Malignant Nurses

[Noyac]

you know what's a joke? Stereotyping large groups of people. While I despised the PACU nurses in my residency program who I felt were lazy entitled, I adore the ones I work with now. They rock.

I totally agree about the last part (I can’t remember my residency).
My current PACU staff, and the staff in my first gig for that matter, are fantastically in tune to my needs and quirks. First and foremost, I don’t stick around after a case. It I bring them a pt ready to do calisthenics so there is no reason. But my PACU nurses know each and every one of the anesthesiologists in my group and they are quite good at adjusting to us. I give them

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

As far as getting nurses to like you, just pick your battles. If they want fentyl and you like morphine, just give it to them if its not contraindicated. Same with phenergan (i.e. the bomb). They have to sit there and deal with that constantly moaning drug seeker while admin forces you to let their family in, who will then promtly complain that their drug addicts son's pain 'is not being treated and I need to see the head nurse/doctor.'

 

[nimbus]

As far as getting nurses to like you, just pick your battles. If they want fentyl and you like morphine, just give it to them if its not contraindicated. Same with phenergan (i.e. the bomb). They have to sit there and deal with that constantly moaning drug seeker while admin forces you to let their family in, who will then promtly complain that their drug addicts son's pain 'is not being treated and I need to see the head nurse/doctor.'.

Huh? Admin??

No family in PACU unless the patient is an actual 4yo crying for his mommy.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Huh? Admin??

No family in PACU unless the patient is an actual 4yo crying for his mommy.

Times they are a changin'. Last 3 hospitals I was at, have all had the 'patient family can visit after X minutes' policy. And these were for adults. Press-gainey says the family must be let in to see! In fact, one hosp we had a liaison who kept 'accidentally' bringing in family without even asking/warning.

 

[chocomorsel]

Hospital dependent

Huh? Admin??

No family in PACU unless the patient is an actual 4yo crying for his mommy.[/QUOTE

 

[powermd]

I wanted to post a great clip from Scrubs where Elliot has made enemies of the floor nurses and Dr. Kelso refuses to get her back, peppering them with verbal donuts. But then turns to Elliot and lets her know what he really thinks. Couldn't find it.

I think a large part of the trouble doctors frequently have with nurses is the man-woman dynamic. Men usually have very different expectations of encounters with staff at work than women do. I think this gets amplified by the money/power differential between doctors and nurses. As a doctor and a man, I really don't care if anyone at work knows my kids names, or remembers what interests me outside of work. I don't need compliments either- a job well done is enough for me. But women can be quite different. Feelings are the key to their happiness at work. Ignore their feelings, and you become "one of them". It's shocking how well an entirely false display of charm can disarm a nurse with a bad attitude.

Remember the power these people wield over you- the power to make your life miserable with passive-aggressiveness, and complaints to their superiors, which eventually lead to wonderful meetings with administrators to discuss what a big problem you are. I hear about this from my hospital employed brethren all the time, and it doesn't sound fun.

 

[anbuitachi]

As a new attending I was hoping this would subside after residency, and it has for the most part. However, there is still a small subset (3-4) that literally are the most difficult human beings alive to work with. Eg questioning your authority/decisions. How do you guys deal with these individuals? Also, I want to say that most are great

What part of the country are you in? Im in NY and i keep hearing NY is known to have really bad nurses. It's also one reason why I may consider leaving to go somewhere else if it is true. For some odd reason, all the difficult nurses ive dealt with are older female nurses. It's like they are out to get you the moment you enter the PACU. They cover like on average 2 patients? Not sure why some of these people have the worst attitudes. These are the PACU nurses who come over after you put on all the monitors, and then complains about how they dont like how the monitors are attached. They are so lazy
Also annoys me since I dont have time to deal with their crappy attitudes in between cases. Kind of jealous of the surgical resident who just gives a 1 liner of the surgery and leaves

We also not uncommonly get random BS complaints from nurses to our PD..

I think more details are required. Are they testing you, disagreeing with you, being obstinate for no reason, or are you doing something questionable? Being a new person often means people don’t trust you, and you likely do things in a different way. Your way may be better, but it is likely different and new, and that is scary for people, especially the old set in their ways people.

If a nurse puts a patient at risk, you need to draw a line. If a nurse directly disobeys an order, you need to draw a line. If a nurse questions your orders because they are different, maybe explaining can help.

All these issues disappear once a patient is literally dying in front of them and you fix it. Hopefully it takes a long time to get into that situation, but after you do it will all start to be smoother.
Even if you don’t get into a situation like that, it just takes time for trust to develop. Don’t let them walk all over you in the meantime, but there are a lot of ways to encourage improved relationships.

However if a nurses disobeys your order and you know about it, doesn't the responsibility now fall on you not the nurse to fix it. If something bad happens to the patient because the nurse sucks/not following orders and you know about it, i have a good feeling you will be sued.

 

[seniormd]

I'm just a student, but I really would love some insight on how nurses have risen to mafia status in it seems, every facility. Why? This makes no sense to me.

Nurses have been snapping up high level high paying administrative positions in hospitals for years. Many of these positions are held by poorly trained and not so well educated nurses with limited clinical ability. They defend each other even when they miss the mark clinically. It has become very troubling for hospital employed doctors and contract doctors, since nurses can really grind us. They don't play games with the private practitioners. The system has gone mad. I am counting down the years to retirement. I might be able to last another 5-7 years.

 

[anbuitachi]

As a new attending I was hoping this would subside after residency, and it has for the most part. However, there is still a small subset (3-4) that literally are the most difficult human beings alive to work with. Eg questioning your authority/decisions. How do you guys deal with these individuals? Also, I want to say that most are great

What part of the country are you in? Im in NY and i keep hearing NY is known to have really bad nurses. It's also one reason why I may consider leaving to go somewhere else if it is true. For some odd reason, all the difficult nurses ive dealt with are older female nurses. It's like they are out to get you the moment you enter the PACU. I don't get it.

 

[acidbase1]

What part of the country are you in? Im in NY and i keep hearing NY is known to have really bad nurses. It's also one reason why I may consider leaving to go somewhere else if it is true. For some odd reason, all the difficult nurses ive dealt with are older female nurses. It's like they are out to get you the moment you enter the PACU. I don't get it.

Midwest. I believe it’s universal my friend, good luck escaping them...