Got scolded because of the chest tube bottle
By rencarl
@rencarl (620)
Philippines
October 24, 2011 1:29am CST
I was upset yesterday Sunday.until today i can't forget what happened yesterday. for the benefit of those who do not know me, I am a a staff nurse in a local hospital here in Davao City, Philippines. i was having my smooth pace yesterday until one of the attending physicians made his daily rounds. he asked me whether the plaster he placed outside the chest tube bottle has remained in place. to my innocence, i actually transferred it not knowing that it was originaly placed by the doctor himself to make a baseline level of the pleural fluid for a 24-hour output. i didn't know in the first place that it must not be removed.when the doctor found out that i transferred the paper tape, he scolded me infront of other nurses and doctors. i was silenced and was never able to react because of guilt. i know not anybody here in mylot understands what i am saying about. i just want to verbalize what i feel so that i can cope up with what i feel today. i would still appreciate if anyone here in mylot comments on this.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@clearwater18 (695)
• Philippines
25 Oct 11
I think it was wrong for the doctor t scold you in front of all the nurses and doctors. Of course, you were wrong with transferring the tape but then, he could have just scolded you alone. He doesn't really have to scold you in front of everyone. I don't know why but some doctors are really like that. They like to embarrass other people. I hope you feel better now. Don't feel guilty. I guess it slipped off your mind. Just try to be careful next time. Just think of it as a lesson learned.
@rencarl (620)
• Philippines
25 Oct 11
I felt better eversince i verbalized my feelings by posting up this discussion yesterday. I actually didn't expect you guys to comment on this discussion.all i wanted was for me to air out what i feel. but thank you all guys for the encouragement. i will surely consider this as a lesson learned. i feel better now.
@mimiang (3760)
• Philippines
25 Oct 11
Nurses are our allies in this topsy turvy medical world. We don't mean to hurt you if we scold you some times. It is not just right that a colleague has berated you in front of others. Perhaps he got that from his training when we are being mocked in front of our patients. It has been something that new generations of doctors like me would like to eradicate because I treat my junior residents not like that. It is a long road for us, but who knows...
@clearwater18 (695)
• Philippines
26 Oct 11
Rencarl, well that's good that you feel a lot better now. True it's nice to be able to verbalize what you feel because somehow you'll feel relieved.
Mimiang, I guess you're right. I think it's because of their training. Maybe they're doing that as some sort of revenge.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
25 Nov 11
but rencarl I am not meaning to scold I am merely an ex nurses aide. but when you saw that plaster there did you not think it might be
there for a purpose? I am assuming that by plaster you are referring
to what we here in the USA call tape? That I sympathize with the doctor as how can he tell now the baseline level of the pleural
fluid? You must not have been thinking. But he should have taken you aside and talked to you privately.Doctors have that awfu l way of making nurses and even nurses aides feel likt they are only two inches tall. shame on him. He should have known better than that.
@rencarl (620)
• Philippines
25 Nov 11
i was thinking that the tape was really pasted there for a purpose but i never had the idea that it was the doctor who placed it there to have a baseline level for pleural fluid. all i thought was that my colleague had put it there, not the doctor himself.well, we are in good terms with the doctor now. it was not personal after all.
@mimiang (3760)
• Philippines
25 Oct 11
In the first place somebody must know what the tape was and he should have endorsed it to anyone who is taking care of the patient. Well, that is life in the hospital. All of us get used to those kind of scoldings. =) Cheers! The doctors like me don't get mad and take things personally. We just want to do what is best to the patients.
@kareemadivina (1230)
• Philippines
24 Oct 11
Well,no need to feel guilty.Chests tube drains is little complicated.I supposed you are a new staff.I also have an unforgettable experience with chest tubes drains as a nursing student.I had an argument with my clinical instructor about chest tube drains because I had only found data about a 3-way bottle system and my patient had only 2-way bottle system and I just want to know the difference but it seems that she didn't know either, but scolded me instead.
Just make it as a challenge and you'll master the skills as you go on.Experience is the best teacher.
@rencarl (620)
• Philippines
24 Oct 11
hello there.i am new to the institution that i am working right now but i have been practicing the profession for three years now. my only mistake was that i removed the paper tape that the attending physician have placed outside the bottle.i never knew then that it was the physician who placed it there. i thought that my co staff nurse placed it there.if there's anyone or anything to blame, that was the failure to endorse that the paper tape must not be removed or transferred to another place.
