воскресенье, 8 июня 2014 г.

Meeting Her Needs

In 1994, our health department began serving as the primary care provider for thousands of patients who had previously only received public-health type services in our clinics. This switch to a “medical model” in our neighborhood clinics was quite a change not only for the patients but also for the staff, who were more accustomed to providing chronic disease follow-up and preventive care, and now were being asked to provide acute care/primary care as well.
Because of this change, I was now a public health nurse in a primary care setting, working with the physician who was trying to meet the women’s health needs as best he could. Not having done a lot of women’s health previously, he was somewhat disorganized in his visit sequence but usually covered all aspects of care in a thorough, professional manner.
This particular day, the physician was completing a visit with a new, elderly patient. In his usual quiet way, as the patient was preparing to leave the examining room, he said offhandedly, “Oh, Ms. R., would you like to have a Pap smear today?”
Ms. R. appeared surprised and a bit confused because she was already dressed, had received her prescriptions, and thought her appointment was over.
“Why, yes, Doctor, that would be nice,” the patient said.
I realized immediately that a communication error had just been made.
“Ms. R., the Doctor is asking if you want your PAP SMEAR done today — your test for cancer of the womb. You would need to get undressed again for that test,” I tried to explain.
Ms. R. looked embarrassed and replied, “Oh, Doctor, I’m sorry. I thought you said PABST BEER! No, I don’t want a PAP SMEAR today, thank you.”
~Judy B. Smith
http://www.chickensoup.com/

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