Most ridiculous question from a nurse while on call

[mmmmdonuts]

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youre right that nurses dont get thanked enough but on the other hand just like you said that certainly doesnt excuse the pathetic behavior that so many of them exhibit.

 

[Rael]

Well, let's see the shortage somewhat speaks for itself.

The comparison with police is not valid. Police get to wear guns, and bullet proof vests. If someone mistreats them, they are going to jail or charged with a crime. If a nurse is mistreated, too often hospitals sweep it under the table or tell her to "just deal" with it, or that s/he must have done something to deserve it.

Uh...police risk their lives...they can be shot at, stabbed, etc...every day they go to work, their families worry if they will be back safe that evening. How can you possibly say you face that kind of "mistreatment" or danger. Nobody is physically assaulting you.
Look, when you're an employee, you have to take orders, and, crazy as it may sound, sometimes you're reprimanded...maybe you did something wrong and maybe the boss was just in a bad mood...but it comes with the territory. It's no different than working in an office/store/restaurant and you have people telling you what to do or yelling at you....as an employee, you HAVE to take orders....you are NOT the boss.
If you don't want to take orders from people...nobody is stopping you from applying yourself, going to school for many more years and working your butt off to reach a higher position in employment.

 

[Mumpu]

Having worked in nursing, I can tell you that nurses do recognize residents and physicians who are nice, smart, hard-working, and good with patients. It's not difficult and for the most part these physicians get a lot of respect even if the nurses don't always show it.

As a med student I had a nurse compliment me on my bedside manner with a challenging patient and it was one of the nicest compliments I've ever had in my medical career.

My point is that you maximize your chances of having a good experience by being a nice and reasonable person. Yes, you will not win every nurse, attending, patient, etc. you you will do better than average.

 

[rxfudd]

its called rationalization sweetheart. its the same reason every nurse says if you get a bad phonecall its because youre a crap doctor and thats nurses getting back at you and the truth is that you need to be nicer and really the bad calls are your own fault and not because nurses arent putting any thought into their work. any other explanation possible? no.

you know how people constantly say to treat nurses nicely or they will be your worst enemy or your life will be a living hell or you will never sleep or somethig? do nurses say to treat doctors nicely or your life will be a living hell? and if nurses are mistreated by doctors do nurses say to each other well that must be because you were mean to the doctor and the solution is to treat lightly around doctors and be nicer to them and try to befriend them. i wonder why not.

youre right that nurses dont get thanked enough but on the other hand just like you said that certainly doesnt excuse the pathetic behavior that so many of them exhibit.

You really need to learn to use a comma. And I'm not being the grammar police, I'm out of breath just reading your posts.

 

[Bull's eye]

3:00 AM

Pager goes off....

"Hello"
"This is XXXX"
"Yes, Mr. Smith's morning labs came back and his creatinine is low. "
"Huh? "
"Yes, its 0.3 and the computer defines this as 'low.'"
"Are you kidding?'

Click.

Same thing happened to me but it was a student nurse and during the day. I told her to get IV Creatinine stat from the pharmacy and call me before she infused. I think she got it because she didn't call back

 

[caroladybelle]

Uh...police risk their lives...they can be shot at, stabbed, etc...every day they go to work, their families worry if they will be back safe that evening. How can you possibly say you face that kind of "mistreatment" or danger. Nobody is physically assaulting you.
Look, when you're an employee, you have to take orders, and, crazy as it may sound, sometimes you're reprimanded...maybe you did something wrong and maybe the boss was just in a bad mood...but it comes with the territory. It's no different than working in an office/store/restaurant and you have people telling you what to do or yelling at you....as an employee, you HAVE to take orders....you are NOT the boss.
If you don't want to take orders from people...nobody is stopping you from applying yourself, going to school for many more years and working your butt off to reach a higher position in employment.

Sweety,

I have seen nurses stabbed with needles, threatened with knives and guns, and known at least one that a psycho (excuse me, "client") corner a nurse in the bathroom and attempted to rape her. When she finally manage to hit the Code button and get help, one of the upper management got upset that she summoned the Code team for no reason.

An eldrly maced three staff members, one of whom had to be hospitalized from the results (Florida)

I have been stabbed with a contaminated (from a bloodbourne disease) needle. I have also had to have IV antibiotics from a human bite - Georgia. Gamma globulin/and HIV prophylaxis is no cake walk. I have been present when some dip of an armed security guard let a schizophrenic patient TAKE HIS GUN AWAY - in Winter Haven, Florida. I was also taking one of my few, well earned breaks, when some idiot drives up to the side door of the hospital, gunshots ring out, and drops a body out the side door- Florida.

