They made you sit in a conference room, answer questions, and the lousy hospital wouldn't even pay you?! Ridiculous! I guess that's basically exactly the same as the physician who has to sit with a lawyer for hours every week trying to save his family home, with the full knowledge that even if he wins the case it goes in the National database.
And you're the one giving the bad news? I think not. Just because I don't walk in the room and let you observe the conversation with family and patient doesn't mean I'm doing it. I use a conference room, away from the nurses who have a bad habit of breaking in to "clarify" my comments.
And honestly, we all know that when you "face the family" you basically listen to them complain, then say, "I'll call the doctor" and that's pretty much it. After all, how can you explain an error that you didn't make? Or do you take it on yourself to represent the physician and explain their thinking and what went wrong?
In general I have enjoyed you input in these forums, but this post was so completely out of left-field that you've tanked any credibility that you had with me (20 years experience or not).
Your ten minutes in that room creates havoc you will never see.
I don't have to see or explain any mistake that I do not make, but I will still be the one that has to deal with the emotional/physical fallout that comes from it. And I will be prohibited by professionalism to give more than comfort. You try that for 36-48 hours a week for 3 1/2 monthes that it takes a patient to die painfully - a death that the HC team tried to prevent. The MD involved spent 10 minutes a day, and had an office manager/med asst to "screen" his calls. The MD can walk away after a short discussion, we get to stay and deal with the pain of the loved ones.
And in most community hospitals, the nurse is the one that is at the bedside when the pt dies, not the MD. If family is not present, we will be the ones calling them and breaking the news of the death.....the MD will be home, asleep and warm in his bed away from the tears.
No, I take care of the family and the patient when they melt down over the next 8-12 hours, that the doc is away in his office, going home having dinner and going to bed to sleep. I am the one cleaning up the patient to make them presentable when they die....due to error. Or cleaning up the incontinence when a surgeon messes up, creates a a massive spinal infection - paralyzing the patient. I have to listen to them cry in pain and comfort them to the best of my ability, pain caused by negligence. I get to call the MD daily about the postop fever, only to have them order repeated blood cultures, urine cultures but refuse to culture the wound - for over 7 days - when his cover finally does, and it comes up positive....but to late for effective treatment.
And when the same thing happens again to another patient less than a year later, I get to hear him lie, and say "Nothing like this has ever occurred to my patients".
And when the doc refuses to settle, I am the one that has to rearrange my schedule, travel 500 miles back and forth several times, because I did and charted exactly what happened and when - despite it being clearly charted.
And for the poster that said I feel marginalized, try again. I don't think MDs are as important as they think they are, and need to get a grip on reality. I don't think ANY single health care professional (nurses included) is all that important. I do not seek approval or acceptance for that concept, but I consider ALL members of the health care team as important, some more important at some times, and less important at others. And my money, home and family for what it is, as important to me as yours is to you. My name in a databank is also as dark as prospect as it is to you. I may not make as many dollars as you will later in life, but they mean to me, exactly what yours are to you.
You don't work with your team, you will find yourself working alone. There are plenty of MDs in the community that no one good ever refers pts to, no one good will cover call for, and no one will go the extra mile for. A bad attitude will hurt you if you have a practice that involves living people. And there is a lot of bad attitude in this posts. If you consider anyone with a lesser education as "beneath you", that will come across to your patients, most of whom "are beneath you" in education.
I also accept that y'all are human and screw up, and it is our job to help prevent that, along with pharmacy, diagnostics, etc.
I deal with 33% expecting the nurse to do their work ("write" tylenol orders, resume home meds and make judgement calls, hold BP meds without issuing parameters or calling), 33% that want us to do exactly as orders say no matter what happens to the pt and then complain when their plan that the nurses didn't use their judgement, and 34% that want an actual health care team approach. You see similar on this BB. Now, if I was psychic, it might work barring that there are going to be problems.
As far as credibility here, I have more than enough IRL with the PTB, I really don't worry about it here. Real life will hit everyone here eventially, and posters will succeed or fail on what they have learned in life. I'm already there as are those that I work with, those that are still on the trip can use the knowledge as they see fit.
