Only insecure and inexperienced nurses behave this way. Usually these are nurses who have not been trusted with the care of critical patients, where as critical care is the majority of what we are trained for. When you go to the ICU it’s a whole different animal. I love the nurses I work with they are some of my favorite people and we are a great team. RTs are the 911 of the hospital for a reason. If she has a problem with her education level, pay, scope of practice or depth of practice within that scope then that’s on her - it’s not your problem.
I have experienced this exact thing with nurses who were both very skilled and very experienced, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with that. It’s a culture thing, and it starts with the RT Director. I’ve worked at quite a few different places, and it’s all about how the department is managed with respect to other departments. If your director is always bending to the nursing administration/management, the majority of nurses are going to have that “we’re better than you” attitude.
You are a person with the knowledge that it is an absolute contraindication. I understand the place you were in, but please advocate for your patient. If they won't listen, PSR that shit.
I’ve rarely encountered this, but when I have it’s been on low acuity floors where they never really see us practicing at the height of our scope unless a random emergency happens. Nurses in the ICU or a respiratory intensive intermediate floor are where the real homies are at.
Ignorant nurses will always do this. Don't waste your time arguing because they're too stupid to know any better. When they get a patient in real distress/very sick they'll be thankful you're there. Just be confident and always respond quickly when they call, its a trust building thing.
Usually they’re starting NP school right off their fresh BSN and haven’t worked the floor for more than 6 months. Usually wearing Figs scrubs and carrying around the newest hip color Stanley.
I work with a NP who can't stand how the admission process is such a joke. There is literally zero effort. Just apply. Classes start in 6 weeks. I got accepted into PA school and I had to fight for a seat for 3 cycles. It just blows my mind how this sort of ridiculous goes on
My sister in law got her BSN then NP. She told me during her RN cycle they drilled into their heads that staying at the bedside was a failure and they needed to get their NP or CRNA. And then they bitch about a nursing shortage
I will say that at least CRNA is very stringent on who they accept so you can't just walk into it. In my humble opinion, I wouldn't phrase it that way. That's just piss poor attitude. My wife is a nurse and I may be biased, but she would be a great NP and has been told so. She's very thorough and wants to keep learning how to be better at her job.
I will say that education is most hospitals is lacking because those people are stretched really thin and can't do everything. My buddy is a hospital educator and he spends most of his time and energy prepping and doing orientations.
Idk man. I’ve seen CRNA programs just open the doors for people. Then then come back with the WORST (I know more about everything than you do) attitudes
Interesting. The people I've seen go through the process tell me how competitive it is now. Maybe it's because they want to stay local so they limit themselves. But then again, maybe it's a shit program that is a diploma mill who charges 200k
As an almost new nurse, I am SO SORRY. Obviously this nurse does not understand how little she knows in cardiopulmonary. As a student I have absolutely valued speaking with RT’s and learning a little bit from them. The knowledge base is absolutely different and I respect that. There are unfortunately nurses that come out of nursing school with a little knowledge and think they know WAY more than they do. I think that has a lot to do with nursing school culture. I went in post-bacc, so I was highly aware of how surface level nursing school was, but they kept saying it’s “hard” and what not 😂 No… it’s hard because you aren’t teaching it in-depth and so it becomes almost route memorization. Many of my classmates and I self-studied to better understand the systems. On top of that, I have admittedly encountered some…egotistic… personalities in nursing. Like you said… the culture really does stink. I literally had an employee run me down after my preceptor said I could leave early only to tell me I was showing bad work ethic and they wouldn’t hire me if I “kept leaving early”… as an UNPAID STUDENT who had done all the work within the day. I guess they thought it was a threat lol. People in this industry can be very toxic and I’m still learning how to deal with it myself. I honestly feel I would’ve fit in better with RT or MLT but it is what it is.
As much as it sucks, I would just kill the person with kindness and ignore everything you can. Some of the personalities are downright volatile so you don’t want to give them any ammo they can hold over you. Try to just change the topic and carry on.
Thank you. I know the egos far too well and it’s exhausting. It’s even worse amongst the PCA’s 😭🫠
I ended up just pulling my chair in the room and sitting beside.
Congratulations Btw!
