My daily work as a doctor: My treatment value is increasing.

Chapter 125: Shifting the blame

"Oh right, my flowers are still in the car; they're probably all dried out by now."

Lu Renxin felt like he had forgotten something, and then it suddenly dawned on him that by the time Shen Yueru was finally discharged from the hospital, the bouquet in the passenger seat had been dried.

He smiled awkwardly and presented the bouquet of flowers: "I meant to surprise you, but it almost turned into a shock for me."

"I'll give you the flowers next time."

Shen Yueru was pleasantly surprised and pulled the dried flowers from his arms: "They're so beautiful, I'll always remember this surprise."

She smiled and winked at Lu Renxin's heart, instantly dispelling the gloom in his heart.

Lu Renxin, carrying a bag containing his documents, stepped into the proctology ward with anticipation as he prepared to report to the Shanxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

A long-established, top-tier traditional Chinese medicine hospital, with a leading proctology department in the province. I wonder how it compares to Guanghai City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital?

Every expert and every doctor has their own focus.

For example, some experts focus on eliminating postoperative pain for patients; others prefer minimally invasive techniques, addressing the issue from both inside and outside—

An approach is made between the sphincter muscles; some experts, guided by years of experience, specialize in treating hemorrhoids.

Regardless of whether the method is cutting-edge or not, and regardless of age, the ultimate goal is always to help patients get better.

Previously, Lu Renxin always thought that the cutting-edge technology in the world was the best, but he also followed the retired doctor in the department a few times and found that it was already very good to be able to do a surgery to the extreme.

If I can learn more skills here, I can improve myself better.

With this in mind, Lu Renxin was assigned to be mentored by Zhang Ping, a senior attending physician.

"Hello Director Zhang, I'm Lu Renxin, here to learn."

He looked at the kind-faced middle-aged man in front of him and was drawn to a burn scar on his eyebrow.

The scar was quite large, extending to the end of his eyebrow, causing that area to be completely missing and bald, adding to his fierce and menacing appearance.

Seemingly noticing Lu Renxin's gaze, he awkwardly touched the scar and shook hands with Lu Renxin: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

For the first few days, Dr. Zhang seemed quite kind, and he was willing to chat with Lu Renxin when changing dressings or writing medical records. Lu Renxin also knew his place; he was there to learn, so he was diligent and never shirked dirty or tiring work.

In ancient times, apprentices learned from their masters diligently, starting with odd jobs.

The same applies nowadays. When working with a mentor, he would need to help the mentor with miscellaneous tasks and play a supporting role.

The same applies to studying here; exchanging labor for skills is perfectly normal.

Lu Renxin never hesitates to put in the effort, and when he works with Dr. Zhang in the clinic, he always takes the initiative to help patients get into position and organize the equipment.

He also accompanied patients in the ward during their post-operative sitz baths and post-operative rounds, explaining the precautions for traditional Chinese medicine sitz baths.

It was all things he was used to doing. He studied steadily for a month and then returned to the county hospital. Lu Renxin felt that there was no problem and that nothing serious should happen.

Unexpectedly, an unexpected turn of events occurred after a mixed hemorrhoidectomy with external stripping and internal ligation.

The patient was three days post-surgery. He was Zhang Ping's patient, and Lu Renxin was also in the surgery. There were no problems during the entire operation.

However, the patient suddenly experienced unbearable swelling and pain, and had a small amount of fresh blood during defecation. This was not a big deal, but after surgery, a series of changes will always occur. If there is any improper operation, carelessness in daily life, or inappropriate diet, it may affect the healing of the wound.

However, the family was quite anxious and caused a scene at the nurses' station early in the morning, suspecting that the surgery had not been handled properly: "Was there a problem with the surgery you performed?"

"Didn't they say it wouldn't hurt or bleed?"

"Dr. Zhang, you assured us at the outpatient clinic that it would be 100% painless and that it would all be minor issues."

"Why is there still a problem with the result?"

They demanded an explanation from Zhang Ping. The nurses at the nurses' station quickly called Dr. Zhang. This was his patient, so he had to handle it. Professional matters should be handled by professionals.

Dr. Zhang hurriedly hung up the phone and turned to look at Lu Renxin: "Xiao Lu, come with me to see a patient."

"Okay." He didn't think anything was wrong. He would be following Dr. Zhang around for the time being, and he would go wherever Dr. Zhang went.

