Just Come Over And Talk

I got called by a nurse last night. (what's new)

"Doc, can you come over to talk to this patient?"
"Which patient is it?" I asked.
"Just come to the station and talk to them." (What?)
"What do you mean?"
"I tried to explain to them but... (muffled)... could you come over now?"

So I walked to the station and to the patient's room - the patient was sitting in her bed, and her mother, with a somewhat frustrated look, was sitting on a chair nearby. As the nurse saw me walking into the room, she said to them, "here's the doctor, he'll talk to you," and swiftly left the scene. "Oh that's great." I thought to myself.

As it turned out, the mother was concerned that we are sending her pregnant daughter home that night when the patient was still having some diarrhea and nausea from her urinary tract infection. I asked the patient repeatedly if she has any pain and if she feels comfortable going home and she said she's fine. I explained to the mother that her daughter's condition is stable and that she has not been having a temperature for 2 days. The nausea is residual and rather than monitoring it here, it'd be better for her to rest at home and come back to the hospital if any of her symptoms worsens again. The diarrhea is the side effect of the antibiotics and it is common.

"Do you want to go home?" I asked the patient. "YES!" I ended by saying that I'll double-check her labs and vital signs to make sure we are happy to discharge her home as well.

The amazing thing is that they are both very satisfied after I talked to them. I am sure the nurse has said the same to them as well, but they apparently trust a new doctor more than an experienced nurse? That can very well be the reason, but I also think that when talking to a patient it's very important to take the time to listen to him/her and respond accordingly. Often times, just showing that you care is therapeutic.

I happily walked back to my tiny call room afterwards, took a short nap, and enjoyed the rest of the peaceful night with 20 progress notes to write.