It was early in the morning last month, finishing my oncology (cancer) rotation when I coined a new phrase..... the Sentinel.
The Sentinel is someone who stands at the door of the patient's room, eagerly wanting to talk to you as you walk down the hall. Unfortunately, the feeling is usually not mutual. The Sentinel has a tendency to be a little pushy, asks questions that you can't answer, or expect you to fix problems that you, well, can't. So what happens. Of course, what any self-respecting person would do - ducking behind the nurses station, making your pager go off on purpose, or telling them that you "will see you later on", which is only partly true.
There is one thing worse than "The Sentinel" and that is, "The Sentinel Patient". In general, when a patient is healthy and comfortable enough to be standing at his or her own door then they either should not be in the hospital, or they have a psychiatric condition. The Sentinel patient is a tough one to deal with also, but they have a tendency to get distracted easily by all the people walking down the hall which makes it easier to deal with.
