My Medical Skills Give Me Experience Points

Chapter 1414 - 563: Let Your Kindness Be Sharp, Something Happened (Part 2)

No matter how the future develops, Zhou Can’s success in the postgraduate entrance examination this time is certainly a great thing.

The next step is to patiently wait for the re-examination.

It will arrive soon, in about a month.

At 4:11 PM, Zhou Can was performing an endoscopic surgery on an appendicitis patient in the operating room when a call came in from Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Ma Xiaolan is now the dedicated circulating nurse for Zhou Can’s team, and any issues are generally communicated through her.

Especially during surgeries, Zhou Can does not carry his phone.

It’s also for surgical safety.

Not until Zhou Can finished the appendectomy did Ma Xiaolan say to him, "Boss, just now there was a call from Cardiothoracic Surgery saying that a post-operative patient is deteriorating fast and they asked for you to consult."

"Was it a surgery done in our hospital or a patient transferred from another hospital?"

Zhou Can’s heart skipped a beat.

In the past few days, he had performed several highly challenging major surgeries. Could it be that something had gone wrong with one of those patients?

Firstly, he was sure there was nothing wrong technically, his experience was also solid.

But some surgeries inherently carry very high risks.

With anyone performing such surgeries, problems can easily arise.

"They didn’t specify, but from the anxious tone of the nurse, I could roughly infer that it’s a surgery done at our hospital."

Ma Xiaolan answered.

Some things, everyone understands.

A patient transferred from another hospital is already a huge favor to be accepted here. If something goes wrong, it’s not closely related to Tuya Hospital.

Therefore, the medical staff would try their best to save the patient’s life but wouldn’t appear as alarmed as they would otherwise.

A surgery done in our own hospital is quite different.

Patient death or disability would definitely entail some responsibility for our hospital.

Even though a surgery consent and anesthesia risk disclosure were signed, and the hospital wouldn’t need to compensate legally if the patient dies post-operation, it still affects the evaluation of the medical staff.

This relates to the direct interests of doctors and nurses.

So, they can’t help but be anxious.

Zhou Can doesn’t know how the evaluation mechanisms of small ordinary hospitals work. At least Tuya’s assessment criteria are exceedingly strict. He knew that once, there was a Neurosurgery doctor who performed operations exceptionally well.

Quite well-known in the industry.

He was only forty-one years old, with a bright future ahead. Almost everyone thought highly of him.

But this doctor had a streak of bad luck, whether due to over-aggressiveness or some other misfortune. Within a month, seven of his operated patients died.

The Quality Control Department first tasked the Medical Department to investigate.

Later, they directly revoked the doctor’s surgery privileges; he was initially promoted to vice director of Neurosurgery, but that was withdrawn.

His name was also removed from the list of team leader candidates.

The final investigation result was never released externally, only the people involved and a few hospital leaders knew the details.

The once-promising surgeon was eventually forced to shift to research and teaching, completely leaving clinical practice. While people lament and regret it, it also showcases Tuya Hospital’s emphasis on medical safety.

If it were in a smaller hospital, or even a provincial top-tier hospital like Tuya, a surgeon of such caliber would generally receive numerous privileges.

Including some small mistakes made during surgeries, the hospital would cover up for them.

Even if big mistakes were made, the hospital would find ways to downplay and resolve them quietly.

After all, cultivating an excellent surgeon is not easy.

Studying medicine requires talent, luck, money, time, and a lot of hard work. Precisely for this reason, hospitals choose to protect these highly capable doctors.

If this patient from Cardiothoracic Surgery was operated on by Zhou Can, and if they die, it would definitely impact Zhou Can.

It would also implicate Director Xue Yan.

Because all level 4 surgeries are virtually credited under her name, completed under her "guidance."

...

He greeted Dr. Xu and hurried to Cardiothoracic Surgery.

"Brother Can, please head to the ICU quickly, Director Xue and the others instructed that once you arrive, go directly there."

