I'm a new graduate. I just wanted your thoughts/opinions on this. When calling doctors at night, I noticed that a lot of the nurses start the call with 'I'm sorry to bother you doctor, but....."
Don't they realize that the doctor is not on call out of the goodness of his heart? He/she is getting paid. That's his/her JOB.
I'm not heartless and can sympathesize with someone being woken up/sleep deprived/etc. but I'm not calling to talk about the weather or chit-chat about a game - so it's definitely not a BOTHER.
I feel like everytime a nurse apologizes for calling the doctor to do his job - they get this entitled feeling and that's why most act so nasty and bothered and start yelling at nurses for calling them. Some nurses just dread calling certain doctors and always make apologizes and it just annoys me.
I don't do it. I am always professional and polite, but I don't apologize. No apology does not mean I'm rude! I'm a manners stickler. I have always worked overnights too, so if I'm calling, it's for a good reason. I do think the required "critical labs" calls are BS, though.
You know what... My BFF at work reminded me of a nurse we used to work with who once said to the on call (a real difficult person) "Hi Dr. Looney I'm sorry I had to call you, no one else would..."We laughed all weekend over that, and she never got in trouble, as far as I know...
She's retired now, BTW living the good life in the Keys!
I never apoligise for calling a doctor but I still give them the professional courtesy of saying "thank you for taking my call." When I worked night shift it gave them that extra few seconds to wake up and truly identify who they are talking to. During the day, which I am very lucky to be able to work now, I still say thank you for the same reason as professional courtesy and knowing who they are talking to. If you are lucky enough to have good doctors where you work you will see that they are real people and they appreciate a thank you as much as the next guy. If you are prepared to talk to the doctor with all the facts and are to the point after a brief thank you they will see that you are competent and unless they are a real jerk, will treat you as such. Just my .
One of the solutions a fellow RN shared with me is start the call, "Hi doctor so and so, I'm calling regarding OUR patient..." It implies shared responsibility for care regardless of the hour.
I totally agree...I do not apologize for waking up an on call Dr...unless it's the wrong one! I always start with a refresher..."Hi Dr. X, this is Nik calling from the hospital regarding Mrs. Y who is on your service." I definitely try to put words in their mouth as their brains might not be thinking clearly yet..."She is nauseous, can we try some Zofran?" And I always end with a "Thanks for getting back to me so quickly" or something like that. I don't apologize, but try to show my empathy for waking them up in the night.
OK, let me get this straight. The OP doesn't object to someone saying "sorry to wake you" but somehow finds "sorry to bother you" as feeding an entitlement attitude. This whole thread is about simple symantics?!?
I think nurses are sadly indoctrinated to revere doctors. I don't know why though. When I need their attention, or anyone I work with, it's more like, "Hey, got a sec? (Don't wait for reply.) This patient of your's...."
Maybe it's because my career has revolved around confrontation and disturbing people that it's not a big deal to me, lol.
Being polite is not QUITE the same thing as REVERENCE.
And your approach would make me mad, quite frankly. Doesn't seem that you are waiting to find out if that person has a sec or not.
My time is as valuable as yours and I JUST might be in the middle of a cataclysm.
I have worked with people who come up and DEMAND attention as if NOTHING else mattered in my day except thier current needs, be it a pt., family or staff.
It's rude, and quite frankly, there is WAY too much of it in the world today.
I certainly do remember the days of being a new nurse, and I sure didn't have the time or inclination to be annoyed by other more experienced nurses' phone conversations with doctors. This new grad is NOT looking to experienced nurses for "guidance," she is being critical of something that is really none of her business. She has no reason to "complain" about how other nurses choose to relate to doctors. She can say whatever she likes to the docs when she calls, but really, how does what someone else does regarding their own patients and practice affect her? In this scenario, it doesn't.
This has absolutely NOTHING to do with not being supportive of new grads.
It might be a good idea to go back to what this girl originally said. I think some of you are not getting her point. This seems to have become a bigger issue than what this girl wanted it to be. She is entitled to her own opinion and thats what this Nursing community sight is about.
Amen. A lot of doctors think nurse are idiots anyway, when you can set up the conversation on a pleasant note, it may help. And it REALLY is a pain to be woken at 3 am, whether you get paid for it or not.
And it also gives the Doc on the other end of the line at least 5 seconds to clear their head.
While I have never had any Doctor I have worked with imply that nurses are idiots. Are you in the profession. Because thats kinda harsh.
It might be a good idea to go back to what this girl originally said. I think some of you are not getting her point. This seems to have become a bigger issue than what this girl wanted it to be. She is entitled to her own opinion and thats what this Nursing community sight is about.
I don't need to read the OP again.
The original poster stated the following:
"I just wanted your thoughts/opinions on this." Nowhere in her post does it say "Please do not post if you disagree with me."
Therefore I stated "my opinion" as requested on her post- that being annoyed by what other nurses say to docs is completely unreasonable- that what other nurses say to doctors should really not be her concern. No one at her job has insisted that she suddenly begin apologizing for calling doctors...she has not reported being yelled at by doctors for not apologizing to them...no mention is made that the other experienced nurses have criticized her for having her own style of communicating to doctors.