Was on the floor assisting with an MD who came in after hours to do an LP on a confused patient. The other nurse assisting was pregnant. The MD was getting ticked that the patient could not be kept still enough. The patient reached over, grabbed the other nurses hand and fractured 3 of her fingers - you could hear them break. The MD still continued to berate us for not keeping the patient (>300 lbs) still. He stormed out and left the floor, without saying that he was leaving, leaving us with the patient in position, and contaminated sharps all over the bed. Two days later, the patient was put on precautions for meningitis. He just "forgot" to let anyone know. (Georgia)

A coworker of mine was choked with her stethoscope. A "grieving" family member showed up, found that their loved one has passed, earlier. He grabbed her by the neck, demanded that she try to resuscitate the deceased, and started choking her with the scope - Georgia. She has continuing neck problems.

And except for the rape, all of these happened on medsurg/stepdown/onco units. Not psych, not ER.

It is no way acceptable to do this to healthcare workers - there is no acceptable excuses for this - and it is most definitely physical abuse.

Do not tell me what we do is not dangerous, and we have little recourse. And as we work much closer to the patient, we are much more likely to be injured than you ever will be.

Several surveys have noted that nurses have a much higher rate of back injuries than anyone, other than construction workers. And that we are at incredible high risk of assault.

We also have to continue to treat those that have bitten us, slapped us, or for that matter, broken our fingers.

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Where you came up with the bogus, you have to take orders from those higher up issue, I don't know. But as far as that matters, I take my directions from my nurse manager and that is my higher up. That and G-d. And have yet to have had her need to order me to do anything. Because I do my job. And have not needed to be reprimanded, as I do my job quite well.

 

[penguins]

I think the good nurses are overworked, sometimes underpaid, and are the biggest asset to patient care.
The bad nurses are the most dangerous members of the healthcare team, lazy and overpaid.

Some nurses have BSN degrees and others have just an associates. There is no way to differentiate between them and that is unfortunate. There are some great assoc degree nurses but it is too bad that there is no way to recognize those who worked harder and longer in school and usually have a greater grasp of medicine from the others. The nurses I know (all BSN)express great frustration that they is no way to convey their "title" because it has become so politically incorrect. There is very little pay difference as well so little incentive to achieve a higher level of knowledge.

My mother, 2 best friends and a close cousin are all nurses. Obviously, I think they are the good ones but they have horror stories of the bad ones. They also have their own shocking stories of docs throwing charts at them, etc.

I have no doubt that some nurses are in danger, aren't they supposed to have one of the highest incidences of assult while in uniform?
However, I think that physical risk is somewhat related to where you are and it what type of facility. I would venture to say that the PTs, RTs, etc are all at greater risk there as well.

This is part of every profession. The bad ones are bad and give the rest a bad name. Oh, well.

 

[penguins]

you know how people constantly say to treat nurses nicely or they will be your worst enemy or your life will be a living hell or you will never sleep or somethig? do nurses say to treat doctors nicely or your life will be a living hell? and if nurses are mistreated by doctors do nurses say to each other well that must be because you were mean to the doctor and the solution is to treat lightly around doctors and be nicer to them and try to befriend them. i wonder why not.

My mom always warned me to be nice to the nurses because her co-workers would call the "icky" ones for tylenol at 3am all the time. We laughed about it....
As a med student, I was nothing but nice and respectful. It was an uphill battle. It was like they all assumed that we were all terrible people and we had to prove we were human. I also think it is harder for female med students/interns to get any respect from nurses.
My mom is much more sympathetic to the med students and residents now! She never realized all of our responsibility or hours on call, etc, etc. She didn't call them at 3 am even back then but she did/does still call the jerk doctors for little things. She says she will only get yelled at once for not calling with a lab. HOWEVER, she doesn't call all of them, she is smart enough to remember which one deserves it!

 

[Mirror Form]

My mom is much more sympathetic to the med students and residents now! She never realized all of our responsibility or hours on call, etc, etc.

Yeah, I'm always amazed by how most nurses have no concept of how much interns and residents work. I know nursing is a tough job, but 36 hours per week is a lot different than 80 + research + reading.

 

[southerndoc]

I was wondering how long it would take for nurses to come to this thread, all offended.

 

[imagin916]

Very good point. I do hate people telling me what to do, that is why I especially hate bossy nurses that think they know everything when in fact they know nothing. Well that's not entirely true, they know how to hand out meds and make bed assignments. They can't wipe arses, start iv's, help the patient to the restroom, turn off a beeping iv pole, trouble shoot an iv occlusion, draw blood, or find a freaking bed pan when the patient needs one. Many of the nurses I work with are just plain lazy. If they didn't have a fleet of medical assistants (and ancillary staff such as RTs, phlebotomists, x-ray techs, social workers, case managers, and pharmacists) to do their work, I don't know how they would survive a shift. Now they have random nurse practitioners running around and writing random orders on patient charts, but alas, at 2 am when pharmacy gets around to filling the order, who do they call? The sleeping resident who isn't even on call. Why? Because NPs work a 9 to 5er and leave the rest of us "full of ourselves" doctors to do the work.

