Why do you think so many healthcare workers are mean and arrogant?

[mikethern]

Not all of course, but many physicians, nurses, and other health care workers have mean and arrogant personalities.

Why do you think this is?

Is it that....

1. You have to be very competitive to get into medical or nursing school. Competitive people are often cut-throat.

2. The stress of the job causes workers to be cranky and mean.

3. Unhappy people act arrogant to feel better about their lives.

4. Workers learn to be mean from other coworkers. It's a conformity thing.

5. Most people in the world these days lack manners.

Any opinions?

[Djuna]

Reminded me of a really interesting article I read in the NY Times. Interesting snap shot of how we used to practice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01visi.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Some things change for the better, others change for the worse. Whilst in general society has become more self centred and rude, I believe we have made progress in many areas of life such as rights for women, children, gays and lesbians, minorities and the intellectually or physically disabled.

[panamabrt]

Maybe they are in it for the wrong reasons.......$$$$.....not for the right reasons which is the natural nurtering feeling one desires to help others...

[Music in My Heart]

Reminded me of a really interesting article I read in the NY Times. Interesting snap shot of how we used to practice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01visi.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Thanks TiredMD for the post.

What an eye-opener. Having just been through major surgery with my six-year-old daughter, I can hardly comprehend having had to leave her there by herself. We stayed up with her round-the-clock and, I believe, made the nurse's life a bit easier. DD certainly benefited by having mom or dad immediately hold her hand and talk to her each time she awakened during the night.

My how times have changed, and definitely for the better in this regard.

Of four doctors and eight nurses that we dealt with during our stay, the four docs were all very approachable and considerate as were six of the nurses. Fortunately, nurse #7 was called off our case after a few hours and nurse #8 wasn't ours to begin with.

Now the PA, that's another story...

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

actually, i don't think so many health care workers have mean and arrogant personalities. i'm sorry for you that you do.

i heartily agree. as a patient, as a family member of a patient, and as a nurse, i've found the vast majority of healthcare workers to be decent, caring, and compassionate. likewise, i've found most patients and their families to be appreciative and respectful.

the exceptions do tend to stand out, but i have also noticed that there are times when good people--even me--have a bad day or a bad moment. i don't know many people in any walk of life who are perfectly awful, but i don't know any at all who are perfect. the patient's husband who is rude to me at the beginning of my shift may be a kind person acting out of worry and frustration. that doesn't make it okay, but if i respond with empathy and understanding, i may win an ally, rather than making an enemy.

a trend i've noticed on my unit is that if i page a neurology resident, they often want to discuss the matter with their senior, or defer an order until the dayshift team arrives, whereas if i page a neurosurgery resident, i usually get an immediate decision. partly, i think this is because a lot of our neurology residents are fairly new, but i also think it takes a certain cockiness to cut somebody's head open and mess around in their brains. but i notice, too, that the neurogurgeons seem a bit more cordial to the nurses. that probably has a lot to do with experience and familiarity, since the more senior neurology residents are also quite cordial.

i have heard some attendings of either service referred to as arrogant. i don't deal with attendings enough to have a strong opinion. but i have seen residents sitting at the bedside, holding a patient's hand, often enough to be skeptical of stereotypes of uncaring or arrogant doctors.

i once had a call from a clerk who was getting grief from radiology because my patient wasn't there, yet. she called me in the middle of something more pressing and seemed to feel it was her job to pass the grief on to me. later, she told me it was rude of me to hang up on her. i explained, truthfully, that i did not hang up on her, but when i threw my phone across the room, it hit the wall and hung itself up. to which she replied, "well, as long as you didn't hang up on me--because that would be rude."

stress doesn't always bring out the best in us. some behaviors should not be tolerated, but a lot of times a little patience and a sense of humor can de-escalate a situation more effectively than any amount of "standing up for ourselves."

[jackson145]

In my work experience, it's been co-workers being nasty to other co-workers rather than employees being mean to patients/customers and vice-versa. It also seems like, at least in healthcare, everyone feels the need to dump on whoever is one rung lower on the hospital ladder. Nurses give techs a hard time, docs treat nurses like servants, techs take advantage of housekeeping. I've seen someone who is a nurse for many years that becomes a NP and looks down on former co-workers.

Why do we do this? Are we all so insecure? Everyone spends so much time stressing the importance of their particular job and how hard they worked to get there. I imagine (most) everyone feels this way about their job, whether they have a license or tech cert, a 2yr degree or a 4 yr one, or 10+ years worth of education.

I think it's fine to be proud of your accomplishments, but they should never define who you are. We are so much more than our employment.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Also, I think we all have our moments in time were we snap a bit. I'm only human and I would hate to be labeled arrogant or mean when I'm stressed and just have "one of my moments" because for the most part I'm a fairly decent guy. I try to allow othes this before I label them.

[Gypsyvega]

Any job that provides a service (and lets face, that pretty much all) gets trained to smile, be helpful, and we all do try. But in our society today, we have learned "nice" means weak and easy to pushover. We all like the "May I help you" type. We know we will get what we all feel we want as Americans. Instant gratification and no hassle. The nicer she/he is, the more they can be steamrolled into giving what you want. Its a defense mechanism to be more stand-offish (read : rude) Because then they have to "convince" you to give the sun, moon and stars on a plate.

[sanders19]

I feel like Health Care workers are rude and arrogant because that's the self defense mechanism we use against a miserable patient crowd. While pleasant and grateful patients do exist, they come few and far between. The rudeness and hostility is how we try to get through the day without the inappreciative and angry patients' wearing us down.

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

You know I must just be plain weird. I had some tough, mean patients as well as co-workers who were hard to work with, but somehow I managed to pull off something. Angry aggressive patients were eating out of my hand as I did my job for them. Sometimes believe me it was a challenge. But I was always dependable and what I said I'd do, I'd do it and f/u if nec.

As far as co-workers, I wasn't responsible for their actions. I'd help the meanest one without a blink in the eye. I was there working selfishly for one reason, me. I love nursing and I showed respect. But I also wasn't afraid to confront a manager, co-worker whatever if they were in my face or passing the buck.

My attitude was if I have to do my job correctly, then so do you. I pretty much stayed to a routine and in the event someone was crashing, you just delved in and helped to save a life.

Don't get me wrong, many, many nights I came home so exhausted. I was not a brown-noser, I just did my job the best way I could, and did it truthfully.

[lamazeteacher]

ALL OF THE ABOVE........

And also, misery loves company.

[tt5555]

stress

manners

time pressure

patients demanding

[bigsyis]

My attitude was if I have to do my job correctly, then so do you. I pretty much stayed to a routine and in the event someone was crashing, you just delved in and helped to save a life.

You know, I have tried to do exactly as you describe, with the same attitude. I was told that it was unfair to hold other people to the same standards as I have for myself, and that "a person's perception is their reality." In other words, if you hold them to the same standard that you operate by, you can be perceived as mean, and that perception will be judged accurate because it is that person's view of you-accurate, or not!

Have you ever heard such hogwash?