Rude remarks by doc with his own kids

[Lorie P.]

:uhoh21:last night when i got to work, i was pulled to another floor which did not bother me. as i went walking up the nurse's station, which sits right in front of the elevators, i seen one of our more popular docs finishing rounds with his 2 kids in tow.

doc ben says" ok kids tell them by, kids say by every one ( 7y boy and 4y girl). doc says push the button, the elevators open and he says very loudly ,ok guys let go see the lady with the biggest butt, what floor should we go to? kids reply, we don't know dad. he laughs :lol2:and says how about the first floor by the cafeteria , that usually where they hang out!!'

now this is not the first remark this doc has made, few weeks back, he had same son and son's friend with them, makes the remark, come on boys, let she go show you a big one!

the nurses on the floor just laughed and said that's doc ben for you.

now what kind of example is he setting for his kids? :madface:not to mention, what if family members or worse yet, one of his pt's heard him.

i did tell my nurse manager, who replied, well there's really nothing we can do about that.

i used to have respect for this man, no longer, how very unprofessional, rude and down right mean.:down:

:angryfire:angryfirestill burns me a good one when writing this!!

[delvenia]

I think this situation has been made out to to be more important than it is (at least the part about rounding with kids). He can't bend over? The child might cry? These are pretty minor inconveniences that you're kind of magnifying into serious errors in judgement. One would assume that any college educated individual would be able to work out how to do an exam while wearing a baby backpack (eg - raise the bed).

If you think bringing a child to a hospital puts their health at risk, or is inappropriate, or whatever else, that's certainly your right to feel that way. But really, physicians have this right in many facilities, and some choose to exercise it. As long as they're not using hospital staff as free babysitting, and the patient doesn't object to a small child coming to visit them, I don't see why anyone would be so concerned about it.

I once knew a Pediatric Plastic Surgeon who would bring his 10 year old daughter to the ER when he got called to suture. She was as good at calming our scared little patients as Ketamine.

no put yourself in the shoes of the patient. if you are on the other end, would it not make you feel self conscious or would you not think that is is a bit unprofessional to have a doctor coming in a room to examine you with their child? what about HIPPA? i am not opposed to a doctor brining a child to work with them if they forgot to pick up some paper work, but it is very unprofessional to me to have a family member present during exams. i deem all physical exams and physician consultations as private and that sanctity should not be violated. peopla need to learn to put themselves in others shoes and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

[TiredMD]

no put yourself in the shoes of the patient. if you are on the other end, would it not make you feel self conscious or would you not think that is is a bit unprofessional to have a doctor coming in a room to examine you with their child? what about HIPPA? i am not opposed to a doctor brining a child to work with them if they forgot to pick up some paper work, but it is very unprofessional to me to have a family member present during exams. i deem all physical exams and physician consultations as private and that sanctity should not be violated. peopla need to learn to put themselves in others shoes and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

1) No, I would not feel uncomfortable with a small child in the room while I was talking with my doctor. I think my day would actually be brightened by having a well-behaved toddler come see me for a few minutes. Personally I would feel far more uncomfortable with ancillary staff in the room (housekeeping, lab techs, dietary), but we seem to think nothing of this.

2) I am not aware of any provision in HIPAA that precludes a physician from bringing their child with them into an exam room, especially on afternoon rounds where you're essentially dropping in for a few minutes to say hi. Of course we're talking about very young children here (in the original post I believe they were 2 & 5?). Obviously the situation is somewhat different with older children, in which case I agree that privacy rules would come into effect. But for children who are too young to know anything about what is going on, I don't believe that it applies.

[banditrn]

I knew a doc who had a real weight prejudice. He was always being very negative to others about their weight. As a result, you could ruin his whole day by commenting "Hey Doc - have you put on a few pounds?". He'd spend the rest of the shift stepping on the scale and eating salad.

:lol2: Love it!!

[delvenia]

1) No, I would not feel uncomfortable with a small child in the room while I was talking with my doctor. I think my day would actually be brightened by having a well-behaved toddler come see me for a few minutes. Personally I would feel far more uncomfortable with ancillary staff in the room (housekeeping, lab techs, dietary), but we seem to think nothing of this.

2) I am not aware of any provision in HIPAA that precludes a physician from bringing their child with them into an exam room, especially on afternoon rounds where you're essentially dropping in for a few minutes to say hi. Of course we're talking about very young children here (in the original post I believe they were 2 & 5?). Obviously the situation is somewhat different with older children, in which case I agree that privacy rules would come into effect. But for children who are too young to know anything about what is going on, I don't believe that it applies.

the job of a physicial and the job of a nurse is about treating paitients and i think that it is very unprofessional and self serving to bring your children in while seeing a patient. to me, the only exception would be if you actually were asked by the patient to see your children. if my doctor ever did such a did during one of my exams, i would stop going to see that doctor and probably report them to the board of health professions in my state. how do you even know that the person likes kids? there are many possible hazards to the child by bringing them into a healthcare setting with adults that are not only unknown to them, but are unknow to you, other than their medical records. to me, that is very self serving because you would be in no way thinking about your patient or your patients privacy, regardless of the age of the child. most are uncomfortable going to a doctor as it is and then you bring an infant into the exam room? wow, that really shows how much your patients have your attention, doesnt it.

