Spend some time browsing her
list of published research. I don't see a trend at all in her clinical interests. The topics are so all over the map, I wonder what she really did for those studies, other than collect data.
Trust me when I tell you this, do not f**k with a chick like that. This is someone with a MAJOR inferiority complex, and also who probably clawed her way to getting where she is.
This is like a Sergeant First Class in the military. You walk into the room as a Second Lieutenant (sure, you're an officer and they're "enlisted") and start trying to issue an order. That Sergeant is going to look at you and say, "Who the f**k do you think YOU are?", then laugh, then walk away. And, there's nothing you can do about it. Sure, you're an officer. You could probably write them up for insubordination, but then your life of misery would really start.
The same rules apply in medicine. Think of yourself as a commissioned officer, and the nursing staff as enlisted personnel. They have their own, but separate and equally important (in the grand scheme of things), hierarchy. In med school, you're basically a cadet and have no standing. In residency, you're pretty much a Junior Officer.
Now, the Department Heads in your hospital are, for example, the Generals and you definitely do not want to mess with them. Every other day-to-day attending just trying to make a living is anywhere between Second Lieutenant to Colonel, depending on how important they are to what goes on in the institution.
Nurses, on the other hand, basically go from Private (E1) to Master Sergeant (E8). The Chief of Nursing for your whole hospital, and this is an executive position that sits on the board, is the Sergeant Major of the Hospital (E9). This person often has the power to get you fired, no matter
who you think you are or what you think you can do. They may have 20 letters behind their name, but don't mistake them for someone that is "beneath" you because of it.
I can tell you that, as a resident (junior officer), you'd get laughed at by a Nursing Department Head (a high-ranking NCO, like a Staff Sergeant) if you start barking out orders. And, that person fully has the ability to make your life a living hell.
So, while we can laugh at the LMFAO degree and the alphabet-soup that some nurses put behind their names, just do it behind their back. These people deserve respect, because they too have earned where they've gotten, despite it being a different pathway. Remember also that this display is often reflective of some deep need to prove their worth to the healthcare profession. That, and don't forget some of them have power... a lot of power. If you forget that, you're ineluctably going to get burned.
Just thought I'd remind everyone of that, apropot of the sentiment in this thread.
-copro
