It was a bad night - I managed to get a few hrs of sleep and was darn tired. When I got the call it was 6:00am. I went to the bathroom, brused my teeth and walked toward the ED. The patient was a male who looked familiar. When I sat down, I did the usual routine of asking his name. It was a strenous agony being a patient in Taiwan. A patient would need to said out his/her name few times during his visit to the hospital. The nurse, the doctor, the lab technician, the pharmacist would ask the patient's name before performing their duty. The hospital evaluation committee had stressed on this topic and it is a major field concerning patient safety.
The patient replied me, " I forgot" when I asked him the routine question. I had a bad feeling when I got the answer - the patient was either suffering from amnesia, a mxrxn or a trouble seeking A-hole. I asked him again politely and explained that I did so because the regulation required me to do so. He still answered " I don't know" and asked me why it took me so long to get to the ED. Another FxCxxxG A who thought he is the big daddy after paying up 250NT at the front desk.
I was not in the mood of starting a fight. I apologized to him and told him that I need to brushed my teeth as I didn't want my bad breath to affect my patient. I apologized again and told him that I respect his decision of unwilling to saying his name if he didn't want to do so....He than showed me his left thumb which suffered from a penetrating injury. After the examination I told him that he needed a tetanus injection. He asked me if he really needed it. I told him yes but he could refuse if he didn't want to do so. He accepted the jab and dressing. I was too tired but still wrote a "FxxK" word at the allergy hx column on the front page of the patient chart. ( This ritual was started by one of my ex-colleauge in our hospital, a very prestige orthopedic surgeon (Korean, who is also a FACS and FICS - he got the honor while working in our small and humble hospital, contributed a good amount of papers and he is currently semi retired. One of the good all rounded surgeon who could repair nerve, vessel and do some plastic job .....), but he wrote FK usually and I like to complete the 4 letters word instead.)
That guy was not drunk eventhough I could smell some alcohol scent from his breath. Later the nurses told me he was nice during the waiting period and suddenly turn violence when I started the consultation. The nurses told me that he was a private ambulance driver and came to do some transfer in our hospital. He had quit recently. Most of the private ambulances were operated by funeral home and most of them have relation with the mob. But it was not the reason I did want to give him a good lesson. I would be at his level if I do so and I did not want to make dirty my hand....
I just hate this kind of trouble seeking jester and would really like to give them a good whacking ( in my imagination of coz...) Anyway - hope he is "repaired" by someone elsewhere at some point of his life....
ass in the hole.....
No comments:
Post a Comment