To think the radiologist should not speak to me

[WorkingMotherNStudent]

like i am a fucking idiot when i am working on a busy reception in a clinic at a hospital. If she did her job properly and told me everything she wanted me to do in one go instead of feeding it to me in drips and drabs then it would make both of our lifes easier, but she doesnt and so when i politely say this to her she speaks to me like i am a moron. Am i within my right to tell her that she is no fucking better than me just because she is earning much more than me and i will sooon be a nurse when i complete university and so will be on par with her.

and breathe.....

YANBU. I used to have a colleague like this. I am a solicitor. He was a solicitor. He wasn't senior to me. He was just rude. One day a client wrote in to say that he felt said colleague had talked down to him and he wanted to make a complaint. Whilst colleague and senior partner were discussing this and saying how ridiculous it was (as colleague didn't speak to senior partner in that fashion) I turned from my desk and said, 'actually, I can totally understand why the client felt that way because you do the same thing to me. You talk down to me all the time and I don't like it'. He was much more careful how he spoke to me after that.

YANBU, the NHS is the most ridiculously hierarchical workplace. I work with some people who genuinely seem to think that someone on a lower band than them is completely beneath their notice. Luckily there are others who appreciate that if we mere mortals didn't do our jobs, they couldn't do theirs. Your radiologist sounds like a treat - make friends with the lead consultant, she'll be green with envy.

YANBU.

She won't change the way she speaks to you when you are a nurse though.

This has nothing to do with her being a radiologist and you a receptionist, sounds like usual office politics/miscommunication.

Have to add, (I'm aso a nurse) I hope this is not the attitude you're entering nursing with and no, when you have finished your degree, you will not be on par with her. She is a radiologist and you a nurse. Her and your body of knowledge is entirely different. If you cannot have patience with a collegue, how on earth are you going to have it some of the patients you will invariably encouter and have to care for?

Good luck anyway, it is a very rewarding profession.

IwishIwasafrog - how on earth have you come to the conclusion that the OP will not have patience when she is a nurse?

Just seems to be a disproportionate reaction to what is only a communication problem. If she cannot rise above that, how is she going to deal with all the different kinds of people in various situations that we deal with every day? What do you expect the person that spoonfeeds your elderly granny her lunch to be like? Nurses should nurse, they are not mini-doctors. The OP thinks she will be on par with the radiologist when she has finished her training. Which she will not. Sorry op, this does not anwer your original question. I think YA(a bit) U.

'Am i within my right to tell her that she is no fucking better than me just because she is earning much more than me and i will sooon be a nurse when i complete university and so will be on par with her.'

I don't think this would be a great thing to do, no and YABU!!

I would tend to agree with 'iwishIwasafrog' that this is a communication problem. Maybe the radiologist has a patronising manner and maybe you tend to take offence quite easily, although it's difficult to be sure without knowing either of you!

If you do want to try to resolve the situation, perhaps have a quiet, calm word in a mature way and just explain that you were a little upset by her tone the other day and that sometimes you find her communication unclear so perhaps you could both try x or y. You could tell her that you are hoping to be a nurse too!

Getting angry with her because she earns more and is much better qualified will not achieve anything.

If you want to continue to work in the NHS, I am sure you will have to tackle difficult patients and colleagues and learning to deal with this sort of situation could be really useful for you in the future.

When i mean on par, it was to say that at the moment i am an administrator and a student nurse to be very shortly, it was about the fact that she is medically trained and i am not. Yet i will be soon too.

She has this problem with lots of people not just me, she seems to always do it when she is standing in the reception of our busy clinic making the admin staff and the rad-aides feel like they are thick because she does not know how to communicate properly patients notice this and it is very unprofessional.

also the admin staff always seem to get treated like we are second best in my department yet without us the department wouldnt function.
I think people forget how hard we work and so speak to us like shit sometimes, doing this in front of patients is out of order though yet is done quite alot as i think they forget that they are in front of a load of people and then when they walk away we are left there with all these people thinking we are some kind of idiot when we are not.

The op is complaining about being spoken to like a moron when all she did was make a polite request for more information.

In no way is being spoken to like a moron acceptable, but we all know this happens all the time in hospital.

Sympathies that you are being made to feel this way and I certainly don't think that anyone, regardless of their grade or professional qualifications, should make another staff member feel "thick". It sounds like this individual has generalised problems regarding interpersonal communication.

However I would dispute that when you graduate from your (nursing) degree that you will be on a par with her as she will at a minimum be considerably further along her career path than you.

For those who don't know the minimum entry requirements for radiology training are a medical degree , with at least 2 years and often many many more years post graduate experience (and often other postgraduate qualification).

The training programme is 5 years long and comprises several rounds of challenging exams which must be passed in order to become a Consultant Radiologist.

IwishIwasafrog well said! You sound like a fab nurse and you are right. If the op had that rare thing a Matron in charge of her with 3o years Nursing experience but no degree would it make her better than her just because she had "finished University". You can't run before you can walk and yes there probably is a communication issue but you sound over sensitive. What would you say to the Consultant who may be a little short with you, it will happen. Medics and Nurses do get shouted at sometimes and sometimes it may bring out the best in us but we might not like it. A busy Hospital is not like an Office more like an Army Unit if run efficiently. Do you think Florence Nightingale got all soppy and cosy with her Nurses, I doubt it. Just chalk it up to experience.

WorkingMother - I do have sympaties, believe me, after a few years working in A&E ( allthough mat leave and DC put an end to all of that!)I can sympathise, and best of luck with your nursing career! Think of yourself as the patient in the waiting room, watching a consultant abuse their staff and treating them as 'thick'. I promise that the consultant is the one that looks like an idiot, not you. Joe Public is not stupid. They can, more often than not, relate to the type of situation you're in, think of what your reaction would be when you are looking in on the situation from the outside. People that come to hospital do so because there is something wrong with them or a loved one, and in my experience they take a dim view of arrogance and a general crap attitude, by whoever or whoever it is aimed at. She is making herself look stupid, don't worry, people tend to notice these things! Best of luck with your studies, and enjoy!

I assumed the op was talking about a diagnostic radiologist - the person who does CTs etc, its a 3 year degree as is nursing.

The person who does the 3 year degree is a radiographer. Not a radiologist. World of difference.

Maize you are talking about a radiographer.

Totally different training schedule as you have indicated.

However (to be a bit snidey) I would expect the OP with her massive amount of "medical" knowledge to know the difference especially as she works in the Radiology dept.