One of the hardest parts of Being a Nurse is Dealing with Bullying Doctors by Ofejiro Praise Urhefe

doctor-bully epidemic is jeopardizing both nurses and patients. In many reports ,stories abound of physicians berating nurses, hurling profanities, or even physically threatening or assaulting them. Doctors are shoving nurses in the operating room; throwing stethoscopes, scissors, pens, or surgical instruments at them, In a clinic a surgeon yelled, “Are you stupid or something?” at a nurse and hurled a bloody surgical sponge at him. A surgeon threw a scalpel at a private clinic on a nurse, who told me, “He was angry because I didn’t have a rare piece of equipment he needed, so he endangered me and several others by throwing a tantrum.

Today, some hospitals perpetuate what is called a “culture of disrespect among healthcare providers” rather than treating nurses like the heroes they truly are.

At most Medical Center , especially private owned in an attempt to cut costs, administrators risked cross-contamination by forcing nurses to perform housekeeping duties especially the quacks called auxiliary Nurses in Nigeria even though quacks but on nursing uniform has dented the image of the Nurse, including emptying garbage cans, sweeping, and mopping patient rooms and bathrooms, At other hospitals, nurses told me that they are charged for parking while physicians and techs park for free another said only doctors are allowed to park in the clinic premises Nurses cars are parked outside the gate.

Most nurses have witnessed or been the victims of doctor bullying. A 2013 Institute for Safe Medication Practices survey I read, showed that in the year prior, 87 percent of nurses had encountered physicians who had a “reluctance or refusal to answer your questions, or return calls,” 74 percent experienced physicians’ “condescending or demeaning comments or insults,” and 26 percent of nurses had objects thrown at them by doctors. Physicians shamed, humiliated, or spread malicious rumors about 42 percent of the surveyed nurses.

A Nurse said “Every single nurse I know has been verbally berated by a doctor. Every single one.”

Why is doctor bullying veiled in organizational silence no one has dealt with them ?

Nurses may be afraid to report doctors because they believe administrators will refuse to penalize physicians who generate revenue or garner media accolades also most superior doctors will not allow disciplinary action on their young ones ,it runs in their blood in Nigeria especially .

Nurses worry they might lose their own jobs in retaliation especially in private clinics or they fear the stigma of being perceived by colleagues as a whistleblower.

These fears may be justified. A slew of double standards protects physicians’ jobs but makes nurses vulnerable even in government owned facilities, Some hospitals have fired nurses for reporting doctors’ inappropriate or incorrect treatment of patients while allowing the doctors in question to continue to practice. But when nurses don’t speak up, there’s a risk that people will suffer or die.

In hospitals, “intimidating and disruptive behaviors” can lead to medical errors

These consequences can occur because certain doctors refuse to listen to nurses or because some nurses are too intimidated to ask questions promptly,

Nurses are skilled and educated, deserve respect, appreciation, and a voice in healthcare decisions.

Is it possible to have a chain of command without implied levels of superiority? To view the various scopes of practice as complementary rather than hierarchical? By reframing doctor-nurse relationships so that providers view each other as part of a team, managers would convey that every team member deserves to be empowered as they work together toward the ultimate goal: better patient care.

The doctor-nurse hierarchy is rooted in the past, in remembrances of outdated traditional roles. Up until the mid-20 century, nurses, almost always women, were expected to stand when a doctor, almost always a man, entered the room. Nurses were to offer him their chair and open the door so that he could walk through first, in chivalric reverse. Nurses were expected to await instructions passively without questioning the physician. By the 1960s, nursing schools were still teaching that, as one nurse described it, “He’s God almighty and your job is to wait on him.”but not in the 21st century when nursing has developed its own body of knowledge beyond the understanding of physicians(The nursing process).

The physician and nurse professions, which should be considered complementary and equal, are instead too often treated as master and servant. The term nurses often use to describe the role some doctors seem to assign them is “handmaiden.”and this should be tammed.

Similarly, an anesthesiologist told a Nigerian Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (a category of highly trained providers who may provide anesthesia autonomously), “I could teach a monkey to do your job.” really???😉😲😲😲😢😢

Do you experience bully of any sort? It’s as dangerous as domestic violence ,dear Nurses speak up , don’t let the doctor who threw surgical instrument at you go free…make him pay heavily for assault, seek legal backing ,you’re not expected to physically fight back but legally you can make such educated idiot pay through his or her nose and for the job especially those in private clinics he can make do with it. Never submit yourself to bully doctors.

And then, finally, the majority of bully doctors and projectile surgical instruments can remain in the past where they belong not in this 21st century, Nurses are better learned now with a body of knowledge sui generis and so deserve respect.

To balance this out, talk to some physicians. The whole healthcare setup is toxic to work-life balance especially to Nurses.

We need legal Nurse practitioners in Nigeria ,it’s becoming unbearable, break the silence let them pay for assault or desist from it.

What has been your experience with bully doctors(physicians)?