Wednesday, October 24, 2012

nurses.....same old, same old.

the other day, i instructed the nurse at the operation theatre reception counter to get the elderly patient from the surgical ward down to OT & to bring along the relatives. i needed to explain the risks of the procedure to both the patient & his family.

after 45 mins, the patient was still not in OT.

me: nurse, where is the patient from the surgical ward?

nurse: he's not down yet. (duh....!)

me: what's the delay?

nurse: doctor, you said to bring the family along. the family is still on the way from home to the hospital. so, we're waiting for them to come before transferring the patient down.

me :  %$#&!@*!!

seriously, i can't fault her as she's following my instruction to the letter. but i would think that if the family is not yet in hospital, surely the patient can be moved to OT 1st while waiting for their arrival. no?

the procedure was delayed by over an hour. the nurse won't be getting the employee of the month award & neither will i be remembered as the doctor with the coolest temperament!

the only consolation was that the risky operation proceeded uneventfully.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Malay called it 'lurus bendul' something like that. Hahaha..Relax doc, its wednesday..

doc said...

Chun,

i wished it was weekend already!

The thumb in every pie said...

Can't blame her lah. She's strictly adhering to the Jedi Code: Do or Do Not. There is no try.

doc said...

Andrea,

ah, a nurse who lives by the jedi code & a doctor with a temperament of the emperor (think lightning bolts emanating from finger-tips!)

this is so surreal!

Yvonne Foong said...

If this was something else and not about surgery and surgery preparations, I might also have the same line of thought as the nurse had.

doc said...

Yvonne,

thinking out of the box is an alien concept to some.

Yvonne Foong said...

Do you remember my response to a smiliar post of yours not long ago? I am reminded of my school days. To avoid our teachers' wrath, we resort to following instructions to the word. When we attempted to try and be initiative/creative, we received abonishments more often than not. Our efforts to try and be initiative were often not appreciated.

doc said...

Yvonne,

there's not much positive that can be said about our school system - spoon-feeding, rigid & unimaginative, but i'm just surprised that this mind-set persists despite being in the corporate world.

these days, common sense remains uncommon.

Yvonne Foong said...

It persists because this mindset is prevalent beyond our schools, to our families and how children are raised, too.

Not all parents abonish their children for being initiative or creative, of course. But even in my own extended family, many adults do.

doc said...

Yvonne,

limiting a child's creativity & imagination is so old-school.


louis pasteur wrote this : when I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become.

Yvonne Foong said...

Well, not all parents are as new age as us. ;)

Michelle Mak said...

i wouldnt wanna take the risk either.. i will just wait.. mana tau if the doctor angin not syiok tak pasal pasal i kena marah for not waiting for the family members to arrive ><