Nothing to fear except …

As a medical professional there are probably quite a few things to fear. Fear of unjust malpractice suit, fear of a just malpractice suit, the possibility that you may be accidentally stuck by an infected needle are just a few of the big and yet routine concerns that are faced every day.

One issue that I had never given thought to was that your patient would overpower and choke you to death. I never knew that my fiancee was in this very situation with her patient. The patient had a couple pieces of bad luck, the first was that he had a multi-resistant bacterial infection and the second was he had multi-farction dementia. Because of infection this patient was in a special separated room with a closed door. The dementia part is reasonably clear, the multi-farction part simply means that it is brought on by a series of small strokes. This meant that over time this otherwise healthy 55 year old wouldn’t remember a thing but would remain fit as an ox.

My fiancee was trying to take blood when he woke up. It really wasn’t his fault that he was confused and in a strange surroundings, but his reaction was to reach out and start choking the medical student who was taking blood. Doctors do have a great knowledge of anatomy, pressure points and all that, yet that would not have saved her from a larger stronger opponent. The thing that did save her was that other medical personnel happened to come into the room at that instant.

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