Anything seem hinky about this to y'all?

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

OK, for once I'm not ranting!!! I have a question about something that happened to me a couple years back. I don't want legal advice, I decided a long time back it was not worth it, just curious to y'all's opinion.

I go on vacation with my DH's family every year to just outside Panama City, FL. This summer, DH had to work, and would be delayed 3 days, so he asked that I ride down with my MIL (slow torture). I did not feel very well, and so I had brought my Phenergan gel (the kind you rub on your wrists, God bless whoever invented it) with me.

Fast-forward to the night DH is to arrive, I'm sick, SIL is sick. We had grilled that night, but she had a burger, I had fried chicken fingers. NO one else was sick. Still a mystery.

12 hours later, nothing left in my system, and I'm still heaving. Told DH I thought I might need a doc. I will not go to the doc on pain of death, so he KNEW I was sick. He broke every traffic law on the books getting to the hospital. Then, as soon as we get there, this is funny, he dashes in, LEAVES ME THERE IN THE LOT, and when I manage to stagger around the corner of the ER, there's DH at triage, going, "My wife's a nurse, she needs to see a doctor. ( I guess he thought my profession would get me back faster)".

I made it as far as the nearest, got sick in the floor, and started crying ( I was miserable). That got 'em moving. I was back in 10 minutes.

What happened then was what bugged my DH. They hit me with MS04 and Reglan, so I was kinda fuzzy. I had had my physical the week before, and you ladies know that we sometimes will spot a bit after that. I mentioned that to the doc, in the context that I just mentioned. He INSISTED on doing a pelvic. I was too doped up to protest too much, and it was all very proper, with a lady nurse in there with him. Later, though, DH asked about it, and, other than the spotting, I did not know of a reason why they would do that. They drew blood and did a urine, so they knew I was not pregnant.

He kept on about it until I finally said, "Maybe he needed to be checked off on it, and I was a nice, clean, non-emergent (OB-wise) patient to practice on"

I think about it from time to time, so I thought I'd ask. Can anyone think of why this would have been done? It's done and over with now, but I'm still curious. Thanks, sorry for the book and the graphics.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

Unfortunately it seems that medicine is driven today by the need to "CYA". Every test known to man is being ordered on every ER pt. The second you mentioned anything about your reproductive system the doc has to check it out.

We see this in all our patients anymore. It is unbelievable the tests docs are ordering on every pt because they are afraid they will miss something and get sued.

The minute you mentioned that you had some "spotting" the doc probably felt obligated to check it out because there are some female reproductive problems that can cause pain and nausea.

These could include ovarian cysts, ovarian cancer, uterine fibroids....the list goes on.

We have also noticed an alarming trend at work that almost every patient is being admitted. The docs are afraid to discharge the patient, so they admit and leave it up to the floor doc to discharge. This way the monkey is off their back.

The other night we had a ER doc on duty that ordered full labs and full body scans on every single one of his patients except the occasional finger lac and broken arm.

The bad thing about all this is that it ties up our ER with patients that don't need to be there, and ties up hospital beds when we need them.

Hope this helps clear things up a bit.

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Offhand, I suspect they were just checking for other problems associated with protracted N&V like obstruction. They were feeling around to make sure everything was the right size and in the right place.

What I question is the MSO4 in a patient with active vomiting. Usually when they suspect any sort of GI comorbidity they give Demerol to avoid the biliary spasms that can sometimes occur with opiates.

Unless you were complaining of acute lower abdominal pain, I can't figure out why they gave it to you.

I guess the buzz was a premium of some sort. Maybe you were the millionth patient. :bugeyes:

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

Thanks guys. I'm a seasoned nurse, but, as I said, I was altered from the meds. I hate narcs, they do nothing for me but give me that trippy feeling, yuck. I could never understand how people got hooked on pain meds. I have had Demerol once and MS04 once, and no-thank-you to either again unless I'm dying.

I understand about the spotting, but I DID explain about the week-before exam. I guess the CYA thing must've been big in FL at the time.

As to the MS04, I was in pain from the heaving, and I had given myself a migraine. I didn't ask for pain meds, just something for nausea "so I could keep my Motrin down" (Motrin is my baby, never leave home without it). They looked at me like I was crazy and gave me the shot anyway. At least I had the presence of mind to ask what it was.

I was just curious as to the rationale, the only real problem I had was with the nurse that threatened to cath me if I did not pee. I had told her that I would try, but was not sure I could. 12 hours of vomiting tends to dehydrate you a bit. As I was getting off the stretcher, (with no help from her), she told me that she was sure the doc would want to cath me if I didn't pee. You know, I was not refusing, I was headed to the toilet, but I did want her to know I was not entirely sure I'd be able to do anything. That kinda made me mad, but I was too sick at the time to care. Thanks all.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

The rationale may have been simply that, with even scant vag bleeding, even with a plausible explanation, a gynecologic pathology had to be ruled out as the cause of your pain.

BTW, this is the first I've heard of an adult woman "spotting" a few days after a pelvic exam.

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

Female abd pain = pelvic exam, especially if you say you are spotting.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
BTW, this is the first I've heard of an adult woman "spotting" a few days after a pelvic exam.

I also "spot "for a few days after a pelvic. Quite a few of my friends do too. It's really not unusual from what I've seen.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
BTW, this is the first I've heard of an adult woman "spotting" a few days after a pelvic exam.

I also "spot "for a few days after a pelvic. Quite a few of my friends do too. It's really not unusual from what I've seen.

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