Switching Specialties

First off, there is nothing wrong with calling someone out on this behavior. Are these toddlers who can't control themselves? No. They are adults and professionals, in a professional environment and are fully capable of conducting themselves as such. YOU are a professional who should not be spoken to that way. Heck, even if you weren't, you still shouldn't be spoken to that way. They are, and are 100% responsible for their conduct.

That said, I'm honestly not sure how your experience would be looked at compared with floor experience. But you have nothing to lose by trying. FWIW I do know a handful of LTC nurses who have transitioned to home care/hospice, so that might be somewhere to start if your OR experience isn't favorable. I just looked at two of our area home care/hospice providers, and one required 6 months in home care, acute care, critical care, or LTC; the other required 2 yrs any experience.

So my thought is, look for opportunities that interest you and what their requirements are. If they do want specific types of experience that you don't have yet, start working on getting that experience. Life is too short to deal with your OR surgeons' toddler's temper tantrums.

To think some MDs believe they can treat nurses like this is just appalling. Others will make excuses for them saying, "they have so much on their mind, they didn't mean it that way etc." They are adults, no matter what they do and in fact, if they are so super intelligent, shouldn't they realize that they come across as little children if they are constantly attacking you verbally. Sometimes they do this to get attention. I would just ignore them, that will most likely make them more angry. Are you the youngest nurse in the OR? That may be another reason they feel they can verbally attack you. You cannot just stand there and take it, you need to speak up for yourself. Show them you are a person and that you can think above them. Perhaps ask a question about the surgical procedure that you may not understand. They usually like to teach. I could never be an OR nurse. I discovered this when CAB pts would be brought up to the ICU for recovery instead of staying down in recovery where they should have been. The Cardiac Surgeons would accompany the pt and usually bark orders out to perform some type of procedure that I knew absolutely nothing about etc. It was very demeaning to me. I knew then I would never be an OR nurse. However, if you can look beyond this, do they treat other nurses this way? Ask your unit manager why it has been tolerated for so long. There should be policies against anyone being verbally attacked at any point in the healthcare environment. If this is a personality of one particular MD, then I would let him know it will no longer be tolerated and you will be pursuing upper management to get it rectified. They don't like being brought out on the subject. My elderly mother had a saying that truly helped me whenever I thought someone was trying to badger me, she told me "we all **it the same way" and there is no reason for anyone to demean you. I know some surgeons want OR nurses who can hand them the exact instrument they need at the time in the procedure that they need it and every surgeon has their own "special" way of doing procedures. So, literally you would have to memorize how one surgeon prefers his tools to be handed to him at what point in the procedure. You have to know before he asks for it. I know some OR nurses kept little index cards to help them memorize or to refer to. Discuss what is going on with your manager, I am sure they do not want to lose you and frankly there is a good demand for OR nurses so you would be leaving a specialty that does pay higher than the average floor nurse. Have you considered the PACU or Recovery unit? There is a little more pt care given there but usually the pt load is less per nurse and it would still keep you in the OR type arena of nursing. There are MDs like this no matter what area of nursing you go into. If it is one particular MD, perhaps he is trying to impress or flirt with you?? Who knows?? But, you will meet people like this no matter where you go, you need to learn how to address it and keep it from reoccurring. True patient care is very limited in todays health environment. Home Health is not all its cracked up to be, at least I found it very difficult carrying a full load of patients and completing the documentation. Plus, you are truly on your own, there is very little back up and you are the one deciding to refer the patient back to the PCP for follow-up etc. Your assessment skills have to be top notch and if you have not truly used your assessment skills by being in the OR, you may not be qualified to do home health. You have a difficult decision to make, are you ready to move on to another area of nursing or do you face the challenges before you by trying to improve communications in the OR. One of the JACHO goals is to promote communication whether it be in the OR or any area of the facility. You can use this to your advantage by telling the manager that JACHO would not look kindly to a MD berating a nurse verbally. That does not facilitate good communication between levels of care providers and needs to be addressed. IF you are truly feeling that you are not getting what you need as a nurse, then look at levels that may be lateral to the OR that involve more patient care. Are there any out patient procedure areas that you may be interested in such as the Endoscopy, or cardiac catherization etc. Good LUck!!

Stand up for yourself, don't take nonsense from anyone -- doesn't matter what it says on their name badge, you're all human beings. Now, maybe you're colossally screwing up all the time, I can't speak to that. Regardless, don't take crap from anyone including surgeons. Don't give up OR experience to go to a floor, that would be a very potato move. Find another OR or put in your time here before you can transfer and stand up for yourself.

You are most certainly right, I should, and do, stand up for myself in those difficult situations. Unfortunately most people do brush it off and chock it up to the doc is, "having a difficult day". We all have difficult days. And you are certainly right about their tempers. Not only that, but I have to practically spoon feed some of the surgeons for them to even remotely be happy. I have worked in long term care in the past as a tech, and enjoyed it a lot. I think I may take your advice on that, because I have always had an interest in home care and palliative care. Thank you for your wisdom and kind words!

I completely agree with you; they are adults, and should be held accountable for their actions and words. Not only that, they should have respect for the team involved in their patients care. I have talked to my director, and she has said things to the extent of, "you help the patient by helping the doctor", and the saying I absolutely loathe, "it is what it is". My director is great at what she does, but I don't think she grasps the extent to how upset I get when I work with difficult surgeons. Yes I am here to help the patient, and by assisting the doc I can do that, but I am not here to be a slave to the surgeon, and get yelled at to boot. And not all of them are like this, but the ones that are infuriate me.

I am one of the younger individuals in the OR. I look even younger than I am, most people would say I look 16 at best, and I think that does contribute on some level possibly. I am not a pushover, I am strong. Some docs respect that, some like to challenge that.

I miss the more hands on patient care for sure. The OR has been good for enhancing my skills, IVs, Foley, meds, ect., but I do need more patient assessment work. Do you think LTC would be a good way to amp those up? Thanks for the advice and kind words!

I have a two year contract with the facility, so I have some time left there. Thanks for the boost of encouragement!

I definitely second standing up for yourself. This used to be the norm, but it isn't allowed anymore. I would have a conversation with the doctors in private. Maybe they don't realize they are doing it. Or if so many brush it off, they don't think it is a big deal. But sometimes you have to put people in their place if they are being inappropriate. Let them realize that won't be tolerated. Many surgeons will actually respect you for it. If not, go above them.

You could certainly try LTC or another field, but if you are still interested in surgery, you could look into PACU or an OR in another hospital. Not all ORs are toxic.

I am one of the younger individuals in the OR. I look even younger than I am, most people would say I look 16 at best, and I think that does contribute on some level possibly. I am not a pushover, I am strong. Some docs respect that, some like to challenge that.

I completely understand this. I am 37 and look like I am 20, maybe. It is hard to get respect and for people to take you seriously when they think you are a kid.