Vent - patronising doctors

[ayla2004, ASN, RN]

i bleeped the on call sho for 2 patients this evenin, i had returned to the ward after study day (i'm a 3rd year st/n) so hadn't any patients but was helping both teams. the patients in question were new admissions and per protocol needed medical review. I'll admit i did not have extensive info on either since we have only a name age and reason for admission on one. he seemed to think it was extra ordinary to clerk a patient later in the evening, and even worse made fun of the telephone transcription of a report the the 1st year st/n had done. There were misspelled words but the pt reason for admission was clear, this may have affected her confidence if she had heard.

i disappeared to the sluice to use a non work term, and shocked my mentor.

how do u deal with on call docs like this

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Sometimes experience and confidence comes into play. Many times I have vented to colleagues but really not acceptable and they need to remember that they was at that stage at one time and for some it wasn't all that long ago. Have even approached some of the doctors and asked what the problems are as they are in a profession that is 24/7 and at the end of the day there for the patients

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

Ayla, unfortunately you get some really helpful docs and some really unhelpful ones, exactly the same as nurses really.

I wonder what he is usually like, is this out of character, could he have been having a bad day? Not an excuse I know but maybe mitigating

As to how to prevent it and handle it, most docs know that thier best friend is the nurse looking after thier patients, that's where the important information comes from.

Because I work with a team of doctors I have a bit of an insiders view. The things that wind them up is inaccurate or not enough information, they may well have 30 other patients on other wards and the more info you can give them the better they can prioritise over the phone. As for clerking in the evenings, this is something that we have tried to get away from completely, our elective surgical patients are all pre-assessed so don't need clerking and our emergencies are all clerking in Eu so it may not be something this doc is used to.

As for being patronising, personally I would ask to see the doc in my office and ask why he thinks being rude and unhelpful is acceptable, but then I am really senior so can get away with it. On the floor I think I would probable remind him that we were all learing once and it is only with helpful colleagues that we are able to learn and progress.