But when the two arrived at the nurses' station, they were met with anxious and aggressive family members of the patient.

Before even listening to the patient's demands or examining the wound, Dr. Zhang turned to Lu Renxin, who was standing behind him, and casually shifted the blame in front of the patient and family: "My surgery was fine, but yesterday's post-operative dressing change was performed by Dr. Lu, who was here for further training. He may have used too much force during the dressing change, which irritated the wound and caused the bleeding and pain."

Lu Renxin was stunned on the spot. Every doctor's dressing change procedure has subtle differences. He had also learned from Dr. Zhang when he came. Yesterday, Zhang Ping stood behind him with his hands behind his back and watched the whole process.

Every step of the operation was done according to his instructions. He even gave me instructions on how many times to wipe with the cotton ball, which Chinese herbal ointments to use, and where to apply them. How could he suddenly shift the blame to me?

-

The family members' anger instantly found an outlet, and they unleashed a barrage of questions at him: "How did you change the medication?"

"If you can do it, do it; if you can't, get out."

"Our family's patient is really unlucky to have encountered a doctor like you who is incompetent."

Lu Renxin was about to explain when Dr. Zhang quietly reached behind him, pulled him back in his blind spot, and gave him a look that signaled him not to argue.

Lu Renxin was completely baffled. Zhang Ping turned to continue comforting the family, attributing all the discomfort to the visiting doctor's mistake: "I'm sorry, our doctor is relatively young, and it's inevitable that some oversights will occur."

"You are all magnanimous, so forgive him."

After finally persuading the family members to leave, I returned to the doctor's office.

With a gloomy expression, Lu Renxin patiently tried to clarify the dressing change process with Dr. Zhang and explain the truth.

But Zhang Ping turned hostile, refusing to admit to shifting the blame, and instead scolded him: "You're just a trainee, what's wrong with being more tolerant? If your family makes a fuss, it will affect my performance. You take the blame for now, and I'll teach you some techniques later."

"I've already calmed the patient down; please don't say anything more to avoid escalating the conflict!"

Several doctors in the same department stood by and watched coldly, and no one stood up to speak a word of justice for Lu Renxin.

"but----"

This is a normal post-operative phenomenon. You made overly specific assurances to the patient in the outpatient clinic, which raised the patient's expectations and ultimately led to dissatisfaction.

The worst thing you can do when seeing a patient is to promise them a cure.

"Don't worry, you'll definitely be able to fix this."

"It won't hurt at all, don't worry."

"Our surgeries are very simple. Don't believe those messages online. Once you recover, you'll be exactly the same as before."

Such promises are most likely to lead to medical disputes.

-

Patients are attracted by the guaranteed treatment results and choose to have surgery here. But when they find that the results are different, completely different, they will naturally feel that they have been deceived.

There are also financial disputes among doctors. Nowadays, hospitals are actually funded by a differential allocation system and are responsible for their own profits and losses.

The same applies within the department.

Just like a company, some people perform well and therefore receive higher salaries, while others perform poorly and receive lower salaries.

How can one increase their income? Some unscrupulous doctors will choose to exaggerate their skills and expertise.

Some doctors over-treat patients, admitting them to hospitals for minor ailments or problems that don't require surgery.

Based on what Lu Renxin has seen and heard in his outpatient clinic these past few days, Zhang Ping is the first type. During the outpatient clinic, he confidently guaranteed that he would be admitted for surgery first, and the postoperative experience would be another matter.

What do you do when there are signs of conflict? You can only shift the blame and push the doctors who are training or resident with you to take the fall. This has become his unwritten rule.

Fortunately, the patient's family member only angrily scolded them a few times and did not escalate to personal attacks or physical violence.

After staying for a few days, Lu Renxin finally got to know Zhang Ping better.

If a patient has any complaints, such as missing medical orders, errors in the combination of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, or inadequate postoperative education, Dr. Zhang can always calmly attribute the cause to Lu Renxin.

Either he didn't record the medical history completely, or he didn't explain the message clearly. Lu Renxin is a professional scapegoat; whenever there's a problem, they throw it at him, while he washes his hands of it.

It's really a case of taking the blame; you do the work, I'll make the money.

It was his night shift, and Lu Renxin was the only one left in the office. As he flipped through his thick notebook, he felt that his emotions had reached a breaking point.

They came to the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine with the intention of learning skills, but they never expected that the first thing they would learn was how to pass the buck and how to shirk responsibility when something happened.

