In small, meager defense of the docs and nurses:
As a medical first responder I have been on the receiving end of patients' explanations of "What happened?" (and "what other medical problems do you have" and a few other questions) and it is interesting how the story will often mutate over time. People suddenly remember stuff they didn't say the first time, leave out things they did say the first time, didn't even realize they left stuff out in the first two stories but repetition #5 suddenly reveals "Oh I was standing on a step ladder at the time" and so on.
I'm sure cops have experienced this at crime scenes. Being emotionally involved in a scene (especially a self-stabbing!
) can mess with mind, memory, and logic. It's one of the reasons the big city PD union lawyers have negotiated agreements where the cop gets 24 hours and a chance to talk to his lawyer before he has to make a statement about a shooting, predicated on the research that shows it takes a while for he brain to process stuff and render a complete story of "what happened." (Which is probably something those of us who don't have big city PD union lawyers to ponder as well).That said, having been to the ER numerous times with a family member, yes I often wonder if docs and nurses really read the charts.
