Re: Do you disclose a positive urine HCG? Originally Posted by Salls25 
Working with a new-to-our-ER doc the other night
UHCG turned out to be positive, and became part of my counseling for home care teaching and pain control. I would not have normally just told a patient such a life altering result had I not already talked to her about her recently stopping the pill, her late cycle, and that she tested negative at home. Fortunately I had the tact to assess the patient's desire to keep her young child out of the loop by using adult-friendly terms "OB/GYN", "prenatal vitamins", ect.
clueless doc walks in a blurts "i guess you already know that you are pregnant" in front of the kid who clearly knew what that means.
First sentence. Problem is control issue with new ED doc.
Middle paragraph. You did the right thing, and you were the one that had the tact.
Last sentence. If that doc thought a positive HCG would not be pregnancy, he sure didn't tell the patient that. Tactless is an understatement.
From now on I would make it a point for the staff to do NOTHING that this doc could even mildly consider to be out of his "realm." It won't take long for him to see that your work
helps him with the throughput, and that his attitude is slowing down the patient care. (Especially when you do not initiate any care that he did not specifically order.) Of course, this does not include true emergencies. Oh, and any questions from the patients should of course be directed to the PHYSICIAN, no matter how many times he has to go back to the patient's room to answer them.
btw you did the right thing.
Nursing News