Related: Confidence, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Handmaidens, Hostility, Male Nurse, Nurse History, Professionalism, Respect, Stereotypes

You’re a nurse. You are educated and work hard but often feel like a second-rate cleaning lady.

You’re not the only one who thinks so. Jerry R. Lucas, RN and owner and publisher of Male Nursing Magazine, believes that it is the responsibility of nurses to make their future better than their past. Lucas is passionately devoted to enticing men and women to the nursing [...]

Related: Doctors, Embarrassing Moment, Learning

Ever have a Most Embarrassing Moment (MEM) in your role as "Nurse: Healer of All Things"?

My problem is narrowing the possibilities to only one.

The one that makes me laugh the most (and turn red at the same time) is one I can share only with other nurses. No one else really sees the humor in it.

I was (newly) working at a Family Practice office with [...]

Related: Abuse, Assertiveness, Authority, Boundaries, Bureaucracy, Confidence, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Fear, Handmaidens, Hostility, Management, New Nurse, Nurse Relationships, Power, Professionalism Sabotage, Scapegoat, Seasoned Nurses, Stress, Support, Teamwork, Truth

The new nurse was doing the best she could. But it wasn’t fast enough for the emergency room doctor. As the doctor struggled to triage the patient, he became more and more agitated. Finally, he yelled and threw a bloody sponge at the nurse—right in the middle of a procedure.

When physical and verbal abuse takes place in the workplace, immediate action should be taken. But [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Bureaucracy, Communication, Complaints, Confidence, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Management, Mindset, Mistake, Nurse Relationships, Nurse Support, Patient Advocate, Power, Professionalism, Stereotypes, Teamwork

Doctors and nurses have been trained to be suspicious of each other.

So writes Suzanne Gordon, author of Nursing Against the Odds (Cornell UP, 2006). And while this has historical roots, it is particularly dysfunctional today. In this RealityRN interview, Gordon describes the complicated relationship between nurses and doctors—and gives practical advice for nurses to help remedy the situation.

RealityRN:  Describe the history of nurse/doctor relationships.

Suzanne [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Communication, Confidence, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Expectations, New Nurse, Nurse Relationships, Patient Advocate, Patients, Professionalism, Respect, Stereotypes, Success

Suzanne Gordon, author of Nursing Against the Odds (Cornell UP, 2006), says new nurses need to train others for respect. Here are four tips to do just that:

1. Introduce yourself in a professional manner.
When you introduce yourself to doctors, don’t say, “Hi, I’m Susie.” If you want to be respected as a nurse, you shouldn’t be “Susie in the angora sweater” or “Cheerful, smiley Susie.” [...]

Related: Abuse, Anger, Authority, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Violence

Just the other day, a surgical nurse, nine months out of nursing school, wrote me,

"Not long ago, after a difficult surgery in which the patient died, the surgeon started swearing at me, as if it were my fault. I know this sounds crazy, but he kicked me. Yep, with his foot. I hesitate to report him. What should I do?"

Now, in my 24 years of [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Authority, Communication, Confidence, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Emotions, Fear, Management, New Nurse, Nurse Relationships, Patient Advocate, Patients, Professionalism

It was the ninth hour of a 12-hour night on Labor & Delivery when my fourth patient presented with complaints of vaginal bleeding.  Exhausted, I told myself this had to be another worst-case scenario—probably placenta previa or abruption.

I initially performed a comprehensive review of symptoms and thorough patient history, which I presented to the resident. He was a cocky first-year resident, just starting his first [...]