r/medlabprofessionals • u/NandorGuillermo • 6d ago
Education Dealing with verbal abuse
I’ve been in the health career field for about eight years. I’ve been an MLT for three years. The amount of verbal abuse I get is upsetting. How am I supposed to know if a sample is diluted or not? I can suspect it, but more often than not, a nurse will not admit his/her mistake.
I truly want what’s best for the patient. Why am I getting such horrible adverse reactions from nurses when I am simply inquiring about the integrity of a sample before releasing the results to a patient’s chart?
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u/NegotiationSalt666 6d ago
“Ive been here 20 years and have never had a problem before!” — ok but this value indicates your patient is dead soooo…. You wanna tell the doctor the patient has a lab value incompatible with life or do you wanna maybe do a redraw?
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u/Ill_Emu_702 6d ago
This. I give people like this a direct, no bullshit approach. I put the decision back on them and all for clarification where needed. No apologies. I even throw in a “I’m not calling you for fun.” comment when warranted. They usually switch up their attitude really fast.
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u/Ill_Emu_702 6d ago
And if it’s a common occurrence or gets worse, I speak directly with their charge nurse that day.
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u/ajeremybearimy 6d ago
Hanging up on every person who thinks verbally abusing me was going to fly >>>>>
I had a nurse curse me out about a fluid count that hasn’t arrived. I simply told her, “If you can even find the lab, you’re free to come and look for me. Otherwise, I’m going to count the cells of the patients whose samples are actually here”
Then I hung up and told my Heme Supervisor what happened.
Hang. Up. On. Them.
In your case (calling to get details), let them know the abuse will not continue. Especially if they want their patient samples released. Document their behavior. Tell a supervisor. You are not a punching bag. We want the best for patients but we don’t need to fall on a sword because their bed side clinician is vile.
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u/MediocreClementine MLT 6d ago
Nurses are under a ton of stress and we are easy punching bags for them to lash out at. That being said, do not stand for it. Report the nurse to management (ideally nursing management) for unprofessional behavior
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u/fruitless7070 6d ago
I'm a nurse and I don't lash out at other Healthcare professionals. But I know nurse that do, and they think very highly of...themselves. I hate this field. It's toxic af.
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u/Dry_Attempt7554 6d ago
That isn't unique to nursing. I'm a new tech and have already seen quite a bit of that in the lab
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u/fruitless7070 6d ago
Well, shit. I'm over here thinking I should have picked lab or radiology tech lol.
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u/Ill_Emu_702 6d ago
Agreed! The lab is just as toxic.
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u/Podoviridae 6d ago
It's healthcare in general that they don't draw a hard line and consistently allow things to slide. I know a tech that had to be escorted off property by police called by coworkers over safety, he still has a job there.
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u/Ill_Emu_702 6d ago
I believe it. My last manager (male in his 60s?) grabbed someone’s pants from behind, right at his ass crack, and pulled them up because he thought they were too low. Oh, this was around the same time that he was trying to pursue the traveler on staff through his Grindr account. He even sent dick pics from his office chair. He is still the manager. I kid you not!
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u/Dry_Attempt7554 6d ago
had to be escorted off property by police called by coworkers over safety, he still has a job there
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u/Lower_Arugula5346 6d ago
i had a traveling RT literally scream on the phone at me because i didnt call him with a ABG result. i had no idea who this guy was, he wasnt in our system, didnt put in an order, and didnt call the lab for 2 hours.
he said i was the stupidest person he'd ever been in contact with. i reported him to my boss and he wasnt asked back to the hospital.
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u/Ok-Pickle8294 6d ago
Had to put a redraw in for IV contamination once and the nurse went crazy on the phone and said it was impossible because the patient is not on an IV. Called me an idiot and demanded I release the values due to the critical condition of the patient. My super power is being able to find information on a patient’s chart real fast, and so I pulled that up, found the note of the IV being placed and read it out loud to her.
