Arrogant CRNA

I googled "arrogant CRNA" and came across this article by the AANA (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists) Here is the link;AANA - Legal Briefs, June 1998 -- Informed consent This article is awesome. Our concerns as patients are clearly outlined along with some legal issues in regards to informed consent. I have taken the liberty of excerpting some of the best statements in this link.

"Like many other things in malpractice cases, attitude is very important. Patients want to know that their healthcare providers respect them and treat them as important. Healthcare providers who do not respect their patients, who treat their patients and their patients' bodies with arrogance should not expect much sympathy or forgiveness from their patients when things go wrong, even if it is not the provider's fault. The healthcare provider who is so arrogant that he or she does not seek the consent of an informed patient for a procedure which he or she is about to perform had better have a perfect result. The provider who carefully explains the risks to a patient and shows a concern for the patient, will be in far less trouble if things go wrong because the provider allowed the patient to participate in the decision."

"How does the healthcare provider determine what risks are significant, foreseeable risks? Usually the courts say that what a CRNA is supposed to do (the standard of care) is what another CRNA in similar circumstances would do. This is also the "traditional view" of informed consent. The healthcare practitioner discloses what other healthcare practitioners disclose as the significant, foreseeable risks. But this viewpoint has been criticized as "medical paternalism." It is part of the arrogance that many patients feel they encounter when they deal with the healthcare system. The healthcare provider has so much more education, knows so much more than the patient, and it is really inconvenient to have to explain these unlikely risks to someone when the healthcare provider already knows what is best for the patient."

Italics are original. This is the EXACT attitude I got from my team. The CRNA Aaron had the gall to tell me that "You are just a truck driver and I am a trained medical professional. I think I know what's best for you." He said this too me because I was so upset that he basically decided all on his own that I was going to get what *he* wanted, and he didn't give a damn what I wanted, said, explained or gave permission for. He also told me that "I don't have time to explain every single little thing to my patients." This when I complained about being injected with Versed. Funny he had plenty of time to threaten me with g/a, whine and cajol trying to get me to accept g/a, and even told me that maybe he should initiate g/a in the preop area. I thought he was joking... but I still said NO! This goes for my surgeon as well. The Dr. withheld every single bit of information about my surgery. Did he think that I would be happy to wake up from an unauthorized g/a with every single one of the side effects that he had concealed from me? Not quite. A WARNING; Never, ever believe that your anesthesia provider or your surgeon will "see you in the hospital prior to surgery to explain things to you." Your anesthesia provider won't discuss options with you for the above reasons, and if your surgeon is like mine, habitually late, chances are you won't be seeing your Dr. either. At least not when you are in condition to discuss your surgery.

"This view does not recognize, as Justice Cardozo required, that the patient has the right to make the final choice, no matter how inconvenient or ill-advised the healthcare practitioner finds the decision. The same arrogance is also found when a healthcare provider decides that the patient is too nervous or "cannot handle" informed consent. A healthcare provider who fails to respect the patient's ultimate right to make decisions on the patient's own body had better be sure nothing goes wrong, because if the outcome is less than perfect, the patient will "get even."

That's right, *I* not my CRNA have "the right to make the final choice no matter how inconvenient or ill-advised the healthcare practitioner finds the decision." I made the choice not to have sedation or general anesthetic. MY CHOICE! It's not up to YOU Aaron (or any of you) to impose YOUR choices on me. Read the last sentence again; A healthcare provider who fails to respect the patient's ultimate right to make decisions on the patient's own body had better be sure nothing goes wrong, because if the outcome is less than perfect, the patient will "get even." Yeah buddy!

"Avoid omissions. Keep in mind that virtually every informed consent case is based on a failure to disclose something. If you have doubts about whether to disclose a risk, err on the side of disclosure. If you are afraid to disclose something because the patient might not consent to the operation, go back and re-read the quote from Justice Cardozo at the beginning of this article."

YOU must disclose THE AMNESIA! You people in anesthesia know perfectly well that most of us would never sign off on Versed if you told us any part of the truth regarding this med. THAT is why you don't tell us. Versed is for medical practitioners because it makes their job so much easier, the patient be damned. The law also states that the disclosure must be made clear in language that is easily understood by non medical people. What could be more clear than "this drug causes amnesia and obedience. The drug has been anecdotally linked to PTSD and long term memory problems in some patients." It takes 30 seconds or so to say that. Want to bet how many patients would opt out, if you were really observing informed consent laws? You too surgeons. Stop candy coating, omitting side effects and misrepresenting outcomes of surgery just to get that money.