I freaking hate nurses with a passion!!!! The healthcare system is doomed. I hope they replace all residents with NPs and PAs and eliminate inpatient medicine. Let the hospitals foot the cost of patients dying left and right due to no continuity of care.

Ah, I feel so much better now.

I am too tired to even write a full response, but I had to let you know what a freakin' a$$hole you are. Keep up that attitude and you will get really far. Blame others for your incompetence. Thank god you don't work at my hospital, the nurses would have you out on your ass. When nobody will work with you and you have numerous complaints against you for your sucky attitude and abusive ways, you will be booted. By the way, the nurses do not work for you. We work for the facility. Whether you like it or not, you have no power over us, and as a resident, are equal employees in the hospital.

To all the posters who don't share his attitude: Keep up the good work, I know how hard all of you guys/girls have it, and I give you all the credit. My best friends are residents, and I am right there with them, seeing what they go through and giving them the support they need to get through it. A good doctor needs to have good interpersonal skills, and from what I have seen on this board, you are all good, friendly people, a few bad apples in the bunch don't make me think that all of you are like this. There are bad nurses out there just like there are bad doctors, but I hope most of you still have faith in us. Good luck to you all.

 

[Rael]

Sweety,

I have seen nurses stabbed with needles, threatened with knives and guns, and known at least one that a psycho (excuse me, "client") corner a nurse in the bathroom and attempted to rape her. When she finally manage to hit the Code button and get help, one of the upper management got upset that she summoned the Code team for no reason.

An eldrly maced three staff members, one of whom had to be hospitalized from the results (Florida)

I have been stabbed with a contaminated (from a bloodbourne disease) needle. I have also had to have IV antibiotics from a human bite - Georgia. Gamma globulin/and HIV prophylaxis is no cake walk. I have been present when some dip of an armed security guard let a schizophrenic patient TAKE HIS GUN AWAY - in Winter Haven, Florida. I was also taking one of my few, well earned breaks, when some idiot drives up to the side door of the hospital, gunshots ring out, and drops a body out the side door- Florida.

Was on the floor assisting with an MD who came in after hours to do an LP on a confused patient. The other nurse assisting was pregnant. The MD was getting ticked that the patient could not be kept still enough. The patient reached over, grabbed the other nurses hand and fractured 3 of her fingers - you could hear them break. The MD still continued to berate us for not keeping the patient (>300 lbs) still. He stormed out and left the floor, without saying that he was leaving, leaving us with the patient in position, and contaminated sharps all over the bed. Two days later, the patient was put on precautions for meningitis. He just "forgot" to let anyone know. (Georgia)

A coworker of mine was choked with her stethoscope. A "grieving" family member showed up, found that their loved one has passed, earlier. He grabbed her by the neck, demanded that she try to resuscitate the deceased, and started choking her with the scope - Georgia. She has continuing neck problems.

And except for the rape, all of these happened on medsurg/stepdown/onco units. Not psych, not ER.

It is no way acceptable to do this to healthcare workers - there is no acceptable excuses for this - and it is most definitely physical abuse.

Do not tell me what we do is not dangerous, and we have little recourse. And as we work much closer to the patient, we are much more likely to be injured than you ever will be.

Several surveys have noted that nurses have a much higher rate of back injuries than anyone, other than construction workers. And that we are at incredible high risk of assault.

We also have to continue to treat those that have bitten us, slapped us, or for that matter, broken our fingers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where you came up with the bogus, you have to take orders from those higher up issue, I don't know. But as far as that matters, I take my directions from my nurse manager and that is my higher up. That and G-d. And have yet to have had her need to order me to do anything. Because I do my job. And have not needed to be reprimanded, as I do my job quite well.

Where do you work?...Iraq?...Bosnia? Okay, my experiences in medicine in LA county, with all the crime and scum, do not give me any sort of impression even remotely like this. I could give you the benefit of the doubt though, and even so this is an extreme exception and an example that is likely not reproducible elsewhere. Or you could be embellishing for the sake of drama and vainly trying to make an exaggerated point.
It seems strange to me that some physician would break a nurse's fingers without any consequences...you're saying he just walked away and she did nothing about it? You're saying that a nurse was reprimanded for alerting someone while she was being assaulted? I mean, give me a break...do I seem like I was born yesterday?
Some of your stories sound credible...and some don't. And of course, these are not day to day events...but exceptions....just like postal worker shootings, bank robbery holdups and shootings, convenient store clerk assaults and shootings, teachers being assaulted at school, and many other situations. Heck, even as a medical student I was assaulted by a agitated patient a couple of years ago. I was also stuck with a needle (accidentally)couple of years ago and had to do the testing/prophylaxis deal.
So, what's my point? I don't agree with you that nursing is as dangerous as you would like to have it portrayed. I will concede that hostile situations occur in hospitals that can put hospital employees in difficult situations...and sometimes (not as often as you make it seem) someone can get hurt...be it nurse, physician, technician, security guard, etc...And, I repeat, that I absolutely do not think nurses don't have a hard job or do help us residents/interns/physicians out tremendously...they are also often underappreciated. That being said, before this got all blown out of proportion, I was simply trying to make a point about nurses' earnings and the fact that they're not as low as everyone tries to make them out to be, especially when you factor in the time and level of training involved.
I still believe you don't have a leg to stand on if you are trying to imply that nursing is as dangerous as police work...give me a break.
Oh yeah...nurses with back pain....how about physicians and suicide rates? And really, you don't need to tell me about back pain...we're the ones who do the 30 hour overnight shifts q4 for quite a few years.