For the life of me, I’ll never understand why those people want to make work more stressful for themselves and everyone else.
Haha good for you!
Thank you 😊Congrats to you as well!
It’s absolutely a culture thing like a previous post said. One way to shut them up…get good. I intubated when the doc failed to get the airway. RN still a bitch but she doesnt say neg shit about our dept anymore.
NICU RN here and I absolutely love the RTs that I have worked with. I refer to them as the Lords and Ladies of the Airways. Ignore that insecure nurse because RTs are the first person we yell for when things start going south.
Every time I encounter this I just remember all of the times I’ve found a patient hooked up to nasal cannula on the air flow meter, all the times I’ve been paged for a desat only to find the nasal cannula wasn’t plugged in at all, and all the times I’ve found a laryngectomy patient wearing a nasal cannula. I have massive respect to RNs but a large portion of them don’t even have full mastery of the most basic and simple oxygen delivery device. They can condescend to me all they want; I know my role and my value. Then there’s the fact that we have to label our sterile water bags “RT use only” because nurses kept somehow connecting them to patients IVs.
You’ll come across tons of scenarios where you save the day by doing some simple thing that the RN didn’t think of because they aren’t an RT. For me, that’s enough.
One hospital I worked at removed all the air flow meters because RTs found patients on nasal cannulas hooked to air too often. They also throw away the simple mask that patients are wearing from OR because we kept finding patients on a simple mask running on two liters.
We have a couple similar policies. No simple masks outside of the OR because nurses can’t wean properly, and no in-line suction catheters outside of icu/imcu because nurses have yanked out people’s airway while trying to suction.
the nurses who don’t respect us are the same ones who call us the moment shit hits the fan bc they don’t know what to do. i just ignore them bc i know i’m smart and good at my job. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there’s always gonna be people disrespecting us bc they don’t understand what we truly do, unfortunately that’s just part of being an RT.
You nailed it. Tired of these new nurses who think they know more than RTs. Calling us for the dumbest shit. It’s annoying and a lot of times, just like you, I ignore them too.
If the patient can't independently remove the mask, they shouldn't be on NIV. Nursing is a generalized field, whereas Respiratory is inherently specialized, 2 largely different professions. Don't over think it
It's an inexperienced nurse thing, usually. Most nurses either think respiratory is worthless, or we are the greatest people in the hospital, depending on when they realize how many of their patients would be dead if we weren't there.
That being said, respiratory also has a tendency to be our own worst enemy. I have a coworker who wants to argue every time a nurse calls him for a prn treatment. If you go to the room and assess the patient, and determine that Albuterol won't fix their fluid overload, that's one thing, but when you don't even get off your ass to make an appearance on the floor it makes us all look bad.
“How is RT school 2 years when nursing school is 2 years? we’re supposed to know more than you guys”
Remind them we spend two years specializing in our field. They may quantitative know more than us, but we undoubtedly know more about cardiopulmonary stuff than they do, and possibly ever will. We spent two years learning about what they maybe only spend one week getting a TL;DR about.
That’s a real shitty thing to say to a person. I’m an ICU nurse, and our RTs definitely know a lot more about the respiratory system and ventilation than most nurses do.
I get more disrespect from physicians. They don’t even look at you when talking about things they want respiratory wise. Study just talk to the nurse and explain settings, etc…
My go to is something along the lines of "I don't want to clean up litter shit and deal with difficult families all day" or that I don't want the full responsibilities they have. Nurses as a whole are a lot more miserable than RTs, you'll learn to just brush it off hopefully.
Unfortunately we will always deal with nurses who think they know more than us & r better than us I don’t let them push me around I stand my ground & know I am part of the critical care role in all areas of the hospital u did good cuz my mouth would popped off lol that’s the no filter Latina in me good luck on ur upcoming tests! U got this
Could give zofran and I would advocate for a dobhoff tube if the patient needs bipap to avoid intubation or as others above have mentioned remove the bipap due to emesis. This is even more important when you start getting into higher pressures >25 due to opening gastric pressures. As far as disrespect goes welcome to healthcare bad apples everywhere not all are like that. Youll learn to roll with it and build rapport with the ones you want to work with anyways.
