Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Strange things in different places....

One week after I cut my finger, I had an upset stomach. What is most irritating was the way the nurse in the hospital did not want me to come to the hospital at all. Here is what was my conversation with her

Day 1:

Me: "I have an upset stomach, I threw up thrice and I am not comfortable, I want to come to the hospital."
Nurse: "Gimme your name" Me gave.
Nurse: "Your ISU Number", me gave.
Nurse: "Your phone number", me gave.
Nurse: " Have you registered with us earlier", Me...Grrrrrr.. Answered her.
Nurse: " Are you alergic to any medicines?", Me....(At this point I was really struggling with pain)... Answered her.
Nurse:” So now what are the symptoms that you have?", Me told her everything.
Nurse:” I guess you have de-hydration, drink a lot of fluids and lie down, you will be alright"... cuts the call.

Day 2:

Me: "I had called yesterday and I have an upset stomach, I guess I have developed some infection in my stomach"
Nurse takes all my details, the symptoms, etc. After all that...
Nurse:” I guess you are suffering from a viral infection that many students are catching. You should be alright in a couple of days, just follow a strict diet."
Me: "Can I come to the hospital to get some medicine for the infection?"
Nurse: "No we don’t have any medicines for this. If the situation goes bad get back to us".

I was a little shocked, because back home the first thing the doctor would do is asking me to come and meet him. I am fine now, but I am not sure if it was the right thing for the nurse to do, by asking me not to see the doctor. I have always believed that it would be good for the doctor to see the patient just to make sure what the exact problem is. I don't know how much can be achieved over the phone. Well I guess different places have different policies. (Sigh...)

3 comments:

Kaptnik said...

It could be two things:

1. The nurse didn't like your voice and decided it's not worth having the doctor see you.

2. The nurse doesn't like the doctor and thinks it's not worth having him make some extra bucks.

3. Well there is no hospital. There is no doctor. The nurse gets paid every time someone calls that number!

[I kinda think it's the third one]

Kaptnik said...

And one other thing. What's the connection between cutting your finger and you getting stomach ache?

Savio Sebastian said...

i liked karthils' comment... point 3 seems to be quite appropriate! :)