Patient Story 05

Been kinda slacking on these nursing stories, but whatevs. Here's a new one.

Patient Story 05: Middle aged woman with an obstructed bowel

This lady was not my patient, but all her nurses complained so much about her that I have a few things to write about. First of all, this woman is a practicing doctor who works at the hospital and was then admitted as a patient. She requested that we only use the manual BP cuff by her bedside because she does not believe we clean the electronic BP machines. While the nurse was doing her assessments and giving the doc her meds, the doc asked the nurse, "Are you pregnant or just chubby?" This nurse was not pregnant nor chubby. The nurse responded with, "I'm....just....chubby?!?!...."

While we were in a code white (violent patient), the doc rang her call bell and when another nurse came to assist her, the doc asked, "where's my nurse (we'll call her Sarah)?"

Nurse: "We're in the middle of an emergency right now and she's busy with another patient, is there anything I can do for you?"
Doc: "Yeah I heard on the intercom. That's okay, I'll just wait for her then. But actually, while you're in here, can you pull down my blinds? Move my TV closer? Move my table? You have time, right?"
Nurse: "Yeah, yeah, sure."
30mins later
Sarah: "Hello, what is it that you needed?"
Doc: "You know, when you're in an emergency, you really need to get help because I've been waiting for you for 30min."
Sarah: "...."

Lesson: As an MD, you should know what it's like to deal with a difficult patient so don't be one.