I’m someone who likes people. I like to be on friendly terms with the people I work with. In my previous casual jobs when I was a student that was easy, as everyone I worked with was at the same level as I was, or was substantially younger or older, and thus there was no issue with the power imbalance between us.

However, the situation at a hospital is markedly different. And in particular when it comes to socialising or being on good terms with nursing staff.

I learnt very early on in my intern year – actually, when I think about it I learnt very early on in medical school  – that it is imperative to be on good terms with the nursing staff, or they can make your life very, very difficult. I admire and respect what nursing staff do immensely, especially because I do not think it is something that I would be able to do – it is a lot of work, and is often work that is devoid of praise or glory for the most part. Nurses are the ones who keep the wheels of the hospital turning, and make sure that the things that need to get done do in fact get done. They tie up the loose ends that we doctors sometimes over look, and save us from our mistakes before they have a chance to have an adverse affect on a patient – or on our lives or careers!.  It makes life a lot easier if you can be on good terms with those who have so much effect on your working life. I had a nurse tell me once that if the nursing staff do not like a particular intern then they will go out of their way to call them back to the ward to perform unneccessary tasks, and effectively think up extra work for them to do; if they like you then you have a few extra people watching your back, which is always nice when it is peoples well being, and sometimes their lives, at stake.

All of this said, the truth is that it is very difficult to be true friends with a nurse if you are a doctor. It’s something that I have found has bothered me quite a bit this year, and more than I thought it would. I am on great terms with many nurses on the wards I worked at; when I was working nights I would go and hang out in the nurses station and eat chocolate with them if I was not busy, and gossip about what was going on in the hospital. The fact is though, that depsite all of this cameraderie, I am still the one who they have to call to make decisions for a patient, to sign things, to authorise things. Naturally there are times when I make a decision that they do not agree with in regards to a patient, however because I am the doctor they have to action it, because I have the final say.  As nicely as you can put it, and as casually you can say it, it does still make a difference when you have people asking you for your advice, opinion, and when you are essentially telling them what to do. For this reason there is always this power imbalance between the nursing staff and the doctors, that does not always come from one thinking they are better than they other, but regardless is there and is keenly felt.

Nursing staff have a great deal of camaraderie amongst themselves as a group also, and much of this comes from the feeling they have that they are a unit against the evils of the hospital, the patients, and the egotistical attitudes of the doctors. It is a sense of camaraderie that it is difficult to have with fellow doctors, for the simple fact that we are often one of only 2 or 3 doctors on a ward at a particular time – there is no denying that when I get together with my medical friends there is that sense of belonging, but it is one thing to experience that on occasion in a casual setting, and another to have that sort of team attitude and togetherness on a daily basis. In addition doctors are by nature exceptionally competitive, and it is a rare occasion when I am working side by side with another doctor without some kind of competition coming in to it – who made the better decision, who knew the most about the patient, the treatment, the diagnosis. Sometimes I look at the nursing staff and long for that kind of ‘family’ ethos.

All of that said, I don’t think I am about to turn my stethoscope in, not just yet. I’m kinda enjoying being a doctor, despite all of the above!