KevinMD November 1, 2022
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
A nurse is assisting the attending physician in placing a central line in the intensive care unit.
It’s 3 a.m., and the attending is clearly tired, having admitted eight patients so far on her shift. The nurse notices the physician pushing her eyeglasses up her nose – after donning her sterile gloves. She then moves to touch the central line tray.
“Wait,” the nurse says, “you’ve contaminated yourself.”
“No, I didn’t. Let’s get this done quickly,” the attending snaps.
The nurse begins to doubt what he saw and does not speak up for the rest of the procedure.
This is a disturbingly common daily scenario in medicine —...
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