I have been belittled by medstudents numerous times. the whole "You don't know as much" or "You didn't go to school as long as a doc" always comes up. what is is that they have to prove to me? why do they do this?
Where is the respect???
This is a direct quote i received from a medical student
"Ha! Most of you ***s are just registered nurses... which is what most people who can't aspire to anything greater or just can't handle medical school... I may be a student now and you might think high and mighty because youre registered... but one day i'll probably be your boss... so suck it..."
how do i deal with this? i just ignore it, but it sooo unprofessional
I am not in any way talking badly about medical students, i am just wondering if any of you have had this kind of behavior happen, over heard it, etc. and how i should handle this. please no rude responses.
I did forget to mention that the Center for Nursing Advocacy's website is down, but the representative's names on the site will still respond by email if you contact them.
I don't want to stir the pot here, but I want to stick up for LPNweezy and tell her I support whatever she decides to do.
Something similar happened a few years ago at a med school in Canada. I WARN you, do not go to the following link if you are easily excitable because it will (and should) disturb you beyond belief.
It is a song that residents made about nurses when they were only in their 3rd year. I was shocked at the disrespect and that this song was actually conducted at a party. However, the DON for nurses got wind of it and from what I understand there eventually was significant consequences.
If these med students you are dealing with are really stupid enough to put their opinions on a public domain, they are subject to discipline. They are representatives of their organization, and I, by contract, am "highly encouraged" not to put anything on a facebook or other site that would offend my place of employment or co-workers. I am sure their school promotes the same behavior.
LPNweezy you may also contact the Center for Nurse Advocacy which is an organization that specializes in the image of nursing and can provide you with wonderful ideas for dealing with harassment that may not necessarily end the careers of these less than reasonable individuals, but may make them think before they speak next time.
Good luck and thank you young nurse for taking such pride in your new profession.
Sorry, I think this is very bad and irresponsible advice.
Sorry, I think this is very bad and irresponsible advice.
Not being rude, but can u explain why this would be a bad idea? I'm not going to report anything, i just would like to know for future reference. thank you.
Specializes in ICU, Home Health, Camp, Travel, L&D.
This is a friend of a friend i met who lives out of state, him and his "medstudent " buddies decided to have a very public "nurses are dumb" rant on facebook. i of course, stepped in very respectfully and told them that it was wrong of them to do this. To which extent, i got this heinous reply from one of his facbook friends. All of whom live out of state.
Wade into a turdfight, you're going to get hit with some.
Eh, let them continue. They'll figure out soon enough in the real world who saves who...and, that nurses DON'T work for them.
Thank you for that link, msn10 - I think the part most relevant to this thread was
And consider this scenario. A young man has spent his life being treated as an academic golden boy, constantly told that he is the best, smartest and most valuable person around. Imagine the reaction when his family, friends and complete strangers learn that he will attend medical school. At medical school, however, he is introduced to a rigidly hierarchical, arguably sadomasochistic system in which he is the lowest player--a system in which he is overwhelmed with difficult academic work and tossed into demanding clinical settings in which he knows little of any use. In those settings, he not only confronts esteemed physicians to whom he must defer--however abusive some may be--but also a variety of nurses, some of whom may have been practicing for decades. Some of these nurses, stretched to the breaking point trying to save lives in a short-staffed system that shows them little regard, may not have gotten the memo about how this medical student is the most wonderful thing anyone who knows him has ever seen. Instead, they may simply see someone who doesn't have a clue what he's doing in a hospital, but who is firmly convinced of his own mastery and superiority, and of the ignorance and inferiority of all nurses. Not exactly a recipe for success, is it? Of course, this kind of interaction is hardly unique to the health care setting. History offers many examples of groups who feel disempowered directing aggression toward groups they perceive to be inferior and even weaker.
The difference between the OP's situation and the one discussed by the CfNA is that the former is a medical student getting involved in a FB flamewar while the latter is a sustained, concerted and (literally as well as figuratively) orchestrated performance by a group of studnet representing their educational institution.
Here's my question to the OP and those of you who think s/he should take this further. In addition to the already excellent question "What do you hope that would achieve?" I want to know why you care what one, or even a subset of undergraduate students think?
I have no doubt that, like members of the general public, relatives and patients, the majority of medical students have no idea what we do. You know what? They also have no idea what doctors do, in the same way that nurisng students see only part of what registered nurses do.
As I said in a previous post, that attitude doesn't last long once they're out on the wards, and what I'm far more interested in is the attitude practitioners have toward my colleagues and I.
Obviously you have options about how you're going to respond to what I see as ignorant self-aggrandisement and you see as a belittling attack. I suspect other members who've cautioned you against taking official action have done so because, like me, they suspect it will end up making your life more unpleasant while hainvg little or no effect on the medical student.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
LPNWeezy - I think you will find that online there is a higher percentage of jerks who enjoy Lording their education over other people than in real life. As this applies to medstudents, I've worked for two large teaching hospitals and I find that there a few obnoxious people, a few absolute sweethearts and most pretty average in the middle. I have noticed a decided uptick in hostility from our medstudent friends since they feel threatened by Advanced Practice nurses cutting in on what they consider to be their territory. The older established doctors don't seem to be nearly as bothered by it. Try to let it roll off.
