Taking care of doctors....

[proudnurseRN]

Do you get over the nervousness of it?

I've taken care of patients that had family members that were MDs, but not a doctor...until the other night. The most embarassing part was not knowing he was a doctor until 2 hours into the shift.

During report the previous nurse mentioned him wanting something done, her saying she would need an order, and him saying "well, I'll just write an order for it." I thought the pt was just being funny, haha... thought the pt was a little uppity (I mean, who does he think he is...a doctor or something?!?!?!)

Went to pass meds and he was due a stool softener. He refused. I encouraged. He refused again. I went into pt teaching about the benefits of a stool softner. He still refused. Asked about home meds. I told him I'd go check on them.

Went to look at the order for the home meds, noticed it was filled out, signed, etc. All looked good except... the pt had signed his name as the MD to continue meds. Right there it said John Doe, MD. Hmmmm....

Looked further in the chart... a family medical doc...

Asked around.... that had been practicing for 20+ years.

OKay, so I fess up maybe I'm guilty that I should've known. But being a newer nurse, on night shift, I don't see many of the doctors. And I had never seen this one before, and while his name sounded familiar...well, that happens a lot.

So I clarify his meds, and walk into the room and fess up. Told him I had no idea and apologize for trying to pill push some stool softener on him. We both got a big laugh out of it.

At the end of my shift I came to realize I didn't treat him any differently than any other patients, but I have to admit the whole process was a little nerve-wracking.

What are your experiences in having doctors for patients?

[LVERNSE]

proudnursern that was such a cute story. i agree with roser13, you treated him exactly the way he should've been treated. i have found that for the most part, the doctors and nurses i've cared for are very humble in not letting me know their status. the ones that are most likely to insist that i call them "doctor" have actually been people who've had their doctorate degrees in a non-medical field like philosophy and know absolutely nothing about medicine! if they insist on being referred to as "doctor" then i usually break them of this egotistical habit by explaining everything to them in medical jargon (of course they have no idea what i'm talking about). they usually allow me to call them by their first name or relent to being addressed as "mr" so-and-so.

real medical doctors, i've found, just want to know that they have a competent person caring for them and are just willing to let you do your job.

[Larry77, RN]

Are you saying he wrote his own orders??? That can't be legal right? I have taken care of a lot of MD's in my day but never had one try to write his own orders...crazy. I agree with the earlier post...nurses are the worst patients ever! They know about procedures a lot more than a doc and can pick apart your skills pretty easily :-)

[ShayRN]

Nothing to add, just wanted to thank the poster that said "three hots and a cot" LOVED IT, LMAO

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

I looked after a sweet little old guy for a few days, pleasantly demented. Turned out he had been the "town doc" for one of the teeny tiny towns nearby, and had a constant stream of flowers, visitors, etc. We got him over the pneumonia, and he went back home. One of the nicest pts I ever had.

The ones that make me nuts are the ones who say they are a "nurse" when they are a CNA, a med tech, or are just in pre-reqs for nursing school, and are telling me what to do, such as:

Yes, I have actually changed a TLC dressing before without your input, thank you very much, and if you were who you said you were, you'd know that twisting around and looking at the site and trying to "feel if it's in place" while the dressing's off are NO-NO's!

And no, you are NOT going to go blind if you come in at 0100 and haven't had your trusopt for one night dose -- not only do we not stock it in the night dibold, no doc is going to order a pharmacy tech to come in so you can have a single dose. If your glaucoma's that unstable, you should have brought it with you.

Or worse....

Yes, I know you said your son's a doc. I know your son. He's not a doc, he's a CNA on another floor. He's sweet and good to work with, but he's no doctor. So either you're crazy, you want something, or he's been telling you a lie for YEARS. Ah, yes, here we go...he "wrote you a script for Percocet" and can't I go get you some, he'll sign the chart. Uh, NOPE. (I did ask the son about it, and he was stunned and started making phone calls. Turned out the sister was keeping mom stoned on HER percocet, and that's why mom feel and broke her hip, APS got involved, oh, goodie...).

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

Shay...you're welcome. I used to work in a mentally ill LTC, and it was the preferred saying of quite a few staff members...