PreppyPA Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 I recently posted on here about some work related issues regarding work day length and administrative duties. Just as I thought those issues were resolved, this happens. There was an issue the other day with the phones in the office not working properly. I'm back at my desk, one of the nurse practitioners in our group blasts through the door and starts yelling and asking why I didn't answer my phone, there was a patient here. I told her it didn't ring, and at first she didn't believe me until the other nurse practitioner agreed that the phones never rang. Angry nurse practitioner starts to focus her anger on other aspects she has issues with. Next day I confront both of them and explain to them that we need a better system in place so things like this don't happen again and how I will be more vigilant with the way I do things (just to appease her some). It's at that point that the unimaginable happens... Both nurse practitioners admit that they resent me being a PA. They go on to explain how basically they had to work their way up the food chain as nurses first, working nights and weekends, missing holiday dinners, and getting shit dumped on them as the new hire. Then when they became nurse practitioners, they had the same issue with work schedule and working their way up. It is at this point that we all meet up at a hospital clinic at a county hospital that is closed nights, weekends, and we have all the standard holidays off, plus other not so common holidays. We don't take call as midlevels, only the physicians do. They resent that right out of school, I have come into this job. They resent that I come in as a professional, and that I don't have to be at the bottom of the shit pile and that I command a certain amount of respect right out of the gate. They admitted that it is something they have to get past and that it was discussed before I was hired. They mentioned that in the past they had experiences with PAs, one of which felt that nurse practitioners were inferior to her, and another PA that is very well liked and "put on a pedestal" by his physicians and that they don't like how he is treated like that. I flat out asked them if I ever gave them the impression that I did not respect them or consider them my inferior, and they said no...that I seemed like a nice enough person. To be honest I'm shocked they would even admit this. I'm even more shocked that this culture exists. I was always taught to respect your co workers and everyone there. Do you have experiences like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 No experience ... in this field, but have experienced in another career. Just want to say that in reading your post, it sounds to me that you should feel complimented ... that they respect you enough to TELL you all of this! I don't see much you can change about it, but being aware helps you continue to be sensitive to it in your interpersonal dealings with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKPAC Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 Most PAs work their way up the ladder with prior HCE before PA school. This is yet another reason that I believe HCE is important. Also, they should know that many nurses choose to go to PA school rather than become NPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted September 1, 2016 Moderator Share Posted September 1, 2016 I'll just say there is a reason I'm not a practicing RN anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 Why are their feelings your problem? Don't change a thing. If you change anything, change jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted September 1, 2016 Moderator Share Posted September 1, 2016 So do the NP's feel this way about Doc's? they didn't have to work up the nursing field either.... Oh yeah and every direct entry NP didn't have to work their way up either.... they are just bitter - you did well to confront it - be a professional - what will happen over time is you will win them over, and they might hold the same bias - against PAs but just not you DO NOT enable their opinions - Be a GREAT PA and let them figure it out..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katera Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Chip meet shoulder. Most NP's I know have a major inferiority complex.....for good reason. Their provider training is inferior. They can do most of it...online. lol what a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcash Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 It's not our (PAs) fault they chose to be a nurse then an NP. Sorry get over it! I agree respect your colleagues, we're all on the same team and same level. I work with an NP who has 20+ years experience to my five years so I respect that and consider her a valuable resource. But she thinks she's my superior. Sorry we're on the same level despite all the respect I have for her I don't answer to her!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgriffiths Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 I laugh at this as I know so many PA's who worked as CNAs prior to entering PA school, including myself. By far the worst job I ever had, except for the patient interactions and being able to help people (I don't enjoy cleaning feces and bathing others...having said feces thrown at me) Pretty much everything has already been said, but I agree that I would take this as a compliment. But, I also would ask why they feel like going through those steps is required? Do I have to be a masochist to gain someone else's respect? If I have an opportunity to skip those steps, or at least get out of them faster, why wouldn't I? Bottom line, I believe NPs see us as too close to MDs. My wife and I had a great friend in undergrad (actually a bridesmaid in our wedding) who specifically