this past friday i had an elderly patient that came in with COPD exacerbation. Palliative care was being consulted with the patient and his family. We try to get nurses involved in the consults so we are aware of the plan and what the familys thoughts are. This way we can be "the bridge" between the medical team and palliative care.
Anyway...a doctor, NICEST woman in the world, came in to see this patient. I was sooo happy it was her. she is just amazing.
The patient was extremely hard of hearing and didn't have his hearing aids. he was getting really frustrated because he knew we were all talking about him. The doctor, family and myself were trying so hard to speak up but we literally almost had to yell for him to understand like 2 or 3 words.
the doctor took off her stethoscope, put it in the patients ears and talked into it. the patient heard everything!!
he now asks to use our stethoscopes whenever we go into the room so he can hear us.
