ADVANCING HEALTH-CARE PRACTICE






1.4     Helen's Story

I was working days, and Dr. Dale was on. I had a patient who was doing great but wanted an epidural. I worked really hard with her and we tried everything to avoid an epidural. She managed to get to 6 cm dilated before she had an epidural. I just was dreading having to work with Dr. Dale again. I got the order and asked the charge nurse to call him because I didn't want to deal with him. He never said a word about the consult to the charge nurse and he was OK when he came in. Then he reapplied the blood pressure cuff again even though I had put it on upside down like he likes. I mean I tried to make sure everything was perfect and he still changed it! You can't win. I was just waiting to see what I had done wrong. Everything was fine until he was sterile and placing the epidural and he wanted the light different. I repositioned it several times, then he made me go get the charge nurse and we both had to try to fix the light. Meanwhile this poor woman is stuck there with a needle in her back. Finally the charge nurse a borrowed a spotlight from post-partum and he finished putting the epidural in.
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How is Dr. Dale affecting patient care by his actions?

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