LeeCRNP

Hello!
I am a nurse who works in an acute care setting, so I'm not necessarily familiar with "office nursing". However, my general feeling is that patients should be contacted about the results of tests regardless of whether the news is good or bad. Let's face it, most people only go to the doctor (or hospital) if there is a problem...with all the limits HMO's and managed care places on consumers, I would venture a guess that very few people go to the doctor for "annual checkups" in this day and age. I will say, however, that if the labwork involves testing for blood levels of a drug, the "no news is good news" policy is probably ok, because if the patient's medication needs to be adjusted, the doctor should be calling the patient (and if they're not, shame on them!) Basically it comes down to each person's comfort level...if a patient wants to be informed of a test result,whether it's good or bad, they should let their doctor know this,and if the doctor resists, go find a new one! Hope this helps you out!
Laurie, RN