anybody else tired of being called a nurse?

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LADoc00 said:
short people dont get as much respect...must be evolution as you dont see many primate tribes led by the smallest monkey/gorilla, its usually the biggest male. Seriously, we evolved from a society where one big monkey was usually attended by many smaller and typically female monkeys. Now, if you are a patient do you want to address the smaller helper monkeys or main silverback one??

Now if we had evolved from some other creature, like lizardmen or something, this post would possibly be different.

If a group of white coats walked into my room as a patient, my first inclination would NOT be to assume the one 4'11" person was in charge unless he/she was really really old and wise looking.😉
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:laugh: You obviously haven't read this book:

0953881016_01__BO2204203200_PIlitb-.jpg
 
I think it depends on where I am rotating as fars as how I am treated. If I am in a small, rural hospital then people do the girl=nurse thing. Sometimes, staff and other docs will do it too. 🙄 I just keep my cool, maintain a professional demeanor and do not get into fights with them over their pig-ignorance. I just continue to be myself, and am respectful and polite to them and eventually they come around and begin to respect me. It's not my job to educate the world.

If I am on the hem-onc/surgical service of a large urban hospital, then I have been treated with more respect and as a medical student. No problems.

Of course the VA? what can I say. The male medical students are given the lion's share of attention and respect from staff and patients and sometimes are even called "doctor." I am usually called by my first name, and with a certain amount of disrespect thrown in as well. I had the janitor ask me out because "you are single and so am I." Never mind he was butt-ugly and kind of creepy too, in a VA sort of way. Apparently, to him the fact that I was a woman is all that mattered. He didn't really understand the "doctor" thing. Kept thinking it was some sort of nurse thing. Whatever.
 
Gem134 said:
I had the janitor ask me out because "you are single and so am I." Never mind he was butt-ugly and kind of creepy too, in a VA sort of way. Apparently, to him the fact that I was a woman is all that mattered. He didn't really understand the "doctor" thing. Kept thinking it was some sort of nurse thing. Whatever.
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Hahaha, I got asked out by a ward clerk at the VA, despite mentioning my boyfriend multiple times. Awesome.
 
LADoc00 said:
short people dont get as much respect...must be evolution as you dont see many primate tribes led by the smallest monkey/gorilla, its usually the biggest male. Seriously, we evolved from a society where one big monkey was usually attended by many smaller and typically female monkeys. Now, if you are a patient do you want to address the smaller helper monkeys or main silverback one??
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Depends on the primate you're talking about, as there are a large number of different systems.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/behavior/behave_2.htm

Among bonobos, for example, the alpha female is dominant.
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3220/bonobo.html

And by the way, the dominant male is not always the largest. See this link for a description of a smaller male chimp who was able to maintain his alpha status by using empty gasoline cans to make intimidating displays.
http://www.chimpanzoo.org/african_notecards/chapter_22.html

Shorter is better in my book. Much more efficient. Think about the caloric-intake:value-added ratios of, for example, Albert Einstein (5'9") vs Manute Bol (7'7").
 
chicamedica said:
i often am made to feel like i need to prove myself, especially if i'm working with a guy co-intern or even med student, and i've started to realize why some female physicians have ended up somewhat aggressive.
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This is soo true. In particular the short female attendings seem to occasionally carry a big chip around on their shoulder. They get looked down on by pretty much everyone in the hospital, and try to compensate by being somewhat vicious and overbearing. Honestly it is hard to blame them considering how they are discriminated against, but at the same time it can make them unpleasant to work with.

I don't think you should let it affect your personality. Just be humble, like we all should be, and accept that mistakes will be made. Look at Sikh doctors that wear turbans...african-american residents who frequently get checked by security. Try not to let being the recipient of unfair prejudice turn you into a mean person.
 
tr said:
Depends on the primate you're talking about, as there are a large number of different systems.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/behavior/behave_2.htm

Among bonobos, for example, the alpha female is dominant.
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3220/bonobo.html

And by the way, the dominant male is not always the largest. See this link for a description of a smaller male chimp who was able to maintain his alpha status by using empty gasoline cans to make intimidating displays.
http://www.chimpanzoo.org/african_notecards/chapter_22.html

Shorter is better in my book. Much more efficient. Think about the caloric-intake:value-added ratios of, for example, Albert Einstein (5'9") vs Manute Bol (7'7").
Click to expand...

Interesting, I guess it depends whether we are part the chimp or bonobo paradigm.

I would guess chimp because in general we are highly aggressive and dont really have much of a history of alpha female societies. But also I can see more "bonobo" in modern life. Good read there.
 
