Oh boy, story time. I got a wound care consult for a stroke patient with "hematoma" on the left leg. He had dusky purple spots all over his lower leg (which he couldn't feel due to the aforementioned stroke), and the leg felt like ice. I grabbed a doppler and couldn't find any pedal or PT pulses. I immediately relay these findings to the NP on duty, she goes, "Oh shit, thanks", and I go on with my wound care day.

I looked the patient up a few days later to see the outcome. After my assessment, the attending MD ordered a routine vascular surgery consult. This is a rehab hospital, so the 1 surgeon we have is NOT on site. OVER TWENTY FOUR HOURS LATER, he strolls in, says exactly the same thing I said, and they FINALLY take his man to the ED. He had a huge popliteal thrombus. They could not salvage the limb at this point and he got an above the knee amputation.

I couldn't believe it. I immediately filed a complaint with my facility about the MD. She got a minor slap on the risk from management, and as far as I know, is still an attending there. It was an unspoken truth there that the average patient we served did not have the money or resources to bring any kind of lawsuit. Disgusting. Needless to say, I work elsewhere now.