became an RN to become an NP. As soon as she found out I was in PA school she hasn't talked to either of us since. Obviously a generalization, but I have experienced this multiple times and the combativeness of the RN lobby just oozes into the entire medical care network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAtoB Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 it's because nurses only save lives. I can think of fewer professions that publicly play victim as well as the nurse community does. There, I said it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Febrifuge Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Anecdotal evidence only, and admittedly these are not well-developed opinions, just rambling... but it's been my experience that it only takes the occasional martyr wacko to turn people's opinions away from nurses as a group. And that's a damn shame. But there also appears to be some small sliver of a cultural thing within nursing that either encourages that, or fails to stop it. It's weird. If an attending MD is clearly off their rocker, it reflects on that person (and maybe on their department, slim possibility it affects how people think of an entire specialty). Just a couple of RNs have a bad attitude, and it seems to poison the perception of nurses. When you think about it, there are more nurses than clinicians in almost every setting, so maybe it's a numbers thing. But that's exactly it - with so many in the sample size, you get lots of variation. Proportionally, there aren't any more lousy nurses than there are lousy docs, or PAs, or custodians. In raw numbers, sure, maybe you can identify more. And within nursing, they fight and bicker and sabotage one another. It's so dumb, though. Seems to me, if nurses acted as though they respected one another - and themselves - as much as most clinicians do, everything would be cool. All I know is, I work in a group that values nurses, and everyone knows it. Including the nurses themselves. We also don't hire slackers. It's amazing how bull${it-free our team is, and I don't think it's a coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk732 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 ...We also don't hire slackers... This is always a big plus no matter where you work or what your job is...one or two that are a little crispy around the edges and or don't pull their weight really mess up group cohesion and morale. SK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMD Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Sorry not sorry. So I should apologize for choosing my career wisely? Uhhh... nope. My best friend is an NP and she has asked me my opinion on many occasion even before I graduated from PA school. Team work is in the DNA of most midlevel practitioners. Those NPs need to be exposed to your PA awesomeness. Continue to bless them with it! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreppyPA Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 I really appreciate the feedback from everyone! Your input was just what I was going to do: be the best PA I can be, always be respectful, and kill them with kindness if anything else. I just feel that I am stuck. An update as of today is that the new schedule came out for the next 3 weeks. I have been placed on the later of the 3 possible shifts we could possibly have. Every. Single. Day. I did not consent to any of this, it just appeared. The one NP makes the schedule. I can't help but feel as if this is their way of making me "pay my dues" and exert some sort of power over me. I just feel like I am quickly going to get frustrated with this way of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted September 6, 2016 Moderator Share Posted September 6, 2016 I really appreciate the feedback from everyone! Your input was just what I was going to do: be the best PA I can be, always be respectful, and kill them with kindness if anything else. I just feel that I am stuck. An update as of today is that the new schedule came out for the next 3 weeks. I have been placed on the later of the 3 possible shifts we could possibly have. Every. Single. Day. I did not consent to any of this, it just appeared. The one NP makes the schedule. I can't help but feel as if this is their way of making me "pay my dues" and exert some sort of power over me. I just feel like I am quickly going to get frustrated with this way of life. Not okay. You need to establish with them a set rotation of the late clinic. If they want you to do 3 weeks in a row, fine, but you better see the next person on 3 weeks in a row. Unless she is the one cutting the checks, she and her friends do not get preferential treatment with the schedule. "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet." -General Matis Pay your dues my @$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 You were meeting with HR on 8/22, didn't you say in your other thread? What happened there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreppyPA Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 You were meeting with HR on 8/22, didn't you say in your other thread? What happened there? It's been like 3 weeks. Haven't gotten anywhere. The girls at the desk at hr have been fantastic but the woman I needed to contact has never gotten back to me after several attempts to contact her and messages left on her machine. A family friend of ours is the head of HR. I really wanted to leave her out of it but I contacted her this morning and I am meeting with her tomorrow morning. Hopefully she will help me resolve these issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted September 6, 2016 Moderator Share Posted September 6, 2016 be professional be persistent DO NOT TAKE no for an answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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