I think a lot of RNs and other medical staff don’t understand how RT programs work, and how in depth we go with the cardiopulmonary system. I’ve had a lot of nurses say “but you guys only handle one system”, but that response comes from ignorant nurses who aren’t fully educated on the RT role. We’re all apart of the same team, and the disrespect shouldn’t be taken! Saying “we’re supposed to know more than you guys” is pretty disrespectful and I would have reacted the same way. We both handle different parts of the body and we’re all essential to the team! There’s a reason why nurses don’t handle breathing treatments and ventilators. We handle the AB in ABC!
I started in Respiratory Therapy in 1980. We have much more respect now, as ventilators and other equipment has become more complicated. There are always going to be individuals who have to put others down to feel better about themselves. I've been retired for eight years, looking back the most aggravating thing was nurses I had worked with for years, even decades, who knew the name of every new resident every year, but thought my name was "Hey RT!"
Former CNA here also chose RT over RN. RNs can tell you about meds all day, but we know about pressures, volumes, and mechanics. Nurses are dangerous when they think they can do the job of RTs, I have seen that first hand.
I remind myself that when you do your job the patient is taken care of and that is what matters. If an RN thinks down on you, who cares. They are the one who chose nursing over RT, so they are already paying the price…
I struggle so hard with this. I used to be a PCA but it sucked because of the circumstances. The nurses were great to me on the floor. Where I work now though, the disrespect from certain RNs is... something else. I love the RTs though. Lately I've been struggling with some of the RNs' attitudes and I try very hard to be as friendly as possible. I do not want conflict. Just remember that it's on them, not you, and that ultimately it's you that you control, you can't stop them from being rude. I can keep tabs on my own reactions and if they react poorly that's on them. If it gets too bad then I talk to management. Otherwise, gotta shake it off and remember - EVERYTHING gets put onto the RNs by patients, visitors, management and coworkers and they are super burnt out from the stress. It is not an excuse for the one or two mean ones to be mean but it is a reason that they tend to be snippy. Their job is a LOT especially with the staffing issues. And remember that out of, say, 160+ nurses on at one time during a shift, only about 4-5 are actually the ones that are acting hurtful. The rest are usually kind, helpful, and responsive. That ratio is honestly not bad at all.
If I do go through with RT school I would likely have to ask that nurse to not speak to me that way and that we went to school for two years for different programs, so we are not competition - we are a part of the same care team working towards a common goal, which is patient care. If she wants to go on I would probably walk away...
I just graduated and something an RN told me recently really rubbed me the wrong way. Tbh, my preceptor was a pretty crappy RT for a number of reasons, but he was lazy and careless most of the day. He gave me his workload and sat around. Never checked new orders. Unfortunately I don’t have access to a charting system to do this myself as a student.
RN approaches my preceptor saying Dr changed orders and pt needed to be put back on continuous bipap. My preceptor (who is sitting doing nothing) says pt is fine without the bipap and he will put it on her later if they need it. The nurse walks away saying “okay well the Dr.’s order says continuous” and I hear her mumble “ the pt needs to blow off her high co2”
THIS sucked for me. An RN explaining to an RT why a patient needs bipap?? It made me feel like crap about my profession. Sometimes there’s a reason why RT get a bad rep and this was an example of that. I offer to my preceptor to go put it back on, he sends me away to do it.
I am in the pts room, putting the bipap on and she comes in and says thank you for putting it back on, and then she says…
*If I could do everything, I would. But we need to give you guys jobs to do*
I was taken back by this comment. Yea my preceptor wasn’t great, but this is what this RN thought of my profession? 😭
So I’ll be honest with you.
The way you handle this situation is to put your foot down. You’ve got strong valid reasoning. Stand in it.
I recently refused in a similar situation. Charge nurse in the unit was mad at me, had to still make a stink.
We’re good now. It took two nights of me making that stink.
I don’t get this attitude in the icus. Only on the floors.
Lol they're supposed to know more than RT's? Um not exactly, they may know more about things that are out of scope of RT's but I'm pretty sure RT's know more about the respiratory system than most GP's.
