Dealing with nurses

[rxforlife2004]

To those who are currently on internship at hospital (either rotation or employment), how do you see the nurse treating our fellow pharmacists? As for me, at the hospital that i am currently interning, the nurses treat the pharmacists like crap (majority, not all). They don't really show respect to the pharmacists and worse even yell at them when it's hectic (like once this new pharmacist tried to write a TPN order and this nurse jumped in "Why did you take my chart, you should have asked me first !", and i was like "WTF?" ).
A lot of the pharmacists , as I have been observing, are still not very aggressive enough.

So just wonder if this is the same at your hospital that you're working now. And I still don't understand why the nurse have more power than the pharmacist (at least at the two hospitals that i have been so far).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[konkan]

To those who are currently on internship at hospital (either rotation or employment), how do you see the nurse treating our fellow pharmacists? As for me, at the hospital that i am currently interning, the nurses treat the pharmacists like crap (majority, not all). They don't really show respect to the pharmacists and worse even yell at them when it's hectic (like once this new pharmacist try to write TPN order and this nurse jumped in "Why did you take my chart, you should have asked me first !", and i was like "WTF?" ).
A lot of the pharmacists , as I have been observing, are still not very aggressive enough.


So just wonder if this is the same at your hospital that you're working now. And I still don't understand why the nurse have more power than the pharmacist (at least at the two hospitals that i have been so far).

In my hospital nurses are complaining that pharmacists are treating them like crap...

 

[Shizelbs]

My experience has been that nurses are psychotic bitches. Just my personal experience.

 

[taloddar2002]

My experience has been that nurses are psychotic bitches. Just my personal experience.

Hahaha so true. There are some really rude nurses at the hospital i work for. In fact, a nurse made one of our newer pharmacist cry a few weeks ago. However, there are also some extremely nice nurses (mostly in the ICU) who seem to treat the pharmacists with a lot of respect.

 

[Requiem]

I am seriously eagerly anticipating the day I can lay a knowledge smack down on any nurse around me.

 

[imperial frog]

To those who are currently on internship at hospital (either rotation or employment), how do you see the nurse treating our fellow pharmacists?

The nurse I married treats me pretty good.

 

[sdn1977]

I'll offer a couple of points from 20+ years of working in a hospital.

The nurses are tired, have worked a long time, want to get their charting done & go home. If you look at some of their schedules, particularly on a surgical unit - they can admit & discharge 12 patients a day. If they keep a patient the whole shift, its an easy day. Admissions & discharges - even if they are to other units or facilities are lots of work. Be cognizant of the shift change. If you are within 45 min of the shift change, they want the chart to finish so they can leave. People say things when they're tired - don't take it personally. In my facility, pharmacists leave about 5PM - nurses change shifts either at 3, 7 or 11PM, dependng on how long they work. I can always come back.

Try your best not to demean anyone in the hospital, no matter what they do - from the janitor to the administrator. It only reflects poorly on you.

You get what you give - if you treat them poorly, they will treat you poorly. It will take longer to change your reputation as an arrogant, angry pharmacist than to creat one as someone who will be willing to work with them.

There is always a nice way to say that Colace is not stat. You don't have to tell them their request is not important, but you can help them understand there is a situation that is urgent that you need to deal with right now, but you won't forget them.

Working in a hospital is not about power. Yes....you do control the drugs, but nurses need to interface with the patient, physician, family - all of which are trying to get the to do something RIGHT NOW! Why be part of that problem? Try to find another way to get what you need. (The TPN example....note down the vitals for the last 24hr, get the labwork online, get a new order sheet to write the orders & a new progress sheet to write your notes).

You will always be appreciated for working with the system & being helpful, even when you have to give information they don't want to hear (you have to redraw that gent level for example). They may not tell you they apprciate you - that is true in every aspect of pharmacy, IMO. Learn to tell yourself that you are valued because you are!

Try to get along - your life will be much happier!

 

[imperial frog]

I am seriously eagerly anticipating the day I can lay a knowledge smack down on any nurse around me.

That attitude will make for a very unpleasant hospital work experience in the long run.

 

[baggywrinkle]

So just wonder if this is the same at your hospital that you're working now. And I still don't understand why the nurse have more power than the pharmacist (at least at the two hospitals that i have been so far).

It takes time to develop rapport. Respect is earned. They need to know
they can count on you. Spoil them rotten and smack them down when they
deserve it. Most you will win over, some you never will. You know you have
arrived when one comments how glad it's YOU working and not those OTHER
evil pharmacists.

Once again. It takes time to develop this rapport. When I left my favorite
little place my nurses gave me three cake parties. I was there for eight years.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Try your best not to demean anyone in the hospital, no matter what they do - from the janitor to the administrator. It only reflects poorly on you.

