At a recent program, a woman said her doctor is making
her take medications that she doesn’t want to take. Another patient said that she was kept in the
hospital but she didn’t want to stay.
Too often patients think they are being forced to do things
by some implanted learning that they are not in control.
“If you don’t want to take your medications” I told her “don’t”
but there may be consequences; from getting sicker, to losing your beloved doctor
who also may say he doesn’t want to care for you if you won’t follow
instructions.
After an hour long presentation, I would hope that
participants understand that they are in control of their medical care. Mistakes happen, clinicians may be
wrong. They need to know what’s on your
mind. Why won’t you take your
medication? Why do you want to leave the
hospital against medical advice (AMA)?
These are things you should be able to talk to your health care team
about. If you can’t, you need to change
who your team is.
One person said she couldn’t imagine going to see the
hospital leadership with her complaints.
I asked her why she thought they were so untouchable. “If you were unhappy at a hair salon or at a
restaurant, if you would speak to the manager or owner, it should be no
different”. Complaining or constructive
feedback are two different things.
Hospitals want your business.
They want you to tell all your friends how wonderful your surgery
went. If you are not happy, speak
up. If you’re in danger, move up….the
ladder to the people in charge.
1 comment:
and then they fire you for being non compliant. Somewhere, the ability to disagree with a doctor (who isn't even right by the medical research) is grounds for firing a patient. This is how they control us.
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