spent the day in the hospital with my dad, who is recovering from some major surgery which went well. Yay medical folks!
The thing is people come in all day long and they are almost all dressed indistinguishably and they often don’t introduce themselves at all. Sometimes they introduce themselves but don’t say what they do. I assumed the woman who said she was “Kimmy from the surgical team” was a doctor but it turned out she was a nurse. It feels rude to say “are you a doctor?” Sometimes they say conflicting things and you’re reduced to saying something like “but the lady in the blue scrubs with a ponytail said to try to eat something”
They wear name badges, but most of them wear them down at the hip so you have to crane your head towards their crotch if you want a chance at reading it.
I’d like to know the same thing. Wait 'til you’re in the maternity ward and some lady in scrubs starts wheeling your newborn out the door saying, “you just take a rest, mommy and daddy, just going to do some tests and be right back!” Wait ten minutes and then look at one another: “uh, who was that?!”
I usually say, “Who are you and why are you here”. You have enough to worry about without being concerned about political correctness.
They’re professionals. They can deal with it. Just ask them. If they object to being asked, TELL THEM TO LEAVE and contact the charge nurse for that floor, and/or your doctor, and report the incident.
When I worked in medicine I always introduced myself and said what department I was from, and if it was my first visit, I would tell them what kind of therapy they were going to get and at what frequency. Then on subsequent visits I would say my name and department again, but after a few visits they would know who I was and what I was going to do so it was no longer necessary.
If there is any doubt about who someone is and what professional position they occupy, ask ask ask. The worst mistake people make (as patients) is just blindly going along with whatever anyone tells them to do and never question it. When my son was in the hospital I routinely asked the medicos who they were and what they were doing (the ones who didn’t tell me first thing). None of them resented it as far as I could tell, and if they had I would have reported them to the floor supervisor or their department manager. I often asked them how long they had been in the field and where they had gone to school, too. I asked in a conversational way, not a confrontational way. No one gave me any guff. They shouldn’t.
My mother has been in hospital for over four months and during that time I’ve had scores of people swan into her room whose identity I haven’t known. I have rapidly developed the technique of saying “Hello, I’m Cunctator, Mrs Cunctator’s son. Who are you and what’s your role?”
I just got out of the hospital. At the one where I was treated, everyone wore name badges over the left side of the chest with their name and title. Even housekeeping. They also had a dry erase board in view of the bed with the name of the nurse, tech and dietary staff member for the shift.
Had these been absent, I would have asked the name and role of any staff with whom I interacted.
Right. There is no need to frame it in some kind of polite format. Just ask “Who are you? What do you do? Are you a doctor?” Or what I would suggest, if you suspect the person** is **a doctor, ask “Are you from housekeeping?”
I am a doctor. I think most of us would understand if a patient asked, “Can you tell me which team you are from? What is your role?”. It would not be offensive. We know that it is confusing when a lot of people are coming and going all the time.
Hospital administrator here. Definitely ask. What you are experiencing is generally considered to be bad practice. Practitioners entering the patient room should identify themselves and their role, and badges should be worn above the waist so they can be easily seen and read.
I’m a nurse. Just ask. Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind (like Interns) don’t matter.
This is one reason why I mourn the passing of Nursing Whites. It used to be so darn obvious who the nurse was!
About the only identity question I find annoying is, “are you a real nurse?” which is what some people say when they mean Registered Nurse. Yes, yes, I am a real nurse. I’m also a Registered Nurse. Tanya is also a real nurse, and she’s a Licensed Practical Nurse. Our titles are different, but we’re both real nurses, thanks. I assure you, if you need blood products or the most dangerous IV drugs, a Registered Nurse will be doing it. Otherwise, Tanya knows everything I do, and more, 'cause she’s been doing this for 30 years and I’ve been doing it for 3.
If you’re a psych patient, do not question anyone wearing shoes. They are the ones who control the doors to the quiet room as well as the doors to the outside world.
“Nice to meet you Kimmy. What’s your role in the team?”
As an attending physician at an academic hospital I’m often seeing patients who have already been seen by a resident so my usual intro is something like “Hello Mr./Ms. Smith. I’m Dr. Pendgwen. I’m the supervising doctor today.” I would not be annoyed by anyone asking what my part is is their treatment so long as they’re not hostile about it. In my experience patients (and families) who are engaged and make an effort to understand the treatment provided in the hospital are more likely understand their discharge instructions and therefore less likely to bounce back to the ED.
Yep - when Tony was in hospital for two weeks, and rehab for another week, I just asked if someone didn’t introduce herself. I often framed it as “Please forgive me if I’m just too tired to retain information, but you are?” Unless that person had coffee. Anyone with coffee could’ve ransacked the room and kidnapped my husband and I’d have been okay with the trade!
(It occurs to me, though, that I was a little spoiled while I was the wife of the patient. There were so many cops in and out of Tony’s room that we had to switch out the armchairs for straight-back chairs, since duty belts and armchairs don’t play well together. Plus, the head of security had worked with Tony at their previous job. He and his staff checked in on us at least a couple of times a day. And, for the first four or five days Tony was in the hospital, the sheriff assigned a deputy to be there, 24 hours a day, in case Tony or I needed anything at all - the assignment was literally “whatever they need. Here’s my personal credit card.” The sheriff is a good man. I didn’t worry too much about random folks just dropping in to steal the laptop or something!)
But seriously: Ask. No one with a legitimate right to be there will be offended. If they are offended, they should seek another line of employment.
You’d want to someone else there that you do know to introduce them.
Or at least they could introduce themselves nicely and slowly, even if they are excitable or introverted doctors.
I would just ask. I think it is your right. I had surgery on the last half of my thyroid. I wish I had been awake to ask the hordes of people who they were and why they were there, as it was I had to wait until the said hordes billed me. I’d ask who is this person and what did he or she do for me. Most of them consulted…meaning they walked through the room looked at my naked body and said “carry on” to the surgeon.
Sometimes they’re getting you healthy, and sometimes they’re in the wrong room, or marking the wrong foot for amputation, or putting a tube feeding down your chest tube. I speak from 20 years experience as a respiratory therapist spent in every type of medical facility from rehab to ICU. Mistakes happen, because medical personnel are human. You shouldn’t have to worry about pissing off the medical professionals by asking questions when it’s your own (or a family member’s) life on the line.
When I was in the hospital a few years ago, I was digging into my breakfast when a consultant walked into my room followed by six or seven interns. The consultant wheeled my breakfast tray away from my bed without so much as a “hello” and he and the interns stood around my bed for several minutes discussing my case without saying a single word to me. Then they left without even pushing my tray back to my bed. :mad: I was so shocked I didn’t even think to ask the ignorant son of a bitch for my breakfast back. I had to ring for the nurse to give it to me. At least she was sympathetic. She agreed that doctor was rude. My fault for not speaking up, though.
