to a patient that was hypotensive and the resident from the patient's primary team flipped out on me until I flipped out right back on him after he demanded I go take another blood pressure which I refused to do since I had take three BPs on the patient and they were low. At the same time, I was trying to deal with my other patient who was hypoxic with sats in the 70s and no breath sounds on the right side. That resident was taking care of that patient also so when he saw what I was dealing with, he shut up and he sure didn't show his face back on the unit the entire night.

No one talks to me like that and gets away with it. I don't know if you have to evaluate the residents after their rotation, but we do. I don't know if you know any of the attendings that round with the residents but if you do, you could always talk to them OR you could pull the resident aside and say "I do not appreciate your rude remarks. I don't know where you think I was educated but it was not at "little nurse school", don't you ever talk to me the way you did the other day. It will not be tolerated". And leave it at that.

mskate · Jan 31, 2009

ooooooooooo write that resident up and take it to his attending!!!!

RNbabe · Jan 31, 2009

I know I should definitely take some sort of action, but its always at the risk of being a trouble maker and causing waves. Its just difficult as I'm very non-confrontational by nature.

diane227, LPN, RN · Jan 31, 2009

Honey, you need to sit him straight. You need to take him aside and tell him in no uncertain terms that he will no longer speak to you in that manner. You tell him that they only conversation you need to have is when it has to do with patient care, otherwise he is to stay away from you. If you threaten to report him then you are going to have to follow up and do it when he does this kind of crap. I assume that you are working at a large teaching hospital. I used to call the Chief of Staff or the physician who was the attending over the service they were on, right then and make a complaint. I have had to do this on many occasions back when I worked at a teaching hospital. I only had to do it a couple of times before they all got the message and stopped fooling with me. I had a derm resident come down to see a patient once who had a rash throughout her body and she was doing her exam with the patient completely naked out in the open. I came by and told her I was going to close the curtain for the patients privacy and for some reason she just jumped all over me. Well, I sat down and typed a letter to the doctor who was the chairman of the department of dermatology and he took care of her. My point in the letter was not the way she spoke to me. I just ignored that, I just did not want her treating those poor patients in such a disrespectful manner. I had a GYN resident once who refused to come down for a second time to see a patient that I knew had an ectopic who was bleeding out. She told me that she saw the patient and she did not have an ectopic. She refused and I told her that she had two choices, either she was coming down to the ER and taking this patient to surgery or she was going to let the patient die. I told her that if she let this patient die I was going to call the chairman of her department and ask him why she had been in her gyn residency for 5 years and she still did not know what she was doing. I sent the patient to the OR and she finally came up there. The patient was dying but they managed to get her bleeding under control. Of course, she had a ruptured ectopic. I called the chairman anyway and he apparently had some kind of talk to her because after that I could have called her for a hang nail and she would have come up to see the patient. I had one resident who was a total A---. He was always rude to everyone. We got into it one night and he just kept yelling at me, following me all around the ED. I told him that he better get up off of me and I went into the restroom to get away from him. He followed me into the restroom and just kept on. By then the chief resident came in I was HOT. I told him that he better get this guy away from me or I was going to flush his head down the toilet. When I have a problem with a physician I take care of it myself. If not, I email the chief of staff. We know each other well and he takes care of the problem.