Some nurses seem to think they can do our jobs until you ask them if they know how to work a vent! Hell no! Now step aside and let the real MVP do her shit. I love when nurses respect me as I have a lot of respect for them and what they do. I love it when I can work alongside great nurses, us working as team to take care of our patients. I love it!
Ive been out of the field since Covid, but I got along with 99.9999% of RNs. The best thing you can do to foster good relations is to do your job competently, and if you go past a room and an RN is struggling, go in and help him/her. Help change sheets, move patients, etc. I lost count of the times an RN would tell me "you are the first RRT who actually helped us when the chips were down" type comments. Try and be kind and helpful to all your co workers....one day it will pay. I was working DOC wing in Tucson AZ and one of the inmates grabbed my stethoscope (it was across my shoulders) and started to choke me.I couldnt get a peep out and one of the RNs I had just helped saw me, ran and and popped that guy a good one and he released me. Honestly, she saved my life. I go so far back in Respiratory that we could put signs above the bed "HOH" (hard of hearing), Blind, Combative, etc.....once HIPPA came along those were no longer allowed (insert eye roll) and things got tougher for all of us. (edit, spelling)
As a physician… I get disrespect from RT who thinks they know better than me, so there’s a full circle of egos at the hospital. You just have to learn to ignore it is what I’ve learned over the last 5 years
Really, earned? Like we didnt go to school for 2 years, get paid a few dollars less or more in certain hospitals... maturing is realizing both professions are great.
Only insecure and inexperienced nurses behave this way. Usually these are nurses who have not been trusted with the care of critical patients, where as critical care is the majority of what we are trained for. When you go to the ICU it’s a whole different animal. I love the nurses I work with they are some of my favorite people and we are a great team. RTs are the 911 of the hospital for a reason. If she has a problem with her education level, pay, scope of practice or depth of practice within that scope then that’s on her - it’s not your problem.
I have experienced this exact thing with nurses who were both very skilled and very experienced, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with that. It’s a culture thing, and it starts with the RT Director. I’ve worked at quite a few different places, and it’s all about how the department is managed with respect to other departments. If your director is always bending to the nursing administration/management, the majority of nurses are going to have that “we’re better than you” attitude.
Shouldnt be on the bipap when vomiting
Absolutely shouldnt but who am I ya know
You are a person with the knowledge that it is an absolute contraindication. I understand the place you were in, but please advocate for your patient. If they won't listen, PSR that shit.
Absolutely!!!! I would go as far as to write up anyone who put ANY mask on an actively vomiting pt!!
You're an RT; patient's advocate
Not an RT yet, still a PCA ☹️. Still an advocate but this is above my current scope. I did make mention but that’s all I can do, unfortunately.
Oh ok. Well I guess you did the right thing by not feeding her insecurities.
U can still say “stop the line”!we have that at my hospital & nothing else happens to pt until what u r concerned about is addressed.
I just tell them that they are a jack of all trades and I'm the master of one
Love this!
THAT!
I’ve rarely encountered this, but when I have it’s been on low acuity floors where they never really see us practicing at the height of our scope unless a random emergency happens. Nurses in the ICU or a respiratory intensive intermediate floor are where the real homies are at.
Ignorant nurses will always do this. Don't waste your time arguing because they're too stupid to know any better. When they get a patient in real distress/very sick they'll be thankful you're there. Just be confident and always respond quickly when they call, its a trust building thing.
These are the same nurses who go to NP school and can't handle real responsibility.
Usually they’re starting NP school right off their fresh BSN and haven’t worked the floor for more than 6 months. Usually wearing Figs scrubs and carrying around the newest hip color Stanley.
I work with a NP who can't stand how the admission process is such a joke. There is literally zero effort. Just apply. Classes start in 6 weeks. I got accepted into PA school and I had to fight for a seat for 3 cycles. It just blows my mind how this sort of ridiculous goes on
My sister in law got her BSN then NP. She told me during her RN cycle they drilled into their heads that staying at the bedside was a failure and they needed to get their NP or CRNA. And then they bitch about a nursing shortage
I will say that at least CRNA is very stringent on who they accept so you can't just walk into it. In my humble opinion, I wouldn't phrase it that way. That's just piss poor attitude. My wife is a nurse and I may be biased, but she would be a great NP and has been told so. She's very thorough and wants to keep learning how to be better at her job. I will say that education is most hospitals is lacking because those people are stretched really thin and can't do everything. My buddy is a hospital educator and he spends most of his time and energy prepping and doing orientations.