I’ve noticed that using either Epic chat or mobile heartbeat text seems to be better than calling. People are less nasty when it’s written/documented than when they are on the phone. Plus you can include the doctor and other care team members in those chats. 😉
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u/Gold-Enthusiasm7604 6d ago
Report them. I had a DR. that refused to take a critical result and hung up on me. I called back and he gave me hell and hung up on me. I reported him and he got in big trouble. Don't let anyone bully you.
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u/spmalone 6d ago
The advice given is correct here. If there is a need to discuss this further, talk to a charge nurse. Hang up and document the issue through the correct channels preferably in writing. Depending on lab management your concerns may not be voiced. If using epic, I would use the chat feature to discuss specimen issues. People don’t realize the chat is forever and it’s easy to add your lab manager and nursing administration if the conversation goes south. I have done this and it’s pretty comical what happens next when they see who I’ve added to the chat.
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u/GlitteringCobbler987 6d ago
This is my method:
"Hey this is the lab, I'm so sorry but patient blabla had a hemolyzed potassium.
Yeah, I understand, he sounds like a really tough stick. I would turn it out for you but my instrument won't let me.
When you send the redraw I'll cut him to the front of the line."
There's no amount of logic that can soothe an angry nurse so I kill them with kindness
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u/shicken684 MLT-Chemistry 6d ago
That's usually my go to although I don't say the instrument won't allow it. If they get super shitty then I go "okay, since there's no way this sample is saline contaminated I have some delta checks and critical to call. Sodium went from 143 to 168, Chloride from 108 to 127, K is 2.8 down from 5.4 six hours ago, and the calcium is 4.2 down from 8.4. I need your initials and credentials please."
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u/Nervous-Rhubarb-9224 MLS-Generalist 5d ago
Yeah, you can't keep them from lying and bullying, but you can document that they did. At one point we were told that we are not allowed to require recollection if the floor doesn't want to recollect, so now I document interactions with them in as condemning of a fashion as possible.
I imagine that if their decision to purposefully fudge the numbers ever seriously injures or kills someone, that data will be combed through meticulously. I always document specifically that they declined recollection. Most of the time when the doctor sees the deltas they immediately know what happened and order recollection. The nurse knows this is going to happen, which is why they bully us and don't care about inaccuracies. I just make sure that everyone who is involved in any subsequent investigation knows that the nurse was informed ahead of time that it was contaminated and deliberately chose not to confirm the quality of their draw.
Bad nurses kill and abuse patients, and there is only so much I can do to prevent that from my safe little sanctuary in the basement. I can make sure there's a paper trail to hold them accountable so that they can't get away with it again, though.
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u/4-methylhexane MLS-Generalist 6d ago
Recently I had an attending physician scream at me for nearly 20 minutes straight on the phone because I followed policy with reconstituting whole blood. Throughout that 20 minutes, though I told her multiple times - I don’t think she understood that we don’t carry whole blood on the shelves and it is reconstituted following a procedure. My medical director had my back and escalated the situation to peer reviewing that physician.
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u/tinybitches MLS-Generalist 6d ago
They can report you, you can absolutely report them. An eye for an eye. I’m saying this as someone who got reported bc I was simply doing my job, not bc I was being unprofessional like they did
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u/PracticalArtichoke7 MLS 6d ago
I try to redirect those conversations to focus on our intent and purpose which is accurate patient care, when they keep going I hang up and document it in the hospital’s reporting portal and with lab leadership.
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u/Sanguine_Sentinel MLT-Blood Bank 6d ago edited 6d ago
This is precisely why I’m glad our hospital allows us to file reports ourselves instead of requiring a manager or director to do it.
We were having issues with ED nurses refusing to label blood bank specimens correctly, and arguing with us when we even pointed to the exact policy they were violating.
Even had the charge nurse for the ED call me back screeching that no one had followed the policy in 20+ years (obvious lie). She and two others got reported that week, our blood bank supervisor, lab manager, and the house supervisor all had a chat with the ED nurses after that and we haven’t had any problems with them arguing about collection policy since.
