(1st post) Just a question about respect(or lack there of)from co-workers at hospt

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hello everyone this is my first post on here :w00t:

little background on me. im 24/m,and i will be attending nursing school here in arizona after 2 years of grinding through all my pre-reqs.( its a nice feeling being done now after all that time) i have a lot of work ahead of me still obviously, but im excited. ok on to my question. i have 6 months of nothing to do until school starts so i thought i would take a job at the hospital here in town. i have a national certified phlebotomist licences so i took a position as a phlebotomist ( i wanted to see the lab part of the work so when im an rn i will have a greater appreciation, and understanding of what goes on in the lab. also i want to be great at iv's so what a good way to learn by seeing veins for 8 hr's a day). i always knew there was this thing between the lab, and those who work on the floor ( rn's,cna's,pct,md) almost like a mini war or competition. i have never worked in a hospital until recently, and i have to say i really was surprised at the lack of respect that the people on the floor give to the lab personnel ( phlebs mainly). there is this sense that the rn's think we are uneducated ,and have no business up there with "them" ( how dare we go draw blood up on the floor right). whats really funny is that i had an rn who was about my age decide she would call me "lab boy" in front of a patient as i was drawing his blood. i was very embarrassed by this and thought this was a total lack of professionalism on her part. as i was leaving the room i told the nurse that if i have any questions while im in nursing school ill make sure to ask her. needless to say her attitude changed instantly as soon as i said "nursing school". and from then on she has been really nice to me, but i wonder just how crappy i would have been treated if i never said anything about me going into nursing (so now i just tell every new nurse is see up there that i am). anyways, i was just wondering if this is a common thing for nurses to treat phlebs or anyone else whos not up there on the floor sorta like uneducated idiots. i personally worked hard to become a phlebotomist you need to go to college to do that here. all i know is when im a nurse i will never do that to any lab personal or anyone else for that matter whos there to help me with my job as i have been on that end of it myself. i just hope this is not a common thing.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Gee I would have just been glad to have someone to draw blood for me. I have never worked at any hospital (and I've worked at about half a dozen all over the country) where someone other than me (RN) drew blood. How cool.

Now - as to nasty attitudes. You handled that great. Smile, don't let them see you sweat and go one with your job. Good luck in school.

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I'm a nurse and phlebotomist, but I never felt belittled by the nursing staff before I became an RN. In my experience, if you smile and stay pleasant, very few people will feel the need to take jabs at your education.

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We have phlebotomists here, and I've never seen any of the nurses treat them with anything other than respect -- we all seen the phlebs come up and effortlessly draw blood from a dehydrated old lady that we know we never would have been able to find a vein on. And besides, if we're nasty to them, they may not come back to do our next stick! I'm wondering if the "lab boy" remark was meant in a light-hearted and not condescending way...

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I would have been overly pleased that you were there to draw the blood since it would have been one less thing that I needed to do. I have respect for phlebotomists since blood withdrawal requires certain knowledge and manual dexterity skills that everyone does not have.

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The only phleb I have ever disrespected (by writing him up, how dare I!!) was one who was drawing a BCx on a baby. Missed the vein, pulled out, and was about to reuse the same needle and didn't understand why I stopped him. I wrote him up because when I took him aside and tried to explain why, he pulled an attitude.

Phlebs are just as important as any one else in the hospital. While you handled your situation in a great way, my personal feeling is that she should have somehow been put in her place. "Lab boy"??? I think not!!! How much more condescending could she have gotten!?!?!

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

The large majority of Floor Nurses wouldnt draw their own blood anyway, they always get a phlebotomist

The large majority of Floor nurses are underskilled at IV starting and or Phlebotomy Thats why they have IV teams to do it for them. or they keep calling the ER nurses to do it for them after hours.

So Ignore them

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You know some nurses respect janitors and some dont..I guess the nurses who disrespect people tend to have low self esteem issues so they like to put down people...There are nurses like that..It is best to ignore them and dont follow their foot steps once you graduate..

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.

Wasn't a thread identical to this locked yesterday?

I'm confused.

I just want to say though that never in 8 years of teaching inpatient phlebotomy to everyone from newly graduated high school students, to college phlebotomy students, to medical students and even having doctors asking for my time to teach them I never, not even once felt disrespected by the floors - except one nurse manager, but she was just a biotch and everyone agreed.

Thanks to the nurses in the ICU's, I decided to study nursing and become one.

The "rivalry" between the nursing units and the lab is because neither fully understands what the other does. I can't tell you how many times I defended ignorant statements from lab people who never even stepped onto one of the units and then had to turn around and explain to the nurse I just defended that, yes, there can be NO mistakes when sending a specimen to the blood bank and any other area of the lab for that matter (talking about labeling) - and no, the lab did not "drop" your specimen.

They (the nurses and doctors) worshiped us. We were their saviors when it came to doing the impossible. And we were ambassadors for the lab.

It was one of the best, most fun jobs I've had in my lifetime.

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I've been a big fan of the "Do Unto Others" bit from the Bible.....

I've worked with people who assume a familitarity with me and make idiotic comments, I usually just blow them off, or reply something witty, which usually SAILS over their heads!

There are schmuck's in the world, and the funny part is, they have no idea!

Good Luck in nursing school!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I was always so grateful to our lab techs for coming in and getting that hard stick, I forgot to be disrespectful to them.

Seriously, I've never seen lab techs treated badly anyplace I've worked, nor have I ever personally been condescending to them. Then again, I tend to treat everyone the way I want to be treated, and that includes the housekeeping staff and dietary aides. We're all members of the same team, working together for the same purpose........how is one more or less important than another??

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

As a new grad RN I worship the lab. They nicely answer all my stupid questions (more than once), and whenever I have to help them with a draw they talk me through it so I don't screw it up. I only wish they started IVs.

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