Doctor snapped his fingers at a pregnant ER nurse and told her to ‘go fetch’ — her response made him rethink his tone
Respect is fundamental in the workplace, irrespective of a professional’s industry or position. An ER nurse, who goes by u/Expensive_Chapter_87, shared how she stood up for herself after a doctor mistreated her while she was on duty. At 32 weeks pregnant, the 26-year-old was attending to a nonverbal, autistic patient who needed a Foley catheter replaced. In her post dated October 21, 2026, she explained how she was busy attending to the same patient when the doctor snapped at her for not having the necessary equipment ready. After explaining her stance, he snapped his fingers, demanding that she hurry, but she responded with a fitting reply.
It was noted that the patient otherwise required 5-6 people to hold him down during care. However, he seemed to have taken a liking to the ER nurse and, without knowing it, was complying with the procedures. As a result, the rest of the staff requested that she administer the shot, due to which she was unable to bring the catheter for replacement from another unit. When the urologist arrived, he told her, “I needed this 2 minutes ago.” She explained why she hadn’t gone to bring it yet, but he “snapped his fingers at me and said, ‘Then go fetch, go run.’” “I said, ‘We’re not doing this (snapped my fingers). I’m not a dog to be fetching your things. So you can check that attitude at the door while I go get those catheters.”
The nurse mentioned that there were obvious reasons that she couldn’t bring the equipment before he arrived. She was pregnant, couldn’t be running around that much, and was attending to the patient at the time. It would have taken two minutes more, but he chose to be arrogant. The first time he made the remark, she froze at the door before saying, “Excuse me?” However, he repeated his action, snapping his fingers and insisting she “run.” That prompted her to shut him up. It no longer felt like a heated situation; it felt like an unprofessional, careless attitude being thrown at her.
According to Gallup, only 37% of employees stated that they were treated with respect at work. It was an all-time low. Only 2 in 5 workers said they felt respected in the workplace. Workers who felt they were poorly treated noted how it affected their performance and satisfaction with the job. When the duo returned to the room, the doctor seemed angry, finished the procedure, and walked out instantly. Another ER doctor later asked the nurse what had happened, and when she explained, she assured her that it was disrespectful and that she would discuss his behavior later. Commenters praised the woman for not silently taking the insults. u/anxybean wrote, “Probably the first person to ever try to put this man in his place, good for you.” u/moonyflamingo remarked, “There is no reason to treat you like that!” u/KatTheTumbleweed noted, “I’ve been an ED nurse for 25yrs and never had such unacceptable behaviour. You handled it appropriately.”
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