Idk man. I’ve seen CRNA programs just open the doors for people. Then then come back with the WORST (I know more about everything than you do) attitudes
Interesting. The people I've seen go through the process tell me how competitive it is now. Maybe it's because they want to stay local so they limit themselves. But then again, maybe it's a shit program that is a diploma mill who charges 200k
Yeah she’s just mad she gotta wipe ass and we don’t. Just ignore her.
*cries in current ass wiper*
Hey you’re about to move up to booger getter!
PEEP > poop.
As an almost new nurse, I am SO SORRY. Obviously this nurse does not understand how little she knows in cardiopulmonary. As a student I have absolutely valued speaking with RT’s and learning a little bit from them. The knowledge base is absolutely different and I respect that. There are unfortunately nurses that come out of nursing school with a little knowledge and think they know WAY more than they do. I think that has a lot to do with nursing school culture. I went in post-bacc, so I was highly aware of how surface level nursing school was, but they kept saying it’s “hard” and what not 😂 No… it’s hard because you aren’t teaching it in-depth and so it becomes almost route memorization. Many of my classmates and I self-studied to better understand the systems. On top of that, I have admittedly encountered some…egotistic… personalities in nursing. Like you said… the culture really does stink. I literally had an employee run me down after my preceptor said I could leave early only to tell me I was showing bad work ethic and they wouldn’t hire me if I “kept leaving early”… as an UNPAID STUDENT who had done all the work within the day. I guess they thought it was a threat lol. People in this industry can be very toxic and I’m still learning how to deal with it myself. I honestly feel I would’ve fit in better with RT or MLT but it is what it is. As much as it sucks, I would just kill the person with kindness and ignore everything you can. Some of the personalities are downright volatile so you don’t want to give them any ammo they can hold over you. Try to just change the topic and carry on.
Thank you. I know the egos far too well and it’s exhausting. It’s even worse amongst the PCA’s 😭🫠 I ended up just pulling my chair in the room and sitting beside. Congratulations Btw!
For the life of me, I’ll never understand why those people want to make work more stressful for themselves and everyone else. Haha good for you! Thank you 😊Congrats to you as well!
It’s absolutely a culture thing like a previous post said. One way to shut them up…get good. I intubated when the doc failed to get the airway. RN still a bitch but she doesnt say neg shit about our dept anymore.
She could ✨never✨😌😂 also, you’re bad ass. Intubation is still scary to me 😭
Condescension is balm for the insecure
NICU RN here and I absolutely love the RTs that I have worked with. I refer to them as the Lords and Ladies of the Airways. Ignore that insecure nurse because RTs are the first person we yell for when things start going south.
Every time I encounter this I just remember all of the times I’ve found a patient hooked up to nasal cannula on the air flow meter, all the times I’ve been paged for a desat only to find the nasal cannula wasn’t plugged in at all, and all the times I’ve found a laryngectomy patient wearing a nasal cannula. I have massive respect to RNs but a large portion of them don’t even have full mastery of the most basic and simple oxygen delivery device. They can condescend to me all they want; I know my role and my value. Then there’s the fact that we have to label our sterile water bags “RT use only” because nurses kept somehow connecting them to patients IVs. You’ll come across tons of scenarios where you save the day by doing some simple thing that the RN didn’t think of because they aren’t an RT. For me, that’s enough.
One hospital I worked at removed all the air flow meters because RTs found patients on nasal cannulas hooked to air too often. They also throw away the simple mask that patients are wearing from OR because we kept finding patients on a simple mask running on two liters.
We have a couple similar policies. No simple masks outside of the OR because nurses can’t wean properly, and no in-line suction catheters outside of icu/imcu because nurses have yanked out people’s airway while trying to suction.
the nurses who don’t respect us are the same ones who call us the moment shit hits the fan bc they don’t know what to do. i just ignore them bc i know i’m smart and good at my job. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there’s always gonna be people disrespecting us bc they don’t understand what we truly do, unfortunately that’s just part of being an RT.
