Why do doctors do this to me?

James,RN · Apr 18, 2011

Well if a doctor called you to complain, I hope you reported

him to your medical director for unprofessional behavior, and that you defended your nurses

in such situations.

As a male charge nurse on a tele unit I do not tolerate ANY abuse

from anyone period. I do not talk to anyone who raises their voice on me, in person or

on the telephone.

Jcaho expects us to call the doctor regardless of what time of the

day it is. And if you have no prn's, what are we suppose to

do? Leave the patient with a headache or fever all night???

Also if your hospital is not supportive, and protective of its employees, report them!!!

Under state & federal law and Jcaho, you are entitled to a harassment free

work place. Many hospitals at least have a program in place to address

nursing harassment & abuse as part of jcaho accreditation.

Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2011

I have no sympathy for the physicians in this situation.

Most doctors, when writing admission orders, write for PRNs for things like nausea, pain, fever, and sleep medicines even if the patient may not need it.

I will call in the middle of the night if my patient is in pain, nauseated, agitated, itching terribly, or experiencing a cough interfering with sleep and I don't have appopriate PRNs ordered already. If the on-call doctors don't like it...well, they shouldn't have chosen a professon that requires being on-call. Or they can take it up with whomever wrote the admission orders!

Sometimes, when a doctor is yelling, it helps to find a "pause" in the tirade and say, calmly and in a normal volume, "what would you like me to do about that now so that I can help you?"

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 18, 2011

report them. Responding to questions is what being on-call is about.

graceomalleyRN, RN · Apr 24, 2011

If they are too stupid to foresee the likelihood of acetaminophen being required (either for pain, a fever, etc.) then they deserve to be awakened. At my hospital, there are a few things ALWAYS prescribed PRN for Med Surge patients (Tylenol, Benadryl, appropriate "heavier" pain meds, dextrose, Narcan). This saves doctors the calls, nurses the aggravation and the wasted response time to a problem and most importantly the patient receives the care they need without undue hassle.

PMFB-RN, RN · Apr 24, 2011

I can honestly say all the other aggravations of my job don't hold a candle to the physicians who come in to yell at me specifically about a nurse calling them at 3 am for a tylenol order (for example). I feel for the doctors- I sure wouldn't want to be awakened for that-but I can't be here 24 hours a day! I wish that the MDs would direct their ire at the appropriate parties for a change.........anyone else having this problem?

*** Nope, never. Doctors NEVER, ever yell at me ( and you shouldn't tolerate it either). I do not allow it. Also please do not "feel" for them. They WANTED to be woken up at 0300 for an order, otherwise they would have writen appropiate orders when they admitted the patient or before they left. If they are getting woken up for tylenol orders then I assume they are lonely at home and wish to talk with a nurse at night. That must be the case or they would have done their job properly in the first place.

ShortStackRN · May 18, 2011

Of course we all have doctors who will complain about being called for anything, even a 3 am Tylenol order. HOWEVER, that's unprofessional and inappropriate. Doctors know that part of their job description is being woken up in the middle of the night to meet their patients' needs and that whole being "on call" thing isn't a joke. As charge nurse you need to defend your nurses and let them know that they have a support system.

westieluv · May 19, 2011

What the others said. I have had doctors lash out at me for silly things that come with their job description too. I once had a doctor come in at 6am and kick a patient's chart down the hall because of some minor thing. One night at 11pm I had to call a doctor for admission orders for a new admission that was HIS patient and he cussed me out and asked me if I was retarded. It was so offensive and inappropriate.

I think that when the doctor yells at you for getting woken up at 3am for a Tylenol order it would be appropriate to say something like, "Well, I'm sure that you wouldn't want to come in in the morning and find out that your patient had a fever or severe pain all night long because the nurse was afraid to call you, right?" How could he argue with that, and maybe that would put the simple idea into his head of ordering Tylenol as a "just in case" PRN med on his patients' admission orders.

Good luck. Sometimes it's an uphill battle because the hospitals are so into kissing the docs' you know whats that they won't defend their nurses. It's up to us to defend ourselves.

AMCNurse · Jun 12, 2011

I hate this too make me feel like a peon nobody.

westieluv · Jun 12, 2011

I hate this too make me feel like a peon nobody.

Which is what they want. Doctors that act like this are on a power trip to boost their egos. When they see that they have belittled you or made you feel stupid, in their minds, they have won. Sick.

tokmom, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2011

Yelling at me No. They know better. Be grumpy and complain, yeah...whatever. I let them vent. I also do feel their pain though about being awakend multiple times a night. One of our docs was awakend 9 times by just one nurse! That is stupid and her questions and requests could have been taken care of in a group phone call. If a pt needs something now, and it can't wait a bit to see if others need to call, I of course will call.

I then touch base with the nurses and tell them to please group their calls if able and to run the questions past more senior nurses to see if the dr really does need to be bothered.

If you are getting yelled at, take it up the food chain.

melsman1904 · Jun 17, 2011

Regardless of how "stupid" the reason for the call, it's better to call than to wing it. As others have already mentioned, it's unacceptable for a doc to yell at any of the staff. The way I see it: If you don't want to get calls in the middle of the night, don't admit to a hospital. Pts are going to have needs at all hours. It's the nature of sickness. As a physician, he/she should be well versed in this.