Carbon said:
Hahaha, I got asked out by a ward clerk at the VA, despite mentioning my boyfriend multiple times. Awesome.
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Women in medicine are lucky to get any dates. :meanie:
 
How about the flip side, I am prematurely graying and generally burned out looking resident. When the sharply dressed attractive attendings walk in and introduce themselves (male or female) the patients look at me like, "You total clown!":laugh:
 
Just introduce yourself (loudly) as Nurse. AlottaVagina (ala Austin Powers). Then pause, wait for reaction (confusion, disgust); then laugh, and say, "No seriously, my name is Dr. ____, how can I help you today?" They'll be so turned off by the Nurse name they'll be so glad you actually are Dr. so and so, and won't forget it either.
 
Lokhtar said:
I was like 'uhhh...she's the doctor, I'm just a volunteer.'

He then said, 'Oh, ok.', and then asked me 'So Doc, I have a surgery this week to remove a tumor, will you be doing it?'
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Was probably a brain tumor of some kind (perhaps near the hippocampus) that obviously affected his short-term memory. 🙂
 
Blade28 said:
Was probably a brain tumor of some kind (perhaps near the hippocampus) that obviously affected his short-term memory. 🙂
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Or maybe he thought he was on a tv show, like Grey's or ER, where ALL doctors do EVERYTHING!

Deliver a baby, do some CPR, give bad news to a family, take out a brain tumor...:laugh:
 
Gem134 said:
I am usually called by my first name, and with a certain amount of disrespect thrown in as well. I had the janitor ask me out because "you are single and so am I." Never mind he was butt-ugly and kind of creepy too, in a VA sort of way.
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HILARIOUS!

mistaken identity is only going to get worse once they ban white coats in US hospitals. check out the pic in this article on yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_on_he_me/doctor_dress_code. is she a resident or a nurse?

btw, i think it helps if you call yourself a med student instead of a medical student. it's less confusing (we treat a lot appalachians at my home program).
 
Could all you nurses stop clucking in here? Thanks. :laugh:
 
I, personally, like it best when HUCs ask if I'm from transport.
 
DJ LACTULOSE said:
mistaken identity is only going to get worse once they ban white coats in US hospitals. check out the pic in this article on yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_on_he_me/doctor_dress_code. is she a resident or a nurse?
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Easy! For the most part:

Scrub top not tucked in = nurse
Scrub top tucked in = resident

DON'T get me started on people who sloppily wear scrubs as "pajamas" (Medicine residents on "long" call), or those who tuck them into their khakis.
 
Kimberli Cox said:
Deliver a baby, do some CPR, give bad news to a family, take out a brain tumor...:laugh:
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Replace the word "brain" with "sigmoid," and that actually describes a memorable day of mine back in December last year!

At the VA, of all places! 😱
 
Blade28 said:
Easy! For the most part:

Scrub top not tucked in = nurse
Scrub top tucked in = resident

DON'T get me started on people who sloppily wear scrubs as "pajamas" (Medicine residents on "long" call), or those who tuck them into their khakis.
Click to expand...

Clarification:

top tucked into scrub bottom: surgical resident who has been trained properly
top untucked: all bets off, could be a nurse or a medicine resident who's on long call
top tucked into khakis: ED resident or FP doing some procedures
cartoon pattern or flowered top untucked: now THAT says nurse
 
Kimberli Cox said:
Guess it wasn't appendicitis, eh? 😉
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In brief: 17-year-old Spanish-speaking-only Hispanic teenager, G1P0, goes into active labor at home and comes to the nearest hospital, which happens to be our VA. Fully dilated at 10 cm and 100% in the ER, ambulance on its way but too late as baby was crowning. Everyone else too scared to help.
 
Blade28 said:
In brief: 17-year-old Spanish-speaking-only Hispanic teenager, G1P0, goes into active labor at home and comes to the nearest hospital, which happens to be our VA. Fully dilated at 10 cm and 100% in the ER, ambulance on its way but too late as baby was crowning. Everyone else too scared to help.
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Huh? You don't need to go into more details, but people in an ER (even at a VA) too scared to delivery a baby? Taxi drivers do it for God's sake.

Boil some water and get her some towels...that's all ya have to do, right?:laugh:
 
isn't the boiling water just to get the husband out of the way and give them something to do? i remember hearing that from one of my attendings.
 
Perhaps...I never knew what its purpose was for.
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i'm not hte only one?! this makes me feel better.
i still have no idea what heck that was for...someone please enlighten us! :laugh:
 
boiling water was probably done to sterilize instruments like the scissors used to cut the cord and to wash hands with after it cooled down.
from the straight dope: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_109.html.

