Patients who want to change doctors after problems

[CecileSF]

Hi Nurses.

I have encountered patients and people in my personal life who have had doctors who have misdiagnosed, made grave or preventable mistakes on patients. Patients ask if they should change doctors because of the ordeal and I don't know what to tell them. The doctor definitely didn't do all they could for the patient. Other more vocal visitors in the room sometimes say to the patient "You should sue the doctor/complain to the hospital." I know it is near impossible to NOT make mistakes in the medical field. But I don't want to say to someone, get rid of that doctor. Patients trust the opinion of nurses, but I don't think it is my place to say.

Is it ethical or even legal to denounce a physician to a patient? What do you say in these situations?

In my own life, I have had a doctor speak to me defensively and in an almost frantic manner, and saying things to keep the blame off him. I'm pretty sure he was like that to keep away a malpractice case. When you are sick, the last thing you want to hear is you are ill because it just happens to you, especially when a preventable mistake that had many chances to fix has just occured.

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

the simple answer to this as others have said is to say to the patient the following

1. you have the right to change doctors or seek a second opinion at any time

2. it is a decision that you should make and it's a conflict of interest for me to persuade you ... and if people need further advice at that stage offer to contact the relevant advocacy people ...

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

LPNWheezy, your provider was spot on and practicing good medicine.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

Like many other posters on this thread, I have WISHED that I could have said something (both positive and negative) about the patient's doctor when they posed this question to me. We simply cannot offer any type of opinion...bad or good.

That being said, when a friend or family member is looking for a doc and they ask my opinion, I will tell them that Dr. X is a great one, and that I would go to him myself if I needed to. If they choose a doc whom I KNOW is not a good one, I simply say, "Why don't you go to Dr.Y because she has a great reputation and I know that her opinions are top notch." They usually understand what I mean, and I don't have to explain WHY the other doc was not a good choice.