Sorry guys, this was supposed to be a light-hearted/funny thread...I apologize if I've corrupted it.

 

[imagin916]

Interesting how many nurses don't hesitate for a moment to treat med students and interns like worthless pieces of crap, but become offended when we share funny stories amongst ourselves.

I am never mean to the med students or interns unless they are mean to me first. I go out of my way for the med students especially, because even if they are not mistreated, many of them feel like they are unimportant. Most of them are bright, enthusiastic individuals, and I really like working with them. I enjoy teaching them what I know, and learning from them in the process.

 

[mmmmdonuts]

My mom always warned me to be nice to the nurses because her co-workers would call the "icky" ones for tylenol at 3am all the time. We laughed about it....

so you laughed about so-called health care professionals acting like there were babies? and you didnt answer the question. did she ever say that when she was mistreated by a doc that was because she had probably caused it and the solution was for her to make sure she acted nicer to the docs?

It was like they all assumed that we were all terrible people and we had to prove we were human.

oh so you laughed about their behavior with your mommy until you were the one being hit by it and now you say that they treated you like you werent human. goood one.

My mom is much more sympathetic to the med students and residents now!

oh so your mommy laughed about the behavior of nurses until you were the one being hit by it and now she says that shes more sympathetic. wow.

she is smart enough to remember which one deserves it!

let me take a wild guess: anyone related to her would never deserve it coincidentally. 🙄

 

[mmmmdonuts]

I was wondering how long it would take for nurses to come to this thread, all offended.

hey theyre working three days a week. give them a break. its not liek they have a lot of time on their hands.

 

[mmmmdonuts]

Thank god you don't work at my hospital, the nurses would have you out on your ass.

see how repetitive nurses sound? they act like theyre five years old and yet demand to be treated like adults. everything is all about how everyone needs to be nice to them and why cant we be thanked more and the world is so mean to us. then they turn around and say hey everyone who we dont like lets try to make their life miserable and then we'll sit around on our breaks and laugh about it and talk about what else to do. and then they act like 'oh yeah every time i bug you its because you wrote me an order to'. hey, you really buy that stuff after reading this thread and seeing every fvckin' nurse write about how its her duty to try to make someones life miserable because she decided they werent "good people'?

like i said, its a load of rationalization

 

[penguins]

so you laughed about so-called health care professionals acting like there were babies? and you didnt answer the question. did she ever say that when she was mistreated by a doc that was because she had probably caused it and the solution was for her to make sure she acted nicer to the docs?

oh so you laughed about their behavior with your mommy until you were the one being hit by it and now you say that they treated you like you werent human. goood one.

We laughed about it because it was a funny way for her to warn me to be nice to the nurses. (Notice I said her "co-workers") Silly boy! No, I don't think she ever deserved the treatment she got from the bad docs. I worked with them as well and they were mean to everyone. The point was that she is smart enough to know to call the doc that demands that all labs be called in and not call the ones that didn't with all lab results. I am sure she has been tempted to call some at 3am for tylenol but I don't think she would do it. It is a running verbal joke with us.
Besides, it doesn't matter what you do - no one deserves to have a chart thrown at them, or be cursed at, etc. No excuse for that type of behavior.

oh so your mommy laughed about the behavior of nurses until you were the one being hit by it and now she says that shes more sympathetic. wow.

My mother didn't laugh about it. Again, you misunderstood my intention and took it all way to seriously. Chill out! She is more sympathetic to med students and residents now because she never knew how many hours they worked, that they really do spend more than 15 minutes with the patient because a lot is behind the scenes. The majority of the attendings that she worked with had an understanding with her - if she needed an order at 3am, she wrote it out herself and called in the morning or they signed it on morning rounds. That is the difference between a good and bad nurse. When they can be trusted and can take some initiative.

let me take a wild guess: anyone related to her would never deserve it coincidentally. 🙄[/

QUOTE]

I don't really know what you mean by that! My years as a nurses aid while in grad school drove in the idea of being a team player.

You aren't very nice! 😎

 

[mmmmdonuts]

We laughed about it because it was a funny way for her to warn me to be nice to the nurses.

ok but my point is did she warn your female relatives and friends who are also nurses to be nice to the doctors? and yes i deliberately say warn because thats the word you used. and if her colleagues were complaining about a doctor who mistreated them did she say oh you know that just means that you were probably a jerk and the solution is to be nicer to them? becuase thats what nurses say to everyone else.

