I was reporting off this morning on a rule out chest pain pt. He was a 49 yr old guy who had an extensive family cardiac risk hx, he had had a CABG in his 30's, had been an alcoholic until 8 yrs ago, when he gave it up. He had abused recreational drugs. He previously had smoked 4 pks a day, but now was down to 1/2 pack a day. He still occasionally indulged in pot, was married for 30+ years, had had stents, was not overweight, had early COPD, and was just about to get on disablity for his multiple problems. He also had had some esophegeal surgery secondary to his previous ETOH dependence.
The guy was actually very nice and really above board and honest. He had been a traveling worker who had worked on railroads. He had made the effort to quit drinking for 8 years, had cut back to 1/2 pack a day, was not pestering me for morphine, and was really nice.
So, one of the nurses in report was pretty judgemental. Let me just say that this nurse tends to give a pass to all the out of control diabetics who are 100 punds overweight, and is a only too eager to point out how judgemental I am if I comment on that.
This all made me realize how each of us has something that makes us judge our pts. For some reason, this guy seemed up front and honest. He didn't mind my remarks like "How in the world did you manage to smoke 4 pks a day!?". I saw him as someone who WAS making an effort. Yes, I think that whiny, overweight pts who have complications from their food overindulgences bug me.
So, what is it that particularly sets you off about your pts? For me it's the overeating, abdominal chronic pain pts, they really aggravate me.
