There are no conflits betwen doctor and nurses!

P_RN, ADN, RN · Oct 20, 2001

Hello Victor and welcome.

YES you are correct. Nurses have been undervalued by doctors and patients also. And YES there are many conflicts!

P

nurs4kids · Oct 20, 2001

I hate to sound as if I'm in denial, or being antagonistic, but here we do not have a general problem of doctor's undervaluing nurses. Personality determines how docs treat nurses, here, not titles. Most of our docs are very respectful of nursing, and of course there is the occassional butt that respects no one, not even himself. But the disrespectful one's are farrrrrr outnumbered.

I do think nursing as a whole is undervalued, not necessarily by other's in the medical profession, but by society as a whole. Suddenly, in the time of national fear and crisis, the media is reporting how doctors and nurses need to be trained to look for signs of bio-terrorism. Suddenly, the entire country is relying on nurses (as if they weren't before). I still haven't heard a word about how we're underpaid and understaffed, though.

deespoohbear · Oct 20, 2001

At the small hospital I work at, most of the doctors and nurses have a good working relationship. Most of our docs are laid back and take things in stride. Of course, we have a couple of condescending a**hole doctors who still believe that nurses are their personal handmaidens. Some of the docs even asked us to call them by their first names. Even though I get frustrated at times with our somewhat limited resources at the small hospital, I really enjoy working with the doctors at our facililty. They usually have time to explain pathophys stuff to us and why they order certain tests and procedures. Our internist is wonderful! He will explain anything to you and he never becomes angry. I have learned a tremendous amount of information from our docs just by chit chatting with them. So, I would say at our hospital the conflicts are not bad. Heck, our docs will set down and eat lunch with you.

jayna, RN · Oct 20, 2001

..in my country the nurses and doctors work well, harmously..very good teamwork there,....

but here (-) .i have been telling claudette on how the public potray nursing , and the doctors regards the nurses as servants..they don't recognised it as a profession.

this frustrated the nurses and they don't care so much for their patients...

this is what we're working on...wish me well.

debbyed · Oct 20, 2001

We tend to start training our doctors from day one. Treat the nurses with respect and life is good. Treat them bad and life really stinks. They tend to get the picture pretty quick.

Attendings?? Well they tend to steer clear of the ER. Probably for the same reasons as above.

ValWai · Oct 20, 2001

Totally agreed. Doctors in my country respect capable nurses. I think nurses are underestimated or neglected in some countries because of the nurses population may cause a threat to some government or hospital authorities.

Mofe'ny · Oct 20, 2001

Where I work most of the doctors do respect us For example, after one particularly bad night, the attending had been with us for about 3 hours. I had been at the bedside with him almost the whole time. He told me,"Nurses don't realize how much you all are worth to doctors. I'm not here 24/7 and I have to trust what you say. I have to base a lot of what I do to patient's on what the nurse tells me. You are really my eyes and ears also, and I put alot of trust in what you say." He really does listen to us. I love that doc and so do the rest of the nurses!

At the end of that shift, he came over and told me thanks for all my help. Not thanks for getting him up at 0330, but thanks for spending the rest of my shift working to get the patient stabilized.

Most of our docs are like that and request our input. They will take the time to explain or assist us. I think it has a lot to do with how they view their patients. Some docs (and nurses) are just there for what they can get and don't really care what happens as long as they are happy. OUr doctors are really great though overall. Guess I am just blessed!

thisnurse · Oct 22, 2001

i absolutely LOVE our docs. most of them are young and they dont like being called doctor this or doctor that. they are very respectful to us and often ask our opinions. i really love the new residents cos they dont know what they are doing and they readily admit it...i admire ppl like that. way too often ppl pretend they know when they dont.

we work as a team...in fact there is more teamwork with the docs than between the nurses.

Mijourney · Oct 24, 2001

Hi. I have to agree with other posters that you can't put all doctors under the same blanket when it comes to respect for nurses. Most of the time when I've posted about respect on this bb, it pertained to management. Also, my perception is that there is more disrespect among nurses then from others in the states. I believe that disrespect from others including those in other health and medical fields is due to ignorance and/or an unwillingness to accept that nursing can and should grow up.

I think Victor that what you are experiencing is the fear, concern, and anger from some doctors over losing significant numbers from the frontlines of nursing. This frontline is so vital for doctors to be successful in their practice with patients and families and with their research. Some of them are also genuinely concern for their patients wellbeing. Frontline nurse shortages threatens that.

It's true that doctors consider the advancement of an individual nurse's personal agenda or the nursing profession's political agenda as a threat to what they feel should be their sole domain. Many of them perceive themselves as queen ants and us as the workers. So don't let the feelings or actions of disrespectful doctors intimidate you and prevent you from reaching your potential. Best wishes for your future.