Yelling Doctors, How do you handle them?????

rtbabb · Mar 12, 2009

I know how you feel - you end up feeling slapped for just doing your job. A good technique to use when anyone treats you this way is to use the 3 part message - "I feel ____ when you _____, because _____. For example, "Dr., I feel unappreciated when you yell at me, because I'm doing my best to take care of your patient when you're at home." I would love to have seen his reaction - probably a moment of silence and then an apology. Hang in there!

Chsanc2 · Mar 12, 2009

I'm confused.....why are nurses doing the med recs? In my facility, it's the MD's job. It sounds like they're pawning the work off to the nurses. Oh, and BTW, docs go into their profession for the $$, not for the love of people or medicine...and last I checked, they make ALOT more of it than nurses do. Sorry they have to take a few unwanted calls a night....that's why they get paid the big bucks....suck it up! :cry:

nurseforlife · Mar 12, 2009

It sucks to be yelled at.... Just say "Please Don't yell at me" If they can't seem to understand it verbally,and it continues... write them up requesting a written appology. That'll sweeten there cornflakes. That's what I do. Why would you tolerate it.

lpnflorida · Mar 12, 2009

I'm confused.....why are nurses doing the med recs? In my facility, it's the MD's job. It sounds like they're pawning the work off to the nurses. Oh, and BTW, docs go into their profession for the $$, not for the love of people or medicine...and last I checked, they make ALOT more of it than nurses do. Sorry they have to take a few unwanted calls a night....that's why they get paid the big bucks....suck it up!

If the doctors have not yet done a med reconcilliation on admission it falls on the shoulders of the nurses. Yes, doctors usually dictate what medications a patient has been on. That is not good enough, burns my hide. Hence Jacho came up with another redundant form which is suppose to make it safer upon discharge to know what medications they are to take or not take.

Chsanc2 · Mar 12, 2009

OK. Maybe because I work ICU I don't see this because patients don't truly get "discharged" from the ICU.

joaniej231 · Mar 12, 2009

I agree that knowing when to call is an art and kind of a science too, and there have been many times when I have regretted calling a physician after being reamed out.Personally, I think it could have waited until the am, but you did what you thought was the right thing to do and I commend you for that. it wasn't the end of the world for that doctor to take that call but getting screamed at is something that I do try to avoid because it upsets my "kharma" and my "kharma" is sacrosanct. I try at all costs to avoid those kind of confrontations for my own personal protection, and I always make my decision based on what is best for the patient.

StrbryJelo · Mar 12, 2009

When we moved to this area 20+ yrs. ago I was 11-7 charge of a surgical floor. Hospital policy was to call any "abnormal" labs to the surgeon the night before surgery. Sounds good on paper, but the labs routinely didn't come back until after I came to work so I had to call docs late many times for rediculous lab values such as a potassim level 1/10th off of normal. One surgeon who was notoriusly gruff and rude reamed me out about this. I quietly told him I was following hospital policy, that I agreed with him and didn't like it either, but I was in no position to change it. HE WAS and suggested he do so. I had to call him many times after that, but didn't get any more crap from him about it. I'm with the others, don't applogize for calling them. Especially when it's due to a facility policy you have no control over.

When I was a "newby" I seemed to be calling one doc a lot with problems about his patients. One evening (not late) he yelled at me telling I was calling him about a bunch of stupid stuff that didn't warrent calling him. I reminded him I was new at nursing and could call him when I was concerned and he could help me learn or I could be afraid to call him because he was going to yell and berate me and possibly have a patient harmed by not getting what they needed. He never yelled at me again and was a very great help in my learning many things.

Some docs, young and old, think it's alright to behave any way they want, but don't you do it. Kind of like some cops. Don't believe it. Don't allow it or accept it. Facilities have allowed the medical "gods" to get away with too much for too long and are finally, though for many it's unwillingly, doing something about it. Maintain your composure and there will be no fault found with you.

karrncen · Mar 12, 2009

Hey, you're new and you're trying to do your due diligence in performing a med reconciliation. I wouldn't have called the doc at that hour, but made a notation that the dosage was unknown. It is up to the physician to order the meds.

As for the rude yelling, report him to the chief. There is no excuse for treating colleagues in that manner. I would also suggest you have your manager discuss deferring calls about meds on night shift to only emergencies. Med. reconciliation can be done when the doc's offices are open if you can't get the info from another source.

Hang in there.

nurseforlife · Mar 12, 2009

I think the problem is nurses are so worried about "getting into trouble" that they sometimes make stupid calls about stupid things.

People in our profession need to lighten up!!! Remember that we are professionals and therfore should be entitled to make educated decisions. Pass on information to the next shift if necessary. I really can understand why doctors get upset too. It just makes us look dumb.

exodusgo, BSN · Mar 13, 2009

Definitley sucks to have docs yell at you..but you do have the patient's best interests at heart and whenever i run into a doc like that i try to calmly remind him of it as i am asking for whatever order i need. Most hospitals have some time of policy in place regarding MD's who bully the staff- usually the chief of medicine can get involved if it's a pattern with a physician. As intimidating as in can be, nurses have to remain the pt advocate and sometimes that means the doc gets woken up. However, we also try to group our calls to docs if it isn't stat or possibly wait till early am (5-ish) if we need clarification on something from an overnight shift. I also use the pt's pharmacy frequently since i find that a lot don't quite remember the dose or med name and the pharmacy's are able to give you dose/name as well as last time a script was filled which helps to make sure that the pt isnt doubling up RX's from multiple pharmacies. I am finding a lot are price shopping and get meds filled at more than one retailer and sometimes they end up getting pill from both and doubling up. But at the end of the day, i think the best nurses are the ones who aren't afraid to call the doc...just remember to be patient and prepared so that the MD doesnt have to fish for information

robi-d · Mar 13, 2009

I like LilyBlues response. While I have no nursing experience (I graduate in December), my life's experiences have taught me that when someone begins yelling - decrease your tone and remain calm, and most of all respectful! Call the physician sir/mam, While not apologizing, explain that hospital policy mandates the call be made to reconcile your meds. And with that, a call at 0200 would be appropriate.

nurseforlife · Mar 13, 2009

I know how hard it was to work in El Paso. I had a really diffult time understanding what some doctors were saying on the phone due to spanish accent. Especially when I was coming from Canada. I had one doctor ask if I was Stupid cause I just asked him to repeat his order. That was challenging. Nice eh?