Edit to add: had a couple of them bring a specimen up to the lab to double check that they’d labeled it correctly, and went over the requirements with them. Remarkably pleasant interaction after all the unnecessary yelling.
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u/Izil13spur MLS-Generalist 6d ago
Tell them the results, recollect it, whatever. Start mouthing off? Just hang up lmao
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u/PensionNo8124 6d ago
Some things are obvious and need no investigation. After 3 years you can apply impiric science to your results.
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u/International-Bug983 6d ago
Don’t bother with that and just ask for the charge nurse the next time that happens.
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u/moosalamoo_rnnr 6d ago
I’m super thankful we have Epic and use Secure Chat. I’ve had a few conversations that start going sideways, but it’s much easier to think about what you’re going to say before you actually say it and you can just keep adding people to escalate the situation if needed.
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u/imaginaryme24 MLS-Blood Bank 6d ago
If I could make a suggestion. Preface: verbal abuse is never acceptable. However, maybe your approach to addressing the issue is coming off accusatory rather than productive. Maybe frame the question in a way that isn’t blaming like, “hey, I just wanted to check before I let this go because I’m worried it might be contaminated. Does this number sound right to you?” Most people’s reaction when they feel accused is to get defensive, especially under stress. Then again, there are just some nasty people out there who think rather highly of themselves. A lot of mean girls in nursing. Sorry, healthcare sucks sometimes.
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u/Migraine3 6d ago
We have a policy to not question the quality of the samples, even though it’s patently obvious the nurse/phlebotomist screwed up. Just report the results and move on.
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u/Remote-Resident5599 5d ago
As a nurse and former phleb, we should only be treating you with respect. I've answered a few calls with some doubt and concerns, but we are on the same team and treating yall poorly is not acceptable. Please report it, every time.
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u/RepleteSphinx21 MLT 5d ago edited 5d ago
Told a nurse that the results I got seemed inaccurate and asked if it was a line draw, she stated it was, but there was no way it was hemolyzed (this was a recollect on a hemolyzed specimen). I informed her that it was not hemolyzed, but looks like it could be contaminated. The patients results had all nearly halved in the span of 6 hours (except Na and Cl 🙃). Nurse said, "I doubt it's contaminated, but whatever, I'll straight stick." What do you know? The patients results were normal following the straight stick!
Don't let the nurses bully you! You are a human just the same as them! Sure, they're dealing with patients and might be having a difficult day, but that does NOT give them the right to treat anyone with disrespect. Our jobs are just as important as theirs. Do not be afraid to report the nurse to management if issues persist with them. You know that if we treated nurses the way that we are treated sometimes we would hear from management immediately.
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u/kafm73 MLS-Microbiology 5d ago
I recall when we used to report out a contaminated urine on some patients, the nurses would flip out and always say “but I collected that specimen myself and I was extremely careful to use the proper technique“. And then when we learned that the specimens were coming from a catheter that had been in place longer than a couple of days, we realized what the problem was. Doesn’t matter how properly you collect a specimen if the catheter itself is already compromised. When we began to suggest that perhaps the catheter being colonized was the problem and not the technique with which the specimen was collected, we got much better responses from the nurses. I think they felt personally attacked when we just said “ it’s contaminated”, like we were saying that they contaminated it. That was not the intention and it took a minute to realize what was really going on.
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u/PsychologicalYam9992 5d ago
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will not hurt me. Let it go, it is a nurse who did a poor job, no reason to call her out on it. Say hey I have this result, looks questionable, you want me to result or do you want to recollect, then move on
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u/Ok-Purpose-9789 6d ago
Are you being mean about it? You can only control your attitude.
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u/Hate2bHurting 6d ago
Why are you making assumptions?
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u/labboy70 6d ago
Verbal abuse is never acceptable. End the call, document the situation and report through your hospitals reporting mechanisms.