I completely disagree that saying "I'm sorry to wake you" encourages doctors to yell at nurses when they call. Those kinds of doctors are going to be jerks no matter what you say when you call them because they are arrogant and narcissistic by nature. I never grovel to doctors when I call them, but I occasionally have said "sorry to call you so late," particularly if I've called more than once, and/or I know the doctor well and like and respect him, and I have never once had a doctor cop an attitude towards me because of it. The OP needs to conduct her business with doctors as she sees fit and not worry about what others are doing.
Don't know any docs that yell, but I do know of a nurse who attempted to readjust the attitude of physician. She got a security escort out of the building. We don't work FOR them but you can bet they've got a hotline to administration.
I think what needs to be clarified here is we do not work for Doctors and as long as we as nurses are doing our job and handling ourselves with professionalism and knowledge, our job has no reason to be threatened by anyone. I don't think anyone should be trying to adjust anyone's attitude on the job and as such I'm sure the same would happen to anybody. I just wanna add. Being firm, assertive, confident and professional because you take pride in what you do has nothing to do with giving a Doctor an attitude. Where did this turn into a confrontational battle. I have never had a problem with any of the Doctors I have ever worked with . I have also never been looked at as confrontational. With all do respect. I think you have taken this wrong. You cannot mistake confident, assertive professionalism as ripping a Doctor or anyone a new one. There is absolutely nothing wrong with saying Good evening Doctor Smith I am calling with concern for your patient Margaret Jones and proceeding with facts, that is what we are there to do. This is not rude it is straight and to the point. We are there to be a credible part of team to care for the patient and as such I consider it to be important. I think this subject has become off track from it's orginal statement. Have pride in yourself and what you chose to do we are not there to impress anyone just to do a good job be courteous and give good care to the patient and be an advocate. Remember when we took that oath. That means in any scenario. The key is if your doing your job you have nothing to worry about. I will leave this alone by giving an example and a true story. I worked with a nurse that was a nurse for quite sometime didn't set a good example or get alot of respect from her fellow co-workers, sadly at the cost of the patient. This nurse I will call her Sam would do rounds with the director of our facility. Numerous times we would ask her to let the Doctor know this or call him with that, unfortunately that was the way the chain of commands went at that facility this is what we where expected to do. There was a patient who's condition was declining and this seasoned nurse was more concerned with bothering the Doctor than she was for the patient, sadly a the things she overlooked as a result of I don't want to bother the Doctor landed this patient in the hospital for a good month. The patient was diagnosed with sepsis and had an extremely low H&H in which she needed a blood transfusion. Had she not worried about bothering the Doctor this patient might have avoided the 1 month stay in the hospital, the transfusion etc. Unfortunately if any of us have been a nurse for any length of time you have seen this. It does happen and it is legit. I feel passionate about this because I found it to be neglectful. Lets not get off the beaten path. Just something to think about. And I'm really hoping people don't read more into this than I am trying to say. I have on numerous occasions genuinely seen nurses act sheepish about calling the Doctors. I have heard them discuss it with other nurses and say "why don't you call him or I hate to call him." Should it really be that way. Lets maybe stand up for each other and worry about the importance of our positions. We are not here to compete with anyone just to work toward a common goal. The patient.
"I just wanted your thoughts/opinions on this." Nowhere in her post does it say "Please do not post if you disagree with me."
Therefore I stated "my opinion" as requested on her post- that being annoyed by what other nurses say to docs is completely unreasonable- that what other nurses say to doctors should really not be her concern. No one at her job has insisted that she suddenly begin apologizing for calling doctors...she has not reported being yelled at by doctors for not apologizing to them...no mention is made that the other experienced nurses have criticized her for having her own style of communicating to doctors.
I completely disagree that saying "I'm sorry to wake you" encourages doctors to yell at nurses when they call. Those kinds of doctors are going to be jerks no matter what you say when you call them because they are arrogant and narcissistic by nature. I never grovel to doctors when I call them, but I occasionally have said "sorry to call you so late," particularly if I've called more than once, and/or I know the doctor well and like and respect him, and I have never once had a doctor cop an attitude towards me because of it. The OP needs to conduct her business with doctors as she sees fit and not worry about what others are doing.
What I seem to keep hearing here seems to be all about the Doctors and I will again say. Everyone do there job and you have nothing to worry about and I think that statement is next to impossible to disagree with. I am assuming you are a nurse so I will also assume that you realize it's all about the patient. It upsets me that I don't seem to hear alot of comments worrying about clearly what's right for the patient. Frankly I really don't care about anything but caring for my patients and having a good productive work relationship that is built on respect and I find it hard to believe that anyone would dispute that. When I responded to the original post the girl courteously thanked me for understanding what she was asking. It is as plain and simple as it sounds, she wanted an opionion on why nurses do this and did any of us do it, but it didn't say please attack me for my question. Stating such comments as "she as a new nurse should be worrying about her own job and the such don't really seem to be as much of an opionion or a help to her which is what she was asking for but more of an attack on her personally. I have to question if we are on the same team. I apologize but this has gone a little to far. If someone asks for feedback. Constructive feedback seems to be in order. I don't think in anyway did this person start off with an attack on anyone and if you go back to the original post her question was "why do you think they do that? and do you do it."
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sistrmoon, BSN, RN
842 Posts
I don't do it. I am always professional and polite, but I don't apologize. No apology does not mean I'm rude! I'm a manners stickler. I have always worked overnights too, so if I'm calling, it's for a good reason. I do think the required "critical labs" calls are BS, though.