You get what you give - if you treat them poorly, they will treat you poorly. It will take longer to change your reputation as an arrogant, angry pharmacist than to creat one as someone who will be willing to work with them.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

That attitude will make for a very unpleasant hospital work experience in the long run.

That type of attitude will make for an unpleasant work experience anywhere. Plus, in my experience those who pick on others who they perceive as somehow "lesser" than themselves eventually get their asses handed to them by someone older, more experienced, more knowledgable, or just meaner than they. What goes around comes around.

 

[fab4fan]

Maybe you're getting yelled at because the med the nurse needs isn't on the unit (even though the order was sent and faxed), and now the nurse has a physician standing on her neck yelling at her.

We all make mistakes, and it's not right to take our frustrations our on others. But if you have to deal with a pharmacy that deliberately doesn't answer the phone, makes med errors, yeah, it gets stressful. It's not my job to be the pharmacist, too.

 

[Jeddevil]

The nurse I married treats me pretty good.

I would have to agree with this. The nurse I married treats me great!!!

Nurse's don't really give a rat's A#s about what pharmacists think about them because they don't answer to the pharmacists. They answer to the yelling doctors.

 

[Requiem]

That type of attitude will make for an unpleasant work experience anywhere. Plus, in my experience those who pick on others who they perceive as somehow "lesser" than themselves eventually get their asses handed to them by someone older, more experienced, more knowledgable, or just meaner than they. What goes around comes around.

Unfortunately, in your omniscient state of mind and through your plethora of experiences you were unable to detect that my post was a complete joke. The comment "knowledge smackdown" just may be indicative of humor.

Of course then again I didn't expect you to appreciate humor.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Unfortunately, in your omniscient state of mind and through your plethora of experiences you were unable to detect that my post was a complete joke. The comment "knowledge smackdown" just may be indicative of humor.

Of course then again I didn't expect you to appreciate humor.

Oh well, I wasn't the only one who failed to appreciate your "humor."

 

[Requiem]

Oh well, I wasn't the only one who failed to appreciate your "humor."

Doctor: all4mydaughter, you missed that interaction!
All4mydaughter: Oh well, I wasn't the only one who failed to notice (points at tech).

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Nurses. Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em.

I've made or hand delived many things for the floors that, upon arrival at said floor, I found laying around the nursing station. Annoying. That's prolly just my old hospital though. If Barney Fife was a physician, he'd practice there. I once saw a guy write a prescription fot "Vitamin P 43".

 

[Caverject]

Oh well, I wasn't the only one who failed to appreciate your "humor."

Some times you can't teach an old dog new tricks or understanding....requiem 95% of the time is being humorous. I realize this is a change from his old serious ways but come on! Lighten up a little!

Just remember to

It's good for you and food for your soul

 

[ForcedEntry]

Did I stumble upon a humor smackdown?

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Some times you can't teach an old dog new tricks or understanding....requiem 95% of the time is being humorous. I realize this is a change from his old serious ways but come on! Lighten up a little!

Just remember to

It's good for you and food for your soul

Did you just call me an old dog???

 

[Sosumi]

I'm pretty sure this happens everywhere. Most nurses are great and will work with you as long as you remain courteous and professional.

It can be frustrating how demanding they can be, however, especially when they consider every medicine life or death and must be sent up there within the next minute even though it's already sitting there and they just didn't know how to get it. This is one of the reasons I am leaning toward retail.

In my hospital and from where I hear even at renowned Johns Hopkins hospital, the nurses run the show. They are pivotal in making policy decisions. The nurses make or break a hospital's reputation since they are who the patients will remember most. The huge national shortage and turnover only makes them even more of a hot commodity. Thus hospital pharmacists seem to have as part of their job description to constantly please the nurses. For my control freak personality, being a hospital staff pharmacist probably isn't for me.

 

[ZpackSux]

To those who are currently on internship at hospital (either rotation or employment), how do you see the nurse treating our fellow pharmacists? As for me, at the hospital that i am currently interning, the nurses treat the pharmacists like crap (majority, not all). They don't really show respect to the pharmacists and worse even yell at them when it's hectic (like once this new pharmacist tried to write a TPN order and this nurse jumped in "Why did you take my chart, you should have asked me first !", and i was like "WTF?" ).
A lot of the pharmacists , as I have been observing, are still not very aggressive enough.

So just wonder if this is the same at your hospital that you're working now. And I still don't understand why the nurse have more power than the pharmacist (at least at the two hospitals that i have been so far).

I don't know. Because I have pharmacists on every nursing unit, we have a very civil relationship. At the same time, when I go up on the floor and roam around, nurses usually have the look of..."Oh chit.. what did we do wrong..."