Chapter 371 - An Awkward Predicament (1/2)

Three years ago, when Zheng Ren was still young and inexperienced, an incident occured in the clinic.

A doctor prescribed an oral medication in capsule form to a patient. The patient asked about the daily dosage and left. Later, it was revealed the patient consumed the aluminium packaging along with the capsule.

Yes, both the capsule and the aluminium foil.

The patient argued that the hospital staff did not give clear instructions as to how to take the medication. He thought the aluminium packaging was edible.

The whole incident was extremely ludicrous.

Zheng Ren never found out how the incident was settled in the end.

There were only two solutions: First would be to compensate the patient and let him go wreck havoc in other hospitals. Second would be to stand firm and let the hospital’s legal team do what they were paid for.

The doctor and nurse would have their salaries docked, and the hospital would have to include, ‘Remind patients to not consume the aluminium packaging,’ into their standard operating procedure.

Although the second option was more time-consuming, it was the proper way to address such incidents.

Today, a patient inquired about the medication dosage and Nurse Song provided the standard explanation.

She did not forget to remind the patient about the inedible aluminium foil packaging.

When she was done explaining, the patient was furious.

The patient was offended.

All he wanted was the dosage information. What did the nurse mean about the packaging?

Did she think he was r.e.t.a.r.ded?

Tempers flared and the patient immediately filed a complaint against the nurse.

Regardless, Nurse Song did nothing wrong. She was abiding hospital protocol.

Zheng Ren did not know whether to laugh or cry.

What nonsense was this?

Old Chief Physician Pan was equally as frustrated. He consoled the young nurse and told her to not worry about the patient’s complaint. As the department chief, he would support her and provide evidence of the hospital’s standard operating procedure. If there was anyone to blame, it would be the person who wrote the procedure. They spent 20 minutes placating the nurse.

When the nurse left the room, Zheng Ren’s mouth was as dry as a desert.

It was tiring, more tiring than performing two TIPS surgeries back to back.

Zheng Ren knew problems like these would crop up every now and then.

As more potent drugs. .h.i.t the shelf, the list of side effects that came with them got longer.

The hospital was a public service and they interacted with people from all walks of life. Disagreements and confrontations were unavoidable.

With the nurse gone, Zheng Ren took a seat across from Old Chief Physician Pan and said, “Chief Pan, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Have a drink. We’re not in a rush.” Old Chief Physician Pan pointed to the water dispenser.

Zheng Ren took a disposable cup and filled it with water. It took three cups of water before his thirst was quenched.

He proceeded to tell Old Chief Physician Pan about the case of the old smoker. He summarized the observations he and Chang Yue made, along with the solutions they discussed.

Old Chief Physician Pan gave his agreement. “Sure. Since we have done our best to screen for any form of illness and found nothing, I’ll have a talk with the family about the patient’s reluctance to go home.”

The old man’s youngest family member was at least 60 years old, hence it was better to have Old Chief Physician Pan do the talking. Zheng Ren and Chang Yue were simply too young to have any sway with the family.

Old Chief Physician Pan would see to the matter.