Tonight one of my elderly patients became confused and anxious. We could not convince her that she was in the hospital nor to return to her bed (at one am) and she would not cooperate with her planned care.I called her physician (not something that is generally pleasant in the wee hours of the morning) and after I told him what was going on and answered his questions he offered to talk to the patient and try and calm her down.
It worked. She trusted him, her mentation returned to the hospital. In spite of the fact that she maintained that someone had stolen her purse she calmed enough to return to bed and try to sleep.
Although becoming rarer, good primary medical care does still exist. There are practitioners fighting for the health and well being of their patients.
I'm happy I get to witness the good stuff.