Really. Your first thought is that the boiling water was dreamed up by male scriptwriters who had never witnessed the miracle of childbirth. Anyone who's actually assisted at one thinks: I don't need boiling water, I need a bucket and a mop. A midwife we talked to jokingly suggested it was an excuse to get the husband out of the room.

But there was probably more to it than that. Midwives and such have been heating water since time immemorial to wash mother and baby following delivery. Water could also be used for warm compresses to soften the perineum, reducing the chances of tearing and easing the pain.

You didn't necessarily boil the water, though. Boiling water kills germs, but this was not widely understood until the late 19th century. Prior to that time few saw the need for cleanliness. Doctors in the 1780s, for example, complained about midwives with dirty hands poking around in the mother's innards during labor.

Truth is, as long as it was just midwives doing the poking, sterility wasn't that important. Only when doctors got involved did it become a matter of life and death. During the 19th century, as doctors began to supplant midwives at the bedsides of women giving birth, there was an alarming rise in complications such as puerperal fever. This often fatal illness resulted from the infection of vaginal or other tissue torn during childbirth. Midwives weren't major carriers of this disease, because they saw only a handful of patients a week. A doctor, on the other hand, might handle diseased tissue during an autopsy and then proceed to the delivery room, where he'd unwittingly infect the mother.

Some doctors tried to warn of the danger, notably the Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis. But few paid much heed until 1880, when Louis Pasteur showed that puerperal fever was caused by a particular type of bacteria. Meanwhile the English physician Joseph Lister was persuading his colleagues of the importance of antiseptics in surgery. By 1885 hospitals had begun to adopt antiseptic methods such as boiling water to sterilize instruments, including those used during childbirth. (Previously many cases of tetanus had resulted from cutting the umbilical cord with a dirty knife or scissors, and of course there were the infamous forceps.) Presumably word about antiseptic practices eventually reached the prairies, and boiling water both to sterilize things and, after it cooled, to wash the hands of the attending midwife/doctor/cowpoke became a standard part of the prenatal drill.
 
Kimberli Cox said:
Huh? You don't need to go into more details, but people in an ER (even at a VA) too scared to delivery a baby? Taxi drivers do it for God's sake.

Boil some water and get her some towels...that's all ya have to do, right?:laugh:
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ER residents and attendings too scared. :laugh:

That's why they call it "General" Surgery! 👍
 
I'm no politically correct libtard by any means but even I get pissed when I see the female doctors being called nurses....they work damn hard to become doctors...I get the most pissed off when female patients call them nurses...jesus!
 
Ligament said:
I'm no politically correct libtard by any means but even I get pissed when I see the female doctors being called nurses....they work damn hard to become doctors...I get the most pissed off when female patients call them nurses...jesus!
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Thank you. I hate introducing myself as "Dr. Doctawife" and then, seconds later, have the mother of the patient say, "Just a sec, the nurse is here in the room. Gotta go."

Grr.
 
^_^ I get mistaken for a PT by the M1 guys. I'm young + I'm not in their class + PT sch on campus + I'm female = PT student. I like to sit there and be amused by their "I'm a DOCTOR" egos.

Timing the "I'm an M2" statement is an art.
wait for it. wait for it.... NOW

I'm a prankster at heart.
 
Kimberli Cox said:
Clarification:

top tucked into scrub bottom: surgical resident who has been trained properly
top untucked: all bets off, could be a nurse or a medicine resident who's on long call
top tucked into khakis: ED resident or FP doing some procedures
cartoon pattern or flowered top untucked: now THAT says nurse
Click to expand...

🙂 HI-larious!


I get called "honey" aaaall the time!
My male co-interns get called Dr. so and so but I get "honey"
Or just my first name if I'm lucky.

Oh, and the old folks keep asking me every day I see them: "are you a doctor dear?" What are you gonna do...
 
Hurricane said:
I'm not one of those jackasses with the vanity plates who throws a hissy fit if my waiter doesn't address me as doctor, nor am I a bra-burning feminist, but it would be nice if when I walked into the room, the patient for whom I've been taking care of for the past 24 hours wouldn't say "I gotta get off the phone, the nurse is here." I mean, with the stupid white coat and jumble of badges I have to wear, some form of the word "doctor" is only written on me like 3 or 4 times. Sheesh.
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Oh I don't think its unreasonable to get upset about that. I'm a male 4th year and have seen that happen time and time again on my clerkships. It would piss me off to no end if it happened to me.

The two examples I can think of off hand are:
1. Our whole team walks into the room of a patient that was being taken care of by a female intern. Our team is all male other than her. He's on the phone and says the following, "Oh I've gotta call you back, there's a group of doctors here to see me...*pauses and looks at us all*... oh and one nurse."