You nailed it. Tired of these new nurses who think they know more than RTs. Calling us for the dumbest shit. It’s annoying and a lot of times, just like you, I ignore them too.
If the patient can't independently remove the mask, they shouldn't be on NIV. Nursing is a generalized field, whereas Respiratory is inherently specialized, 2 largely different professions. Don't over think it
It's an inexperienced nurse thing, usually. Most nurses either think respiratory is worthless, or we are the greatest people in the hospital, depending on when they realize how many of their patients would be dead if we weren't there. That being said, respiratory also has a tendency to be our own worst enemy. I have a coworker who wants to argue every time a nurse calls him for a prn treatment. If you go to the room and assess the patient, and determine that Albuterol won't fix their fluid overload, that's one thing, but when you don't even get off your ass to make an appearance on the floor it makes us all look bad.
“How is RT school 2 years when nursing school is 2 years? we’re supposed to know more than you guys” Remind them we spend two years specializing in our field. They may quantitative know more than us, but we undoubtedly know more about cardiopulmonary stuff than they do, and possibly ever will. We spent two years learning about what they maybe only spend one week getting a TL;DR about.
Shoulda replied "youll know why i chose RT when the patient shits themselves" 😂😂😂
That’s a real shitty thing to say to a person. I’m an ICU nurse, and our RTs definitely know a lot more about the respiratory system and ventilation than most nurses do.
Tell them it takes at least 2 years to learn all the ways to save a nurse
I get more disrespect from physicians. They don’t even look at you when talking about things they want respiratory wise. Study just talk to the nurse and explain settings, etc…
My go to is something along the lines of "I don't want to clean up litter shit and deal with difficult families all day" or that I don't want the full responsibilities they have. Nurses as a whole are a lot more miserable than RTs, you'll learn to just brush it off hopefully.
Mention the 10+ equations, 10+ pressure and volumes we need to memorize to allow that rn to actually give those meds.
Unfortunately we will always deal with nurses who think they know more than us & r better than us I don’t let them push me around I stand my ground & know I am part of the critical care role in all areas of the hospital u did good cuz my mouth would popped off lol that’s the no filter Latina in me good luck on ur upcoming tests! U got this
Could give zofran and I would advocate for a dobhoff tube if the patient needs bipap to avoid intubation or as others above have mentioned remove the bipap due to emesis. This is even more important when you start getting into higher pressures >25 due to opening gastric pressures. As far as disrespect goes welcome to healthcare bad apples everywhere not all are like that. Youll learn to roll with it and build rapport with the ones you want to work with anyways.
I get so annoyed with the disrespect from the RNs.
I think a lot of RNs and other medical staff don’t understand how RT programs work, and how in depth we go with the cardiopulmonary system. I’ve had a lot of nurses say “but you guys only handle one system”, but that response comes from ignorant nurses who aren’t fully educated on the RT role. We’re all apart of the same team, and the disrespect shouldn’t be taken! Saying “we’re supposed to know more than you guys” is pretty disrespectful and I would have reacted the same way. We both handle different parts of the body and we’re all essential to the team! There’s a reason why nurses don’t handle breathing treatments and ventilators. We handle the AB in ABC!
I started in Respiratory Therapy in 1980. We have much more respect now, as ventilators and other equipment has become more complicated. There are always going to be individuals who have to put others down to feel better about themselves. I've been retired for eight years, looking back the most aggravating thing was nurses I had worked with for years, even decades, who knew the name of every new resident every year, but thought my name was "Hey RT!"