[EmmaG, RN]

I'm not sure how you can glean that from his post, but in any case...

I object to this for the same reason I object to anyone bringing in small children to visit. Hospitals are nasty. So are small children for that matter. Many of *our* patients are either already infected or at high risk for infection. Either way, it's not a good environment in which to bring a little kid.

The other reason I question this practice is that many patients (especially the older ones) are in the best of circumstances reluctant to talk to their docs, ask questions or express concerns. Throw some toddlers into the mix, and I can pretty much guarantee that will further stifle any communication. The doc certainly isn't going to be focused on the patient. IF the doc is simply poking his head in to say "hi", that's one thing (aside from what I said above), but to actually make rounds with the little ones in tow? Nah. Not a good idea, IMO.

[elthia]

My only experience with this is a somewhat different take.

A surgery resident was doing late rounds and brought his VERY pregnant wife to the nurses station with him. Pulled up a chair, sat her in it, and said he'd be right back.

Went and rounded on a few patients, but kept coming out and checking on her very nervously between each pt.

Turns out, his wife was having contractions at 1-2 hours apart...and her water hadn't broken yet... She had driven herself to the hospital to meet him there.

This was at a VA hospital....When I found out, she was in early stages, very early albeit...I got very green at the gills. NO nurse at this hospital had any experience with L&D.

Found out later the baby was born 6 hours after they left the VA...L&D nurse feel free to laugh at me, just the thought of delivering a baby scares the crap out of me...give me someone having a good STEMI anyday.

[TiredMD]

wow, that really shows how much your patients have your attention, doesnt it.

Seems like every time I disagree with a poster on this thread, someone like you always has to pop in with something like, "You must be a crappy doctor." Are you incapable of having a friendly disagreement?

Regardless, here's my opinion on the infection risk of children:

- MRSA and VRE are common both in and out of the hospital, though admittedly the resistance patterns in the hospital are a little nastier. Nonetheless, any immunocompetent individual has a relatively low risk of contracting a serious disease just from walking through a hospital or being in a hospital room. No, they probably shouldn't be in there if they are going to chew on the bed or lick the floor, but otherwise they should be fine. In the case of an infant being carried, if the child doesn't touch anything, the chances of contracting these infections is essentially nil, since they are not airborne.

- A healthy child is no more likely to transmit an illness to a patient than a healthy person. Even if the child gave a patient a cold, this is not particular serious, and does not correlate with getting a serious bacterial illness. Health care workers are far more likely to transmit a serious bacteria to a patient than any random healthy child.

[delvenia]

Regardless, here's my opinion on the infection risk of children:

- In the case of an infant being carried, if the child doesn't touch anything, the chances of contracting these infections is essentially nil, since they are not airborne.

.

what child have you ever seen that doesnt touch stuff or try to? in any case, you just proved my point. the doctor will have to focus his attention on the child to make sure that child doesnt. the fact still remains. no matter what your position is in a hospital it is still work and not a babysitter. kids should be at home with someone who has their full attention and patients have the right not to violated by someone bringing their family members into what should be a professional setting. it is unprofessional to bring children to work while you are working, regardless of the job you have.

[janettalinda]

If a doctor brot his child with him to visit me as a patient, I would refuse to pay for the visit. Even if only to poke thier head in door and say "how are you." Don't even answer this question! They charge for it as if it were an actual visit. I once had a patient who would throw a book at the doc if he did that because he always sent her a bill. lol. Nurses have to pay for child care, so should the doctors. Imagine choosing to save money by draging your kids around a hospital! Patients deserve their doctors undivided attention, esp considering how much we pay for 15 min of the doc's precious time.

[EmmaG, RN]

No, they probably shouldn't be in there if they are going to chew on the bed or lick the floor, but otherwise they should be fine.

Haven't been around many two-year-olds, huh? Seems the only thing they don't want to put in their mouths is food...

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this topic. :)

[november17, ASN, RN]

Seems like every time I disagree with a poster on this thread, someone like you always has to pop in with something like, "You must be a crappy doctor." Are you incapable of having a friendly disagreement?

Hahaha...I get the same treatment sometimes (in other forums). Once people find out I'm a nurse, if I disagree with them, they're like, "I hope you never take care of my loved ones or me in the hospital!" And it will be over dumb stuff that is completely unrelated to my job.

Me-"The oakland raiders suck."

Them-"OMG How can you say that you're a terrible nurse!!"

lol

[ktwlpn, LPN]

He needs to be more concerned with the butt on his shoulders.

right you are-I don't find his sense of humor very funny-but I like yours...

Someone else said

" The practice of rounding with children is not uncommon. Sometimes this is the only time they do get to see their kids and bond with them. " O PLEASE!---so take a friggin' day OFF if you want to see your kids..Would ya drag them to work if you were a mechanic? A butcher?