Dr. O is a psychiatrist, who says:
Occasionally patients make threats towards others. When that happens we're required to inform the individual in question.
In this case the patient was in the hospital, and had threatened pretty much his entire care team, including the surgeon who'd recently operated on him. So I had to call him, too.
Dr. Scalpel: "This is Dr. Scalpel, returning a page."
Dr. O: "Hi, I'm the psychiatrist taking care of Mr. Haldol, who you saw last week. I just wanted to let you know he's been making statements about killing you."
Dr. Scalpel: "Oh, I signed off on him over the weekend, so he really isn't allowed to be doing that, if you could have psychiatry let him know."
Dr. O: "I am the psychiatrist, and I'm just calling to let you know he threatened you. Whether you signed off doesn't matter to him."
Dr. Scalpel: "Well, you'd think it should. Anyway, you should probably consult psychiatry to evaluate him, and let him know I signed off."
Dr. O: "Yes, that’s me. I'm the psychiatrist."
Dr. Scalpel: "He probably needs a psychiatric diagnosis."
Dr. O: "Yes, I'm addressing that."
Dr. Scalpel: "Yeah, that should happen, so consult psychiatry on him."
Dr. O: "I'm just informing you of what he said. Have a good day."
Dr. Scalpel: "Thanks, don't forget to consult psychiatry on him."
As of the time of this writing, me and the nurses are taking bets on whether Dr. Scalpel orders a consult for psychiatry.
9 comments:
Sounds like my old days before I stopped practicing Family Law
I think I can understand where the patient is coming from.
Deaf, a cognitive problem or both? Is the psychiatrist now obliged to report the possibility that the surgeon has a problem impeding his fitness to practice?
Dr. Scalpel needs his own psychiatric team for a reality check.
As a consult psychiatrist, I can verify that this encapsulates 50% of my job.
Pretty sure this guy probably doesn't ever order his own consults and either A) forgets or B) pushes it off on one of the nurses
I think this may be what those in the psychiatric profession like to refer to as "projection."
Patient shows up at doctor's office yelling threats. Doctor locks himself in his office dials the phone while shouting "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME ABOUT HIM!!!!!"
Singular purpose. Just like this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0S5EN7-RtI
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