I was recently discussing the role of EMS with a surgeon friend of mine and we ended up discussing the beauty of the radio/cell phone patient report versus the handoff at the hospital. Like many providers, I’ve had instances where nursing staff demands information from me or demands that I take a set of vital signs for them on the hospital’s equipment. Combine that with some of the nursing discussions about nurses considering EMS to be “unlicensed personnel” that can’t be delegated tasks and you’ll get the spirit of the rant I’m sharing with y’all for discussion fodder.
At some point, the physicians need to step up, put the nurses in their places, and remind them that EMS providers work under a physician’s delegation, and don’t work for (and aren’t subordinate to) nursing staff.
I am working on another, longer post soon. In the meanwhile, though, I wanted to get some discussion going about the role and place of EMS. And a controversial, blunt post seems to be the way to drive up the readership….
I just ignore the nurses when they start talking down to me.
I try to work with nurses to the best of my ability. Some it is easy, some it isnt.
I have some great relationships w/ some nurses. Others I just tolerate and honestly they probably just tolerate me. That said, it’s important, to me, to remember that we do two very different jobs.
Just remember, when someone goes “down” on the battlefield they all scream MEDIC!!!! Not Nurse 🙂
I think if a nurse is going to work in the emergency department, they should be required to do ride outs as part of their orientation. EMS students are required to do ED rotations. I think if nurses got to see what truly happens in the EMS world, their would be a better relationship.
My ED requires new hires and GN’s to do a ride out with EMS. I think in theory, it’s a good idea but in practice, I don’t see that it changes much with regards to the way our medics are treated. I’ve never witnessed any blatant disrespect by our RNs to the medics that come in but I have seem (and heard) from our hospital based medics (many of whom are more experienced in trauma and critical care than some of the RNs) that they are being treated poorly. When it comes down to it, we all need to at least be professional with each other, while we may perform different roles, most of us have spent around the same amount of time in school and are equally dedicated to our respective areas of practice.
We are all a part of the same continuum of care and do the same job. It’s all patient care. We just have different sides of the same square (physicians are the third side and patients are the fourth). It all looks different to different people but still the same square. We all need to learn to work together and show professional respect and courtesy. We don’t follow the nurse orders and they don’t follow ours. Why fight? We all need to grow and work for the same purpose.
I just feel compelled to reply to the idea “we are all part of the same team.” We are not all part of the same team nor are we a team at all. I think it is delusional to think we are. Physicians have different goals and different interests than nurses. EMS has goals different to both of these parties. The reality is we are all using the patient for our own motivations. While I don’t doubt we should be part of a team, I do not think it is remotely accurate to believe that is the reality of it.