"It's not even as good as Anyuan County Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital."

Although the hospital was a bit small, poor, and small in scale, everyone got along quite well and clearly defined responsibilities when problems arose.

Director Yuan would protect them, unlike here where people who work diligently and cautiously always have to pay for others' mistakes and can't even get a fair word.

He sighed inwardly, "Couldn't it be simpler?

Beyond medical skills, there are so many interpersonal problems!

Once or twice is acceptable, but a third time is not. If this happens again, I can't swallow my anger any longer. Lu Renxin made up his mind to himself.

He's the kind of person who can stand up to the director at Guanghai City Central Hospital. His previous forbearance was just a temporary retreat because he hadn't figured out the situation yet. Do you really think he's easy to bully?

Two days later, the nurses' station was once again surrounded by three or four people.

"What happened? Why does the wound hurt so much?"

The patient at the front, wearing a striped hospital gown, clutched his buttocks and vented his anger at the poor nurse: "Go and call your doctor over here."

It was Zhang Ping's patient again.

Zhang Ping hurriedly brought Lu Renxin to the nurses' station, and in a daze, he felt like he was trapped in a loop.

He skillfully shifted the blame onto Lu Renxin right away: "I'm sorry, our resident doctors aren't skilled enough. He had a problem with changing his dressings after the surgery."

Lu Renxin had already taken the blame for him several times, and Zhang Ping had gotten used to his silence and lack of rebuttal, assuming that the two had reached some kind of tacit understanding. This time, he didn't even bother to tug at his sleeve from behind to offer any further advice.

-

But this time Lu Renxin didn't take the blame. Before he could finish shifting the blame, he coldly said, "I'm sorry, Dr. Zhang, I changed the dressing according to your instructions after the surgery, and there were no deviations. Don't put all the blame on me."

Zhang Ping was stunned for a moment, not expecting him to retort, before anger surged within him: "What do you know, you little doctor? I said you have a problem, and that means you have a problem."

"You didn't even look at the wound before saying there was a problem with my dressing change. Where did you get that conclusion?" Lu Renxin refused to back down; he'd had enough of pretending to be mute.

Zhang Ping's face gradually turned from white to red. He pointed at Lu Renxin's nose and scolded, "You came from a small county town, and you haven't even figured out your studies yet, but now you're questioning my judgment. Don't you know your own limitations?"

That's already a very harsh statement. When people want to pursue further education or study, they usually choose hospitals that are more advanced or larger in scale.

I've only ever heard of people going from small places to big places to study, never from big places to small places to study.

Most of the people who came to learn were from counties and townships, and he clearly looked down on the hospital from which Lu Renxin came from.

"Then let's go find the director and see where the problem lies." Lu Renxin looked at him as if he were a clown jumping around.

The patient's family looked left and right, their agitated emotions gradually calming down, and they watched with great interest the argument between the two doctors.

Some people advised him, "Xiao Lu, don't be so stubborn. They've said a few words to you, it's not a big deal."

"Hehe, it's nothing serious yet. I've already taken the blame for so many things for him these past few days, I have to make things clear."

Seeing that the matter was escalating and could not be easily quelled, the department head was called in.

Inside the examination room, the patient lay on the bed. The chief physician put on gloves, removed the dressing around the anus, and carefully examined the surgical wound.

The wound was securely ligated, with no signs of tearing or abrasion, only normal oozing. In addition, the patient's stool was already dry, and the straining during bowel movements caused bloating and pain, which was not caused by improper dressing change.

After reviewing the wound and re-bandaging it, the doctor looked at Zhang Ping and said in a serious tone, "The wound healing is fine, and the dressing change technique didn't damage any tissue. Postoperative bleeding and swelling are common problems after mixed hemorrhoid surgery. Didn't you explain this clearly to the family before the surgery? You're always vague. You always do this!"

Dr. Zhang was embarrassed, his eyes darted around, and he stammered for a long time without being able to speak. His previous confidence in shifting the blame to Lu Renxin had completely vanished.

After the patient and their family left the consultation room, the head doctor kept the two of them alone: ​​"I know your personality. You always push others to take the blame whenever a patient is dissatisfied. This is not how a doctor should practice medicine."

"I've emphasized this to you countless times. You need to be clearly informed about the potential problems after the surgery. You can't just think about getting them admitted to the hospital."