You know how we are supposed to be the patient's advocate??? You know, looking out for their best interests and making sure they get the best of care and all that.
Have you ever not wanted to be their advocate? I am talking about the frequent flyers that take up your time, are on the call light constantly, never happy with the doctor or with you, want cheeseburgers in the middle of the night, complain about the hospital, and when it is time for discharge they try to make up all kinds of reasons they should stay. I just had one this past week. They are non-compliant, and you can't say anything to them to that effect. All they want is their pain meds given to them. I was happy when the doctor decided to discharge them because there wasn't anything we could do more for them. They would not do what they were supposed to try an take care of themselves. When I told the patient they were being discharged, they got mad at me. The patient said we were kicking them out of the hospital and they were still in pain and asked what was I going to do about it. I told them I had a script for them, they asked if it was for pain meds and I said no, it was to help them quit smoking. They got mad about that, and asked what they were going to do for their pain. I said you had pain meds before coming to the hospital, you will have to go back to that source for pain meds. Well needless to say they left mad and said they would probably be back in the ER because of the pain.
I could have or maybe should have paged the doctor to see if they could have a script for pain meds. I didn't want to. I guess I wasn't a very good patient advocate. I was not looking out for my patient.
Has anyone else had this same feeling for not wanting to be the patient's advocate??
I told them I had a script for them, they asked if it was for pain meds and I said no, it was to help them quit smoking. They got mad about that, and asked what they were going to do for their pain. I said you had pain meds before coming to the hospital, you will have to go back to that source for pain meds. Well needless to say they left mad and said they would probably be back in the ER because of the pain.