2. Not exactly the same, but still in the vein of gender inequality. I'm on OB/GYN on L&D. The attending is a young-ish looking female doctor. She's standing in the corner observing a resident help me perform one of my first deliveries. As we're about to get gowned up the resident asks the patient "Do you mind if a student observes?" (wonderful euphemism for 'does the whole thing' btw) The patient responds "I don't mind if the other doctor is here *gestures towards me* but maybe the student could step out *gesturing toward the attending*

That kind of thing would definitely get me pissed if I were a woman. If I see it and feel like the patient should REALLY have known a female team member's title (or I know for sure they've been corrected in the past) I try to correct them as curtly as I possibly can within the bounds of professionalism 😉
 
Kimberli Cox said:
Clarification:

top tucked into scrub bottom: surgical resident who has been trained properly
top untucked: all bets off, could be a nurse or a medicine resident who's on long call
top tucked into khakis: ED resident or FP doing some procedures
cartoon pattern or flowered top untucked: now THAT says nurse
Click to expand...

Haha, that's perfect. True to form I'm going to be a medicine guy and hate tucking in my scrubs--mostly because I'm 6'4" and have to wear XXL to get an inseam that fits and I don't want the bottoms to look ballooned out like MC Hammer pants. Seriously, why can't hospitals get some M and L EXTRA LONG scrubs? I see a lot of tall doctors walking around in flood pants but not a whole lot who look like they actually need XXL and up...those would be the nurses, and as noted they like flower prints anyway 😉

The ED resident in the khakis and scrub top is SPOT ON. I like to call it the medical mullet--business on the bottom, party up top!
 
In today's hospital, you could also look at their Crocs - likelihood of being a nurse is directly proportional to the number of strange flower/Disney character buttons on their pink crocs.
 
While I've certainly been called "nurse" before (while wearing my Volunteer scrubs and my name tag with "VOLUNTEER" written on it) and "candy striper" (the scrub top is pink), and I've even been patted on the head (many, MANY moons ago when I was in my mid-twenties, but looked 15), this last week was a new experience for me. I'm a pre-med (granted, an older...okay, MUCH older non-trad) and I spent last week shadowing at OSU Medical Center - 3 days in the ED, 1 in surgery. As a matter of course, I was issued a white coat by the Medical Education office, with a hand-written ID tag (name, date, dept shadowing in, etc). It should be noted that it was a LONG white coat they issued to me. I lost count of the number of times that I was called "Doctor." The ED doctors didn't make that mistake, but plenty of doctors from other services came to me looking for orders. 😀
 
iamcatwoman said:
In today's hospital, you could also look at their Crocs - likelihood of being a nurse is directly proportional to the number of strange flower/Disney character buttons on their pink crocs.
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A patient bought me some black crocs with pink ribbons on them; nice touch but I thought they looked a little too "nursey".

(although I have, in the past, admired some leopard print clogs I saw, and considered them for a few minutes).
 
drlisa0318 said:
While I've certainly been called "nurse" before (while wearing my Volunteer scrubs and my name tag with "VOLUNTEER" written on it) and "candy striper" (the scrub top is pink), and I've even been patted on the head (many, MANY moons ago when I was in my mid-twenties, but looked 15), this last week was a new experience for me. I'm a pre-med (granted, an older...okay, MUCH older non-trad) and I spent last week shadowing at OSU Medical Center - 3 days in the ED, 1 in surgery. As a matter of course, I was issued a white coat by the Medical Education office, with a hand-written ID tag (name, date, dept shadowing in, etc). It should be noted that it was a LONG white coat they issued to me. I lost count of the number of times that I was called "Doctor." The ED doctors didn't make that mistake, but plenty of doctors from other services came to me looking for orders. 😀
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Funny, I long ago disassociated long coat with Doctor. The HS kid at my hospital who picked up biopsy samples from clinic wears a long white coat.🙄
 
Kimberli Cox said:
A patient bought me some black crocs with pink ribbons on them; nice touch but I thought they looked a little too "nursey".

(although I have, in the past, admired some leopard print clogs I saw, and considered them for a few minutes).
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Those actually sound really cute (my mother was a nurse, so it's in the genes!).

All I've ever gotten from patients was left-over grapes. Oh, and ringworm, once.
 
iamcatwoman said:
Those actually sound really cute (my mother was a nurse, so it's in the genes!).
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They are cute, but I am enough of a snob to:

a) refuse to wear something that everyone else wears (ie, when you see grandmothers running around in Crocs, their heyday is over) - I never wore clogs in residency either

b) refuse to wear something identified with a different profession

All I've ever gotten from patients was left-over grapes. Oh, and ringworm, once.
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:laugh:

You should see our office...filled with homemade things. Some nice, some not so nice but we love them anyway.
 
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