I am absolutely livid this morning about comments that a Doctor made to one of my pts families yesterday while he was performing his assessment on a new patient.
Pt was admitted to the floor with severe hypoglycemia and I had spent the better part of three hours monitoring blood sugars while Dr. Plankton, as I refer to him was at church. All the while the spouse is asking me where he is and why it was taking so long for the Doctor to come see the pt.
Anyhoo, when the Doc finally gets there to assess the patient and begins asking basically the same questions from my nursing assessment and the spouse questions him as to why he is asking the same questions and what does the idiot say to her? "I need to get the information from the patient my self b/c I do not trust the nurses."!!!!! :devil: Then what does the spouse do? Comes out to the hall, where I have been listening to the whole conversation and says to me "How I can trust you as his nurse if Doctor doesn't?". Myself and another nurse explained to her that it was not out of the normal to ask the same types of questions and reassured her that we were competent of providing care for her dh.
I am working on filing a complaint to the powers that be regarding the situation and was wanting to know, would it be appropriate or not to state how insulted I was by the comment that he made in the complaint or should I just stick to the facts!! This doctor, who btw, is a hospitalist has many times degraded the nursing staff and the hospital itself with comments such as these.
Seems to me that his comment would be the LAST thing a patient and family would need to hear, even if it were true.
And am I understanding that this wonderful doc was at church????
The hospital would probably want to know, because his comment is BAD to the BUSINESS, period, and the hospital would want to know, because God knows those people will be telling other people that "you can't trust the nurses."
What a jerk. Seems to me, he ought to read his own bible about gossip and naysayers.
I am working on filing a complaint to the powers that be regarding the situation and was wanting to know, would it be appropriate or not to state how insulted I was by the comment that he made in the complaint or should I just stick to the facts!! This doctor, who btw, is a hospitalist has many times degraded the nursing staff and the hospital itself with comments such as these.
Any advice appreciated!!
If I were you, I would leave any emotions out of it-I would, instead, focus on the idea that the comments made by the doc made the spouse question basically if the pt was safe under your care-that the comment made bythe doctor made the spouse wonder if the pt was safe in the hospital itself-the hospital is represented by the careproviders, so if you can't feel safe with the nurse, that would suggest that the hospital itself is not safe; you could also mention that if, God forbid, there was a negative outcome for the pt-or even a perceived negative outcome-that this comment could come back to haunt the hospital. You should also make it clear that the spouse was anxious, upset, worried in GENERAL after that comment ( just so they can't say "well, just don't assign nurse X to that pt; that'll fix it)-Do not get emotional. Just state that this comment undermined the trust of the spouse, may influence her decision making process r/t to pt's care, increased her anxiety, and made her doubt the care being provided. Go at it from a "looking out for the patient and spouse's best interest, and looking out to protect the hospital's integrity"
But-I would also say only file a complaint if you really feel it necessary and pertinent; and be prepared, if you do, for any backlash. Good luck and let us know what happened.
Agreed
This Doc is giving out some poor publicity for the hospital!!!
I can only hope he will be very chagrined when he realizes how his comments sound in the cold light of day. If you don't trust the nurses, why do you admit your pts to this hospital? Huh, doc?
After all, who is manging their care while he is not around, which is, let's be honest, most of the time.
Something that really irks me about this post is the way nurses in a hospital consistently make excuses for Physicians who are not available at a moment's notice when someone is admitted to a hospital.
The general public really doesn't seem to understand that a pt is admitted to a hospital for NURSING care. If you want to see a DR., go to his office, he can give you his full attention there.
If you are admitted to a hospital, you are there for nursing care. Virtually everything else can be administered on an outpt. basis. Wouldn't you say this is true?
If you file a complaint, include only objective information. Saying that you felt insulted makes the situation about you--maybe you're too sensitive, maybe you don't get along with this doc, maybe you misinterpreted, etc. Don't allow that to happen.
Actually, before making an official complaint, I suggest you talk with your nurse manager. She might be able to make it clear to this doc that she doesn't take kindly to his derogatory remarks about her staff. She can then mention the possibility of an official complaint being filed if such a thing should ever happen again.
Again, even with the NM, keep the information factual and focus on the distress the doc's comment caused the patient and family, not the effect it had on you.
I wish you well.
Oh, yes. Be as objetive as possible. DO NOT give anyone a reason to write this off as an issue for YOU to deal w/. Because it isn't. This DR was in the WRONG. He made your entire FACILITY look bad. He, and only him(he?) should be held accountable for his negative comments.
