Doctor or nurse? The hospital assumptions that put patients at risk

Snap judgments happen all the time in medicine. Sometimes they are funny, and sometimes they put patients at risk. Christine King, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, has seen it from inside the operating room and from her sister's first oncology appointment. This episode is based on her article "The assumptions in medicine that put patients at risk," published on KevinMD. You will hear why she mistook a hospitalist for a nurse, and why asking "Who did you bring with you today?" beats guessing at family ties. She describes how a new hospital team of skilled clinicians took time to gel because they came from different systems. She walks you through the many people a patient meets before surgery, including a patient whose sedation erased the memory of the surgeon's visit. She also explains why you should feel free to ask each person's role and whether they washed their hands. Press play to hear the questions clinicians and patients can ask, and why she says relationships still matter in the age of AI.

This episode is brought to you by Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin.

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