tension with medical students and physicians

[texasnursingstudent]

Hi all

I am writing this more out of curiosity rather than looking for a solution...I'm just wondering if I am the only one to notice a bit of "tension" or maybe even annoyance/snootiness between medical students/residents/interns, etc. I am not a paranoid person, and I have a great respect for physicians- heck, I know I wouldn't make it through 10 years of school! That being said, I feel as if there is a bit of...tension.....or snobbery....or just general annoyance whenever I have to be around or interact (minimally, if ever) with medical students and new doctors. For example, today I was walking in the hallway while at clinicals- wearing my white nursing jacket, dressed nicely, walking with my head up (but not nose in the air), being professional and I noticed a medical student/young doctor examining me from the corner of my eye as I walked by, with kind of a curious smirk on her face. I've noticed this before, and I've had fellow nursing students report that they've noticed it as well. I don't know. Maybe I am just being paranoid. Am I imagining this? I rarely talk to the doctors or medical students, as I am usually taking care of my own business, but I find it hard to believe that someone could automatically dislike me when I haven't said or done a thing to them--what do you think? Is it possible that the ridiculous "doctors versus nurses" mentality starts THIS early on?

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

I am in the middle of my 3rd semester of an ADN program and I've seen this attitude thing from both MDs, RNs and aides/techs.

I think people are either people-persons or not. That's not to say that attitudes don't exist, but honestly, there have been a couple of nurses that we are supposed to be actively learning/working with who have acted like we were the scum of the earth. A couple of these were brand-new nurses and also veterans.

On the other hand, I was assigned the last two days to other areas of the hospital where we are assigned and once the two doctors learned I was a student nurse, could not have been nicer or more educational. There was also a student-CRNA and she was also very nice.

I think it's important to just take it all with a grain of salt and realize we all have very important jobs that need to be done and the more cooperative and pleasant we can be to each, the better the likelihood of a successful collaboration in our pts' care!!

[danh3190]

I keep thinking about how nervous I am as a student nurse on the floor and I wonder if the med students, interns, etc aren't just as nervous.

[Shenanigans, RN]

I hear this from a lot of people, but I've never had a problem, all the med students/interns et al have been great and really nice too me. A couple of med students actually asked their lecturer if I could come into a surgery with them all!!

My lecturer said its good to have an attitude when dealing with med students. Mind you, there was a bit of antics a few years back because all the med students complained that the nursing students were takign up all the space in the birthing units in the region, so now nursing students can't get into maternity!!

That pissed a lot of nursing students off.