I hate being called "nurse"!!!

[Fuji Girl]

No offense to nurses, of course. The world needs more good nurses. But not ALL medical women are nurses!

I was riding on the lake path this evening, when I noticed a group of people collected up ahead. As I slowed down, I saw a young woman lying on the ground. She was all scratched up with blood all over her face, she was dazed and completely disoriented. I introduced myself to her, told her I was a doctor, and did a quick exam. Tested her reflexes, looked into her pupils, looked into her mouth, checked her ribs for fracture, tested the strength in her extremities, stabilized her neck, checked her pulse, assessed her mental status, reassured her that her teeth were all still in her mouth, etc. From what I could gather from the crowd, she had been running and collided with a cyclist (who was still at the scene, very concerned). The girl was bad off - she hit her head pretty hard.

When the paramedics got there, I started to give them a history, when one of them asked me "Are you a nurse?" I said no, I'm a doctor. After that, THEY STOPPED LISTENING TO ME. In fact, they completely ignored me and walked away to check out the patient on their own. I couldn't believe it. In fact, I thought I was imagining it, until 2 girls thanked me for taking charge of the situation and told me they thought the paramedics were jack-a*ses for not even listening to me.

I did not obtain this education (4 yrs of med school + 5 yrs of residency + 2 yrs of fellowship) to be called nurse and ignored by some punk-a*s SOBs who think they're better than me just because I have an 46,XX karyotype. Ooo, that makes me so mad!

[light_sabe_r]

I can't believe idiots like that still exist in this day and age.

I'm a medical researcher. And yet people assume that I must be a nurse because I work at a hospital. Honestly I don't know the first thing about treatments (diagnosis I know how from my degree) BUT if you even need a graft come and see me and I'll grow you some of your own skin or fat.

Like Fuji Girl says, Nothing against nurses. In fact without nurses I couldn't do ANY of my project. They're wonderful people who wade through all sorts of nasty stuff to earn a living. PLUS THEY CARE. I'm just sick of the assumption that a girl with medical knowledge and interests must be nurses!

So yeah. The fact the Paramedics ignored you is just bogus. Make a complaint to your State's emergency services department.

[Lise]

fuji--I am so sorry those morons ignored you. I cannot imagine why they would disregard the input of a doc. I am seriously baffled. What, they didn't believe that you were a doc? Wierd. You were true to your training and the spirit of your profession when you stopped to render aid. I hope the girl is OK. Just out of curiousity--was it on the north branch? If so, it will further reinforce my avoidance of that area.

FWIW, I hate being called "nurse", too. And I am a nurse. I am a Certified Nurse-Midwife. I went to nursing school so I could go on for the further training/education/certification/licensure to be a midwife. Not so I could be a nurse. For me, the nursing training is a coincidence of the certification requirements in this country. For me, the problem is that there is no title for "Midwife" in this country. You are Dr. Fuji. I am .... Ms. H. No honorific. So the hispanic pts call me "doctora", and I stopped correcting them long ago. One of the nurses at work greets me, "Hello, doctor", and I remind her I'm not a doctor, and she says, "well, you should be called doctor", and I say, "but I'd have to go back to school for too long" and we laugh... and yet, it's annoying. People want to respect me, but have no title. They don't know I'm grinding my teeth when I'm called "Nurse".

I'm still shaking my head over the paramedics. You know they would've been reeeeal attentive if you were a guy. Dr. Guy. Blech on them.

[velogirl]

I crack up at something in the fitness industry -- coaches who call themselve "Coach Bob" or "Coach Tim" or "Coach Dan." WTF. I'm a full-time coach -- I do this for a living -- and I don't call myself Coach Lorri. I'm also an MBA (and a BFA). Maybe I should be Coach Lorri, BFA, MBA.....

In the coaching industry, it's a marketing tool, but folks who know me know I'm a coach. Sheesh!


Lorri (who btw calls her doctors by their first names)

[velogirl]

Even funnier to me are volunteer or hobbyist coaches who use the title coach. You know, someone who has a full-time job as an engineer or an accountant but volunteers with some organization (like TnT or JDRA or whatever). No training, no certification, no education......just a title.

</rant>

[KnottedYet]

I don't have a title. Bummer. I'm just an assistant. What drives me nuts is getting asked all the time if I'm a student, or if I'm ever gonna finish school.

Um, I have a complete degree. In fact, I have 3 of them. I'm done. This is it.

Until I go to grad school to be a librarian because I'm getting so burned out on health care and being "just" an assistant. (I've already spent 9 years in college... do I really want to spend 3 more?)

[Nanci]

You have a what??? (46,XX karyotype)

Maybe they thought, since you were an MD, then everything was under control and they could go ahead do their assessment on a presumably stable pt?

I'm a tech. Patients always assume I'm either a doctor or a nurse or a transporter!!

But in the south, everyone is addressed by Mr./Miss plus their first name. Our friends' kids call us Miss Nanci and Mr. BF. I call patients Miss or Mr. Last Name (first name is too familiar to me. There is no Ms. down here). Older people, like my supervisor, (who is a black minister in his other life!) call the techs Miss Nanci and Mr. Ken.

