I had a patient in urgent care a while back with a possible foot fracture. He told me that he slipped in the bathroom at home. Fair enough. The weird thing was that his BOSS brought him in to the urgent care clinic. Doesn't that sound a little fishy? I've had decent relationships with previous bosses I've had, but that seems above and beyond the scope of the boss-employee relationship.
As I see it, there are 2 possibilities:
1) The patient was sleeping with his boss as a shortcut to climbing the corporate rungs (less likely)
2) The guy actually slipped while at work and the boss was trying to avoid this turning into a workman's comp issue (more likely)
I suppose it's also possible the guy was telling the truth and he just had a really good relationship with his boss. But I tend to be skeptical of anything that any patient says.
We had one of our unit secretaries who slipped at home, but ignored it, put on her shoes and went to work, then spent the next two hours complaining about how her foot was hurting and getting swollen up. Finally, after a doc and several of the nurses collectively yelled at her to stop working and go get it checked out she finally went and yep, she broke her foot. Her boss did not, however, take her to get it checked out - but maybe some people have nicer, less busy bosses?
ReplyDeleteI came in to work one day despite being sick because I had too much to do. My boss could tell I was really feeling unwell and insisted on driving me to my PCP. Nothing weird or suspicious, she was just being nice.
ReplyDeleteI walked into work audibly wheezing one day and after about an hour my boss said "I would feel bad for you because you sound terrible, but you've been really feisty today."
ReplyDeleteThe last thing I did before I went down with a major asthma attack was give my boss a dirty look.
(and no, he didn't visit me in the hospital.)
When I worked in the ER we had employers who would pressure employees to put work injuries through private insurance. Of course it goes the other way too with people hurt at home dragging themselves to work and filing a WC claim.}
ReplyDeleteMy male boss accompanied two co-workers (one male, one female) to the ED on separate occasions in the 20 years I worked at my place of employment. He's just really a super nice caring guy. In one case, it was his female secretary, 61 yo history of heart disease, who was having chest pains. The other case was a 36 yo male who blew out his Achilles' tendon. If I got hurt or sick at work, I'm pretty sure he'd offer to go with me...not because of anything funny, but because we are a close-knit group of coworkers. At the same time, however, I can understand how some situations might raise an eyebrow too.
ReplyDeleteSo...yes, there are bosses that really do go that extra mile so don't always rush to judgment that something funky is going on.
My boss is bringing a cane to work for me today after I fell and hurt my knee yesterday. So some bosses are interested in your medical welfare. And I get to do my If-House-was-a-Veterinarian impression today!
ReplyDeleteHe probably went to work and the boss took them after realizing it was serious. If it was the right foot, probably couldn't have driven himself at that point. Or maybe he took the bus.
ReplyDeleteBut that's one reason to "kick out" the "support" person while doing the history: there is a chance the other person being present alters the story.
Did you ask him what his activities had been between breaking it and coming into the hospital?
Please tell me you asked whether his boss fell after he slipped...
ReplyDelete