The nurses at the station usually call him Dr. Zhou or Brother Can with a sweet tone.

They would also chat a little with him.

This time, there was not a word wasted.

Through the joint efforts of Zhou Can and Director Xue Yan, the cohesiveness of the Cardiothoracic Surgery department is now excellent.

Whether it’s the doctors or nurses, they all regard being in this department as an honor, and they can constantly exhibit a sense of ownership in their work.

When a patient has an issue, all doctors and nurses would unite to rescue them as long as they know.

Because everyone understands that each patient’s death has significant negative impacts on the department’s honor and evaluation.

Zhou Can quickly arrived at the ICU.

This is essentially a self-constructed small ICU of the Cardiothoracic Surgery department.

Back when the Third Hospital poached staff, they took away two attending doctors and a head nurse from this small ICU.

Luckily, Zhou Can had a good relationship with Director Liu of the Intensive Care Medicine Department; with no other choice, he shamelessly asked for help, enabling the ICU to operate smoothly.

Sometimes, utilizing relationships is beneficial.

For the ICUs of both Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Emergency Department, Zhou Can had sought help from Director Liu twice.

Director Liu not only didn’t find it troublesome but felt quite happy about it.

Interpersonal relationships can be that fascinating.

He might feel that Zhou Can thinks of him whenever there’s a difficulty, which is a sign of closeness.

Some connections, if not used over a long period and you also don’t interact, can easily become distant. Some say that favors have a shelf life, which likely holds some truth.

Zhou Can changed into sterile clothing, disinfected strictly according to procedure, and entered the patient’s area in the ICU.

He directly saw multiple doctors and nurses gathered in front of a bed.

Seeing this situation, he immediately understood that the patient in that bed was certainly undergoing an urgent rescue.

"Sister Yan, sorry for being late. What’s the patient’s current condition?"

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Zhou Can opted for a brief greeting with Xue Yan before diving into the topic.

His gaze was already on the patient undergoing resuscitation, his heart sinking with it.

What one fears truly comes to pass.

This patient was indeed someone he had operated on.

The entire left lung was removed.

Because the patient was relatively old, with lung cancer having spread across the entire left lung. Simply removing part of the lung lobe, eliminating lymph nodes, etc., couldn’t possibly ensure the cancer cells wouldn’t metastasize.

In fact, the spread of cancer cells is cunning and hidden.

The tumors visible to the naked eye are already cancer. The cancer cells hidden from the naked eye, undetectable by advanced instruments, are the most frightening.

Because you never know when they will quietly divide, replicate rapidly, and eventually become a new cancerous tumor.

The best approach when there’s localized metastasis is complete removal.

If it has metastasized throughout the body, then it’s essentially advising the patient to enjoy eating, drinking, go wherever they wish, explore some places.

Only unscrupulous doctors would advise those with extensive metastasis to continue treatment, undergoing various ordeals, ending up penniless.

"The patient mainly has respiratory issues now, with a frighteningly low blood oxygen saturation. I discussed with the other directors about putting the patient on an extracorporeal membrane lung. However, considering the exorbitant treatment costs, the family has not agreed."

Director Xue Yan said with concern.

The startup cost for the extracorporeal membrane lung is about seventy thousand, with daily operating costs between ten to twenty thousand, plus other medication and treatment costs, which indeed aren’t something an ordinary family can bear.

Though life is priceless, in practical treatment, the vast majority of patients eventually choose death due to lack of money.

In the hospital, the harshest reality is having no money.

A monthly salary of ten thousand is already considered high income for ordinary people. But in the hospital, it might not even cover half a day’s treatment costs. If it involves major surgery or the usage of advanced technological treatment equipment like the extracorporeal membrane lung, the costs are typically quite staggering.

Some say the best investment is in health.

That’s indeed the case, for if health is lost, no amount of money will be of use.