Anxiety and law suits

[MediMike]

11 hours ago, Cideous said:

 

Your mentality is what we should all have, but don't.  I often tell people asking about the profession...If you have any form of anxiety or anxiety disorder, medicine is not for you.  You will kill yourself over the stress of being perfect, and then eventually being sued.  The providers who last the longest are those that at the end of the day, shrug their shoulders and just say F-it.  I'm not going to worry about it. I often wish I could do that.

This. I had a young ED RN shadow me recently as she was considering PA over NP due to her perception of better training/education/skill set, she later went on to perseverate on fears of litigation for quite some time. This factor was a major driver in her concerns for furthering her career.

Frankly this astounded me as I've always been more along the lines of the eff it attitude. I mean, you do what you can, as best as you can all while not being rude, condescending or an overall butthead. Not much else to it.

Of course, I'm often considered naive for my lack of concern for many things these days...

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

47 minutes ago, MediMike said:

This. I had a young ED RN shadow me recently as she was considering PA over NP due to her perception of better training/education/skill set, she later went on to perseverate on fears of litigation for quite some time. This factor was a major driver in her concerns for furthering her career.

Frankly this astounded me as I've always been more along the lines of the eff it attitude. I mean, you do what you can, as best as you can all while not being rude, condescending or an overall butthead. Not much else to it.

Of course, I'm often considered naive for my lack of concern for many things these days...

I’m along the same lines and MediMike. First, I look at the stats and I’m usually reassured that it’s unlikely I’m going to get sued. I also like doing EM in rural areas where they are less likely to sue. sometimes I perseverate on a difficult case, wondering if I did all the right things, but usually after a day or 2 I say f-it. Did everything I could to the best of my ability, it’s done now. Also reassure myself that whenever I have gotten worked up in the past, always turns out to be worry for nothing.

[Mayamom]

9 hours ago, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

Did everything I could to the best of my ability,

Have I done every case to the best of my ability. Probably not I'm human.  But the case I was involved in I evaluated the patient once.  Even called 2 days later to see how he was; was told by nursing vitals were normal patient felt better.  Few days after that heard the patient was critically ill.  Everybody who reviewed the case kept telling me "you did nothing wrong"  but there was my name on the malpractice papers front & center.  So even when things are done properly to a standard of care if someone wants to sue they will.    

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

35 minutes ago, Mayamom said:

Have I done every case to the best of my ability. Probably not I'm human.  But the case I was involved in I evaluated the patient once.  Even called 2 days later to see how he was; was told by nursing vitals were normal patient felt better.  Few days after that heard the patient was critically ill.  Everybody who reviewed the case kept telling me "you did nothing wrong"  but there was my name on the malpractice papers front & center.  So even when things are done properly to a standard of care if someone wants to sue they will.    

I’m very sorry you were named in litigation. I can’t imagine the amount of stress this has caused. I surely would be a depressive wreck. I’ve known some good providers go down a dark road from frivolous lawsuits. We’ll always support you here if you need to vent, which is what I believe you are doing here. Talking about it can be very cathartic. I had records requested once and I freaked out for a week. Still can’t be sure I won’t get sued for another year. We are here for you.

However, I’m not sure I understand the point of your post. I never said don’t protect yourself. We need to prepare for the worst. Nor did I say that our best is always enough, which our best is variable as we are human. I simply was trying to help others who have anxiety about litigation. The data clearly shows we are sued at a much lower rate than physicians, very few cases are lost, and as you elucidated, there is often nothing we can do to avoid it. Other than be kind to patients which is shown to decrease risk. So just explaining it is futile without further elaboration isn’t going to help others except to give them anxiety.

To provide others with some reassurance, I’ve never been sued, no one in my last group has been sued, neither of my parents have been sued for an aggregate over 100 years of hospital/emergency medicine. I’ve known far more people who haven’t beeN sued than ones who have. So don’t lose all hope, just protect yourself.

[kargiver]

I practice to the best of my abilities, have good medical malpractice insurance, and try to be nice to people.  Its all you can do.  Medicine is the only profession where you are held to a 100% correct standard every time.  Its a hard pill to swallow.  But frankly, I don't give a sh*t.  I love what I do.  I don't let others control that joy for me.  

G

[CAdamsPAC]

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2020 at 6:33 AM, Cideous said:

 

Your mentality is what we should all have, but don't.  I often tell people asking about the profession...If you have any form of anxiety or anxiety disorder, medicine is not for you.  You will kill yourself over the stress of being perfect, and then eventually being sued.  The providers who last the longest are those that at the end of the day, shrug their shoulders and just say F-it.  I'm not going to worry about it. I often wish I could do that.

I care but I'm not obsessed over this, I practice good medicine document the same and move on to the next case.