My cell phone rings. I recognize the number as the OB floor. Crap! The neurological complications of pregnancy are, 90% of the time, benign. The other 10% are horrible. I hate getting calls from there.
Dr. Grumpy: "This is Dr. Grumpy."
Nurse Nightshift: "Yeah, I'm a nurse on the OB floor, and need to talk to you about a migraine patient."
Dr. Grumpy: "What's up?"
Nurse nightshift: "Which medication do you recommend for migraine prevention?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Um, well there's several, I... Look, if the patient is pregnant, I try not to use them. Is this one of my patients?"
Nurse Nightshift: "Uh, no. I mean, not yet."
Dr. Grumpy: "So it's a new consult? What's her name, and what room is she in?"
Nurse nightshift: "Actually... It's me. I have migraines, and um, I, uh, guess I need to make an appointment."
Dr. Grumpy: "So there isn't a hospital case I need to be aware of?"
Nurse Nightshift: "No. Not really. Can I make an appointment to see you?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Call Mary in the morning. Good night."
Well, at least you know she'll fit in well with the others in the waiting room!
ReplyDeleteMJH, CPhT - I think you said all that needs to be said about this patient.
ReplyDeleteOy vey.
Would have been a smarter move to approach you when you're on the floor anyway. Or even smarter to call Mary, but what can you expect?
ReplyDeleteGives "curbside consult" a new twist, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've got this crick in my neck...
If that woman has no more sense than to call you in the middle of the night for a personal, nonemergency, she does NOT need to be taking care of *anyone*---much less women in labor!
ReplyDeleteI guess it would be unethical to give her some particularly painful tests, wouldn't it?
Doxy
People in lots of pain do some pretty irrational things.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that the quiet of the night, and pain, stirred up the heavy duty fear. It's a sobering thing and panic may cause some usually unacceptable behavior.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to comment because the word verification is "neser" Could that be another name for the Loch Ness Monster?
ReplyDelete*groans* although pain and make you doing some stupid things... this just makes nurses look bad. Ehhh if she called Mary, or grabbed you on the floor (I'm guilty of both) but at near midnight nu-uh.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand people sometimes...
xx
Jaxs
Just lonely...Fed up with patients...Needed a friendly voice...
ReplyDeleteYou should report her to her supervisor. There's a fine line between letting Supervisor know that Nurse Midnight used her job (access to doctor's number) inappropriately and protecting Nurse Midnight's confidentiality about her migraines. But you should do it. Letting it go is not conducive to Excellence in that OB nursing department and the Supervisor will want to know.
ReplyDeleteno laura, that would be too toxic. and could backfire. nurses stick together. i suspect dr. g knows the night shift far too well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Good Dr. Laura...no need to say why she called except she called to ask a personal question regarding herself late at night. And THAT is highly inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteBTW, no consultant likes L&D. ;)
I hate calling doctors late at night* even when it's for good reason.
ReplyDeleteThat was not a good reason.
*I am hoping for my good nursing Karma to pay off in a few years...
cant see my way to being charitable..having been at the reciveing end of something similar.. a request at 2 am to order an echocardiogram for patient as the bored nurses heard a cardiac murmur in a patient
ReplyDeletehahahahaha ... I get migraines chronically during pregnancy, and only once or twice a year when not pregnant. But I'd never out of the blue call a neuro and ask them for a recommendation without being seen! sheesh.
ReplyDeleteI think you should talk to the nurse first. Only escalate it to her supervisor if she doesn't think it was wrong (and an abuse of her position) to phone you for a personal problem at midnight. How old is this person? How long has she been a nurse? And as for confidentiality about her migraines - I bet everybody she works with knows about her migraines.
ReplyDeleteI hope that call was not late night.
ReplyDeleteGooddrlaura is right! She abused her position being a nurse. One of mine did that...the doc would eat her for breakfast the next day for sure.
ReplyDelete