I think you misunderstood my post. I did not tell her to report it, I told her to question the Center for Nurse Advocacy reps for sound advice. When in doubt, go to the experts. If LPNweezy chooses not to report it this time, she can at least get sound, researched, tested advice that comes from professionals (who have done a lot of good for nurses, aka Christina Agulera and Sketchers) so she can know what to say next time.
LPNweezy, I applaud you for asking people their opinion on this instead of just flying off the handle. Some of the advice on this thread has advised you to ignore it, but that is usually what the bully (or any other adjective you may choose) wants. Being the professional in this situation with the med students is hard, and sometimes comments they make can be ignored. However, if they are intimidating or downright demeaning, you have a right not to feel like you should just take it.
I would agree with many, however, that if this had happened at your place of work, you would have a lot more recourse. However, there is no harm in learning how to respond to sassy md students, it may take you very far.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
so i'll just leave it alone. i'm just really conflicted. i have come to realize that people really look down on other people who try to get involved in these kinds of issues, even if it is the "right" thing to do. this reminds me of the time i was in school, and a male student had grabbed me on the bottom, so i told the teacher. and the entire class hated me for "getting him kicked out" but i thought that he got himself kicked out with his own actions.
despite the fact that what i did was the textbook thing to do, i still was looked down upon by my peers because i was a "tattle tail".
there are very few threads here that are completely free of negative responses - sometimes it's surprising when we know what was in our minds when we start the threads. that's probably why i've only started two threads in over 3,000 posts but -- i doubt there is a nurse here who wouldn't help you take apart the people who would blame you for getting your butt grabbed and reporting it!! that is shameful.
you probably saved a lot of women from having the same and worse done - think of it that way.
i think your classmates displayed bullying behavior by calling you a tattle-tale, or perhaps even a snitch for reporting a case of sexual harrassment. social network flame-wars are so common and generally very juvenile in level of maturity. you have a choice not to be involved in that type of back and forth. not so with the negative behavior your classmates displayed toward you.
The med students are telling a lot more about themselves than they are about nurses. No respected physician would talk that way or allow a student to belittle nurses like that. And if a doctor does, they often times find good help hard to find.
A few years ago one was getting real snappy with everyone, calling people idiots, etc and I said to him, "I'd be glad to keep helping you, or I'd also be glad to go sit down and watch you bumble through this yourself. Choice is yours." he figured out a better way to act real fast.
Last week I had a patient with one of the worst cases of c.diff the GI docs had ever seen. septic, INR>6.5, resp failure, etc. A med student walked in without taking isolation precautions. When I reminded her of them she said "yeah, yeah...I know all about that." I told her she would look foolish in front of her colleagues if I had to help wash her hands and put a gown on her. she was indignant (which I can EASILY live with) but that was the end of the attitude.
I'm not recommending that LPNweezy ignore it, I'm recommending that s/he not react, which is what trolls (which this idiot clearly is) want. If it was happening in a clinical setting then reporting his behaviour to someone within his chain of command would be wholly appropriate. But it didn't happen at work, and they have no professional relationship - it was a comment made on a mutual friend's FB page.
My reason for suggestion the OP leave it alone is that you never know how big these things are going to get. Does the OP really want to potentially risk both the student and his/her own career? Because if I were a US-based self-aggrandising, entitled student who had my academic position threatened I'd consider legal action, particularly if my school had no policy on social networking conduct. Does the OP really want to open that can of worms? At the very least there's the possibility of a minute exploration of all of his/her FB posts, the potential for tracking back to AN posts, and the possibility of significant publicity.
That might all seem like a ridiculous bow to draw, but the SBTB authors had no idea one post on Cassie Edwards would effectively end her career. And 'Cook's Source" creator Judith Griggs had no idea her decision would have such massive consequences. Or to take an example where the originator was more innocent, Jessi Slaughter had no idea she was going to become an internet meme.
Or maybe you feel this is closer to whistle-blowing? Nurses with actual, legitimate, patient's-lives-at-risk concerns have been charged, side-lined, fired and ostracized by their colleagues, and the same is true for doctors. I applaud whistle-blowing, but they're serious consequences. my concern is that the OP could end up with seriously bigger problems that s/he started out with, which is why I recommended defriending the student and moving on.
I have been belittled by medstudents numerous times. the whole "You don't know as much" or "You didn't go to school as long as a doc" always comes up. what is is that they have to prove to me? why do they do this?
Where is the respect???
This is a direct quote i received from a medical student
"Ha! Most of you ***s are just registered nurses... which is what most people who can't aspire to anything greater or just can't handle medical school... I may be a student now and you might think high and mighty because youre registered... but one day i'll probably be your boss... so suck it..."
how do i deal with this? i just ignore it, but it sooo unprofessional
I am not in any way talking badly about medical students, i am just wondering if any of you have had this kind of behavior happen, over heard it, etc. and how i should handle this. please no rude responses.
Who is this person to you?What conversation were you having for this to have come up?
I'm sorry but I find it a tad incredible, to accept this without more info. Especially, the "you might think high and mighty part", makes me assume there's more you're not telling.
Don't forget these residents are just as scared as a new nursing grad might be when on the floor. So please shed more light.
msn10
560 Posts
LPNweezy,
I did forget to mention that the Center for Nursing Advocacy's website is down, but the representative's names on the site will still respond by email if you contact them.