young female docs

[youngfemaledoc]

I was reading some of the comments relating to the nurse physician relationship, and I agree that there is room for improvement in the way that we treat one another in some circumstances. Being a young female physician, I was naturally interested in the numerous comments about the attitude problem of young female physicians who do not like being confused with nurses.

I am inferring that nurses feel that this attitude is condescending, as though the reason we do not like it is because we feel that being a nurse would be beneath us. At least from my standpoint, my dislike of the "young woman = nurse" assumption is not a nurse-physician issue but a gender issue. I do not mind the occasional patient calling me nurse once; what is frustrating as a young female physician is the pervasiveness of this assumption throughout our daily activities. I wear a large, red nametag with the letters MD on it, and every time I walk into a room a introduce myself as a doctor. Without insulting people's intelligence, I do not know what else I can do to make my role in the hospital experience clear. However, at least once a day, someone complains that no physician has been in to see them.

I find it amazing that we live in a society in which gender roles are still so clearly defined.

[live4today, RN]

Originally posted by Sanchai

..............Hi cheerfuldoer! I just want to say that in the hospital where I worked, the nurses love me. We had a good relationship. :kiss

Thanks for sharing that with me Sanchai. :) Nurses and doctors may have different roles in healthcare, but there is no law that says one is greater than the other, or that the two cannot get along for the benefit of the patients they care for. :)

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

One of our "young female docs" comes to works in scrubs (24 hour shifts), at Christmas had red and green ribbons in her hair. She did look cute! You can tell she's not a nurse because we would probably get in trouble for the ribbons......She's an excellent doc, too. Always wears her name tag, that does help. I think some of the families are a little surprised at first.

In general the younger docs are less likely to have an attitude, than the older ones. That means to me that they are more accessible than the older ones, and chances are I will learn more picking their brains. They will also learn more from us.

[germain]

those 60s stereotypes are still with us- look at the nurse call button on the bed in your hospital- is it a ladies room sign woman figure, or a little mary tyler moore haircut with a nursing cap? I'd be annoyed if I were a female doc and was alway called a nurse just because I was a young woman. Just keep thinking- its changing, its changing.

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

Originally posted by germain

those 60s stereotypes are still with us- look at the nurse call button on the bed in your hospital- is it a ladies room sign woman figure, or a little mary tyler moore haircut with a nursing cap?

OMG! :chuckle I never thought about it before, but you are so right about that!:roll

[mattsmom81]

Originally posted by youngfemaledoc

At least from my standpoint, my dislike of the "young woman = nurse" assumption is not a nurse-physician issue but a gender issue. I do not mind the occasional patient calling me nurse once; what is frustrating as a young female physician is the pervasiveness of this assumption throughout our daily activities.

I find it amazing that we live in a society in which gender roles are still so clearly defined.

Thanks for sharing this...I had a conversation just the other night with one of our new female surgeons about this same phenom. She usually makes light of it but it gets to her sometimes.

Have you noticed when the male nurse walks in the room most/many will assume he's a 'doctor'?

These stereotypes are hard to break aren't they!

[Shotzie]

I used to work with a male nurse...big guy...had been a medic in the marines and then went to nusing school...he dressed in all whites from head to toe and always had big red words stitched on his shirt that said XXX(NAME) NURSE, RN,BS, RNC,

and when people would call him doctor or ask him if he was a doctor he would always say.

"NOT A DOC, EVEN BETTER, I'M A NURSE!!!"

I wanted to applaud everytime I heard him do this!!

[LisaRN2B]

Would you as a female nurse be upset if someone mistook you for the doctor? Has it ever happened?

[OriginalWmn]

I am a female nurse and I probably get mistaken for the MD about once a month or so. Of course I work in peds where most of the residents are female.

I had a mother of a pt come to the desk and tell one of the other nurses "I need to talk to that doctor". My co-worker told her that I was a nurse and the mom replied "well, she looks like a doctor".

I have no idea what that was as I am 26 and look my age. Maybe the combo of being in a teaching hospital and in peds where a lot of the residents are about my age and are female.

Sometimes I think people are just stressed out and in the teaching hospital environment are confused by the many different people coming in and out of the room. I don't get offended.

It does bother me when patient families say "you should be a doctor" like they are paying you some big compliment. Yuck!

[jadednurse]

Originally posted by Shotzie

I used to work with a male nurse...big guy...had been a medic in the marines and then went to nusing school...he dressed in all whites from head to toe and always had big red words stitched on his shirt that said XXX(NAME) NURSE, RN,BS, RNC,

and when people would call him doctor or ask him if he was a doctor he would always say.

"NOT A DOC, EVEN BETTER, I'M A NURSE!!!"

I wanted to applaud everytime I heard him do this!!

I like that!

[jadednurse]

Just a thought, but perhaps some of the role confusion stems from the fact that healthcare workers don't always identify themselves by name and title. No offense docs, but I've seen this pretty frequently where I've worked.

[zenman]

You must also remember that you can tell patients who/what you are but many are a few fries short of a Happy Meal and won't remember.:roll :roll :roll

[ainz]

I was often mistaken for the "doctor," then the patients were very surprised to learn I was one of "those male nurses."

I was asked when I would be finishing medical school etc., etc., etc. I guess hospitalized patients and their families are at a high level of anxiety and maybe don't read the name tags, maybe aren't familiar with the "ladder of power and recognition" and just aren't hung up on the things we in the healthcare business are hung up on.

What a horrible thing to be a young female doc and be mistaken for a nurse. :imbar