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Consorting with doctors: a rant

Published on September 5, 2011 in Medical

I haven’t gone all rant-y for a while, but the time is now.

Seems the doctors at my workplace aren’t supposed to associate too much with the nursing staff. I don’t have the exact wording in front of me, but that’s the gist of it. I thought this was a joke at first, a bad tasteless one, but no. Is this common? This attitude isn’t going to work for me. I am not an underling or an untouchable, and I find this entire directive incredibly offensive both personally and professionally.

In my former career, doctors sought me out for my expertise and were the ones asking for my help, so I’ve never really had even a smidgeon of the obsequiousness lots of nurses extend to doctors. I also don’t respect anyone just for letters after their name. I’ve seen enough incompetent doctors to know that damn near anyone willing to spend enough time and effort can get through medical school somewhere and put MD after his or her name. Instead, I respect people (of any profession) for what they do and how they treat other people, both personally and professionally. I’ve respected doctors for their skill while despising them personally and vice versa. But none of it is tempered with “they’re better than me because they’re doctors.” That attitude is not my unmarked condition, and it never will be. They know more than me about some things. I know more than them about some things. That’s why there are different professions and different types of experts.

Maybe this disqualifies me from being a good nurse or an employed one, but sorry, doctor does not equal god. Finding out my institution doesn’t want the gods associating with the hired help does NOT make me feel valued. What the hell, seriously. Can we pretend to respect nurses? Like, we can pick our own friends and stuff? This rule actually doesn’t respect doctors either, come to think of it. Same thing. “We shall dictate your friends and activities.”

I’ll be on the back of the bus acting all meek and deferential if anyone needs me. Not.

 
8 Comments  comments 
  • http://www.thenerdynurse.com The Nerdy Nurse

    This is terrible, but I think this sort of game is encouraged of doctors at many hospitals.
    It really depends on the doctor as well.
    I’ve had some who embrace the god-complex with every inch of their being and other’s who laugh and cry at life right along side of the nurses.
    Respect is a two-way street. I respect physicians for the care they provide for patients.
    I do differ in the thought that I do think that having MD behind your name does entitle you to at least some level of respect. The liability and responsiblity they take on is greater than that of nurses, imho. Even if you are a crappy human being, you are a still a doctor, and if you help take care of my patients, I have professional respect for you. Just like you said,you can respect someone without liking them.

    • Not Nurse Ratched

      They’re paid plenty more for the extra liability and responsibility. I’m not saying anything like I automatically disrespect them. I pretty much respect everyone until proven otherwise.

      Also, by your logic of earning respect by assumption of risk, the most respected people in our workforce should be policemen, firefighters, and ER nurses, because we get hurt the most—to me, that stacks up head to head with liability. In general, my point is that everyone should respect everyone else, but am I *entitled* to extra respect because I assume a high risk of getting hurt every time I go to work? I don’t think so.

  • Richard Olson

    Picked up this on twitter. Wanted to know more, and still am interested. I’m an MD, since 1980. In medical school I learned very early how astute a nurse can be, and have never disrespected what a nurse can offer. Unfortunately later I have learned how manipulative some nurses can be, presenting certain information, omitting other bits, and a certain professional distance seems to work best. When the chips are down, the final responsibility is held by the doc.

    You are in a new place, it seems. You may need to invite a friendly doc for lunch and ask about the history of doctor – nurse relations. The nursing hierarchy can be very punative for ‘inappropriate’ doctor – nurse interaction, and some doctors may be trying to avoid getting into trouble. Knowing recent unofficial history of the place, you may be enlightened.

    Probably can get what you want if you single out one or two doc’s to establish a relationship with, and go from there. Word gets around.

    • Not Nurse Ratched

      No, I’m not new here. And evidently I’m not supposed to invite doctors to lunch. I don’t even know that this policy is specific to my department or whether anyone pays attention to it. Again, the point is not who is better or worse or holds more responsibility; it’s that it’s inherently offensive to be told you can’t be associated with. Richard, you don’t mention the type of medicine you practice, but let’s assume you’re an, oh, pulmonologist. What if you found out the surgeons had been told not to associate too closely with you non-surgeons? Same thing. Surgeons ultimately have more responsibility than you because they cut up alive people, after all. Do they deserve more respect than you?

  • http://podfeet.com Allison Sheridan

    I’d be curious whether this came upon your hospital because one snooty doctor wanted it, all doctors wanted it, or some bureaucrat decided it. Root cause analysis could find that the docs don’t like it either.

  • http://@raovac Richard Olson

    Well doc’s do stratify according to different criteria, specialty, prestige of school, seniority, etc., etc., and that’s life. But your workplace seems to have a new policy and you aren’t able to hear from the source just what that is. And I’m not sure why there is a mix of confusion over policy and critique of personality. You and the whole crew deserve an explanation from management, seems to me. Administration must have decided to make the place more professional, but haven’t communicated that to the employees. (Seems the doctors had the law laid down to them.)

    And I’m @raovac on twitter, so you can get a drift of my rants, specialty, etc.

  • Hillary

    This irritates me. Some of my favorite people at our hospital are the brand new, shiny first year residents. Across the board, they treat the nurses like intelligent human beings who know our patients, and in return we give them all the information & discuss things with them. It’s an incredible back & forth and it’s beneficial for our shared patients. The older nurses sometimes don’t work as well with them (they see them as new & therefore incompetent) but I think that’s crap. I respect them for the hard work they put in, and I know they respect me for the time I spend with their patients. And moreover, I just LIKE them. They’re good peoples, & I would absolutely hang out with them if I got the chance (not that they ever “hang out”…they work too much!).

  • MD in LIFE

    The problem is, there is an imbalance of hierarchy between the ability to diagnose and taking care of a patient. Both are important and neither are better than the other, but higher responsibility falls in the arms of a Doc because properly diagnosing a patient is critical. IMPO I think the profession of a MD is not worth pursuing considering stress, long hours, med school debt, required studies, and more stress. If anyone decided to step into med school mainly for Niptuck glamor and money, then they will be miserable. But there are those who are determined to endure the difficulty of becoming a MD for their sincere desire to medically treat people, few but respectable and probably won’t come across in your lifetime. People become doctors because who knows why… But they are needed. People choose to become a RN mainly because it is one of the best paying jobs out there for less than half the time of studies for a equally well paying job. Many Doctors (excluding dentists and chiro) feel as if they have earned the right to be arrogant, but in reality its just a defensive mechanism from knowing they suck in all other areas besides reading a book.
    So ask yourself this. Would you rather dedicate 10 years of studies for a hefty amount of pay, earn the right to be arrogant, and suck at life? Scratch the right to be arrogant.

    (Peace to all humble servants).

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