The dumbest things you've heard from a provider

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The other afternoon an OB resident came by to check in with a patient, the OB doc seemed very perplexed as to why the patient was crying. "I don't know why she would be crying, that seems strange..."

Because postpartum women NEVER cry. THERE'S NO CRYING IN CHILDBIRTH RECOVERY!!

So what are some of the things a provider has said that just make you wonder?

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
The dumbest thing I've ever heard was "we can't give this patient ondansetran because he's not a cancer patient"

:eek:

Well according to the FDA that's its only use outside of post-op ;)

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Specializes in Pedi.

2 month old with hydrocephalus s/p bleed with a trapped ventricle and all the signs of increased ICP. Starts bradying to the 80s and resident says "that's ok, she's just sleeping." That's not ok, Champ, she's 2 months old. Yeah we were running her to the OR within a few hours.

Same patient, about a month later in the middle of the night won't wake to feed, RR in the teens, O2 sat in the low 90s, sluggish pupils and bulging/pulsating anterior fontanelle. Stat CT shows worsening hydrocephalus. Resident's response when we repeatedly asked when the Attending was coming/when the baby would be going to the OR: "don't worry about it."

In my own life, I had a med student working in my pediatrician's office once tell me "wow your throat is really red!" Pediatrician came in, looked and said "have you had any cherry cough drops today?" Yup. Look on med student's face was priceless. I was probably 12 and I can still remember it.

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Just wondering...why must the minister be Baptist, and what exactly is said minister suppose to do about this problem?

Haha. I totally get why this is funny - but I'm Baptist. :rolleyes: Well, sort of. Go to a Baptist church that's breaking tradition in many ways. Wouldn't be too surprised if the word Baptist mysteriously disappears from the sign some day. There are lots of different kinds of Baptists -- some really good, some really bad. I know which kind the doctor was talking about.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

There was a flurry of activity on our unit since a patient had just died. A doctor wrongly grabbed this patient's chart (although it had a "name alert" sticker on it) and wrote, "Discharge to self" instead of the one he meant.

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Well according to the FDA that's its only use outside of post-op ;)

A lot of drugs are used off-label; Ondansetron is one of them. It's still legal. I'm from Canada though... I don't know what the rules are like where you live.

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Patient who couldn't swallow and had a hiatal hernia. No one could get an NG tube down. Patient had been NPO for 10 days only receiving NaCl IV. Family was (understandably) going crazy because the patient was withering away and dying before their eyes. Doc told them to "calm down" because Jesus went 40 days and 40 nights without food so the patient was going to be fine.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical.

Pt was very old and had a full code and was very sick, had to send to ER multiple times in very short time from SNF, MD says " I dont know why you keep calling to send to ER, just let them DIE!"

Of course I had to explain that it was Illegal to do that with Full Code in place and kept sending pt to ER, with arguments every time about why I had to do so. Pt refused to go to comfort care, and last I heard pt is still alive today, and enjoying every min. of it.

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wow Seriously? LOL

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The dumbest thing I've ever heard was "we can't give this patient ondansetran because he's not a cancer patient"

We use it for our heart patients when gravol and maxeran just don't cut it.

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Specializes in Peds Med/Surg; Peds Skilled Nursing.

I was a patient in an ER 2 years ago when i was 27. I had a really bad pyelo, a fever, and having a lot of pain. The ER Resident came up to me and said oh we cant admit you your just too young to be admitted to a hospital you will catch something and get sick.

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"anticoag is no big deal, it really doesn't matter, nothing can really happen, we don't need protocol, I don't have any real way of figuring it to put in writing" - Cardiac EP specialist

(so funny that at the time, I forgot to laugh - I ...you know what, you not ...folks)

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Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

Grandma's IV went bad last night and had to be restarted. The nurse wouldn't attempt a restart and called the IV team. Grandma was going to OR. Never did the nurse once attempt to restart. She said "Oh I guess we don't have the IV team tonight. They can restart it in the OR." Really sending a pt to pre op without and IV? It isn't like she has bad veins or is a hard start.

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