STATESMAN - Houston, Texas, a patient records her surgeon because of the way she was treated before the surgery to find out that they make negative remarks about her and her body.
A woman named Ethel Esther notified the doctor saying that she needed a immediate attention because of her pain. The doctor responded that she had to wait for two months like everyone else. She kept arguing that she needed to push forward the surgery and the doctor abruptly said, "Who do you think you are? You have to wait just like everyone else". The hospital ended up pushing the schedule forward but this conflict led Esther to be skeptic about the surgeon and decided to record a audio tape during the surgery by putting a small USB recorder in her hair. She later finds the recording and what she hears is bunch of negative remarks of her and her body. She notified a complaint to the hospital but the hospital responded saying that they have decided not to take any further actions on the remarks nor the doctors. Here is the following statement the surgeons exchanged.
"She's a handful. She had some choice words for us in the clinic when we didn't book for case in two weeks"
"She said, 'I'm going to call a lawyer and file a complaint"
"That doesn't seem like the thing to say to the person who's going to do your surgery"
"Did you see her belly button?"
"I can touch her" (DQ)
I'm arguing over this article because I believe that Texas should enhance their patient protective law to where gossiping and/or remarks such as the one Esther received by her surgeon should be illegal and have consequences. Now, I understand that she probably was being hard to deal with and showed negative attitude towards the doctor, However patients should be able to be safe from what is being discussed about them, in front of them, while they are under medicine. The psychological damage it can do to patients is unimaginable and can cause trust issue to those who are undergoing such procedures. As a former EMT, I understand how easy it is to let out negative feed backs about the patients you just treated. However I also understand how much impact it could result in the patients mental health because I just wanted to "let it out". HIPPA is a great act the protects patients from many aspects but I hope that Texas might consider revising the act by including some sort of verbal protection for the patient.
Gossiping among medical professions should not be acceptable in any state and act such as HIPPA should be extended to protect patients from getting gossiped with names disclosed.
Interesting article you wrote. It grab my attention because it had to do with the medical field and pursuing a degree in the medical field, it is important not to repeat any mistakes that the doctors made. Gossiping is fun when is funny. But it should not be taken to a level of making someone feel bad. You got me to research more on this.
ReplyDeletehere is my blog
http://sangel8680.blogspot.com
Texas's Issues
Blog stage 6: Response to Making Gossip Illegal
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very impactful because it had talked about the negative side of the medical field and how mean and corrupt some people can be, no matter what their job title may be.
I agree that there should be a rule in any job area that protects the patients and the staff from harassment in the medical field, as well as any other work environment to create a safe place to work and enjoy or go about their days in peace. Especially in the medical field this rule should be enforced so that all may feel comfortable, how ever it should not only be applied to the staff but to the patients as well, everyone should have the freedom to feel safe from any harm whether it be verbal, physical, or mental. Keeping everyone safe in any environment is a common courtesy that all should be entitled to and everyone should feel safe in the hands of those who are taking care of them, no matter how short that time may be, all have the right to feel safe no matter where they are.
- Anne Ducat
Very interesting topic. It is sad to realize that gossiping happens in such a professional career field, but the truth is it happens everywhere. People are entitled to their own opinions and are free to say whatever they like, but there should definitely be restrictions to what you say while at work. I understand that certain people may not be the greatest to work with, but respect should always been shown. As a waitress, I have definitely served many rude guest, but I have never disrespected them or even gone to my coworkers to speak negatively about them. My job is to make sure they have a pleasant experience, therefore while in uniform I know I should act a certain way and can only show nothing but respect. That is the way it should be at all jobs.
ReplyDelete- Jennifer Silva