Operating Room Ethics...Clowing a Man Who Just Got His Goddamn Foot Amputated (1116 hits)
Category: Business & FinancialRating: 0.22 on 41 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Tony Montana <Tony.Montana.at.gmail.com> (View user info) at 2006-05-12 15:57:22 EDT
Allow me to set the scene for you. During an orthopaedic surgical rotation I was on, I assisted in the surgical amputation of a man's foot after he had been in a car accident. As soon as the man's leg was sawed off, one of the residents picked up the foot, looked at me, and jokingly said, "hey, go long!" and pretended like he was going to toss a football towards me.
Immediately the senior surgeon scolded him and told him we are not to joke about such matters. The surgery went on as proceeded and everything was fine.
Now my question is this...are such comments to be off limits in the medical world? The resident who made the football comment happened to be an exceptionally smart individual and would never do anything to compromise a patient's standard of care. But to an outside observer, the comment he made about "going long" with the guy's amputated foot would have prompted shock and disgust. Some would have probably considered calling for his dismissal from the hospital.
Is that really necessary, however, given that the man's treatment was in no way trivialized? He was under deep anesthesia at the time the comment was made and so he had no chance of hearing it. When I posed this question to a friend of mine, she responded with, "how would you feel if that were your foot being amputated...or your mom's?" My answer was that it would piss me off if I found about it...but so long as I didn't...no harm no foul.
I personally feel that doctors and medical personelle should be allowed to have a sense of humor when it comes to their profession, so long as it does not interfere with the patient's care...and the patient doesn't find out about it. There are many who would disagree with me on this, but I think they fail to realize that after a certain amount of time, even a surgeon's job becomes routine and mundane. Outside of its complexity, the job is no more different than that of someone who works at a retail store, or in a back office, or pretty much any other occupation where standardization and not creatitivity is the defining characteristic. Having a sense of humor is all we can do to transform something routine into something tolerable. Should physicians be denied this right based on the nature of what they do?
User Reviews
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2006-05-29 23:31:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Tony Montana is a fucking fake ass jerkoff loser. He is about as much of a doctor as much as I fucking work at NASA designing the replacement for the space shuttle.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-16 13:04:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
icarus, you're an idiot. just stick to what you know best which is hard labor. if you knew what it took to get through medical school and procure an orthopaedic residency you'd realize that one silly comment is way too trivial to fire someone over, especially when the patient's safety wasn't compromised and neither he nor any of his family was around to hear it...only medical personnel who make jokes in the OR all the time about stuff you wouldn't believe.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2006-05-15 19:50:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-14 23:01:36 (#)
Ranking: 2
It's easy to say you'd fire him based on what you read here in a post but if it was real life I guarantee most people would have simply warned him against making comments like that again in the future.
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He took a paying client's amputated limb and said "go long." How much more detail do I need? His high school yearbook?
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-05-15 09:46:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by Brendon (user info) at 2006-05-14 21:06:27 (#)
Ranking: 0
We should call you tigersilly LOL
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Umm, that was just dumb. Try harder next time because
that was not funny.
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2006-05-14 23:14:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
The fucktard returns!
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-14 23:01:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i guess this is just one of those situations where you had to be there. If you saw the whole thing in context you'd realize that it was really no big deal at all. From the time the comment was made to when he was scolded, i'd say it lasted all of 5 seconds. Outside of that the surgery was completely normal. If you knew this resident you'd realize he's one of the nicest, most competent, and most hard working guys around in the hospital. It's easy to say you'd fire him based on what you read here in a post but if it was real life I guarantee most people would have simply warned him against making comments like that again in the future.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2006-05-14 22:18:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
As a supervisor I would have fired him on the spot. I don't care how exceptionally smart an individual is, or how clandestine their "joke", if it compromises the dignity of the client or any of their body parts, they're out the door with a black mark on their record that will make it difficult for the undisciplined son of a bitch to get a job in a back-alley abortion clinic.
If you want to know why, just imagine the implications of letting that kind of thing go unchecked. Today it's "passing" a leg during an amputation. Tommorow it's "playfully" groping a client's breast during an appendectomy. I mean who cares, no one knows, right? Wrong. All it takes it one med student leaking word to the press, one slip up with the anesthesia, and there's a lawsuit that will not only make your hospital look bad, but cast a pall on the entire medical profession.
