A surgical procedure is truly a team effort.
Along with support staff, the patient outcome depends on how well the surgeon and the anesthesiologist work together.
Dr. T provides a fascinating account of the issues that she faces when behind the screen, and indeed, there is a spectrum of surgical personalities she has to deal with.
Although noting that some surgeons have the patient’s best interests at heart, she notes that, “on the whole, though, what I typically see is a lot of exasperation from surgeons whenever a medical condition precludes speedy progress to the O.R. – perhaps because in many hospital systems, these conditions can easily remain undiscovered or unevaluated until right before the scheduled procedure.”
The decision on whether to proceed or cancel surgery can lead to conflict within the OR team, which never benefits the patient. Despite the pressure to proceed with a scheduled operation, and staying on time, in the end, everyone should want the same thing.
As Dr. T puts it, that is “a patient well-cared for.”
Related posts:
- A patient dies after doctors fail to communicate in the operating room
- Patient burns from a hospital visit, and fires in the operating room
- A surgeon operates on the wrong patient
- How work-hour restrictions harms resident surgeon training
- Work-hour restrictions in surgery?
- A surgeon dumps post-op patients to hospitalists
- Inside the operating room with Sanjay Gupta, America’s most famous neurosurgeon
{ 1 comment }
Why can’t the surgeon be reported and disciplined accordingly? This is more covering for each other – and a big reason malpractice in the U.S. exists. If something had gone wrong the ranks would have closed around this surgeon, protecting her.
It’s a sticky thing. Tattling. I suppose it invites reprisal and a never-ending spiral of recrimination. But, really, there must be some sort of disciplinary action. This time, the patient recovered – but what about the next time? The surgeon might learn from this particular – non-lethal experience and prevent her from a similar action in the future that might have a less favorable outcome.
What a b1+¢h.
If we want malpractice reform then we must self-police – and this is a perfect example. We must find a way to report the bad behavior before it causes irreparable harm.
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