You’ve done it already… you shoveled out all that thankfulness and gratitude stuff in late November. Our federally mandated annual reflection on all with which we have been blessed.
Now I’d like you to open your eyes and be grateful for what you don’t have in your hospital:
In a hospital in California, the chief of neurosurgery was wrestled to an operating room floor by police deputies after throwing a fit when a nurse refused to let him operate.
The surgeon became belligerent after insisting on operating on a man who fractured his spine in a two-story fall. Two other surgeons had determined the injuries were not life-threatening, but the neurosurgeon insisted the man would die if he did not receive immediate surgery.
He “threw a fit” and began yelling and cursing at staff when they told him equipment for the procedure needed to be transferred from another hospital. When the surgical instruments arrived, a nurse refused to allow him to operate until they could be sterilized. The surgeon threatened the nurse by punching his fist in his hand. He took a swing at the police after they were called to intervene.
“Do you know that I am a #$%&^%$ doctor, and I’m going to do what I want,” he said.
Let us give thanks. That we don’t practice alongside this guy.
Such medical bullying leads to both ‘bad patient outcomes’ (a euphemism if I ever heard one) and career dissatisfaction (another euphemism, no?). Overt aggressive behaviors such as being wrestled to the OR mat or hurling scissors or scalpels or other such unsportsmanlike OR behavior documented on the net. Just search ‘doctors behaving badly’ in Google in lieu of renting a horror flick. It’s kind of a medical “Girls Gone Wild”, but without he free t-shirt. And then offer your thanks to your preferred higher power.
I’m a good girl. I don’t hurl my endoscopes at my staff; they are much too expensive to send out of repair—the scopes, not the staff. And flinging KY Jelly on 4 x 4s won’t hurt a flea, even if flung with deadly intent. I don’t do that. And yet, I will need to keep monitoring my social behavior.
A survey conducted by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices described less overt damaging physician behavior condescending language or voice intonation (often, say 28% of respondents) and impatience with questions (often by 25% of respondents). This level of cranky behavior, more modest than flying instruments, strongly affected how often staff questioned potentially incorrect medical orders.
The Joint Commission, the accreditation body that certifies hospitals, issued an alert in July 2008 mandating that hospitals adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward bad behavior from staff, which must include a code of conduct and a way of disciplining offenders. This zero tolerance policy was to begin January 1, 2009.You can find the full text here
Let us all give thanks for this, too.
In the coming months, we’ll continue the adventure of training your misbehaving medical puppy. Meanwhile, share your fun, weird, and scary physician interaction stories with me, via JNJ or tweet me at http://twitter.com/PatriciaRaymond. With your permission, we’ll discuss the scenario, grin at the medical antics, and try to figure out where we could have influenced the outcome to a win for both sides. Meanwhile, you can catch up with prior articles in this series:
I Spy With My Little Eye JNJ January 2009
Chronic Cranky Caregiver JNJ February 2009
CFJT: Curb Your Docs JNJ March 2009
Family Adventures JNJ April 2009
Distractable Doctors: Get Their Head in the Game JNJ July 2009
We Need To Talk: Dare To Say The Scary Words JNJ August 2009
Women Doctors Vs Women Nurses: Be Ourselves JNJ September 2009
How To Enjoy Confrontation With Your Most Troublesome Nursing Colleague JNJ October 2009
Being Mugged in a Dark Alley with Style JNJ November 2009
Follow Dr Pat @:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PatriciaRaymond
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciaraymond
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/patricia.raymond
©2009 Patricia Raymond
