I had a 77 year old female come in with a blood glucose today of 33! This is the 7th time this year that the Chicago Fire Department (I love those guys! and girls) has deposited this patient on our ER steps.
7 times!! It's only April, for crying out loud!
I argued a bit with the ER attending about setting this patient up for home care -- I really had to push her. Her words "I don't want to admit this patient for this!" (with obvious whining on THIS). I said "of course not, Dr. Medical Goddess, but do you want her to bounce back here next week with the same c/o? Obviously she cannot manage her diabetic medications. She lives alone, is too weak to walk, is wearing dirty clothes, came in without pants, shoes or socks, her feet are a mess and she really needs some follow up care".
Well, the attending Medical Goddess reluctantly had the patient's PCP attending paged, who thought it was a great idea to have her followed by homecare to do some diabetic teaching for this lady.
It's all about putting the patient first. Just wanted to pass this along since what we all do is so important in the lives of other people.
