What do you think?............

Katnip, RN · Oct 19, 2003

Where I work for the most part, the docs and med students treat the nursing staff as equals. Brand new residents learn from the the experienced ones pretty fast, that when a nurse asks for an order, it's for a very good reason.

Most new med students are terrified of nurses. At least at first. I would say the majority end up developing and retaining respect for us. There are some who already think they're gods, and a few of those will keep that attitude all their lives.

Heck one of the residents gave me a neck massage the other day because she thought I was working too hard.

There are a few prima donnas out there, but often it's the other way around, that the nurses abuse the docs, lol.

Despite that, at our facility, abuse of nurses from docotrs is just not tolerated, not by the nursing department, not by the medical department.

Now, what they say about us in the doctor's lounge could be quite different from what we see.

OriginalWmn · Oct 19, 2003

In my 3 years of nursing I've had a few run-ins with docs. Usually surgical residents. One went so far as to ask me for my name. I won't go into the whole scenario, but he had been insufferably rude and I had let him know that. He didn't like that so he asked me for my name (I guess he thought to scare me with the idea of being written up). I spelled it for him so he could get it right --tee-heehee! After that he stayed out of my way. As far as I know he never wrote me up. The general peds residents/docs that I work with are usually pretty nice. I try not to get too burned up about the ones who think they know everything and talk to you like you're mentally impaired. They usually end up getting themselves into trouble eventually and it's a better lesson when they learn it themselves. I could go on and on but I won't. I'm sure every nurse on this forum has at least one story to share.

flowerchild · Oct 19, 2003

It all depends on the person. Some Docs treat nurses as partners in care. Some treat nurses like dirt. I have noticed more arrogance and condenscending attitude from surgeons, of course that is a generalization though, and not always the case.

Tink RN · Oct 19, 2003

As with everyone, personalities vary. I haven't seen a specific pattern as far as what area they specialize in. Some are great to work with, some are as#holes! The most confusing ones are the bi-polar ones that change personalities with their moods ... but if you work with them long enough, you know within 2 seconds of contact what kind of mood they are in and you know whether or not to avoid them. :lol2:

christinemj · Oct 19, 2003

As a nursing student, I have had some EXCELLENT encounters with doctors. On my surgical day, after the surgeon discovered that I had to write a paper about my experience, he asked me for my notebook, drew a picture of what he did for the surgery, and wrote down some key points. (This was after surgery, of course.) -- Yes, I thanked him profusely!

On the floor, all of the docs have asked me to come in with them during their pt. assessment and treated me with respect when writng orders afterwards. A few have asked if I had questions about the patient's diagnosis and took the time to share their knowledge with me.

I have only had one "less than wonderful" experience with medical personnel. Turns out, he was a new PA doing rounds for the surgeon and he came off as a bit arrogant. C'est la vie. He wrote the orders I requested anyway.

We're all just people, some are just nicer than others.

Tink RN · Oct 19, 2003

Let me guess christinemj ... your'e a leggy blonde with big boobs, right? (just picking at ya!) It is great that you had such positive experiences ... but lets not set up our newbies for failure. Guys, this is the exception, not the norm.

>~~ :specs:

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 19, 2003

lots of threads on this one.

happy hunting. the opinions are as varied as the nurses who state them and the doctors they deal with out there.