F
flutterbee
Guest
I thought this article was timely considering Dreamer's recent posts.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25594124/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25594124/
Big Bad Kitty
lolcat
I just read (in this month's Readers Digest) an article that quoted doctors from around the country (most of them anonymously). They said things like "we are impatient; your time is of no concern to us but OUR time is very precious to us", "you would not believe how many of us talk about patients behind their backs, about their appearance, their size, etc", "we often prescribe drugs because it is easier than explaining why you don't need them". It went on and on.
Kinda made me sick. Not that I'd go see a doctor or anything.
Kinda made me sick. Not that I'd go see a doctor or anything.
dreamer
New Member
This topic has been recently brought up in AJN and my state newsletter for nurses.
The Readers Digest article? LOL, yeah, I posted it here on watercooler, I think last week, it was pretty wild to see it in print! Yes, I know behind the scenes, yes, I hear docs say those things....like in the readers digest article.and yes, I also see the bullying, of peers, and of patients. NOne ofit is as uncommon as youmight think. I am afraid that many times a patient might not even be aware when they are not taken seriously enough, or when something that should happen doesn't becuz many people do not really KNOW the protocols, many people do not have a huge knowledge of the policies and procedures etc so they are not aware that someething occured that shouldn't have or that something did not occur that should have. Many patients go to the doctor and trust the doctor and accept the doctor....as in doctor knows best....
If someone had not before had to be admitted to hospital, they might not KNOW that it is NOT normal to not be escorted to your hospital bed in the hospital from registration desk. SO they would not know to complain. My daughter never did get an ID bracelet at hospital last nite. Someone who has not been inpatient might not have ANY idea HOW vital that little hospital bracelet is, what its purpose is etc. Someone who is not medically trained and never had a loved one have critical consequences from severe dehydration might not have any idea just how serious it can be to become THAT dehydrated.
Maybe the doctor was NOT judgeing us on PCs status as an unmarried teen mother or our medical insurance, maybe docs and nurses just assumed we had some hypochondria going on.
BUt sick persons are not as alert and aware as non sick persons and many many people have not had to deal with very many hospitaizations to even have any idea if they are being bullied, ignored, dismissed etc.
Awhile back, someone here posted something about a nurse questioning a doctor. That person had no clue that a nurse CAN ask a doctor for clarification, bring a potential mistake to docs attention etc. Docs are human and can make mistakes, too, aside from some docs and nurses being bullies. Yes a nurse CAN question a doctor, - altho it is wise and prudent to do so respectfully.
The biggest key, I thinnk is communication. and far too often communication gets stuck, caught on a snag, dropped, lost, confused. WHether it is patient to doctor, patient to nurse to doctor, tech to nurse.....and far too many people do not bother to make sure everyting is clear and clarified. If asked for clarification, some persons get offended. (even in non medical situations, how often have you said "pardon me" only tohave the other person get sarcastic or ugly at you instead of clarifying? )
In my personal experience, as parent for my children, I have had far far too many professionals of ALL types (not just medical) simply ASSUME - finish my sentences FOR me etc.....or- change my answer becuz they assume I may have embellished when I did not do so.
Yes, a parent might say "my child is bleeding all over, so much, a whole lot, everywhere" and a nurse or doctor might think, hm... this incident does not sound like it could really cause quite as much blood as this parent is trying to make it sound like.....I bet it is just a little blood, not a lot. when truth is maybe there really IS that much blood. Maybe even MORE than that.
I have also seen docs be presented with patients lab results and a doctor has said- whoa, no way, those lab values simply cannot possibly be right,----so the doctor dismisses them as wrong, accuses lab of messing up the test....and moving forth as if that lab value is fine.
When I was a young teen, I waited tables for non American people. they spoke very little english, and I did not speak their language. BUT oh boy, when they wanted us to come pick up hot food to take it to customers, they would holler and we ran. BUT they also liked to be rather dramatic and we quickly learned, if we wanted our customers food to be great, we never ever complained....they would make things quite miserable for us if we did.
Yes, it is the same in most jobs. Many people do let a lot of things slide becuz to blow the whistle can bring wrath down on your own head. ANd hey, everyone needs their job, everyone has bills to pay.
Yes, for the patients, this is life or death.and often their first or only experience with whatever the situation is that is going on now. It is dramatic for the patient...but......docs and especially specialists do NOT make it to that level without loseing the feelings of intensity and drama for these events that the patients feel. A patients appendix MIGHT be ruptureing, BUT how effective is the doctor gonna be if HE falls to peices at the thought? How many heart surgeries does one cardiac surgeon do in a year? To him, it is routine. and yes, sometimes his patients die, it goes with the job.....it is NOT his family member. No- the caregivers are not always all holding their breath their their patients intense medical crisises. Its often "just another day" for many of them, no matter what their patients personal outcomes are.
PLEASE do not get me wrong.....there ARE a huge number of professionals who are not that cold and heartless......and a huge number, probably the majority who do give it their all ------
but,, there ARE less than angelic ones. and they are not as uncommon as you might want to think.
