MongoMedic Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) I am new to this forum, however not new by any means to EMS. Recently I have gotten a new doctor (Mongolian doctor) into my clinic in Mongolia. This guy is new by all that is meant to the word. He is only 4 years out of a Mongolian medical school, maybe a year out of his residency, and brand new to the company that I work for. So needless to say, this guy is definitely green. A conversation took place last night, that I thought would be important to share with my fellow healthcare providers, because we all to often (myself included) loose sight of what the business of healthcare is all about. -Fist and foremost the business of healthcare is about making somebody's day better than when we first see them. We do this a few ways. One by talking to them, and letting them know not only what we are doing to them but also general conversation. This tells the patient, who truth be known are having a worse day than we are, that they are not just another run ticket. That during that time we are there for them not the other way around. Talk to them like you know them, obviously with some degree of respect. I am a big believer, that patients respond better to this than just about any treatment or procedure that we inflict on them. -Talk to them like a person with confidence, but there is no need to show them how smart you think you are. When we talk to patients or other healthcare providers, we tend to want to show them how smart we are. Well guess what the patient probably does not have any formal medical training other maybe first aid or CPR training. Hence, they do not know all the fancy .50 cent words that we do and do not understand what the hell we are saying half the time. When talking to other healthcare providers, in front of your patient, speak in laymans terms. I am pretty sure that person that you are talking to will understand what you are trying to say. This will help the patient not only understand more about what is going on,but also it builds more confidence in the care that you provided. I mean really if you are that desperate to boost your ego, then go look in a mirror and talk all the jargon that you want. -Another important aspect of our jobs is to do no harm. We are there to help patients not hurt them, they already are having a bad day. In other words, don't inflict pain on a patient just because you can or the protocols say you can. Here is an example, I knew a young Medic that on a simple trauma that really did not need an IV started a 14g in the hand of his patient, just because the protocol said he could. That truly was his defense. This is not only wrong on a moral level but a legal level as well. Also if you see another healthcare provider do something that is wrong and don't say anything, well then you are just as guilty as well. -Don't blame the patient. When patients call us out in there mind there is a need for help that is why they call us. We chose this profession for whatever reason, so it is our responsibility to accept that and whatever pitfalls that it comes with. Although it may be that patients fault for calling you out to their house at 0300 in the morning simply because they are lonely, however you are the one who chose this profession for yourself not them. -Stay in your lane. It all to often happens that, espicially the younger (in experience) healthcare providers start out or level up to a different cert. and feel that they know it all. Folks I am here to tell we don't. I do not care what level of healthcare provider you are, you do not know it all. If you are not proficient with a skill or are not really sure how to do it, then make sure you get enough training and throughly understand what you are doing to your patient before trying for real. I agree it is called medical practice for a reason and mistakes will be made even by the most seasoned veterans. Never be ashamed to ask for help rather than just doing it to make yourself look good. Remember my comment about egos. Just remember of what you are dealing with. I hope that this did not bore y'all to much, but with the New Year here I just felt that sometimes things like this need to be said. MongoMedic Khushuut, Mongolia Edited January 2, 2012 by MongoMedic 3
DFIB Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Welcome to the forums. Good points. I am still stumped about what you talked to the Dr. about and what reference it has to the rest of your post, or did I miss it?
MongoMedic Posted January 2, 2012 Author Posted January 2, 2012 Those are pretty much the points that I talked to the doctor about...sorry I probably did not make that clear at all. I was just pretty much trying to make the point that no matter how long we are in the healthcare field then we just may need to be reminded, from time to time, that there is a personal side to this business that we are in. Really nothing more than that.