 

[blotto geltaco]

This thread has unfortunately degenerated and now sucks.

 

[imagin916]

see how repetitive nurses sound? they act like theyre five years old and yet demand to be treated like adults. everything is all about how everyone needs to be nice to them and why cant we be thanked more and the world is so mean to us. then they turn around and say hey everyone who we dont like lets try to make their life miserable and then we'll sit around on our breaks and laugh about it and talk about what else to do. and then they act like 'oh yeah every time i bug you its because you wrote me an order to'. hey, you really buy that stuff after reading this thread and seeing every fvckin' nurse write about how its her duty to try to make someones life miserable because she decided they werent "good people'?

like i said, its a load of rationalization

Yeah a$$wipe, I have nothing better to do when I'm at work than sit around and come up with ways to make your life miserable! Are you listening to yourself and how stupid you sound? If you stayed current with the latest news, you would read that hospitals are NO LONGER TOLERATING physican to nurse abuse. There are hospitals that are revoking admission privledges to physicians that abuse staff, because it has been proven that patient care is effected when the doctor is abusive. That is the bottom line. Now that is just talking about attendings. You are a resident. The hospital holds no love for you my friend, you are replaceable and you keep that attitude up trust me you will have a long list of people who will have you kicked out of your program. I have seen it happen a few times in my hospital, dont think it cant happen to you. The last one I am aware of shared your attitude, and finally after enduring a year of this clown's behavior, a petition was given to the chairman by the entire nursing staff that they all refuse to work with him due to his abusive behavior, with documentation of attempts to remedy the situation before. Guess what, the guy was gone the next day. We have the right to work in an environment where we are not talked down to, verbally and physically abused.

 

[StringBean]

So, as usual... this thread has been turned into a Pi*&^%ing contest instead of just letting it remain what it was initially intended to be... a funny read. Can't we just all tell/hear some funny stories and laugh about it... and ourselves? We've all done really, really dumb things and we've all seen people of all professions do really, really dumb things. We work in medicine, so we tell funny stories about people in medicine. There are stories about nurses on this thread as well as interns, residents & attendings... so can all those that feel the need to get all defensive & get up on their soapbox just start another thread so we can get back to the funnies?

Relax, have some fun, and don't take yourself or others so seriously! 🙂

 

[imagin916]

So, as usual... this thread has been turned into a Pi*&^%ing contest instead of just letting it remain what it was initially intended to be... a funny read. Can't we just all tell/hear some funny stories and laugh about it... and ourselves? We've all done really, really dumb things and we've all seen people of all professions do really, really dumb things. We work in medicine, so we tell funny stories about people in medicine. There are stories about nurses on this thread as well as interns, residents & attendings... so can all those that feel the need to get all defensive & get up on their soapbox just start another thread so we can get back to the funnies?

Relax, have some fun, and don't take yourself or others so seriously! 🙂

I think most of us anyway, can laugh at ourselves and this thread was funny, until people like MD'05 and mmmdonuts showed up and started getting nasty.

 

[ajimd]

I second that. Please people, lighten up!!!

 

[mmmmdonuts]

I think most of us anyway, can laugh at ourselves and this thread was funny, until people like MD'05 and mmmdonuts showed up and started getting nasty.

isnt it always the way that the person who calls everyone an asswipe and is shooting their mouth off is saying everyone else is nasty?

 

[mmmmdonuts]

hospitals are NO LONGER TOLERATING physican to nurse abuse.

what about nurse to physician abuse?

The hospital holds no love for you my friend, you are replaceable

and you aren't?

clown's behavior

self-descriptive?

We have the right to work in an environment where we are not talked down to, verbally and physically abused.

and harrassed by stupidity?

 

[mr.annoying]

blah blah blah there are good nurses & bad nurses.

blah blah blah there are good doctors & bad doctors.

However, why in the world are there nurses reading the General Residency Issues forum? I doubt any of us read any nursing forums, if there are any here... not even sure.

 

[mmmmdonuts]

blah blah blah there are good nurses & bad nurses.

blah blah blah there are good doctors & bad doctors.

true its just that the ratios are inverse 😉

 

[StringBean]

More funnies please... (wish I had one just to shut the complainers up for a minute)

 

[ajimd]

REALLY!!! So do I.

 

[imagin916]

what about nurse to physician abuse?



and you aren't?



self-descriptive?



and harrassed by stupidity?

Who is the one acting stupid here during this entire thread? Its not me. Show me the data where nurse to physician abuse is changing the face of medicine and effecting patient care, then we will talk about it. Let me say though that I do not agree with nurses that abuse physicians either, but for the most part that is not the case. Not that nurses are not replaceable, but think about this: you have 3 nurses complaining about the behavior of the same resident and one resident complaining about all the nurses. Who do you think administration is going to believe has the problem?

