Comments on: Enter Dr. God: Act 1 http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/ Get a Second Opinion Thu, 13 May 2010 02:04:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: MomTFH http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-4742 MomTFH Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:38:43 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-4742 Wow. Yeesh. Hair is common in spina bifida. You would think a senior pediatric neurosurgery resident had come across hair around a bandage on a spina bifida patient...ahh, who am I kidding. Most subsubspecialists are more concerned about themselves (note the sexual harassment accusation) than their patients. Wow. Yeesh. Hair is common in spina bifida. You would think a senior pediatric neurosurgery resident had come across hair around a bandage on a spina bifida patient…ahh, who am I kidding. Most subsubspecialists are more concerned about themselves (note the sexual harassment accusation) than their patients.

]]> By: realityrounds http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2891 realityrounds Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:38:57 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2891 Well said. I can understand the blocking out emotions to get the job done, part. Half of what I do would be considered child abuse if it was not medically necessary. As a mom, I of course would be very grateful to the surgeon who saved my child's life, but as a mom, I would be all grisly bear on that doctor if he "deliberately" caused pain to my baby by refusing a pain medication. So I guess, both surgeons and mom's can have a certain amount of irrationality to their thinking. Thanks for the comment. Well said.
I can understand the blocking out emotions to get the job done, part. Half of what I do would be considered child abuse if it was not medically necessary. As a mom, I of course would be very grateful to the surgeon who saved my child’s life, but as a mom, I would be all grisly bear on that doctor if he “deliberately” caused pain to my baby by refusing a pain medication. So I guess, both surgeons and mom’s can have a certain amount of irrationality to their thinking.
Thanks for the comment.

]]> By: v http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2888 v Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:17:39 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2888 To be fair to Dr God, I was a surgical resident for a while and you do lose human empathy to a shocking extent along with getting a strange idea of what is and is not a major procedure. The way you think about it is "I just cut into this person's flesh, altered them irrevocably, and put them back together again and here they are alive again." To me, a dressing change in comparison was a minor thing as it was no doubt for him. Of course to a baby or any patient for that matter, the painful dressing change is a much much bigger deal than the fact that Dr. God cut into their spine and reassembled their neural tracts without paralyzing them. Similarly I have seen a patient who we cut her chest open for a thymectomy focus on the fact that one of her staples was misaligned and itched postoperatively. It seemed no doubt genuinely to be a bigger deal to her than the surgery which shocked our attending. I would criticize but then as the patient I would probably be the exact same way... To be fair to Dr God, I was a surgical resident for a while and you do lose human empathy to a shocking extent along with getting a strange idea of what is and is not a major procedure. The way you think about it is “I just cut into this person’s flesh, altered them irrevocably, and put them back together again and here they are alive again.” To me, a dressing change in comparison was a minor thing as it was no doubt for him.

Of course to a baby or any patient for that matter, the painful dressing change is a much much bigger deal than the fact that Dr. God cut into their spine and reassembled their neural tracts without paralyzing them. Similarly I have seen a patient who we cut her chest open for a thymectomy focus on the fact that one of her staples was misaligned and itched postoperatively. It seemed no doubt genuinely to be a bigger deal to her than the surgery which shocked our attending. I would criticize but then as the patient I would probably be the exact same way…

]]> By: realityrounds http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2210 realityrounds Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:23:50 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2210 Rehab RN, Your right. I see plenty of nurses who don't believe in pain. It's ridiculous. I would take a "stupid newbie" over an experienced hard ass as my nurse any day. Rehab RN,
Your right. I see plenty of nurses who don’t believe in pain. It’s ridiculous. I would take a “stupid newbie” over an experienced hard ass as my nurse any day.

]]> By: RehabRN http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2209 RehabRN Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:37:35 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2209 Oh, it's not just doctors...I work with nurses who think patients don't need pain medicine because they have x or y thing going on. I don't care if I look like a stupid newbie, I ALWAYS ask the patient if they have pain, and if I know someone will do a procedure, I tell them, "You have this pain med ordered. If you want it you can have it, and if you take it now, it may help during the procedure." 90% of them will take it when offered this way. I just hate the thought of people getting certain procedures with absolutely nothing on board ahead of time. Oh, it’s not just doctors…I work with nurses who think patients don’t need pain medicine because they have x or y thing going on.

