oddities

So a nurse told me that a patient was saying that she may as well die because nothing seemed to be working. The patient stated to her that "the Pope also had Parkinson's disease and he prayed and it didn't do him any good." to which the nurse replied that "the pope hadn't been admitted to our hospital."

Some times, it is hard to think of what to do/say to some patients as the person is so set on what they think, that there is no point to try and persuade.

Then there are some people who have an interesting sense of logic. One patient told us that since his parents were Jehovah's Witness that he would feel guilty to take a blood transfusion. The patient did not idenify with any particular religious tradition. So it was interesting that he said this. So my staff asked me to go and talk to the man and give him "a dispensation" about this situation. (It didn't fly, in case you wondered, as he was set on his idea.)

It never ceases to amaze me about the odd items that come my way in this line of work.