The ER was in a rare state of calm…several patients being tended to but NO chaos!!  I was assigned to the patient coming in by Delta~ I prepped the room and waited. The patient arrived, awake but tearful.  His wife was with him. It seems the patient was having pain in an area that he hadn’t had pain in a while—his cancer treatments had been over for several months—he is awaiting a second opinion. His complaints were pain, loss of appetite, and dry mouth.

As I cared for him he talked to me. He told me of his life, many children and several new grandchildren, how he and his wife cared for his ailing father who recently had passed away.  He cried, a lot.

He began to tell me how he felt failed by the caregivers in his cancer care.  He shared with me that he only saw the primary doc 4 times in his many months of treatment and that he was seen by varying other PA’s or NP’s.  He was very upset over the “many times the doc would see him in the waiting room and just walk by, without a handshake or a how are you?”  We talked about this…he told me that very few of his doctors and nurses had the “gift” of bedside manner.   Read more…