 

[imagin916]

isnt it always the way that the person who calls everyone an asswipe and is shooting their mouth off is saying everyone else is nasty?

I didnt say everyone was nasty, just you.

 

[mmmmdonuts]

Who is the one acting stupid here during this entire thread?

you

Show me the data where nurse to physician abuse is changing the face of medicine and effecting patient care, then we will talk about it.

show me your imaginary data about how when doctors are mean to nurses that impacts patient care.

I didnt say everyone was nasty, just you.

actualluy, you called me and MD05 nasty and referred to us as asswipes. nice try. dont you love documentation?

 

[penguins]

ok but my point is did she warn your female relatives and friends who are also nurses to be nice to the doctors? and yes i deliberately say warn because thats the word you used. and if her colleagues were complaining about a doctor who mistreated them did she say oh you know that just means that you were probably a jerk and the solution is to be nicer to them? becuase thats what nurses say to everyone else.

Um no, it isn't her job to make excuses for rude/mean doctors

You are right, there is a double standard as far as "warning" one group of people and not the other. That is unfortunant but it does stem from a long history of poor relationships. No matter how you cut it, there are still docs on the floor who treat nurses as pieces of crap - most don't anymore - but some still do and continue on that legacy.
Docs historically married them or treated them poorly.

I get your point, there is no "warning" the other way really. Now, nurses warn other nurses to be nice to the doctors as well but it is more out of fear.
There are still docs who refuse to TALK to floor nurses out there - I saw it all the time as a nurses aid. Those guys perpetuate the bad relationship.
A lot of it is in the head of the nurse - they come to the floor with the fear ingrained in them a lot of times. That perpetuates the cycle.

My mom also says there is a problem with what she calls "refridgerator nurses". These nurses went to school part time to get the associates degree just for the purpose of working part time to earn money for extra things around the house like a new refridgerator. Not always, but lots of times these nurses are just in it for the few extra bucks and don't give good care because they just don't take it seriously- it isn't their careeer. Nursing is a field where this happens more than in most fields because it is so easy to get an associates degree and make lots of money fast and there is always a shortage. Because of the shortage, they can get away with poor work easily.

There are lots of nurses out there with BSNs and nursing is their career and they take it very seriously and are awesome. You are right, there is a double standard with the attitude of who has to be nice to whom. Definitely.

 

[penguins]

This happened to my friend, not me.

Intern: This is Dr. X, you paged
Nurse: Mr. Y in Room 402, is going to be discharged later on today but now he is asking that his penis be cut off
(this patient is demented and has been since admission, d/c to NH planned)
Intern: Let me discuss it with the team and call back

5 minutes pass, a PGY-2 (with more guts) calls back

PGY-2: This is Dr. Z calling about Mr. Y. Order a penis amputation tray to his bedside stat. We will be rounding in a few minutes and want it ready for when we arive. Be sure it is there so we can get it done before his discharage
Nurse: Okay, verbal order for stat penis removal tray to bedside

10 minutes pass, PGY-2 gets paged by nursing manager to clarify order because nurse couldn't find that order in the computer



Everyone (including the nurse) laughed together.
Before everyone gets their panties in a wad - I am sure that the reason the nurse called in the first place was to report threat of self-mutilation or something. I hate adding these polically correct disclaimers. 🙁

 

[Lizard1]

STOP!!!!!

OK, now back to stories....

Just this past Thursday, picked up a gentleman in the ICU who was intubated & sedated and transported him straight to the OR for a couple of quick ventric drains.

I get a page just as the case is starting(mind you it's been 45 minutes since I left the ICU) from the ICU. Call back and the nurse says
"I can't find Mr. X. He's probably out smoking"

I jokingly said, "Oh no, I saw him down in valet with his Benz and grabbed him and walked him to the OR. We should be back up to the unit in about 20 minutes"

I immediately did explain that I actually came up there and got him while she was on break as she was sincerely concerned about him being missing......even though he was intubated & heavily sedated 🙄

 

[mmmmdonuts]

You are right, there is a double standard as far as "warning" one group of people and not the other. ...I get your point, there is no "warning" the other way really.

thats all im saying 🙂

 

[toofache32]

Simma down now!

 

[MD'05]

Who is the one acting stupid here during this entire thread? Its not me. Show me the data where nurse to physician abuse is changing the face of medicine and effecting patient care, then we will talk about it. Let me say though that I do not agree with nurses that abuse physicians either, but for the most part that is not the case. Not that nurses are not replaceable, but think about this: you have 3 nurses complaining about the behavior of the same resident and one resident complaining about all the nurses. Who do you think administration is going to believe has the problem?