Tell your friend to grow the fuck up. Real life isn't like House.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-05-14 22:15:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Fuck off, cock-a-roach.
Submitted by Brendon (user info) at 2006-05-14 21:06:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
We should call you tigersilly LOL
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-14 19:12:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Ooo ooo, call me something insanely inventive..like DCwanker or DCmoron or DCtwatwaffle.
Actually DCtwatwaffle is quite good.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-05-14 18:48:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-14 17:24:35 (#)
Ranking: 2
TigerWhore, did your prosthetic foot leak some metal into your bloodstream? I corrected myself after that response to admit that I was wrong. Pay more attention you fucking pirate.
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You're wit astounds me you pathetic idiot.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-05-14 17:39:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-14 17:25:46 (#)
Ranking: 2
Bubba...don't worry, no one cares about whatever request you make. If you get any surgery done you will accept whatever surgeons the mexican free clinic offers and you'll like it, you fucking nobody.
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My God! I've been called a nobody by a rude guy with an average
rating of -0.27. You just keep calling names, Butch, that's what you're good at. . .
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-14 17:25:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Bubba...don't worry, no one cares about whatever request you make. If you get any surgery done you will accept whatever surgeons the mexican free clinic offers and you'll like it, you fucking nobody.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-14 17:24:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
TigerWhore, did your prosthetic foot leak some metal into your bloodstream? I corrected myself after that response to admit that I was wrong. Pay more attention you fucking pirate.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-05-14 13:18:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I certainly hope you are never present during any surgery of mine.
You are a non-professional screw-off whose education and manners
are sorely lacking. You cannot respond in an intelligent manner
without name calling. Go be a janitor. You are not emotionally
equipped to work in the medical field.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-05-14 11:54:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
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Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-13 20:11:09 (#)
Ranking: 2
Doodles...show me the fucking typo that I made in the title? Which word was misspelled? Help me out here you fucking dimwit.
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"Operating Room Ethics...Clowing a Man Who Just Got His Goddamn Foot Amputated "
Riiiiight. And I'm the moron. Shut up idiot.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2006-05-13 23:26:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
sorry
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2006-05-13 23:25:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I work in the medical field. Although I'm not a doctor (I'm a lab tech/phlebot), a lot of my friends I've made through work are doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc.
Without speaking of your example I will say that yes, we medical people in general have morbid and black senses of humor like rockdocc said. If you don't have a sense of humor, you'll either end up drinking too much or going nuts.
But....
I think it unethical to joke around about a patient or his/her condition, whether it be away from them or around them (even if they are under anesthetic).
The morbid jokes are usually in an abstract sense.
The morbid and twisted kidding around that we do at my hospital is designed to joke around with each other. Like the time one intern toe-tagged himself and scared the crap out of another intern.
Or how Doug The Bug in lab likes to melt down Hershey w/ Almond chocolate bars to make it appear he is eating feces.
It's like an unwritten rule; terrorize one another so that when we interact with our patients we are 100% professional.
Submitted by rockdocc (user info) at 2006-05-13 20:20:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I personally feel that doctors and medical personelle should be allowed to have a sense of humor when it comes to their profession, so long as it does not interfere with the patient's care...and the patient doesn't find out about it. There are many who would disagree with me on this, but I think they fail to realize that after a certain amount of time, even a surgeon's job becomes routine and mundane.
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ya kinda have to have a sick sense of humour in the medical profession. Or you'll go insane.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-13 20:11:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Clowning......DOH......i'll give myself a -2 for that one. you win.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-13 20:11:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Doodles...show me the fucking typo that I made in the title? Which word was misspelled? Help me out here you fucking dimwit.
Oh and for the record, I'll +2 myself all I want. Fuck your bullshit little uber rituals. You fucking dumbass.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-13 20:09:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Tiger Lilly, you moron, just because you've spent time under anesthesia in the OR doesn't mean you have some unique insight as to what actually happens during the surgery itself. Have you ever scrubbed in on a surgery? No, all you've ever done is just lied there unconscious while you were operated on. Just because doctors act with 100% professionalism around patients does not mean that they do so with each other. And the resident didn't actually toss the foot at me or anything like that. He was about to place it away from the operating field when he simply made that remark towards me. It's not like the patient's family was there or any other non-medical personnel.
