Los Gatos ER Physician in the News

blackmamba123 · Jun 19, 2018

No, this doctor was rude and unprofessional and got what she deserved because of her behavior. We are all human, and as healthcare providers the stress can take you there for sure. But she needed to do a ten count or walk away and come back, or whatever she needed to do to compose herself. Tugging on a patient and swearing has no place in a professional position or environment.

I've been spit on, punched in the chest, cursed out, called names and still kept it together. Even when I'm being firm with someone, I do it in a professional manner. What the patient was doing was annoying as ever. And who knows what all the doctor was experiencing on that day...in her personal life or on the unit. But everything we do is scrutinized at all times and we're held to a higher standard. And as professionals we should be.

Wuzzie · Jun 19, 2018

Yikes, they both were being a bit naughty weren't they. :eek: My usual approach to people who are perfectly fine but malingering is to stand by the patient's bed and call out to one of my colleagues to notify the social worker that we need to transfer this patient to a nursing home since he can't care for himself. :sneaky: Works every time. Well almost...totally backfired on me once.

amzyRN · Jun 19, 2018

Malingering patients are common in the ER. It can be annoying, the fake seizures, the aggressive drug seekers, the fakers and wasters of time an resources. It sounds like this guy was using the ER as his primary care phsician as he should have had a refill on his medication. But EMTALA dictates that he has a right to be seen. Like someone mentioned they could have got this guy out in 5-15 minutes and if he refused to leave, had security escort him out and done all this with a smile or at least a neutral tone. So in a way, the suspension was justified. Maybe this doctor needs a long vacation and sensitivity training.

Daisy4RN · Jun 19, 2018

I have seen many patients like this too, cannot inhale but breathing normal, discharged but refuse to leave for whatever reason etc. I do my (RN) part and then call security. The Doctor was unprofessional but I am sure we all understand where it is coming from!

Daisy4RN · Jun 19, 2018

RE: Wuzzie post:

I have used this too, works very well. Also those who claim they have no ride (and used to get taxi's paid for by the facility), I now say OK, I will get the social worker to get you a bus pass, wow all of a sudden they have a ride after all, go figure!

NuGuyNurse2b · Jun 19, 2018

Most of our ER pts who malinger usually walk out once we made it clear they're not getting any narcotics, they're not going to be seen any further and we're busing sick people all around them left and right and just plain ignoring them. We've had a few faking seizures on us....load up 1mL normal saline...tell them it's Ativan...administer...seizing stopped.

Zenren17 · Jun 19, 2018

Personally, I think the ER doc behaved like a complete freak. She was dismissive, combative, argumentative, rude, imperious, etc. I think the way she repeatedly yanked on the young man's arm could be construed as assault. Her mannerisms and behaviors didn't come across as medicinal or therapeutic in any way. I didn't find the young man or his father to be disrespectful at all. She wasn't listening to them. Also, it seems peculiar to me that a college student accompanied to ER by his father would be presumed to be a drug seeker?? Presuming the ER doctor was in 'burn out' is nothing more to me than a weak justification for appalling behavior by a healthcare provider. I don't care how valuable you 'think' your services as a healthcare worker are - if you behave savagely to other people, you're truly in the wrong profession. Accepting that type of disrespectful behavior would be setting a very low bar for acceptable conduct. Worst case scenario, IF the patient had been a drug seeker - the doctor's behavior was still 100% incorrect. Just my opinion and, as an RN who really believes in patient advocacy - I don't care what haters think and, would have reported her before the video ever hit the internet.

CityofAngelsRN · Jun 19, 2018

Zen Ren, first off I'm not a hater and I'm not sure why you're so defensive (in my opinion).

I am not justifying anything. I have repeatedly stated her behavior was not appropriate. I do, however, believe that this physician didn't start out this way, rather I think after years of dealing with behavior like this she has become jaded, burned out, whatever you want to call it. A patient who repeatedly visits the ER for narcotics and/or IV anxiety meds NEEDS to get a better plan together with his GP to prevent showing up in an EMERGENCY room. Once again Zen Ren, I am not justifying her behavior, but I do think we need to care and look into what drives our fellow coworkers to behave like this. It may be your practice to run and tell on your coworkers, mine would be to see if the coworker is willing to consider some help ie sensitivity training, coping mechanisms, continued education that might help her.

Zenren17 · Jun 19, 2018

LOL. Yes, it would be my practice to 'run and tell' on any healthcare worker I observed cussing at and/or yanking on a patient inappropriately. To do otherwise would be negligent. And FYI, it would not be a co-worker's position to discuss training, education, etc. That is a duty of management.

Zenren17 · Jun 19, 2018

Dear NuGuyNurse2b - please think through the idea that lying to a patient about the 'medication' they are being given is in any way legal or ethical. Deception will absolutely destroy the trust and integrity that is so important to the nursing profession.

Zenren17 · Jun 19, 2018

duplicate

CityofAngelsRN · Jun 19, 2018

Zen, it might not be appropriate where you work but it's welcomed at my hospital and I'm thankful it is. Management was being bombarded with nurses coming to them and complaining that nurses, physicians, other staff were behaving inappropriately in numerous different ways. We changed the culture of the hospital by speaking with the coworker first and trying to come up with some kind of educational opportunity that might benefit the unit (or sometimes the entire hospital). We are encouraged to talk to the person first and come up with possible solutions. We would then take those possible solutions to management and often discuss them in UPC meetings. With that being said, if we saw a patient being abused, we would not talk to the nurse first, we would protect the patient by going up the chain of command. I'll watch the video again because perhaps I'm missing something, but her attempting to lift the patient up didn't strike me as assault. Rough? Yes. Assault? No. Again, it's hard to tell in a video so I might be incorrect and apologize if that is the case. If a nurse seems rude or insensitive, I don't think the goal should be to write them up or suspend them but rather to listen, educate, and evaluate. As we all know, not all staff will be open to this and in that case a good old write up will be the way to go. As another poster noted and most of us us know all too well, we get yelled at, cussed at, hit, spit on, etc etc so let's not just throw each other way when we break down. Let's actually help each other to survive this crazy career. Again, not hating, just sharing a possible different way of doing things.