[student80]

Some of the doctors at the hospital where I am are exactly the same as described here, however I've seen consultants who tell the patient that they don't want to see their wound etc so they don't over expose it, or simply check that the nurses are currently happy with everything. I was quite impressed by them as he also stated that he could be carrying anything on his clothes! Hope I see more like him in the future!

[ladylynx]

Originally Posted by Christean

I am a student nurse,and I've had a few situations with isolation precautions and doctors that concern me. 1st situation was a 11 yr. old ped. pt. with osteosarcoma with mets to the chest wall. He had had finished chemo/radiation 1 week ago and was now admitted for fever unknown orgin. Labs showed WBC .4, Platelets 5, etc.. Of course this pt. was on isolation. When the Dr. came in he didn't even wash his hands- NO gown, NO gloves. As a student nurse- I felt this dr. was jeopardizing this pt. and didn't know how to handle the situation, so I said nothing. Now, today I had a pt. with MRSA and Psuedamonas on isolation. A surgeon came in for a quick consult and he did gown/glove, but after he finished with the pt. he asked me (a student nurse) how he was suppossed to take his gown/gloves off and wash his hands without contaminating things! I wanted to ask him- what are you going to do when you do surgery on this pt. in 2 days?!? Any comments/suggestions on this kind of a scenario?

In one of the hospitals I worked in, C-Diff was rampant so we started reporting even the Dr.'s that did not follow protocol. I found that in most facilities I have worked in, the Infectious Disease departments are very serious about their jobs and often want to know (we often joke about them being anal). So they are a very good resource for reporting to, even anonymously. When C-Diff showed up with a new Mom, everyone got serious.

If that doesn't work you always have the famous, "Ethics Compliance hotline".