I'm getting written for an incident in which was completely misunderstood. Yesterday, I had a 20 year-old patient that was being induced for labor. On admission, she was asked what her plans were for pain control (part of our admission process). She stated " I don't want an epidural because I'm scared to get one". When I asked her what her concerns were, she stated she was afraid to be paralyzed and that the OB told her she may die if she gets one. I explained to her exactly how the procedure is done and although there are risks, these would be explained to her by anesthesia and the risk of paralysis or death were extremely low and that I've personally never seen either occur in 13 years of OB experience at 3 differant hospitals. I also told her that IV medication certainly was also an option and she could "play it by ear" and to just let me know what she decides when the time comes. Well, after several hours of increasing pain, the IV pain medication was becoming ineffective. She asked me at one point if she could have an epidural and I explained to her the the doctor only allows his patients to have epidurals once they are 5CM. Several exams later, she was finally 5 CM. When I told her the result of the exam, she stated "Can I have my epidural now?" So, I called anesthesia and she got her epidural without any difficulty and delivered a healthy baby girl 1 1/2 hours later with no complications. So here's the problem.. .......When the doctor showed up while the family was in the waiting room during the epidural, they complained to him that she was coerced into getting the epidural and that they didn't want her to have it The doctor was raving mad and complained to my charge nurse about this. 2 charge nurses talked to the patient and she told them that she was not coerced in any way and that she asked for the epidural and all I did was answer her questions and explain the procedure. She also told them that was embarassed by the behavior of her family regarding this. The S/O told them that he didn't want her to have it and since she was only 20 years old she couldn't make the decision for herself (he proudly announced he was 37 years old). On rounds the next day, our clinical coordinator asked the patient and family if they were happy with their experience and they never mentioned anything about this. However, the doctor is still insisting that I get written up! I've never had any issues with him but he is VERY anti-epidural and always tells his patients they WILL end up with a c-section, they WILL be paralyzed and MAY very possibly die from it rather than explains the risks. I merely was answering my patients questions and educating her and the family. And yes, there was a written as well as a verbal order from the doc allowing here to have it. I have a perfect 12 year attendance record at this facility and have never been reprimanded for anything and always get excellent evaluations. This is not fair! Sorry so long but I need some advice!