Read The Room, Sis!
At some point in life you learn when to speak and when not to.
When words are needed and when they aren’t.
When to speak and when to just shut up!
For some, that point comes as a child.
For others, it’s as a damn OB resident! 🤬
Remember that resident I talked about in the last post?
Yeah, that one.
Same hospital, same resident, almost identical situation but none of that matters!
What matters is that sis just can’t seem to STFU!
You tell someone that they don’t have a choice but to have a caesarean because their baby is in distress and you stand there and keep talking!
WHY?
Why do you insist upon torturing someone with the vibration of your vocal cords when they are visibly disturbed at what was just shared with them?
I’d had enough and said “Can you just be quiet, please?”
She said “Excuse me?”
I repeated myself and added that she needed let the information that she’d just shared breathe.
“Give her a moment to process it all. It’s clearly not an emergency because the bed is still here but let her take it in.”
She was annoyed but her attending pulled me aside shortly after and thanked me for telling her to hush.
That brings me to the next grievance.
I don’t care what deliberation needs to happen, you don’t do that shit at the bedside of a patient!
The resident argued the attending DOWN at the bedside of a patient. I agreed with the logic of the attending because it absolutely made the most sense but the resident was literally pulling rabbits out of a hat.
Her suggestion would’ve caused more harm.
Though the situation couldn’t have been controlled and absolutely required a caesarean the point of it all is that when you rush in a room, say what you need to say, reassure your patient and get the hell on!
READ THE ROOM!
One of the things I’ve learned from rotations is that you don’t always have to fill the space with words.
Sometimes the news you’re delivering is hard enough to digest and the fluff is unnecessary.
I promise entering these spaces as a doula teaches me what type of physician NOT to be!
Let stuff breathe, y’all.
Let it soak in.
Aeryka ✌🏾💜