Would You Be Angry At An Obese Patient?

Question

I do ultrasounds and this woman over 350 pounds came in. I had to do an ultrasound on her abdomen. There was over 60 pounds of fat in her stomach that I had to physically lift it, and my right hand wrist almost snapped and I got injured, and could NOT do the ultrasound as a result.

Please morbidly obese people, you must understand, in order to do my job, I cannot lift 100s of pounds of flesh from you to do the job. I will injure myself, and you will not even wince, or help out. Accurate readings cannot even be made as there is wayy to much fat and tissue.

So , no I am not hateful towards obese people. It' s because they can inflict damage to others that are not morbidly obese without even knowing it.

Your thoughts................

Addtnl: Another instance happened when a obese woman got up and almost crashed into my machine. You see, folks, it's not just your weight we cannot judge, it's the hazards for everyone except yourself that you inflict. If you don't care about your weight, why should we, and to lift you up requires 4-5 people who could break their backs or dislocate a shoulder. I've heard it happen, and this is tragic.

Answer 1

OK, you have vented.......now get back to work helping those

you were hired to help!!

Answer 2

Well, now that you've get that off your chest...

This sounds like a work policy issue.  What made you think you weren't allowed to ask the person to hold their own body parts out of your way.  Are you not allowed?

Is there a rule that says you have to do it alone and you can't ask for assistance?

As far as accurate readings, I believe that is between the Dr. and patient.

Yes, it's gross, but it's none of your business.

Answer 3

Wow. I think you are being extremely judge mental. You don't know if this person can not help being that way. What if they can not help it do to some disease? And you should not be working at a job within the public if you are going to get all pissed abut something like that. I think you should stop being so judge mental and see how it is for the other person....I'm sure they could feel you being a jerk to them. And as for the one who nearly crashed into your machine....don't you think that a clumsy skinny person can make the same mistake? Oh wait....you wouldn't be so pissed if it was a skinny person right?  

Answer 4

Just remember, medical professionals with short tempers always lose their patience.  

Answer 5

This won't be a popular answer, but I kinda agree.  I also do ultrasound, as well as MRI and x-ray.  Our population is getting larger and larger.  My radiologist will call me in the reading room and ask why my images are crappy.  It is because the patient weighs 400 pounds.  I work on an open MRI unit, and I STILL have patients so large that I cannot fit them in the machine.  And then when they don't fit, and I can't do the scan, they are upset, like it is my fault.

My favorite (sarcastically) is the mother to be who is upset that I cannot tell if she is having a boy or girl.  The woman who tells me that her friend's ultrasound was much clearer (read between the lines...I am not a good sonographer).  I always want to ask if her friend is also obese.

I went out on disability at age 23, with a back injury from helping a very large man get up off of my CT table.  I am no longer willing to help people get up or down without assistance from other people.  I am now 36, and I have a lot of years left in me to work.  I need to be able to provide for my daughter.  Hang in there!

EDIT:  I want to make it clear that I don't believe it is always the patient's fault that they are obese.  Many times, it isn't.  But the fact is that medical personnel have to deal with their weight.  It is not our fault and it is not their fault.  Needless to say, we still have to deal with it.  And it can be very frustrating....not only for the medical imaging technologist, but the patient.

Answer 6

If you are in a situation where danger is imminent, like you are about to hurt yourself due to heavy lifting, then you need to stop and re-evaluate the situation. If you cannot come up with a solution, you, as a professional, will need to inform the patient that you cannot assist him/her and you are to immediately seek a superior and inform him/her of the situation.

Answer 7

i would ask them to help you out by lifting up their gut.

Every job has it's hazzards.

Answer 8

It is up to you to perform your job to the best of your ability.  It does have to be hateful or mean, but you can politely inform people that accurate results are compromised due to their excess weight. Those are just the facts.  If you need 4 - 5 people to lift them it is not unkind to inform them that it not only for their safety, but for yours too.  Your not giving them substandard care, they have given you a body that they have give substandard care to.

Answer 9

Refuse to do it next time, or demand that the patient lift their fat themselves, it is not at all fair for you to endanger your life because someone else is so careless with theirs. You can email me and vent about it because that's the healthy thing to do, since most others her support obesity.  

Answer 10

i heard a story where a woman in a coffee shop was so obese, she turned around to fast and broke both her legs.

thats kind of horrible, that  potential mother will barely be able to take care of her child. if the kid is on the ground, imagine how hard it will be for her to pick it up. and when the kid is growing up she'll most likely end up obese also because she/he is living their mothers lifestyle

Answer 11

hummm...

