Communicating with colleagues
BMJ 2007; 335 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0710352 (Published 01 October 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:0710352- Baldwin Yeung, foundation year 1 doctor1
- 1Department of Surgery, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow G4 0SF
After a long night dealing with many sick patients, my registrar called and gave me a lecture to say that I should have consulted my on-call seniors earlier about the management of a patient, rather than waiting for a formal review in the morning ward round. He was concerned because I could have missed important diagnoses as a result of my lack in experience.
After putting down the phone, I contemplated why I had not called my seniors during the night and came to the conclusion that it was partly because I did not want to tarnish my image as a competent junior doctor. Just as I was recuperating from this lesson, my fellow junior doctor asked whether I had chased up the blood results of one of his patients. I realised this task had not been handed over by the doctor on late shift.
To convict me as an utter failure, a nurse stormed into the doctors' room just as I was preparing to leave. She pointed her finger at me and shouted that I had not unplugged the electrocardiograph machine after I had used it. By that time I was so tired and disoriented that I did not even remember using the machine. I wondered what …
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