Oops!

We have a class called Social Medicine once a month. It is supposed to be for us to get in touch with our touchy-feely sides. In the past, I hated this class, but this semester has been full of really interesting topics. Today, the topic was medical error. One of our facilitators has been a nurse for a number of years (he is probably in his early 60's, and was one of the first men to go to the University of Utah School of Nursing). He was telling us about the first hospital where he worked. Now, as I tell you this story, be reminded that this was a long time ago; however, I know that things just as dumb as this still occur at hospitals. Many of their surgical patients were getting really ill after surgery so the hospital closed down the whole OR and decided to start testing all of the employees. They did oral swabs, rectal swabs, etc. (not all with the same swab, mind you!). They traced the illnesses these post-op patients were acquiring to an anesthesiologist who was not washing his hands after going to the bathroom! DISGUSTING! Yes, this was a simple thing that everyone knows they should be doing, but as I was thinking about this I realized how human doctors are. I am a bit scared because, in a way, imperfect people are expected to make perfect decisions regarding patients. I know that every one of us has stories about doctors doing stupid things in regards to our health (myself included), but every one of you know that I am nowhere near perfect, and in two more years, I will also be called "doctor." Hopefully, I can try to avoid the mistakes that others have made previous to me, but I know that I will do some of the same dumb things that others have done, and probably new ones, too. I am not expecting you to accept error by doctors. In fact, quite the opposite. I really believe that every one of us needs to take control of our own health and learn as much as we can. Anyway, how to close this entry? Well, as a movie says that I recently watched, "Good night and good luck!"