nabeepchen

Obnoxious doctors have been stereotyped, and even glorified on television shows. Especially surgeons, who have garnered a reputation as prima donnas and total assholes, who may think nothing of throwing a tantrum during open heart surgery and then bashing a nurse over the head with an IV pole.

Truth and fiction both, I would say. Many surgeons are warm, wonderful people who would never step on an ant, let alone physically strike a co-worker. Others fall right into the first category mentioned above. Abusive assholes. And the sad thing is that most of the lowly co-workers say not a word and silently put up with the abuse. Nurses are notorious for their locker room gossip and their boardroom silence.

An interesting story appeared in a local newspaper, in which a plastic surgeon in western Kentucky apparently threw a tizzy fit because he couldn’t find the equipment he needed in the emergency room. After the nurse brought him the equipment, he then thanked her by hitting her in the back.

I am proud that the nurse is pressing charges against this asshole (yes, I am overusing that word because it best describes this type of doctor). I don’t care how frustrated you get at work, you just don’t take it out on the people you are working with. What if I decided to hit a doctor? Or whack him over the head with a patient file, as I once saw one do to a nurse? Do you think I’d keep my job? Do you think that the doc would whimper, “Oh that’s okay, I understand that she’s frustrated. It’s been a long day.”

Not on your life.

So the good news is that the nurse has some backbone. The bad news is that the Kentucky doctor was suspended for harassment. Uh, these people need to define their terminology. Hitting someone is not harrassment, it is assault. He faces a misdemeanor charge which carries a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a $250 fine if convicted. And no doubt, his sentence will be suspended.

Hospitals definitely do not support their nurses, and I would not be surprised if this nurse loses her job because the doctor assaulted her and she reported it. And oddly enough, many nurses do not support their co-workers in taking real action against this abuse, which is one of the primary reasons that it continues on.

The Sacred Abuser

One incident of a nurse sticking up for herself took place in the operating room of a facility that shall remain unnamed. An egotistical surgeon, famous for throwing instruments around (yes, some of them still think they’re toddlers and that mommy will think it’s cute), hit a nurse with the blunt end of a clamp. As soon as she was able to, she left the room and called police. She was smart as she did not waste time notifying the nursing supervisor, who would have tried to tell her to “just write up an incident report” that would be buried in a drawer somewhere, and not to do anything more about it.

So when Dr. Nasty emerged from the OR, the police were waiting for him. He was arrested for assault and battery, not harrassment, and he did serve time in jail plus paid the nurse a sum of money. Did he learn his lesson? I don’t know. But the nurse, while not fired, was basically forced to quit because the atmosphere was so hostile against her. It reminds me of countries where women are blamed for being raped, and then thrown out of their homes or even killed.

I’ve never been hit by a doctor, and I’ve never tolerated any sort of abusive behavior. Sorry, but I’m just not that kind of nurse. When a nurse once told me how a doctor had thrown a tray at her and hit her in the chest with it, I asked if she had called the police and pressed charges against him. She, along with several other nurses who were standing nearby, looked at me like I was crazy.

“Well,” she finally said, “I did get him to apologize in private.”

“Great,” I told her. “Glad he apologized in private. If he had done that to me, that sucker would be sitting in prison right now, and I’d also be filing a civil suit against him as well.”

Turns out this wasn’t the first time that doctor had thrown anything. I then told her and the rest of the little group that if they didn’t have the balls to defend themselves, then they got what they deserved. If you stand up for yourself, the chances are, you get respect. You get abuse if your inaction tells the doctor that his (or her) behavior is okay.

Taming Andre

Another story, this one personal. Andre was a neonatologist who was part of a medical group that took care of the NICU where I was working. He was a good doctor, but notorious for losing his temper during a critical admission, and for throwing equipment around. He didn’t throw it at people, but let’s put it this way, he didn’t go out of his way to avoid them. His hands went wild, and the debris flew, and if you didn’t get out of the way, well, too bad.

One night, when we were really short-staffed, we got a critical admit. A really sick baby. Andre was on-call, and he showed up in his full glory. I was fairly new to the job, and hadn’t worked with him before. He started shouting, cursing, and tossing stuff around. I want this, I want that…you get the picture. He yelled at me, the other nurse, the respiratory therapist. Stamped his foot, and then threw a syringe off the table. It landed near my feet.

I told Andre that if he didn’t shut up and control his temper, and start acting like a professional, I was leaving. He could admit this kid by himself. I was in charge that night, and I told him he could take over that job as well.

He was stunned. He tried to defend his actions, telling me that he “got a little excited” but I cut him off at the pass. If he raised his voice one more time at anyone in this room, and if he even so much as threw a scrap of paper on the floor, he was on his own. I didn’t care what other people put up with, I didn’t tolerate this sort of juvenile behavior.

“Act like a doctor, Andre,” I told him, “And we’ll get along just fine.”

And so he did. He behaved like an angel that night, and every other time I worked with him. The other nurses were totally baffled why Andre was a perfect gentleman with me, but still threw tantrums with them. Just tell him, I said. Assert yourself and demand to be treated as a professional.

If any of you are MASH fans, then you remember the infamous nurse Major Margaret Houlihan. On one episode, someone asked her what she wanted.

“Respect,” she said without hesitating. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Image courtesy of the Nation Library of Medicine