Just a small anecdote that happened when working at the National Neurological hospital in central London - it's the most prestigious neuro hospital in the country.
Anyway, my friend made the headlines of the local tabloids because we were both working there as temp nurses, and we'd only worked a few shifts before, but the surgeon was used to the nurses automatically getting his cup of tea, but as we were new there, had no idea. But he didn't tell me to get the tea (maybe because I was a guy) but he asked my friend (who was female) where his cup of tea was.
She politely told him she was there to fetch his tea for him.
The doctor didn't exactly complain, well, nothing official, but he did speak to the charge nurse, who did excused the temp nurses actions and had a quiet word with her.
My friend wasn't happy about this, moaned about it to her friends outside of work, one of whom happened to work in the newspaper business, and suddenly her story is on the front page of the paper.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Cultural issues aside, and I am from Europe and am very familiar with the cultural importance of "tea breaks"; putting one's tea break before the needs of a patient, so that no physician is available to give advice over the phone to a patient/family member on an important medical issue, is certainly not patient-centered care. If you had an important medical concern would you like to be told that the physician is not available to give medical advice because he/she is on their tea break?!! How would you feel if you or your family suffered an adverse outcome because your own physician was too busy drinking tea to speak to you?
If it's that possibly emergent, that's what EDs are for. Our clinic closes for lunch. No staff is available to triage. Sometimes the entire clinic closes for the day for a retreat. If someone has a potentially adverse outcome in the making, that's what hospitals are for, not clinics.
Probably only about 30-40 shifts in my life. When you're agency nursing, you go everywhere. Wait till I share what happened the few shifts I worked in the bone marrow transplant unit - you know, the blood cancers ward (can't remember what that area is called, haematology perhaps?) anyway - that was laugh, as I had no idea what the heck was going on, but the nurses knew that, and were great, and had a really unique experience.
If it's that possibly emergent, that's what EDs are for. Our clinic closes for lunch. No staff is available to triage. Sometimes the entire clinic closes for the day for a retreat. If someone has a potentially adverse outcome in the making, that's what hospitals are for, not clinics.
I understand the purpose and function of emergency departments. No, an emergency room visit was not indicated under the particular circumstances.
I understand the purpose and function of emergency departments. No, an emergency room visit was not indicated under the particular circumstances.
Well, it would seem that either it's not an emergency and the issue can wait until after the office staff return from their tea break or it needs to be addressed immediately and you go to the hospital. Either way, I don't see what the big deal is about the staff being unavailable for a hour or so. Most offices here in the U.S. close for an hour or more for lunch.
Well, it would seem that either it's not an emergency and the issue can wait until after the office staff return from their tea break or it needs to be addressed immediately and you go to the hospital. Either way, I don't see what the big deal is about the staff being unavailable for a hour or so. Most offices here in the U.S. close for an hour or more for lunch.
Does it not occur to you that there are circumstances that may fall into neither category?
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Does it not occur to you that there are circumstances that may fall into neither category?
I would say that a situation that requires triage within an hour would constitute an emergency.
The specific situation you mention - what would a patient do if the physician was there in clinic, but seeing other patients and couldn't return a phone call for a couple hours (as is quite common in the clinic setting)?
I don't understand this argument back and forth over a clinic closing for an hour. If a patient is having a crisis that simply cannot possibly wait for one hour, then that patient ought to head to an emergency room....as they are clearly having an emergency.
If the patient CAN wait for one hour before speaking to or seeing someone in the clinic...then they ought to DO just that, and WAIT. Why is it that the expectation is that all desires must be granted immediately? Sometimes it simply cannot be so...nor MUST it be so.
If my provider is in the office, and the office is open, should I expect to walk in and be seen IMMEDIATELY? I would think that incredibly presumptuous, to assume that OTHERS who are there have less importance than myself. If the clinic is CLOSED...it is the same as the provider being occupied with another (equally important) patient.
That's it, I'm never leaving the states..
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
If it's that possibly emergent, that's what EDs are for. Our clinic closes for lunch. No staff is available to triage. Sometimes the entire clinic closes for the day for a retreat. If someone has a potentially adverse outcome in the making, that's what hospitals are for, not clinics.