Dealing with Nurses 101
I’m going to start with a story. If you have had your
surgery rotation, you would know that in the emergency there are two batches.
One in the OT and one in the bay aka ground floor. So there is a washroom n the
OT but in the bay, there is either the regular public use washroom or a
washroom in the gastroscopy room. The keys to the gastroscopy rom are with the
sisters. And for some reason it is really hard for them to remember where it is
if the doctors need it whereas they use the room for making tea, drinking
water, keeping their bags etc.
One day, the sisters said that they are not allowed to give
the keys to anyone because no one is supposed to use the room (they still had
their bags in them) next day one said she didn’t get the keys in over. The next
day they gave it to one doctor saying that they gave it this time but they wont
give it again. And when someone asked they said your doctor misplaced it even
though she returned it with a thankyou to the nurse.
On all these occasions the key surprisingly turned up, even
from the people who didn’t receive it and the ones who had lost it when the
head nurse was informed. I am a strong advocate of being polite with nurses. I
always greet them with a handshake and always say please when I ask them to
administer any medication and say thankyou to them when they have done it. But
you need to know your rights and whom to go to when someone is being difficult.
Similarly, another incident happened. And this usually
happens in the night or evening shift. Other than indenting medication, I don’t
know of anything that is the duty of only the morning staff. If someone says
that they are not entering labs because the morning staff is supposed to do it.
Its BS. If the labs are being sampled 3 times, being sent 3 times, received 3
times then they should be entered in the files as well. Also, some say that its
not the duty of sisters to do it at all. Whereas the sisters of female ward are
doing it but not the male ward. Know the protocol of the ward and inform the
head nurse. Start by asking her whether it is true that only the morning staff
enters the lab? Start with greeting them. Ask them a question that whose duty
is it to do so and so. And then if their answer contradicts from what the
sisters are saying, inform them that this is what is happening. Now you might
have to do this a couple of times before everyone from all the shifts becomes
aware but trust me it works.
And lastly if the sisters claim that something is
unavailable. For example, vials for sampling etc. Ask them to make sure so you
can inform the registrar about it. This will be useful in two ways. If it’s an
excuse, then the vials will magically turn up (yes that happened) and if its
not, the registrar will solve the issue. Win win.
My point is that always be nice. But know their duties and
know your duties. And know who you can inform if something isn’t being done.
Because sadly, people here don’t respect requests. They only work if they have
the pressure of a senior on their head. Just find the senior.
But always respect them and be kind <3
