So, as usual, I got a copy of his previous neurologist's records. In one of the notes was this comment:
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Seen in a chart
Recently I picked up a fellow who had a serious accident a few years back, and was thrown from his car. He landed on his head, and required emergency neurosurgery and a LONG course of rehab.
So, as usual, I got a copy of his previous neurologist's records. In one of the notes was this comment:
So, as usual, I got a copy of his previous neurologist's records. In one of the notes was this comment:
One can only wonder what a TBI would do for his sensitivity.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have just had a TBI ---- i'm speechless at the insensitivity.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with having a sense of humor. Besides, there may be something to it. When one survives a serious injury or illness, and is going through a lengthy rehab (and likely off the job, at least temporarily), the feeling is one of being glad to be alive and out of the hospital, able to get around (perhaps with some difficulty). The problems at the office seem unimportant -- the mind is focused on recovery, relearning ordinary things one small step at a time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a golfer, but I know that it's a mental game and that success requires patience and attention to small details. The mindset of a person in rehab seems well suited to playing golf. One can't race through rehab, nor through a round of golf.
The daily weight of disease and death grows oppressive at times, and a little dark humor and perhaps a little joy taken in a patient who is doing well despite the insult is good.
ReplyDeleteGood thing this guy doesn't run his own web site. He'd be putting Grumpy out of business.
ReplyDeleteWhich is cheaper: TBI or a new set of clubs every year? I need to know.
ReplyDeleteWell, its easy to tell from the comments who actually works in the medical field - we found it hilarious. For those of you who don't (and didn't grow up watching M*A*S*H) - we need a sense of humor just to make it through the day. So many sad stories, and you just can't take any more. We either learn to laugh (privately, of course) or we lose our flippin' minds...
ReplyDeleteWell said, tbunni
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the medical field and I think it's hilarious! What's more, I imagine the patient probably would think it's hilarious too. And I think Ivan Ilyich is on to something,
ReplyDeleteA sense of humor is terrific but it doesn't belong in a medical record. Every job has its private moments of humor (You should hear some of the observations my fellow airport volunteers make about clueless travelers.) but they are never recorded or audible to the public.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with the comment when made as an aside, but should NEVER put something like that directly into the medical record. In court a lawyer would use that line to shred the doctor, and make him look rude and uncaring to the jury.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that already a prerequisite for playing golf?
ReplyDeleteBLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! Insensitive Twatwaffle Alert Activated! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!
ReplyDeleteDude, putting that kind of crap in patients' records is going to bite that jerk in the ass one day. If you have to be an insensitive schmuck at least don't do it where there's a permanent record of your schmuckiness.
When I came out of surgery a few years ago I had a catheter in place. When I became reasonably cognizant I said, "Nurse, someone has tied my penis to the bed." I couldn't keep a straight face and my recovery became a lot more fun.
ReplyDeleteMoose is right -- nothing wrong with a wry joke WITH a pt.or her/his family. However, charts are source food for Sub-homo Lawyerus who would start salivating at he multi-million $ quip.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that it doesn't belong in a patients record, it is funny.
ReplyDeleteAfter working 30 years in the medical field, we are sometimes amused at what our patients say or do. A sense of humor is a good thing in this career field. We have to laugh or we'd be out of our fucking minds.
Sure beats the dribble that comes out of EMRs these days.
ReplyDeleteHumor is great..but talking aloud to one's self while dictating is NOT a good idea!
ReplyDeleteI came out of surgery after a craniotomy on April Fool's day and all I could think of was telling the orderly that his shoe was untied, never mind that I was half in and half out and couldn't see his shoe at all, but he laughed anyway.
ReplyDeleteStill. One might reconsider making this sort of note the next time.
I got a severe reprimand from two sets of bosses for documenting a pt's allergy in the record as bbbzzzz, yeowwwww, shhh." I still chuckle each time I think of it, but I'd not done it before, or since.
I don't see what's wrong with it, (s)he's not insulting the patient. Actually it's a compliment.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Emergency Encounters: EMTs and their work, James Mannon PhD talks about using gallows humor as a way of coping with job stress. That's the most formal reference I have for this kind of humor. Difficult work, (being an MD).
ReplyDeleteSome of the best (or worst) notes I've seen in charts have come from neurologists. I remember one that said, "Perhaps we should push for autopsy, as that seems to be the direction in which we're moving."
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, this sounds like something the patient probably said to the doctor and the doc was like "OMG MUST USE! Wait, who else will get it? Ooh, patient chart, lots of doctors read that...."
ReplyDelete