I don’t care if I look like a stupid newbie, I ALWAYS ask the patient if they have pain, and if I know someone will do a procedure, I tell them, “You have this pain med ordered. If you want it you can have it, and if you take it now, it may help during the procedure.”

90% of them will take it when offered this way. I just hate the thought of people getting certain procedures with absolutely nothing on board ahead of time.

]]> By: realityrounds http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2192 realityrounds Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:56:07 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2192 I can certainly understand our brains becoming "numb" to the pain we see everyday. It is why I can start an IV on a two-year old who keeps telling me "bye-bye" to try and get me out of her room. But, causing unnecessary pain when there is an alternative, like waiting half a second to give a pain med, is more than just not being empathetic. To me, it was child abuse. I can certainly understand our brains becoming “numb” to the pain we see everyday. It is why I can start an IV on a two-year old who keeps telling me “bye-bye” to try and get me out of her room. But, causing unnecessary pain when there is an alternative, like waiting half a second to give a pain med, is more than just not being empathetic. To me, it was child abuse.

]]> By: SW http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2191 SW Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:47:08 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2191 Actually, there is research that shows that doctors (and nurses, or anyone who frequently sees others in pain) do, over time, sometimes lose their ability to empathize. The brain experiences the incidents like the one you described as trauma, so there is a natural protection process that kicks in to cope with the "trauma." Although the brain is doing us a great favor by helping us cope and handle the excess trauma by putting our minds into a state where we can continue to think well enough to help others medically while not being overwhelmed by the pain we're watching others go through, this can obviously do a great disservice to "bedside manner." That being said, Dr. God needed to find a way to cope with his brain's inability to experience empathy. Actually, there is research that shows that doctors (and nurses, or anyone who frequently sees others in pain) do, over time, sometimes lose their ability to empathize. The brain experiences the incidents like the one you described as trauma, so there is a natural protection process that kicks in to cope with the “trauma.” Although the brain is doing us a great favor by helping us cope and handle the excess trauma by putting our minds into a state where we can continue to think well enough to help others medically while not being overwhelmed by the pain we’re watching others go through, this can obviously do a great disservice to “bedside manner.” That being said, Dr. God needed to find a way to cope with his brain’s inability to experience empathy.

]]> By: realityrounds http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2176 realityrounds Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:42:14 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2176 In my experience, neurosurgeons are a different breed of human being. Maybe because they have such a high pressure job, they lose some human empathy. I have also worked with adult neurosurgeons, and felt the same thing. Any neuro nurses like to chime in? In my experience, neurosurgeons are a different breed of human being. Maybe because they have such a high pressure job, they lose some human empathy. I have also worked with adult neurosurgeons, and felt the same thing. Any neuro nurses like to chime in?

]]> By: maha http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2144 maha Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:05:16 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2144 I cannot believe a pediatric doctor could be so cruel to a little baby! You'd think that with all the education he must have, he would know better than to be so idiotic and thoughtless. You have nothing to regret. If there is such a thing as karma he'll end up in a crappy nursing home where he too will have dressings ripped of from him. I'm so angry at that doc and feel so bad for that poor sweet baby. If I were the mother and found out that happened, I'd knock his teeth out. End rant. I cannot believe a pediatric doctor could be so cruel to a little baby! You’d think that with all the education he must have, he would know better than to be so idiotic and thoughtless. You have nothing to regret. If there is such a thing as karma he’ll end up in a crappy nursing home where he too will have dressings ripped of from him. I’m so angry at that doc and feel so bad for that poor sweet baby. If I were the mother and found out that happened, I’d knock his teeth out. End rant.

]]> By: realityrounds http://realityrounds.com/2009/04/25/enter-dr-god-act-1/#comment-2129 realityrounds Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:43:37 +0000 http://realityrounds.com/?p=1720#comment-2129 I would much rather have slapped Dr. God in the face. I would much rather have slapped Dr. God in the face.

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