Patients are out of F'in Control

Not in a time too long ago when people were sick they went to the doctor. Sometimes they would be sent to be treated in a hospital. While in the hospital, the medical team would treat that patients with proven methods, administer effective medicine and the patient would actively participate in their care with the intent on getting out of the hospital as soon as possible.

In today's world this is no longer. The medical team no longer seem to have any say in the plan. The patient has taken over control.

Today the patient comes to the hospital. Tell us what they 'know' is wrong with them and demand their choice of treatment, the drugs (amount & schedule) they want, tests they want run and all while being treated exactly the way in which they want to be treatment. And you know what...I am damn sick of it.

In nursing school we learned what things made people better. Get up out of bed, maintain a good airway by performing several breathing exercises an hour, limit the amount of any drug, but especially narcotics as their side effects usually hinder recovery. To prevent complications, some things that may not necessarily be pleasant, like a daily shot, might be necessary. You may need to force yourself out of bed the day after surgery even though it hurts. Follow a specific diet, because while it may not be want you want, it won't contain things that will make your disease worse. I went into nursing to help people. I will say, that I probably do help 75% of my patients. Patients who work with their medical team, participate in their care and seem to have a true interest in their health. The other 25% are slowly draining any desire I have to go to work. They are sucking every ounce of compassion that I have.

These other half seem to know everything. They come in with their plan and if you deviate from it, they cause holy hell. They can't be told differently. They demand narcotics around the clock because they hurt, yet you can barely wake them between doses. They refuse to walk in the halls because they hurt, but then claim we are doing something wrong because they are nauseous, their wounds aren't healing and pneumonia is starting to set in. They refuse their shots or compression stockings because they're uncomfortable but are the first to scream 'law suit' when they develop a blood clot in their legs.

These 25% of patients are whats ruining the state of health care in this country. They have cause doctors to lose their spines. We now practice was is called 'cover your ass' health care. Sprain your wrist...let's order an xray. Have the flu, lets run a CT just in case. Headache? Well lets get an MRI and maybe even a lumbar puncture. Doctors are now afraid of their patients. They are afraid of what patients will do if they miss something. So now everyone with simple complaint gets the full workup just in case they are the 0.001% that has something major.

As a result, what was a simple doctors visit is now costing us and our insurance companies thousands of dollars. And then we wonder why premiums are going up, people are becoming un-insurable, and there is so much health care corruption. If doctors could go back to being doctors, tell the patient what is wrong with them, order the STANDARD treatment, and not give in to unproven, or even sometime ludicrous requests, just because it's what the patient wants I think health care might actually have a chance.

I am all for patient rights. I think all patients should ask questions, be informed of what is going on and make choices on who their provider is, as well as the type of treatment they want - traditional, holistic, herbal etc. But when the patient starts to have more rights than the people treating them and as a result is actually receiving care we know is harmful to them, there is obviously something broken.