Most inappropriate DR's visit EVER!

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Specializes in heme oncology, critical care.

hey i dont really post a lot, but i do visit regulalrly.

heres a little background info on me: i sprained my ankle the 1st week of december, bad enough that i needed to go to the ER and get X-rays. the x-rays were negative and i called out the rest of the weekend cuz i was on crutches and could barely put any pressure on my foot.

i probably went back to work a little sooner than i should have. i had a splint that if i tied it tight enough, i couldnt feel the pain and was able to put pressure on the foot. but by the end of 12 hour shifts, my foot would be killing me! so i finally decided to go to the doctors for follow up.

this particular dr was the only one that was covered by my insurance in my area (i live an hour away from the hospital i work for, and they prefer that you go see doctors in their "system"). i had already heard some sketchy things about him but i figured its just a sprained ankle, whats the worst thing that could happen?

well from the moment he walked into the office i felt like i was on the defensive. i told him about the ankle, and through my history he found out i was a nurse. he asked me if my ankle was hurting so bad, why didnt i ask one of the residents at the hospital i work at to look at it? excuse me? i go to work to do just that, WORK. i barely have the time to take lunch break let alone go find a resident to look at my foot.

then he asks me what bone is he touching. huh?!? mind you i shouldve known, but i was so focused on the pain that he was inflicting onto me by twisting my ankle in every possible direction that i coulndnt focus, so i said i didnt know. "what do you mean you dont know?!? arent u a nurse? didnt you have to take anatomy in order to get into nursing school?". whatever, just cuz im a nurse, doesnt mean i inkow everything. plus im an oncology nurse, not an orthopedic one. after all that, he tells me all i need to do is take motrin cuz my ankles fine.

while reading my history he finds out that i have asthma and asks me how many times a day i take my medication. i told him 2-3 times a day. and of course he didnt believe me. he proceeded to listem to my lungs and heart, and then tells me that i cant be using my medication that often b/c my lungs are clear (or maybe, just maybe theyre clear cuz i take my medication so often. i know that i need better asthma management, but im very noncompliant when it comes to medications. drs have tried to prescribe other meds, but i just dont take them, or forget to take them.)

he then asks me if i have lost a lot of weight in the past 5yrs. i said no, ive basically been at the same weight. i ask why, and he tells me, that u usually get the kinda stretch marks that i have on my breasts from major weight loss. OMG, is this guy serious. i wasnt even wearing a low cut shirt. his assessment of my heart consisted of PULLING my shirt down and placing the stethoscope on my breast.i felt like slapping the guy, but hes old enough to be my grandfather.

i left shortly after. am i wrong in thinking this was totally inappropriate? im definetely not going back, but i feel like i wasted my time by going to this quack. he wss totally unprofessional, and i left feeling really upset.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Yikes, yes sounds very inappropriate! What an *ss.

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Specializes in Developmental Disabilities, LTC.

Yuck...this is beyond inappropriate. I can't get it to insert here, but have you checked out this thread: Do you ever wish people didn't know you were a nurse? I remember a couple people stating they wished their doctors didn't know they were nurses in here.

I haven't work with a lot of doctors, but can anyone out there with experience dealing with this kind of doctor tell me what motivates them to act like this? I mean, I can't tell if this guy is getting off sexually with the breast comment, or getting some sort of satisfaction by showing off his knowledge of foot bones, or if he's one of these crochety types that thinks anyone less than 110 years old is compliant with their meds, or what!

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Find another doctor. Place a formal complaint with your insurance company about him.

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
Find another doctor. Place a formal complaint with your insurance company about him.

:yeahthat:

Sit down and write a detailed, objective account of the visit and send that to your insurance company, and also to the person at your place of employment who deals with the insurance.

I would be as objective and unemotional as possible, though I know you are certainly, and with reason, emotional about what happened. Objective will probably go farther with the insurance company.

He was extremely inappropriate, and needs to be excluded from the insurance company. You could also consider filing a complaint with your state medical board.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

Totally agree w/the above posters ... this is beyond inappropriate & you need to make his impropriety known. Bullies count on you not taking any action.

Just curious ... why didn't you say something during the visit? I'm not one to seek out confrontation, but I don't hesitate to *redirect* the conversation when it needs to be redirected.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Report this to the state medical board.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
Report this to the state medical board.

:yeahthat: :yeahthat:

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