Doctors are normal people just like anyone else. The resident who made that remark towards me was a 29 year old second year orthopaedic surgical resident. But the fact that there is an M.D. at the end of his name doesn't negate the fact that he's a guy in his 20's.
Submitted by Brendon (user info) at 2006-05-13 15:20:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This sounds like something that would happen in "scrubs".
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-05-13 12:19:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I think you're full of shit. I've spent my life in and out of hospitals and OR's. Playing with someone's amputated foot in the OR is a serious infraction and termination would be eminent. I know this because my orthopedic surgeon is my friend and I asked him about such clowning around in the OR.
Now, that being said, I'm all for jokes and such, it lightens the mood but I sincerely doubt that this ever happened in the OR.
Submitted by MandaPanda (user info) at 2006-05-13 11:02:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
A sense of humor is necessary in the medical field, as long as it's not endangering anyone or interfering with productivity.
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2006-05-13 10:40:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
-2 for
Typo in the title
+2ing youself, you're a fucking bitch, suck a cock.
Submitted by fluff (user info) at 2006-05-13 10:25:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think you have to develop a certain amount and kind of black humour when you're working in this field. As long as the patient doesn't realise it's ok for me.
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2006-05-12 21:45:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
As long as the guy was under i see no harm in such a joke. The senior surgeon sounds like a real tight ass. At least he didnt try to use the foot as a phone, like that old show get smart.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-12 21:35:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Snagglecunt, I didn't clarify this in the body of the post because I didn't think it was relevant to the message but the guy's foot was first amputated, and we tried to salvage his leg. It wasn't salvageable so we amputated his leg below the knee. How that makes me a hack, i'm not sure. But in any event i'm fairly certain you're just a fucking moron.
Submitted by TonyMontana (user info) at 2006-05-12 21:33:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Stabfag, thanks for your input. Now have fun being a 40 year old beer-bellied childless single loser.
Submitted by snagglepuss (user info) at 2006-05-12 21:01:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
What worries me more, you're typical of most fucking doctors. The poor bastards foot needed to come off, but you took the whole leg. You fuck-wit hack.
"..As soon as the man's leg was sawed off,..."
Submitted by Judoka (user info) at 2006-05-12 20:21:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My best friend is a doctor, my father is a doctor, I grew up around doctors. They deal with shit everyday that would cause most of us to curl up in a coner sobbing like little girls. A sense of humor no matter where is a good thing.
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2006-05-12 18:40:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good points.
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2006-05-12 18:21:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
You would think that, if someone is in medical school, they could spell words correctly.
You are a terribly unprofessional sack of shit either way, so why are you asking this quesiton here? I hope you get cancer, cocksucker.
Submitted by StanleyBostitch (user info) at 2006-05-12 17:11:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think that surgeons jobs are hard enough as it is. After seeing sights that would send a majority of us running for the hills, if a surgeon can maintain a sense of humor, so be it.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-05-12 17:04:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
A sense of humor is good.
Submitted by Razor (user info) at 2006-05-12 16:53:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What have you done with the old Tony Montana?
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-12 16:28:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think it's insensitive, but whether it's out of line or not I just don't know. I would think that being surrounded by death and disease all the time would drive you to drink if you were not allowed a sense of humor. I suppose what it comes down to is that clowning around in an operating room gives the impression that he's not taking his job or his patient's situation seriously.
Plus and you know this phrase as well as I do, "the way you train is the way you react".
Meaning that if he's in the habit of acting like this, eventually he will get caught by a patient.
Submitted by BadAssJulie (user info) at 2006-05-12 16:20:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think there's nothing wrong with it as long as there's only hospital staff and/or unconscious patients around. I wouldn't be upset if someone were throwing my foot around. It'd probably cheer me up a bit after having my foot chopped off.
Submitted by EatMeCompletely (user info) at 2006-05-12 16:15:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Funny is funny, regardless of profession. No harm, no foul.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2006-05-12 16:04:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Who the fuck does that guy think he is???
Oh, wait. I get it now. See, it's a foot, and he treated it like a ball, and then made a reference most often heard in football. Get it? FOOTball? Clever.