When I was delivering my first child, the epidural was way too high and I could feel absolutely nothing below the chest. This is a very disorienting feeling and my confusion was compounded by the way I was being treated like a non-human by the dozen people in the room. At one point I wanted to pull myself up but physically couldn’t and nobody was listening to me, so when my now ex reached across me to get something from one of the nurses, I chomped down into his arm with full force. I can’t explain why I did it, but at the time my goal was to latch into his arm and pull myself up a bit. I have no excuse other than the fact that I was very confused. I learned an important lesson though. Midwives are better than doctors because they pay attention to the person on the table.
One thing they do not teach in school is how to see the situation from the patient’s point of view. I have my RN-BSN and am very knowledgeable about medications and the proper way of performing lots of procedures. I have given a million shot and started a million IVs. And I always say the same thing – you’re going to feel a little stick, but it will be over quickly.
I never really thought of it other than as a ‘procedure.’ That all changed one day when I was the patient. I was especially nervous because I knew what all needed to be done. It was tremendously stressful. After that experience I was a better nurse. I now knew how the patient was feeling. Yeah, I had started a million IVs, but this was this patient’s FIRST time in an ER and FIRST IV stick. My approach was much different, and I think the patients appreciated it…
While I wasn’t in the room every moment of my wife’s two deliveries, I was there enough to know:
a) while the doctor’s main function is to ensure the baby’s healthy entrance into the world (which he did both times), he also attended well to my wife who had some bleeding problems the second time around…
b) that said, the anesthesiologist is responsible for the administring of the epi, and if it’s incorrect it’s his responsibility. Both of L’s worked fine, thankfully.
c) the nurses are the ones there to assist the docs, and see to the needs of the patient. We had great experiences having our babies at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center downtown, and the nurses were always wonderful.
I guess this is just to say the responsibility goes all around, and not just to the doc…