Oh What Shall the New Day Bring
Remember how I said I'd never go back to being a nurse again? Unfortunately, it appears that financially I may have no choice in the matter. That is a very scary proposition. U.S. health care itself is very scary. I could tell you tales ...
In fact, I think I will. I knew what I was getting into years ago when I was still a student nurse. The University-based program that bestowed my bachelor's degree wisely had me rotate through many different fields in order to give me experience in multiple clinical areas. My most memorable field experience occurred in the operating room.
The O.R. staff had thoughtfully provided a stool for me to stand on to enable me to see everything that was going on during the course of one particular operation. The Chief Surgeon was observing while a Resident (i.e. student doctor) began to remove a patient's kidney. The Resident appeared to my untrained eyes to be experiencing some difficulty with the procedure. Sure enough, the patient began to bleed heavily. The Chief Surgeon elbowed the Resident out of the way and took over in order to save the patient's life. It seems that the Resident had accidentally nicked the patient's spleen while trying to remove the kidney. As he worked to resolve the problem, the Chief Surgeon asked the Resident, "I thought you'd done this before?"
The Resident, in a heavy Indian accent, replied, "No, but I read it in the book last night."
My mental "Augghhh!" still rings in my head today.
The Chief Surgeon made a little joke about the patient getting two organs removed for the price of one as he removed the patient's spleen in order to prevent the patient from bleeding to death. The Chief Surgeon proceded to successfully complete the original operation, which was the removal of the patient's kidney.
Needless to say, no one but the staff in the operating room was aware of the above conversation. No law suits resulted from the malpractice, and the patient and family were not told anything beyond, "The operation was more complicated than we expected, and we had to remove the spleen in addition to the kidney."
Ha!
Folks don't realize when they sign the consent form for surgery, it usually says something along the lines of "the surgeon OR WHOMEVER HE DELEGATES will perform the operation." Only once in my seventeen years of nursing did I actually see someone cross out that part of the consent form before signing it.
In fact, I think I will. I knew what I was getting into years ago when I was still a student nurse. The University-based program that bestowed my bachelor's degree wisely had me rotate through many different fields in order to give me experience in multiple clinical areas. My most memorable field experience occurred in the operating room.
The O.R. staff had thoughtfully provided a stool for me to stand on to enable me to see everything that was going on during the course of one particular operation. The Chief Surgeon was observing while a Resident (i.e. student doctor) began to remove a patient's kidney. The Resident appeared to my untrained eyes to be experiencing some difficulty with the procedure. Sure enough, the patient began to bleed heavily. The Chief Surgeon elbowed the Resident out of the way and took over in order to save the patient's life. It seems that the Resident had accidentally nicked the patient's spleen while trying to remove the kidney. As he worked to resolve the problem, the Chief Surgeon asked the Resident, "I thought you'd done this before?"
The Resident, in a heavy Indian accent, replied, "No, but I read it in the book last night."
My mental "Augghhh!" still rings in my head today.
The Chief Surgeon made a little joke about the patient getting two organs removed for the price of one as he removed the patient's spleen in order to prevent the patient from bleeding to death. The Chief Surgeon proceded to successfully complete the original operation, which was the removal of the patient's kidney.
Needless to say, no one but the staff in the operating room was aware of the above conversation. No law suits resulted from the malpractice, and the patient and family were not told anything beyond, "The operation was more complicated than we expected, and we had to remove the spleen in addition to the kidney."
Ha!
Folks don't realize when they sign the consent form for surgery, it usually says something along the lines of "the surgeon OR WHOMEVER HE DELEGATES will perform the operation." Only once in my seventeen years of nursing did I actually see someone cross out that part of the consent form before signing it.
posted by Beth G. at 8:46 PM
0 comments
