I recently became the victim of harassment in the workplace, only to watch my nurse manager cater to the physician as he belittled me and used profanity towards me in her presence.
Backstory: Two weeks ago, a surgeon asked me how his patient was doing. I reported to him that she was very weepy during the day and had mentioned being upset with him because she came out of surgery with 3 JP drains and she had not been expecting that. He marched into her room and began yelling at her. He told her she had better change her attitude because he saved her life and he would stop making rounds on her completely if she didn't start thanking him every time she saw him. I was present during this interaction and said This needs to stop. NOW†and walked out of the room. He told me Don't you ever walk out while I am speaking†and walked off. I did report him to my supervisor, but did not make an occurrence report to human resources, which I am now deeply regretting.
Yesterday, this same surgeon told me he was writing up a discharge order for one of the patients. I told him her blood pressure had been running high and rattled off her morning vital signs from my report sheet. I was waiting in line to pull medications from the Pyxis and he asked me when the patient had received PRN medications last. I replied I'm not sure because I'm not in front of the computer, but I've been here since 7am and I haven't given her anything and it's now 8:15am.†He was sitting at the computer and replied me Well log on and tell meâ€. I knew he was trying to throw his weight around, so I replied I am about to pull medications so I can't do that right nowâ€. He became angry and demanded to speak to my supervisor.
While we were speaking to her, he insulted me, called me names, and used profanity towards me. To my absolute surprise, my nursing supervisor kept making comments like Yes, sir. I agree with you sir.†and She will be spoken toâ€. She not once interjected or disagreed with him. I feel that her very attitude serves to only inflate the ego of this physician and makes his behavior acceptable. He literally made me go to my supervisors office and his argument was she didn't do what I told her to do when I told her to do it!â€. After noting that she was just agreeing with everything he said, I said I'm done with this conversation, I have to go take care of my patients†and began to walk out. The physician replied You're a nurse, you don't get to decide when we're doneâ€.
I may be a nurse, but I am also a very real person with very real feelings. His commentary serves to explain his treatment of me. To him, I am beneath him and am even unable to decide when I no longer want to participate in a hostile exchange. I was upset at how he was treating me, but even more upset that my nurse manager did not intervene. The message she sent across is that I may be important, but he is MORE IMPORTANT to the facility because he is a surgeon. My nurse manager was practically agreeing with him that I needed to wait until he ended the conversation.
This lack of support for nurses should be highly frowned upon and should not be tolerated. I may not have gone to school for 8 years, but I do have an education, a mouth, and a brain and I can make my own decisions! I am more than JUST A NURSE. As nurses, we get caught up in patient care to the point that small interactions such as my original encounter with him go unreported. We must stand up for ourselves and our profession and report incidences such as this one to protect ourselves. We can no longer tolerate doctors making us feel inferior or demanding that we stop performing our responsibilities to cater to their needs.
I am now left with only a few witnesses of our original encounter as my ‘proof' and have been ‘fired' from taking care of any of this surgeons patients in the future. I did nothing wrong, but all of his request were fulfilled and I am left waiting the response of human resources, from which I hear, will do nothing. We need to change this and demand to work in environments in which we are valued and supported instead of freely belittled and harassed. Report all of these incidences to protect yourself!
Own what? she told the surgeon info he needed to hear, you want to kill the messenger?
You agree with telling a known egotistical jerk that his patient is upset with him because he left drains? Lamb to slaughter. I would have protected my patient from something that could have been avoided and would have been a better outcome. You and I practice very differently.
You agree with telling a known egotistical jerk that his patient is upset with him because he left drains? Lamb to slaughter. I would have protected my patient from something that could have been avoided and would have been a better outcome. You and I practice very differently.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
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I don't get why some people think I shouldn't have told him the patient was upset.
I reported to him that she was very weepy during the day and had mentioned being upset with him
The whole thing got off to a bad start. Relaying that the Patient is upset over the outcome of the surgery would be an improvement over saying the Patient was upset because of "him". The Doctor probably took this as a personal attack.
Being just a nurse and not a doctor, it isn't possible for me to fully understand the doctor's method of therapeutic communication with the obviously distraught patient. Therefore, I personally would allow the physician to carry out his treatment, then I would continue with my nursing interventions when he was through. I would document the interaction and question the physician in private if he thought the patient's plan of care should be modified to include the form of therapy he was administering.
I prefer this passive aggressive approach with people who feel they are better than me. It's comforting when they're unaware that they're being manipulated into feeling guilty.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
I prefer this passive aggressive approach with people who feel they are better than me. It's comforting when they're unaware that they're being manipulated into feeling guilty.
And manipulating our media in order to achieve a desiredoutcome is what it's all about.
That was the second time I had ever seen the guy. I didn't know he was going to react that way .
I read too much into your statement of this being a house wide problem, that's what led me to think his response would be no surprise to you.
And here's where my reasoning comes in regarding the way you gave him a heads up. .
Think about how your reaction coming onto your 3rd consecutive shift to the following different ways you are informed in report about a patient's complaints.
-Mrs T rec'd her last pain med 2 hrs ago and is feeling better but she's upset with the way you managed her pain yesterday.
-Mrs T rec'd her last pain med 2 hrs ago and says she's feeling better but was initially upset after having a rough day yesterday.
Would the 1st one make you initially bristle and have an affect on your attitude towards her from there?
Is it necessary to say that she was upset with you when it was the pain (drains) she was upset about but not you personally (Dr Jerk)? Especially knowing there wasn't liability that would hold water in there to lawyer up about?
I buffer between patients and their providers as a regular part of my day. When I'm with a emotionally needy patient who's just upset about their situation and indirectly at their provider (which is very common, you know how patients will blame us for the system?), I don't need to perpetuate a wedge between them, I just need to get their needs met.
I like to facilitate their relationship, and I've consistently had good outcomes including building a strong mutually respectful relationship with our providers (I haven't had a surgeon or any physician speak to me the way many here are claiming in the last 9 years I've worked in my current setting, and that's including the hundreds that we work with here in Northern California).
That's not to say that I would sit back and tolerate being yelled at nor that I wouldn't give one of our providers a heads up if a patient was making a serious claim about them, but upset about post op drains? There's no lawsuit there nor is it something that couldn't be left to the patient to ask about. (And I'm assuming you tried to redirect your patient's response to waking up with drains as a measure her surgeon decided was necessary to her best recovery even though they're upsetting for her to see and that they'd come out when her dr determined it was the right time, again for her best recovery?).
Morte might say this was dishonest but OP, what do you think?
No Stars In My Eyes
5,653 Posts
The Effects of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds
That's the movie title I've been trying to think of since I first saw this thread's title.
To the (waiting-in-line) "Pyxis Pixies": Nothing like technology to make an already tough job tougher!