Answer 12

yeah,nurses and aides dread taking care of obese people too, they smell, are horrible to help cause it requires many people and mechanical lifts to move them,special beds to accomodate them,and people do get injured just turning them to do a dressing change.

yeah, we are patient advocates,and professionals,blah,blah, but believe me- they complain bitterly and talk about them,and makes mean jokes about them too, even doctors do it

Answer 13

No I wouldn't be angry at a obese person. As my husband is obese and we have tried everything there is to try to loose weight. He has found out that it is a medical condition that he is obese as is his mother, sister, brother so it is obvious that it is a gene. Cut obese people some slack did you ever think for a minute that it may of taken your patient a long time to even go for the ultrasound and they may of felt extremely selfconsious. Yes it does it make it hard for people to carry out routine checkup etc but YOU are the one who choose this profession You have a choice in this situation either stay where you or or get another job,. As a nurse i do understand your frustration but you can always ask for the patient to wait and get some help.

Answer 14

I'm sorry, but why is it that you yourself would have to physically lift a woman's stomach to do a sonogram? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense, if her stomach needs to be lifted for the procedure, to ask her to do so? That is, I think it's generally much easier for a person to lift their own stomach than for someone else to lift their stomach.

And even if that's not an option for some reason, wouldn't it make more sense to ask another sonographer, or technician, or another colleague to assist you, if doing it yourself is clearly something that is too difficult/going to put you at risk of injury? I mean yes, I'm sure it would be an inconvenience, but still, I think it's a good alternative to putting yourself in harm's way.

I mean, I don't want to sound rude or anything, and I'm sorry you were injured, that's very unfortunate, but still, isn't it possible that you're the one who didn't use the best judgment in this situation?

Answer 15

Wow, everyone has their peeves at work, mine is people who get mad when they owe me money, your it seems is fat people who don't help you move around their fat so you can take some readings.

Answer 16

I'm glad I'm not obese and getting an ultrasound from you. You shouldn't be working with people, but filing medical reports instead. It's obvious that your prejudices, though may not be verbally outright, but are brought across through your actions. Do you deal with AIDS patients the same way, other ethnic groups, people with handicaps? Eons ago, I was a nurse assistant at a convalescent home. Some were obese, some smelled of gangrene, some had open sores, some peed and pooped themselves. Although it was hard to maintain my composure at times, I never let on that it sometimes bothered me. I gave respect and dignity.And by the way, I was injured by an obese person.  I was turning her, and she was dead weight. I forgot to check the brakes on the bed I should have asked for help. She started rolling towards the edge of the bed and could have fallen to the floor. I caught her and pulled her to safety. Within seconds, my white uniform was pooling with blood. Unbeknownst to me, I was pregnant..and miscarried.It wasn't her fault, but mine.  

Answer 17

Perhaps you should consider a different line of work.

Answer 18

If you are in a situation where you can not assist the patient without their own help or that of someone else then next time why don't you bring this to their attention - most obese people are well aware of their situation - if they are not willing to help and no one else can help than explain to them that they must reschedule or refer them to another office!

Remember it is part of your job to work with all types, shapes, and sizes of people - this doesn't mean you must be sympathetic to them but you should definitely not take your anger out on them!

Answer 19

that is really gross... but there isn't a whole lot you can do in your profession, your going to see it a lot especially with the fatter the people get these days...

Answer 20

Why don't you have the patient hold her stomach up?

To answer your question, no, I would not be angry at an obese patient. I do, however, get annoyed at doctors who order abdominal ultrasounds on 350+ patients, since the exam will be basically useless. They should try CT - they might get some info from that.

Answer 21

well i think you are being a bit judgemental  , not all obesity is caused by the person some people can't loose weight or have medical conditions that causes them to gain and not loose so i think before you assume that this person doesnt care about their weight stop and think maybe they HONESTLY can't help it.... some people can and some can't but you cant look and know ..

Answer 22

IMO while I agree that no one should be that over weight I would expect you to be a little more compassionate since you are in the Medical Field.. I too am in the Medical Field and it irks me how insensitive people are.. You must realize that not all obese people are sitting on their butts all day pigging out in front of the TV,,,

Some times it is genetics which NO ONE has control over

I agree with one contributor if you don't like your job maybe you should QUIT

Answer 23

You work in the medical field; you should expect these types of patients. Obese people tend to practically live in hospitals because of their medical problems. It sucks but that's the fat world we live in...

Answer 24

quit your job then

Answer 25

sounds that this is the the job for you. you should have been aware of this when you took the job, some will be fat some thin ,some may stink some may make you sick , but don't complain  just find a new job . and thin people never almost fell getting up, hazards of the field you have chosen .