I call the residents by their first names, but the attendings by Dr. So and So. Unless I'm interrupting the resident with a patient, then I try to call them Dr. So and So. But it sounds funny!

[colby]

I crack up at something in the fitness industry -- coaches who call themselve "Coach Bob" or "Coach Tim" or "Coach Dan." WTF. I'm a full-time coach -- I do this for a living -- and I don't call myself Coach Lorri. I'm also an MBA (and a BFA). Maybe I should be Coach Lorri, BFA, MBA.....

We get the same thing in IT. People who sign with their gazillion certifications, their title, you name it. I rarely sign my last name, let alone my qualifications! Then when I do, I get bitten anyway, because my title is a little deceptive... I have a management type title, but nobody is truly "management" in a small company. Sigh...

I travel with my company (network security software) doing trade shows and such sometimes (answering questions for passers-by and during presentations), and I get the assumption that I'm just a marketing or sales person all the time. "Are you a sales person? Marketing?" "No, I'm an engineer." "Oh, really?" <they take two steps back, shocked by the news> "Yes, now what can I do for you?"

They will happily talk over my head, around me, behind me, next to me, to our MALE sales people or a MALE engineer should there be one. ARGH. I've had this problem with co-workers, too, it's like I have to prove not only that I'm good enough, but that I'm so good that I didn't take the job away from some man... or something. And somehow so many guys remember that one experience they had with that one even SLIGHTLY incompetent woman (probably just a miscommunication in the FIRST place) and hold it against every woman they encounter from then on out. Do they consider all men stupid because of all of the stupid men out there? No, just the women.

Hopefully the trails we are blazing today by even discussing and making people aware of these issues will help the daughters of tomorrow... at this point, it's all that keeps me from strangling people who do it

[velogirl]

Yeah, I get that too. I work in a bike shop. When I answer the phone, there are certain customers who immediately want to talk to one of the guys. Doesn't matter what the question is. Doesn't matter that I know more about riding and bikes and mechanics than half our staff. They insist on speaking with a guy.

Now, just to be a tool, I'll tell them that none of the guys are available but that I'm happy to help them.

[SadieKate]

This thread is making me laugh sympathetically. In our company is a Ph.D in something like statistics. We are a medical software company, not academia. Yet, his voice mail is "Hello, you've reached Dr. John Doe's voice mail." He even introduces himself as Dr. So and So when everyone else just gives their name and follows up with the name of their position, such as "I'm Jane Smith, I'm the medical director." It sounds so very weird to my ears, like he's constantly worried that he appears better than everyone else.

[DebW]

Yeah, I get that too. I work in a bike shop. When I answer the phone, there are certain customers who immediately want to talk to one of the guys. Doesn't matter what the question is. Doesn't matter that I know more about riding and bikes and mechanics than half our staff. They insist on speaking with a guy.

Now, just to be a tool, I'll tell them that none of the guys are available but that I'm happy to help them.

Yeah, I used to get that too in 1973. As soon as they'd hear a woman's voice on the phone, they'd say "Can I talk to a mechanic." Happened several times every day. Guess things don't change as fast as we'd hope. I'd usually say "What do you need?" and answer all their questions. But sometimes I just couldn't take it anymore and would hand the phone to a guy.

[wannaduacentury]

Hi Fuji girl. When I was growing up, my parents and I were in the fire dept and they were state lic EMT's. There was one time at a picnic where someone collapsed and cpr had to be done and there were 2 md's on the scene as well. It has always been customary that the md's had the say so and the emt's that came w/ the ambulance took their directions very carefully. If someone has more training above a EMT or paramadic rank, the nurse, dr whichever has the say so on what's best for that patient. and the EMT/paramedic should always defer to them. I can't believe those guys treated you that way. If I were there, I would've helped you set them straight. I hope the jogger is ok.

[Nanci]

Where I work, they always make a big deal out of a pt being an MD. The nurse/whoever is always sure to specify it's _DR_ Smith, not Mr. Smith. I just had a patient the other day that I addressed as Miss Smith correct me and say "It's _Doctor_ Smith." Oh, what kind of physician are you? It was something weird, like biology!!! Whatever... Just minutes ago, my pt called for me- "Hey Nurse!!" They don't know.

[Brina]

wow, that would piss me off to no end.

[pooks]

When the paramedics got there, I started to give them a history, when one of them asked me "Are you a nurse?" I said no, I'm a doctor. After that, THEY STOPPED LISTENING TO ME. In fact, they completely ignored me and walked away to check out the patient on their own.

Do you think it's at all possible that when you said, "No," they tuned you out immediately and it didn't register that you went on to say you're a doctor? You know, they'd already dismissed you as "not a nurse" without ever considering that you might be another medical professional? (Just as insulting, actually, but it makes a little more sense than for them to totally disregard a doctor....)

Or am I giving them too much credit?