If the doc has issues w/ not trusting the nurse or certain nurses, he needs to go to the manager and spout off at them. Not the patient. What an unfair situation this is for him to put a patient and family in. I guess he doesn't learn much in his time at church. You know like consideration for others, namely his patients. I hear lots of c/o's fom patients about their docs all the time. I do agree w/ Stevie, pt's often save things to tell their doctor about that they fail to share w/ the nursing staff. I am not sur why. I am a bit too much of a smarta$$ for this doc, I may have had to ask him why he doesn't just camp out at the bedside if he doesn't trust the nurses and provide round the clock care for the patient himself.
I don't really have any different advice to offer on this subject; just an observation. I found it interesting that the spouse was initially frustrated with the doc for being late; then the spouse was not understanding why they were having to answer the same questions from the doc that the nurse asked. Then after his response they immediately turned on the nurse who was asking the same questions. On the surface it sounds like the OP was doing a dead-on assessment, and the doc used a great diversional tactic to get the focus off of him being late. Is this a stretch on my part? Unfortunate situation to be sure.
Yes, I think you're right. When your loved one is ill, you grasp at straws and try to find comfort/resolution in anything you can. The doc probably WAS trying to divert attention away from his being late on the scene. Don't know. But w/a hysterical family member, it can be difficult to think objectively. And who ISN'T hysterical when a family member is ill. I think we all deserve a medal. Docs, nurses, respiratory and physical therapists, receptionists, cna's, lpn's, volunteers, social workers, et al, in no particular order. We see people @ their worst and most stressed-out. BIG, DEEP CLEANSING breath everybody. It is NOT an easy job!
This is a very interesting discussion, but I couldnt get passed the point that you called him Dr. Plankton at church no less! I am very easily distracted from the real point in almost any discussion, so nothing personal.
Any way, had to look up plankton. and found this:
The name plankton is derived from the Greek term πλαγκτον, meaning "wanderer" or "drifter". While some forms of plankton are capable of independent movement and can swim up to several hundreds of metres vertically in a single day (a behavior called diel vertical migration), their horizontal position is primarily determined by currents in the body of water they inhabit. This is in contrast to nekton organisms that can swim against the ambient flow of the water environment and control their horizontal position (e.g. squid, fish, krill and marine mammals).
So does this mean he is a squidlike guy who goes with the flow in ecclesiastical environments?
Dear Hospital Administrator and Board, Director of Nursing and CHief of the Medical Service.
On xx/xx/2006 I attended a very ill patient for xxx hours.
My assessment covered all systems and is documented in the patients chart. Dt Jjjjjjjj who was on call was paged for orders and after his church let out, he returned the page. Dr Jjjjjj arroved approximately 50 minutes later.
Upon entering the patient's room, Dr Jjjjjj repeated the same assessment questions that were in the chart he had in his hands.
When the spouse asked why the questions needed to be asked again the doctor was witnessed to say.....
"Because I dont trust the nurses."
The spouse then steped out into the hall and said to this nurse how can you care for my spouse if the doctors don't trust the nurses?:
This reflects poorly on the nursing staff as well as the other ancillary services who work diligently tospeed the patient's recovery. It presents a poor picture of the hospital and trust in a healthcare provider is vital
Sincerely Nurses of 5th Whitmore Walden
Lula Bell Jones RN, BSN, MSN, MEd, Phd Manager
Susie Barnes RN BA, BSN Assistant Manager and Chair of Rules and procedural committee.
Lucille Rabb RN, BS, MA CNS Unit Educator and Nursing representative to the Medical Ethics Committee.
I feel u should report the matter to the nurse manager. Some doctors acts very badly infront of patients relatives to show off their status.But they should learn some ethics.
Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.
Hell yes...this is exactly what to do. Treat him like a snotty little intern - perhaps it'll crack that thick skull. Probably not, but a funny solution just the same.
As we tell the residents (the nice one's anyway)...we can make your life a living hell. Hooo ahh
I would only put objective info into a formal complaint. I WOULD include the statements made by the spouse and her concerns.
I would discuss this personally with your manager and at that point verbalize your ire at this statement.
No if it were me I would speak to this physician personally and ask him just why he would make a statement like this. I would also very carefully and completely from this point out socument EAcH AND EVERY phone call, and conversation when you are trying to get him into see a pt.
I would also probably have the need to phone or page him very frequently to update or adivse him about changes with all his pts. "MMM Dr Jerk, your pts BS was 204, now it is 207....." "Dr Pinhead, the pts Temp is 100.9, it was only 100.5 earlier just figured you would want to know." ( this last part might be j/k)
:devil: Then what does the spouse do? Comes out to the hall, where I have been listening to the whole conversation and says to me "How I can trust you as his nurse if Doctor doesn't?". Myself and another nurse explained to her that it was not out of the normal to ask the same types of questions and reassured her that we were competent of providing care for her dh.
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kadokin, ASN, RN
550 Posts
Can I get an AMEN!