Who Are We to Judge Our Patients?
you'll never know the depth of their scars, so try a little tenderness.
W
e judge our patients. You do and so do I. The very people
we are supposed to take care of and keep safe, we size
them up and tear them down. I do it several times every
12-hour shift.
Like the combative woman with a badly broken leg who came into
pre-op a couple nights ago. Right away I had her pegged as a drug-
abusing victim of spousal abuse. Anyone could see she was having a
bad time without her recreational drugs and her mental health meds. I
bet a buck that the way her leg was fractured was not from a simple
slip and fall, as she'd claimed. The woman grew so incensed when her
husband showed up in the pre-op bay that we had
to ask him to leave. Surprise, surprise: a mar-
riage on the rocks, too.
See what I just did? Rightly or
wrongly, I'd painted my patient
in a most unfavorable light
based on a few hasty
impressions.
We transported her
to the OR and
induced her as
quickly as pos-
sible. Right
before
induction,
the circula-
tor lightly
touched her
Behind Closed Doors
Paula Watkins, RN, CNOR
M a y 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 9
