Unsafe doctor...do I report it?

brownbook · Mar 4, 2017

Really sorry my big girl panties line came off as offensive. As I added I am a shy quite person and it is a comment I have to frequently make to myself. I meant no offense and do apologize.

I said report to your charge nurse. Obviously you cannot do that. I looked on Google, most states have some kind of agency you can contact. Some are annynomous, some aren't.

allnurses Guide · Mar 7, 2017

One person's snarky is another person's honest. I honestly fail to see what the issue is with the surgeon so was asking for clarification. The OP doesn't care to provide any, which tells me this isn't really about the idea of the surgeon being honestly impaired and more about the OP's opinion of the surgeon, which is neither pertinent nor reportable without basis on facts.

OliverElio87, BSN, RN · Mar 8, 2017

How do you know that the doctor had a fever? Did you personally take his vitals? If he just "looked warm" or "felt warm" that is subjective. There have been so many times when I have touched a patient and thought man this person might have a fever and I check that persona's temp and it'd be normal. Diarrhea/NV/ there are so many things that can cause that and would not have any ramification on the patient.

Munimula · Mar 15, 2017

OH DEAR LORD. This has absolutely nothing personally to do with the surgeon! We work with probably 30 or more surgeons throughout the week. I on my honor do solemnly swear that I have nothing against this surgeon. In fact, they are one of the "easier" ones to work with. Please stop with the accusations. I am not grinding an ax. What floored me was the fact that this one came in clearly ill to perform an elective surgery. Surgeries like umbilical hernias (not urgent or critical and the patients were in low pain ex. 2/10) that was not urgent. I repeat, the surgeon came in with vomiting and diarrhea. The surgeon was so sick they asked an anesthesiologist to start fluids with an IV and give and anti emetic. This to me does not seem "normal" or very ethical. So I was asking, "IS IT?" Is it really hunky dory for a really sick surgeon to perform surgery? In my better judgement, the answer was no. I was asking then to whom would one official report a breach of protocol or safety. Honestly, to hear a casual, "Oh come on, this is no big deal." is alarming to ME. It raised everyone's eyebrows and we were all very uncomfortable as this surgeon had two patients waiting and prepped in the preanesthesia area as the surgeon was being treated for some sort of virus. Not cool. Would you really want your 70 year old mother getting this surgery done by a clearly ill surgeon? At least give the patient the truth and then they can decide if they want to proceed. For someone to say "how do you know he had a fever?" Come on! What, am I the one on trial here? HE WAS SICK. Are we not supposed to be ethical and question when we think something may harm our patients? So I asked. Unfortunately. Thank you to those who tried to help and well, to those of you who made assumptions that I was just here to crab about a surgeon I don't like and but smokescreen it behind a story about them being sick, you know were you can go. For crying out freaking loud.

nursebeth77, ASN · Mar 17, 2017

Heck yes I would report him. He is cutting into someone and we are supposed to be pt advocates. I'm tired of some nurses just blowing stuff off because it's a "DR" and they could do no wrong. If my child or one of my family members were to have surgery and the Dr was sick, I would no want them to touch them. If something did happen to one of those pts and they died or got a massive infection and you knew it could have been prevented that would be on you as a human being, not reporting it.

That's why they have ORs sterile as possible.

We have to be held accountable for our pts, to help them not make things worse for them. A lot of Nurses and Drs have lost their passion to help people and don't give a crap. "Did you die" no, then who cares.

We must be held to a higher standard! So heck yes, report him! Write an incident report.

gcupid · May 13, 2017

How recent was this episode? I'd only report this if I was also willing to report myself as well. You knowingly decided to not speak up during a crucial time. Why the high horse now?

Write the incident up as the author as well as one of the folk needing to be disciplined or whatever as well and I bet it will hold more weight.

allnurses Guide · Jun 16, 2017

You don't give enough details, then cry foul when people point out this is not adding up based on what you did tell, and then tell those people "where they can go" because it wasn't making sense? Nice.

Susie2310 · Jun 16, 2017

I think the OP has reasonable concerns. I recently had elective surgery and I would not have been comfortable if the surgeon had been in the condition the OP described. As a patient I want to feel confident that the surgeon is in good condition to perform the procedure with his/her full attention and that sterility will not be compromised once I am under anesthesia. Also, I don't want to worry about catching the surgeon's illness/infection! If the surgeon had come to talk to me at the bedside before the procedure (which he/she did), and he/she looked obviously ill, I think it is highly likely I would have said I'd like to reschedule. I don't think the OP's concerns are inappropriate, and I think given our role as the patient's advocate it is reasonable to report this situation as a patient safety concern (the concern being that the surgeon's condition i.e. fever, diarrhea, diaphoresis, nausea, vomiting raises the risk of compromising his/her judgement during the procedure along with possibly compromising his/her physical performance of the procedure, and adds the risk of the patient catching his/her infection/illness). Why should the patient have to bear this additional risk in addition to the already existing surgery and anesthesia risks?

Purple_roses · Jun 16, 2017

Nurses would be sent home for being sick? On what planet? I don't mean to be flip but no...that pretty much never happens due to the chronic state of short staffing. Most of us have gotten sick during a shift and a watery sympathetic smile from the charge nurse with encouragement to wear a mask.

When I was in nursing school, we were allowed to come onto the floor sick if we wore a mask (no vomiting or diarrhea allowed though). However, we were not allowed to be sick if we were observing in the OR. I'm sure this also has a lot to do with the fact that we were students and it was our first time maintaining sterility in the OR. Idk though...I wouldn't want someone who was that ill slicing me open.

blondenurse12, MSN, NP · Jul 4, 2017

If it were me, I would anonymously tip regarding this incident. There are so many things wrong with this picture: 1.) The physician did not pay for the supplies that he used 2.) The anesthesiologist obviously did not have a chart for the physician and was providing medical care without any documentation. I believe that constitutes as fraud? 3.) This physician knowingly exposes a bunch of patients to an undiagnosed illness. Obviously we only know some of the symptoms so it's hard to say exactly what it is that he had. I would say it is a near miss because what would happen if he was still feeling a little nauseated and vomiting onto a patient's open surgical site? Gross! And it didn't happen but it could have.

kp2016 · Jul 4, 2017

Is it within your scope of practice to declare some one unfit to work? Are you credentialed to assess the fitness of a Doctor? Unless the answer to both of these questions is yes, you should not report this to anyone!

Lisacar130 · Jul 6, 2017

You can report this surgeon, but you are also reporting yourself for going along with it. And every other nurse who also went along with it. If you felt it was unsafe, you should have refused or reported it prior to the surgeries. What good are you helping these patients now?