Ok, this subject has probably been covered a million times on this site, but I haven't seen it yet. So, a little insight, please...
I work as a floor nurse (LPN) on a med surg floor in a small hospital. I took care of a patient s/p ortho surgery. This patient was, after a few days, discharged by his ortho doc, but was held over one day by his family physician who was following his steadily decreasing H&H. Apparently these two MD's did not communicate, but I cared for the patient overnight awaiting AM bloodwork (which by the way showed a hbg of 7.2) and orders from the family physician for type and crossmatch.
In the mean time, Ortho Man came in, glanced at the charts in the rack and, seeing the name of the patient he had discharged from his service the day before, asked in a loud voice (in front of seven second semester nursing students, "What the h*** is he still doing here?" Taken aback, I answered, "Well, he will be getting blood today." The doc said, "So!" As if we give blood at home or something. He then shouted the big "F word" and threw the chart against the rack with enough force to thrown papers on the floor.
Is this normal behavior for docs? Do we suck it up or do something about it. I have great respect for MDs, but I felt a little abused. I have always worked overnnight shifts and had very little contact with docs except to call for orders and take a little cold sounding tones. I am still pretty upset by this. What do you think?
