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Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Second Guesses

While watching shows like Chicago Med and Grey's Anatomy, we always see the guilt and the second-guessing that occurs when a nurse or doctor makes a mistake.
Sometimes they dismiss a serious case for a mild one and the patient becomes much worse. Sometimes they send a patient home only to be brought in by ambulance hours later. Sometimes a patient sits in the waiting room because they do not look like they are in much pain, only to result in a more emergent situation later on.
In all of these instances, however, the staff have these existential conversations with themselves about missing the signs or whether or not they may have been distracted. They wonder about making judgement calls too quickly, or incorrectly.

This all makes me wonder whether or not doctors or nurses have ever experienced that level of self-awareness after making mistakes with me as their patient.
I have countless stories of being prematurely dismissed, being told that I don't look ill enough, being forgotten, being ignored. Have those circumstances been mulled over by the staff afterwards? Is there any guilt there? Or do they put all of their focus into the next case, the next patient, to keep their sanity. (Because really, if doctors were to dwell on every single mistake or missed detail, they may not ever make it in that particular profession).

The vast majority of my horrible health experiences have been positive from a staff point of view. I am not complaining about our system because it truly has been a blessing - but there is no denying that mistakes are made. I expect to be ignored sometimes, or overlooked, or have my information mixed up, or details missed, because it happens. I just wonder whether or not some of the worst of my own experiences have ever crept into the doubts of the staff that have overlooked me before.

It would be an interesting conversation to have with one of those health professionals. It makes me curious about how that discussion may go, and how cathartic it might be, far-fetched as that may be.

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