The overt abuse of physicians might decrease post internship, but in terms of patient care, nurses are notorious for not executing physician orders if they disagree with them. How many times have you seen that? How many times have you done that? Don't argue about this because you know it is true. How many patients have suffered due to this? How many physicians have been blamed for poor patient care when in essence it was the nurse who was guilty. Also, another up and coming trend: nurses writing "verbal orders" for whatever they want done. They figure some stupid intern will come along and sign the verbal order and be none the wiser. How many times have you committed that fraudulent activity?

Tread lightly, nurse.

 

[StringBean]

If the few silly people ruining this thread won't leave us... let us leave them.

I'm starting a new thread for the funnies.

Can those that feel the need to discuss other things please refrain from ruining the new thread too... some of us are just looking for a little lighthearted laugh to decrease the stress of this sometimes overwhelming career that we've chosen.

Thanks!

 

[southerndoc]

This thread has unfortunately degenerated and now sucks.

So either ignore the nurses and get back on your topic, or just quit posting responses to the nurses.

I knew it would come to this.

 

[southerndoc]

The overt abuse of physicians might decrease post internship, but in terms of patient care, nurses are notorious for not executing physician orders if they disagree with them.

I complained on a nurse and had her reprimanded for not following an order while rotating on an off-service rotation.

Also, another up and coming trend: nurses writing "verbal orders" for whatever they want done. They figure some stupid intern will come along and sign the verbal order and be none the wiser. How many times have you committed that fraudulent activity?

One of our hospitals is computerized, and whoever logs into the computer cannot enter in orders unless they sign "verbal" orders or orders entered by ancillary staff (nurses, lab techs, RT's, etc.). There is an option to "sign per med staff rules." However, if you see something that wasn't warranted, that you didn't order, etc. and you are the primary caregiver for the patient and the on-call team didn't order it, then complain to the nursing supervisor and the chief of staff. Practicing medicine without a license is illegal. Nursing licenses do not give one enough autonomy to administer medicines -- even benign ones such as Tylenol and Motrin -- without an order. This is exactly why you get paged at 3 am for the Tylenol order because you forgot to write a PRN for one.

 

[inositide]

Someone mentioned in this thread that hospitals don't care at all about their residents and would dump then in a second if they had to. Let me assure you that hospitals care A LOT about their interns and residents because one disgruntled intern or resident can destroy a program for years to come.

All it takes is for one intern or resident to bad mouth a program a few times and the words will spread like wild fire throughout the residency application group for the upcoming year. As a result, people will either choose not to apply/interview for that program, or will rank it lower, and the program/hospital will ultimately end up with lower quality residents and interns who will be there for years.

 

[angel80]

What happened to this thread? It started off light, humerous, and entertaining. I'm sure that was what the OP was going for. Instead, people have hijacked it, and have turned it to a nurses vs. doctors thread. A new thread for that discussion could have been made, instead of ruining this one.

 

[StringBean]

What happened to this thread? It started off light, humerous, and entertaining. I'm sure that was what the OP was going for. Instead, people have hijacked it, and have turned it to a nurses vs. doctors thread. A new thread for that discussion could have been made, instead of ruining this one.

Exactly why I started the new thread "Medical funnies ONLY!"

 

[southerndoc]

What happened to this thread? It started off light, humerous, and entertaining. I'm sure that was what the OP was going for. Instead, people have hijacked it, and have turned it to a nurses vs. doctors thread. A new thread for that discussion could have been made, instead of ruining this one.

I warned it would happen.

Just continue the thread and ignore the nurse v. doctor posts if you want to keep the thread going.

 

[caroladybelle]

Where do you work?...Iraq?...Bosnia? Okay, my experiences in medicine in LA county, with all the crime and scum, do not give me any sort of impression even remotely like this. I could give you the benefit of the doubt though, and even so this is an extreme exception and an example that is likely not reproducible elsewhere. Or you could be embellishing for the sake of drama and vainly trying to make an exaggerated point.
It seems strange to me that some physician would break a nurse's fingers without any consequences...you're saying he just walked away and she did nothing about it? You're saying that a nurse was reprimanded for alerting someone while she was being assaulted? I mean, give me a break...do I seem like I was born yesterday?

The situation with the nurse in the ER who was being assaulted was widely reported in the national media, approximately 6-7 years ago. I am a traveler or I could send you the clippings.

Please not that in the story re: the broken fingers, a careful reading might do you good - it was the patient that broke the nurses fingers - the MD merely berated us for not keep the patient still enough, despite it all and stormed out, leaving contaminated sharps out.

Again if you read carefully, I also noted the states in which these occurred - clearly not Bosnia, or Iraq. Neither one are known for violence.

The fact that you are not aware of things going, even the fact that you obviously chose not to read the post that well, pretty much demonstrates the distance that MDs have to this issue. If you read a few issues of AJN, Nursing, etc. , or chose to view any Internet nursing BB, there are some pretty hair raising stories there on violence against nurses. As well as on MD on nurse violence. But then that might require you to take a few minutes break from SDN "funnies" and see another point of view.

