Why apologize to doctor when calling?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi,

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.

Why do you think they do that?

And do you do it?

Specializes in Medical.

BTW, I also say to patients "I'm sorry, this is going to be unpleasant/hurt/sting, but I'll be as quick/gentle as I can." I'm genuinely sorry that what I have to do, what they have to have done, is going to be painful, even though that's part of the job of being a patient with a wound dressing/injections/drain tubes etc.

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BTW, I also say to patients "I'm sorry, this is going to be unpleasant/hurt/sting, but I'll beas quick/gentle as I can." I'm genuinely sorry that what I have to do, what they have to have done, is going to be painful, even though that's part of the job of being a patient with a wound dressing/injections/drain tubes etc.

Great response ....lol !!!!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

Just the other day I witnessed a situation that reminded me of this thread...

On of our ED physicians called a pt's PCP and she (our doc) started by saying to the PCP "Dr. Jones (name changed to protect the innocent....and I can't remember the PCPs name at this time :jester:), thanks for returning my call...sorry to bother you at this time of day..." Meanwhile, it was only 7:30 pm. Anyway, just found it intersting in light of this discussion.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Am not sure why there is this issue saying 'sorry' when they are not really saying sorry.

Have came across this lately ....some of the nurses I work with don't get it.

The other day, I said 'I'm so sorry that happened to you' a couple of times to different coworkers - one instance was about a personal financial loss to a nurse, other one was about a case of extreme rudeness directed at a coworker.

I got racked over the coals for saying it by other coworkers listening - 'why are you saying that - YOU didn't do it'

This is all about nuance ... not everyone gets it

Unfortunately. It's really no different than putting a smiley emoticon at the end of a post you figure other people will disagree with -- not strictly necessary but helpful modes of conversation - it isn't the word you are conveying so much as the common reaction most people have to being awakened in the middle of the night whether on call or not. I will even go so far as to say it is in my own self interest to be conciliatory to people who are just doing their job. If I call a pharmacy at 4:45pm hoping for a same night delivery for my homecare patient and the pharmacy closes at 5:00pm, lots of profuse apologies and thanks tend to get the task done more often. You are relating to another human being. I have never felt diminished by that.

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Why is the nursing profession so insecure about their standing with physicians? Whether you call a doctor, a plumber, your mother...whoever, during the middle of the night, saying "Sorry to bother you" doesn't somehow make anyone inferior. It's a sign of common courtesy. The whole attitude that "that's his/her job! He/she should be apologizing to me for having to call him/her!" is pretty unreal, and if people are thinking that hard about something as trivial as this I can only imagine what kind of nightmare it would be dealing with these people as coworkers.

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Specializes in ICU, Home Health, Camp, Travel, L&D.

I **don't** apologize. They're on call, and I'm not calling in the middle of the night because I long to hear their voice.

I give a quick SBAR, get the orders or action I need, tell them thanks, get some rest, have a good night. Those things, to me, show the respect for them that is appropriate.

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Specializes in CVICU, Obs/Gyn, Derm, NICU.
Why is the nursing profession so insecure about their standing with physicians? Whether you call a doctor, a plumber, your mother...whoever, during the middle of the night, saying "Sorry to bother you" doesn't somehow make anyone inferior. It's a sign of common courtesy. The whole attitude that "that's his/her job! He/she should be apologizing to me for having to call him/her!" is pretty unreal, and if people are thinking that hard about something as trivial as this I can only imagine what kind of nightmare it would be dealing with these people as coworkers.

Exactly :yeah:

If there's an occupation that doesn't have these types of coworkers .... let me know ... I'm going there !

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