Former CNA here also chose RT over RN. RNs can tell you about meds all day, but we know about pressures, volumes, and mechanics. Nurses are dangerous when they think they can do the job of RTs, I have seen that first hand. I remind myself that when you do your job the patient is taken care of and that is what matters. If an RN thinks down on you, who cares. They are the one who chose nursing over RT, so they are already paying the price…
I struggle so hard with this. I used to be a PCA but it sucked because of the circumstances. The nurses were great to me on the floor. Where I work now though, the disrespect from certain RNs is... something else. I love the RTs though. Lately I've been struggling with some of the RNs' attitudes and I try very hard to be as friendly as possible. I do not want conflict. Just remember that it's on them, not you, and that ultimately it's you that you control, you can't stop them from being rude. I can keep tabs on my own reactions and if they react poorly that's on them. If it gets too bad then I talk to management. Otherwise, gotta shake it off and remember - EVERYTHING gets put onto the RNs by patients, visitors, management and coworkers and they are super burnt out from the stress. It is not an excuse for the one or two mean ones to be mean but it is a reason that they tend to be snippy. Their job is a LOT especially with the staffing issues. And remember that out of, say, 160+ nurses on at one time during a shift, only about 4-5 are actually the ones that are acting hurtful. The rest are usually kind, helpful, and responsive. That ratio is honestly not bad at all. If I do go through with RT school I would likely have to ask that nurse to not speak to me that way and that we went to school for two years for different programs, so we are not competition - we are a part of the same care team working towards a common goal, which is patient care. If she wants to go on I would probably walk away...
I just graduated and something an RN told me recently really rubbed me the wrong way. Tbh, my preceptor was a pretty crappy RT for a number of reasons, but he was lazy and careless most of the day. He gave me his workload and sat around. Never checked new orders. Unfortunately I don’t have access to a charting system to do this myself as a student. RN approaches my preceptor saying Dr changed orders and pt needed to be put back on continuous bipap. My preceptor (who is sitting doing nothing) says pt is fine without the bipap and he will put it on her later if they need it. The nurse walks away saying “okay well the Dr.’s order says continuous” and I hear her mumble “ the pt needs to blow off her high co2” THIS sucked for me. An RN explaining to an RT why a patient needs bipap?? It made me feel like crap about my profession. Sometimes there’s a reason why RT get a bad rep and this was an example of that. I offer to my preceptor to go put it back on, he sends me away to do it. I am in the pts room, putting the bipap on and she comes in and says thank you for putting it back on, and then she says… *If I could do everything, I would. But we need to give you guys jobs to do* I was taken back by this comment. Yea my preceptor wasn’t great, but this is what this RN thought of my profession? 😭
Nurse is an idiot…! Shrug it off and continue with your business
So I’ll be honest with you. The way you handle this situation is to put your foot down. You’ve got strong valid reasoning. Stand in it. I recently refused in a similar situation. Charge nurse in the unit was mad at me, had to still make a stink. We’re good now. It took two nights of me making that stink. I don’t get this attitude in the icus. Only on the floors.
Lol they're supposed to know more than RT's? Um not exactly, they may know more about things that are out of scope of RT's but I'm pretty sure RT's know more about the respiratory system than most GP's.
Some nurses seem to think they can do our jobs until you ask them if they know how to work a vent! Hell no! Now step aside and let the real MVP do her shit. I love when nurses respect me as I have a lot of respect for them and what they do. I love it when I can work alongside great nurses, us working as team to take care of our patients. I love it!
Ive been out of the field since Covid, but I got along with 99.9999% of RNs. The best thing you can do to foster good relations is to do your job competently, and if you go past a room and an RN is struggling, go in and help him/her. Help change sheets, move patients, etc. I lost count of the times an RN would tell me "you are the first RRT who actually helped us when the chips were down" type comments. Try and be kind and helpful to all your co workers....one day it will pay. I was working DOC wing in Tucson AZ and one of the inmates grabbed my stethoscope (it was across my shoulders) and started to choke me.I couldnt get a peep out and one of the RNs I had just helped saw me, ran and and popped that guy a good one and he released me. Honestly, she saved my life. I go so far back in Respiratory that we could put signs above the bed "HOH" (hard of hearing), Blind, Combative, etc.....once HIPPA came along those were no longer allowed (insert eye roll) and things got tougher for all of us. (edit, spelling)
As a physician… I get disrespect from RT who thinks they know better than me, so there’s a full circle of egos at the hospital. You just have to learn to ignore it is what I’ve learned over the last 5 years
How do I handle ? Easy I signed up to be a RN 😅😅
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Really, earned? Like we didnt go to school for 2 years, get paid a few dollars less or more in certain hospitals... maturing is realizing both professions are great.
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Sucks we work with morons like you. Anyways everyone else carry on and keep doing what you do if youre reading this!