Honesty

Whenever I talk with a patient and/or family members, I always start by telling them that I'm completely open and honest.  I don't hold back and I don't pull punches.  Let's face it - if you need to see a surgeon, something is seriously wrong with you, and this is not the time for me to pat you gently on your knee and tell you that this won't hurt a bit and everything will be fine.  You need me to be honest.  You want me to tell you every little detail about what could possibly go horribly wrong.

Full disclosure in medicine is a good thing.  When I see a drunk driver, I will flat out tell him that what he did was stupid.  I won't go so far as to tell him that he is stupid, but I've come close.  And there have been innumerable occasions when I've been tempted to tell an obnoxious patient exactly what I think of him (or her).  Some doctors don't seem to have my restraint, however.

A recent patient of mine was struck by a car as she was walking across the street, suffering fractures of her arm and both legs.  She was a rotten patient from the beginning - rude and surly.  She would barely look at me when I entered her room to see her, and her answers were usually one syllable (when she chose to talk at all).  Now I understand that she was seriously injured, but she has to understand that I'm here to help her.  Her attitude was lousy, but I put up with it due to her difficult circumstances.

I asked a psychiatrist to see her because of her mood.  Apparently she was just as rude to the shrink, but this guy decided he wasn't taking her nonsense...I suppose talking with crazy people all day will do this to a guy.  After a rather contentious interview where she was nothing but rude, she basically threw him out of her room.  As he was walking out, he turned around and announced,

YOU ARE A NASTY BITCH.

 Maybe I should try that sometime.