Why do nurses read and post on MD threads? Hopefully, for many of the same reasons, MDs read/post on nursing threads/BBs. And they do. Since very few interns have knowledge to what we do, given many of the posts, hopefully it helps us learn about you and helps you learn about us.

Enough with that!

Where are the funny incidents? Nurses need humor, too. I posted a couple of ones about interns, but interestingly, no one seemed to focus on that.

 

[mmmmdonuts]

As well as on MD on nurse violence. But then that might require you to take a few minutes break from SDN "funnies" and see another point of view.

youre a little pitiful now.

 

[edmadison]

Same thing happened to me but it was a student nurse and during the day. I told her to get IV Creatinine stat from the pharmacy and call me before she infused. I think she got it because she didn't call back

And people wonder why the nurses treat them badly. Why on earth would you do this to anyone? Does it make you feel better about yourself to belittle/haze a poor nursing student? Do you kick little puppy dogs as well? Perhaps you could educate her. Seems like the only thing you taught her was that residents are jerks.

Ed

 

[imagin916]

The overt abuse of physicians might decrease post internship, but in terms of patient care, nurses are notorious for not executing physician orders if they disagree with them. How many times have you seen that? How many times have you done that? Don't argue about this because you know it is true. How many patients have suffered due to this? How many physicians have been blamed for poor patient care when in essence it was the nurse who was guilty. Also, another up and coming trend: nurses writing "verbal orders" for whatever they want done. They figure some stupid intern will come along and sign the verbal order and be none the wiser. How many times have you committed that fraudulent activity?

Tread lightly, nurse.

This is going to be my last response, I am tired of arguing with you. I am responding with only facts and I am no longer attacking you or anyone else. You want to know something? It is my legal and professional responsibility to disagree with orders that are incorrect or not safe. Are you telling me that you never made a typo while entering orders in the computer or misspelled something? A simple mistake like that SHOULD be questioned by the nurse, not just done because it says to. We are all human and make mistakes, doctors do it too. If you havent yet, you will one of these days, it happens to everyone. So to answer your question, yes I have done that many times and caught big mistakes made by the physician. Go ahead, blame the nurse for poor patient outcome. Many times its probably because the nurse followed an inappropriate order that he/she didnt question. As far as writing verbal orders for whatever I want done? Nobody does this, it is illegal and I would never risk my license just for my convienance. I have no reason to do this because most of the time when I give my input to the physician about what I think this patient needs, they usually agree with me. Below is a list of articles about how physician abuse does effect patient care. That is the bottom line isnt it? To the poster who stated that residencies wont throw out a resident because they are afraid that newcomers will stay away from that program, this is simply not true. They do not just kick people out of a residency for a disagreement or two with a nurse, but if they demonstrate continued abusive behavior which in turn creates a hostile environment for everyone and effects the care of the patients, they will fire them. There are no shortage of residents to fill the spot next year. My apologies to everyone else who had to endure the awful turn on this thread, and I am ending this argument here. Back to the funnies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&term="Physician-Nurse+Relations"[MAJR]

 

[Wahoos]

I have to agree with what Imagin's post above. I am a Ortho resident doing my gen surgery intern year and there are many times when I had to get a sign out of >60 patients for night coverage and also on the weekends, when I take General surgery call, I have to round on all of their patients and write orders (even though I am not on that particular service). A lot of times I have no knowledge about the patients except that they are post op day # and the procedure. I can tell you that when I have to come in at 4am Sat morning to get vitals and round on 30+ patients/write orders, then get called throughout the night and do it again on sunday morning..... mistakes can happen. There are at least a couple of times that I wrote orders for the wrong patients and only to be caught by the nursing staff. For the most part, nurses can be very helpful when they call you to make sure your orders are right...... I know this thread has some stupid things that nurses ask in the middle of the night, but all jokes aside, I would rather get awoken at the night by a nurse to confirm something,.... than to be sitting in a court of law 3 years down the road for something I done as an intern. For all the residents that say this will not happen, (which is what I thought as well) one of the PGY-4 that I have worked with was off one week last month to go to court for something that he done as a intern on the trauma service and he was brought in front of the medical boards. Given that the attendings are also called and other residents, but I think what he did directly caused the death of a kid. So I think his medical liscense is in question and there is a possibility that he will be out of the program. Who ever wrote that residents can't be kicked out is smooking something.... There have been 3 residents that was kicked out of the Gen surgery program here in the last 10 years. One for behavioral reasons, one for doing something that caused a patient to die (but I think it was pretty malignant what this guy did), and the other for not making the core compentencies as a PGY-4. Given these are severe examples, it is hard to kick someone out as a resident. There have to be documented patterns of events, probation, chance to improve, etc, etc, before the final decision can be made to kick someone out.

Also I have not personally witnessed any nurse making up verbal orders that I did not say to get things done. I think overall there are great nurses and lazy ones. I have also had times when things/orders were not done because the nurse didn't want to do it, or was waiting for the next shift to come in to sign it out.