The Readers Digest article? LOL, yeah, I posted it here on watercooler, I think last week, it was pretty wild to see it in print! Yes, I know behind the scenes, yes, I hear docs say those things....like in the readers digest article.and yes, I also see the bullying, of peers, and of patients. NOne ofit is as uncommon as youmight think. I am afraid that many times a patient might not even be aware when they are not taken seriously enough, or when something that should happen doesn't becuz many people do not really KNOW the protocols, many people do not have a huge knowledge of the policies and procedures etc so they are not aware that someething occured that shouldn't have or that something did not occur that should have. Many patients go to the doctor and trust the doctor and accept the doctor....as in doctor knows best....
If someone had not before had to be admitted to hospital, they might not KNOW that it is NOT normal to not be escorted to your hospital bed in the hospital from registration desk. SO they would not know to complain. My daughter never did get an ID bracelet at hospital last nite. Someone who has not been inpatient might not have ANY idea HOW vital that little hospital bracelet is, what its purpose is etc. Someone who is not medically trained and never had a loved one have critical consequences from severe dehydration might not have any idea just how serious it can be to become THAT dehydrated.
Maybe the doctor was NOT judgeing us on PCs status as an unmarried teen mother or our medical insurance, maybe docs and nurses just assumed we had some hypochondria going on.
BUt sick persons are not as alert and aware as non sick persons and many many people have not had to deal with very many hospitaizations to even have any idea if they are being bullied, ignored, dismissed etc.
Awhile back, someone here posted something about a nurse questioning a doctor. That person had no clue that a nurse CAN ask a doctor for clarification, bring a potential mistake to docs attention etc. Docs are human and can make mistakes, too, aside from some docs and nurses being bullies. Yes a nurse CAN question a doctor, - altho it is wise and prudent to do so respectfully.
The biggest key, I thinnk is communication. and far too often communication gets stuck, caught on a snag, dropped, lost, confused. WHether it is patient to doctor, patient to nurse to doctor, tech to nurse.....and far too many people do not bother to make sure everyting is clear and clarified. If asked for clarification, some persons get offended. (even in non medical situations, how often have you said "pardon me" only tohave the other person get sarcastic or ugly at you instead of clarifying? )
In my personal experience, as parent for my children, I have had far far too many professionals of ALL types (not just medical) simply ASSUME - finish my sentences FOR me etc.....or- change my answer becuz they assume I may have embellished when I did not do so.
Yes, a parent might say "my child is bleeding all over, so much, a whole lot, everywhere" and a nurse or doctor might think, hm... this incident does not sound like it could really cause quite as much blood as this parent is trying to make it sound like.....I bet it is just a little blood, not a lot. when truth is maybe there really IS that much blood. Maybe even MORE than that.
I have also seen docs be presented with patients lab results and a doctor has said- whoa, no way, those lab values simply cannot possibly be right,----so the doctor dismisses them as wrong, accuses lab of messing up the test....and moving forth as if that lab value is fine.
When I was a young teen, I waited tables for non American people. they spoke very little english, and I did not speak their language. BUT oh boy, when they wanted us to come pick up hot food to take it to customers, they would holler and we ran. BUT they also liked to be rather dramatic and we quickly learned, if we wanted our customers food to be great, we never ever complained....they would make things quite miserable for us if we did.
Yes, it is the same in most jobs. Many people do let a lot of things slide becuz to blow the whistle can bring wrath down on your own head. ANd hey, everyone needs their job, everyone has bills to pay.
Yes, for the patients, this is life or death.and often their first or only experience with whatever the situation is that is going on now. It is dramatic for the patient...but......docs and especially specialists do NOT make it to that level without loseing the feelings of intensity and drama for these events that the patients feel. A patients appendix MIGHT be ruptureing, BUT how effective is the doctor gonna be if HE falls to peices at the thought? How many heart surgeries does one cardiac surgeon do in a year? To him, it is routine. and yes, sometimes his patients die, it goes with the job.....it is NOT his family member. No- the caregivers are not always all holding their breath their their patients intense medical crisises. Its often "just another day" for many of them, no matter what their patients personal outcomes are.
PLEASE do not get me wrong.....there ARE a huge number of professionals who are not that cold and heartless......and a huge number, probably the majority who do give it their all ------
but,, there ARE less than angelic ones. and they are not as uncommon as you might want to think.
dreamer
New Member
heres the thread with the readers digest article in it
http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15893
http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15893
Hound dog
Nana's are Beautiful
dreamer
You are too right.
easy child didn't believe me. Now she does. She refuses to take abuse from anyone, including the docs. (she is her mother's daughter) She stands up for herself, as well as her patients, but does her best to do it with tact and out of range of patients sight or hearing.
You are too right.
easy child didn't believe me. Now she does. She refuses to take abuse from anyone, including the docs. (she is her mother's daughter) She stands up for herself, as well as her patients, but does her best to do it with tact and out of range of patients sight or hearing.
