Weirdly sad about MD errors

Nurses Stress 101

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I know everyone makes mistakes. I have a catalog of my own, nursing and otherwise!

Lately, I seem to be seeing a lot of my patients who APPEAR to have been made worse by the medical(surgical) treatment they received.

Don't get me wrong, these folks were very ill when they arrived, but instead of getting better after surgery, they just keep getting worse. I understand that recovery after major surgery takes a long time. Unfortunately, what I am seeing is not just slow recovery.

It is making it hard for me to go to the job that I love. I try to work all of my shifts consecutively, because I enjoy getting to know my patients. Unfortunately, lately, getting to know my patients means that I see them getting worse rather than better.

I have from time to time seen this situation, however, lately, this seems to be the majority of my patient assignment.

It also makes it harder to play nice with doctors that specialize in disliking questions and/or phone calls from nurses.

I am open to any suggestions EXCEPT singing "Let It Go" :)

AJJKRN

1,224 Posts

Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

Has you workplace gotten a fairly new round of residents, physicians, or medical staff lately? Just curious.

qaqueen

308 Posts

Has you workplace gotten a fairly new round of residents, physicians, or medical staff lately? Just curious.

No, these are seasoned MDs.

Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

If you are sure that a surgeon has a higher than usual rate of post complications, infections, anastamotic leaks due to prolonged hypotension, mention this to your manager.

Bear in mind that a dead bowel is an abdominal catastrophe.

Ten years ago, many of these patients would have been put on a morphine gtt, titrate to comfort. Now, we take them to OR to appease the family and after three weeks of suffering and ICU care, the outcome is the same.

AJJKRN

1,224 Posts

Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

I would also hope that you have a designated physician that serves as a liaison between nursing staff and medical staff. We have one designated in each service to be the go-to for issues and concerns. Hopefully your hospital has a quality control team too.

qaqueen

308 Posts

I would also hope that you have a designated physician that serves as a liaison between nursing staff and medical staff. We have one designated in each service to be the go-to for issues and concerns. Hopefully your hospital has a quality control team too.

No liaison, but we do have a quality control team. Thank you for yor input.

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