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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/JasontheFuzz on 2024-01-24 01:23:06.
This story is not high stakes, but it amused me at the time.
I used to work on an ambulance. My partner and I had been called to pick up an older guy with severe dementia (he was non-responsive at baseline) because his labs were low or something. Since he was a vet, he needed to go to the veteran's hospital. No big deal. We go get him and head off towards the hospital.
This was definitely not an emergency, but I was doing my due diligence. Is he Alert? Nope. Are his vitals normal? Not really, but he's old and this is his normal according to the paperwork. Any new issues? None. And then the kicker- is he having a stroke? (Spoiler alert, no.) To check this, we use the FAST acronym. Face- is his face drooping on one side? Arms- is he noticeably weaker on one side? Speech- is his speech slurred? Time- if these answers are yes, then get to the hospital ASAP.
This dude had zero symptoms of a stroke. He also couldn't understand what I was saying to him due to the dementia. At worst, one hand twitched when I asked him to squeeze, but it was a random muscle twitch. So I call up the hospital and give my report to the triage nurse. When I mention the twitch, she suddenly cuts me off and tells me I have to divert to the nearest hospital, then she hangs up on me. I check my GPS. They are the nearest hospital. Your wish is my command, nurse lady.
When we pull in, the ER staff was a little confused. We took the patient into a room and as the doctors and nurses ran around looking like fools, a different nurse came in and asked what was going on. I explained it was a simple, non emergency visit because the patient's lab results were low. I heard a snide voice in the background saying "that's the stroke patient I diverted." I clarify to the nurse that the patient was definitely not having a stroke. I explained my reasoning. I showed her the paperwork that proved this was his baseline, and she even redid the FAST test to confirm. She agreed with me completely, giving a look towards a seat that was suddenly and mysteriously empty.
The patient was able to get the appropriate care at the appropriate facility, and hopefully the nurse would be more likely to listen longer in the future.
TL;DR A nurse arrogantly assumed she knew my patient better than I did. She was wrong and I called her out in front of her peers.