DFIB Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Those are pretty much the points that I talked to the doctor about...sorry I probably did not make that clear at all. I was just pretty much trying to make the point that no matter how long we are in the healthcare field then we just may need to be reminded, from time to time, that there is a personal side to this business that we are in. Really nothing more than that. It is easy to become jaded in EMS. It is a good thing to be reminded of the "personal side" of the profession. This is a subject that is touched on from time to time. Here is a very recent thread where a similar situation is discussed. http://www.emtcity.com/topic/21171-remember-two-things-saying-goodbye/page__view__findpost__p__272567
Richard B the EMT Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 So, basically, you've instructed the doctor that patient care is not just a collection of signs and symptoms, but a person. Sounds good. Also, "Welcome Aboard!"
DwayneEMTP Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Man, I thought that that was a really good post on things that too often get overlooked in EMS, particularly the points made on relating emotionally and intellectually to the patients. I think way to often we've all seen crews talk 'around' patients while doing the things that need to be done while allowing them to remain unnecessarily terrified. And I absolutely get the reason for the conversation with the Mongolian doctor as emotional care seems to play little if any part in their medical education. I've come to use patter like, "Let me tell you what I know right now, ok? You've got X injury or condition that I can see. There is nothing about that that scares me and I'm really comfortable taking care of you. I know that you're in pain, and I'm going to take care of that in the next few minutes, but before I do I have to make sure how, and what I can give you and make sure not to hurt you with it. But I promise you that I see it, and I don't like it, and I'm going to do all that I can to make it go away. Your vitals are in a good place, your color is good, you're thinking clearly, so your vital systems are all pretty happy, but I'll let you know if I think that that is changing in any way, ok? If you're thinking scary, evil thoughts about life and death I need you to stop that now...it makes both of our jobs harder and there's just not any good reason to believe that they belong in your head at this point..yadda, yadda, yadda" I seem to see a huge change in nearly every hinky patient when it seems that we are a team caring for them instead of them simply being a victim of a bunch of, "This is going to hurt but I need to do it." comments that cover the textbook necessity of 'informing the patient of treatments' but not the spirit of giving them the information if a form and tone that is emotionally nurturing for them. It's good to see you here MM! I'm not sure if I do you any favors by admitting that I know you as I'm not the best, nor most popular of those here, but I know that you have much to bring to the City if we can keep you interested. You've changed me as a medic for the better, (with the exception of trying to queer my vision with a candy bar), and I am truly excited to be able to share your thoughts here. Working as we do it is so difficult to stay even half way current, to exercise the mental muscles that are so rarely called into action when working remotely, but these forums, if you can ignore the occasional bullshit, are filled with smart, kind, dedicated professionals that will seldom, if ever let you be less today than you were yesterday if they can help it. That process is not always perfect, nor delicate, but it always has an amazing energy, and for me, that is worth it's weight in gold. Have a great day my friend..and thanks for taking the time to participate! Dwayne
Bernhard Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Edited by Dwayne. Somehow I managed to hit the 'edit' button on Bernhard's post instead of 'quote' and nuked his post...though his thoughts will be obvious in my response below. Sorry Brother...it's what happens when Admin gives moderator privileges to simpletons... Dwayne 1
DwayneEMTP Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 ...You, simply talk them into lethargy? Cool concept!... Hey, when you have a personality like mine that naturally equates to medium aggressive anesthesia it seems a sin to waste it...least invasive to most invasive and all that.. Dwayne
Just Plain Ruff Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 When you talk to the patient like a person instead of a patient then you see amazing things sometimes. Whodavthunkit
MongoMedic Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 Wow great feedback. Thank you all for it I am really glad to see that there are more healthcare professionals out there that believe, and even sometimes appreciate a reminder of things that we should be doing. I know that even I forget these little things, but like Dwayne has said I too have seen amazing results from following this philosophy. Truth be known I can not take full credit for these thoughts. These were things that were pounded into me and learned by a man who I consider to be pretty much my mentor..who actually fired me from a service that I worked for because I needed to grow up as a Medic. He eventually re-hired me and taught me the world. So to him I tip my hat to and give a lot of the credit to him. Thank you David Phillips.
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