Dr. Asking You to Wear a Mask?

What's the big deal, just wear it for the big half an hour out of your life that you are there. You wouldn't have wanted to spread it to anyone else would you? I think you are more bothered by the doctor being rude than having to wear the mask, but on the other hand, it sounds like they had to ask you several times to put it on. I think I would have been annoyed as well, having to ask someone several times to wear one- especially with all the hype of the swine flu right now. I am sure it was not meant to be personal but rather a health precaution.

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What is the big deal? If you were sitting in this office waiting for an annual check-up (well-visit) and someone came in sounding horrible wouldn't you feel better that the office was taking the proper precautions and protecting you from contracting an infectious disease. It sounds likes this doctors office is being very responsible. I would assume you have heard of something called H1N1? Maybe you should take a step back and stop thinking about yourself and think about all the other people that you could be harming if you did have something more serious.

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I'm a respiratory therapist at a large hospital and agree that you should wear a mask. As other postings have indicated, it is standard practice for patients to wear masks with repiratory infections that could be contagious. I have caught RSV, colds, mono and "mysterious" infections from patients who didn't know what they had, had something different than what they thought, or did know and even coughed in my face!! Droplets travel 3 feet. I don't agree with the posting that the ones worried should only wear a mask since some viruses can live on surfaces for many hours. What if you cough and a droplet landed on the arm of a chair in the waiting room, and then someone came to sit in your chair afterwards? Also consider the fact that you contracted this from someone else, therefore you know you have a contagious condition. Also, viruses and bacteria are mutating (Swine flu, for example) and we don't quite know or understand them yet. At my hospital, we are dealing with some different bugs that are difficult to treat. As a health care worker who is running into this on a frequent babsis (and one who just had to take 2 wks off work from getting mono from a patient who coughed and droplets of sputum flew on me), I can understand the frustration of having a patient who is not wearing a mask as requested. So unless there are other reasons for finding a new doc, I say give him a break this time. I'm sure you would have appreciated your toddlers wearing a mask, if that was possible, and avoiding getting infected.

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N.-

Doctor and staff behavior is completely inexcusable. I have to agree with you, you are the patient and it is a business. The flu viruses (all of them) are mostly transmitted via hands and germs on surfaces. Where is the tact in medical offices any more (this is why we do not see these kinds of practitioners)? We have had millions of flu's and viruses that have been going around for decades.

Good for you find another doctor.

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The doctor and staff were very rude. The nurse and staff should have explained nicely, "Mrs. Smith, we need all coughing patients to wear a mask. The droplets can travel 3 feet and remain in the air and on surfaces even long after you are gone- even if you cough into a sleeve or tissue. I'm so sorry this is a hassle, I know, but little kids, babies coming in with their parents and especially asthmatic patients can get very sick or die from some airborne viruses. So, we just gotta play it safe. Here, I'll show you the right way to put it on. It has to cover these parts of your face to work correctly and be this tight. Thanks so much." I think if it was handled differently, patients would be educated about how critical and would actually know how to wear the mask correctly. You should switch doctors and find one with a better bedside manner and more professional staff.

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VERY normal and he was right to be upset with you. He is asking you to wear a mask for YOUR safety and everyone else's there. With swine flu going around as well as regular flu, which coughing is a major symptom of... he was not out of line at all. Why did you keep taking it off?

I don't mean to be rude at all... but as a mom, you should know better. You should be more than happy to put on a mask so nobody else, especially your doctor or his nurses or staff, do not get sick.

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Our doctor's office has a sign asking people to wear a mask if they have cold, flu, etc. Maybe they thought you were ignoring their sign and being discourteous to others around you? If you switch doctors and refuse to wear a mask there when you have a contageous (or not contageous) hack...you might get the same treatment from a doctor, nurse, or the patients around you. Personally, I think you should have apologized and put the mask on.

I think it is going to be more common this season with swine flu. I work at a hospital and they ask us to wear masks if we have a cold. It certainly has some utility in a doctor's office or other healthcare facility and can help prevent the spread of germs. In some other countries, it is common to seee people riding public transportation with masks on so as to prevent the spread of germs.

Never, and I have suffered from a lot of bronchitis issues. I think it is wrong and out of place. Bronchitis is no worse than someone coming in with flu, the chicken pox or strep. I would have refused. I realize that you are exposing others to your coughing but if someone is that worried that they should wear the mask. That would prevent them from getting you germs.

That is my 2 cents...
S.

Every doctor's office I have ever been too has huge signs that ask anyone with a cough, cold, or other contagious disease to wear a mask. Usually people just come in and grab one, but if you don't and you start coughing then the staff does ask you to put one on. In my opinion it's rude to everyone else in the waiting room to not wear one.

The staff should have used more tact, but asking you to wear a mask is not unreasonable. In my doctor's office and my pediatrician's office there are signs letting patients know that they need to wear a mask if they have a cough. Those signs have been up for years.

I really think we will be seeing a lot more of this and you should not take it personally. There is a campus in Washington where the kids have been back to school for 2 weeks and there are 2,000 cases of H1N1 already. Look for a lot of precautions. Your doctor could have asked kindly, though.

i think the doctor offices and hospitals are just being cautious because of the swine flu. but yes they could have done it in a more polite way.

I work in an xray clinic and we have a mask sign right at the front desk. We have everyone who is coughing wear one. I think it is rude to NOT wear one. Especially when you don't know what people have. I know you said you have bronchitis but regardless, your still coughing and frankly people don't want your germs all over them. I know it irritates me when I see someone cough and than grab my pen or something to sign a form. GROSS!

Honestly, I think you are over reacting. It's all for H1N1. You coughing is contaminating their office. They were probably frustrated because I bet they had to clean every surface after you left. Nobody wants to get sicker at the Dr's office. Keeping people healthy is not about your pride or inconvenience.

My Dr.'s office has a sign posted that if you have a cough or bad cold please wear a mask to prevent the spread of infection.

At one of my last visits to the peds office they had a sign hanging at the sign-in desk stating that if you were cooughing to please wear a mask. I think this is due to the fear of spreading of the H1N1 virus. My daughter was there for a cough so she wore a mask- no big deal.

I went to my GP three weeks ago. There were multiple signs posted throughout the office indicating that "any patient with a cough should request and wear a mask" (that's not the exact wording, but I can't remember). I think physicians and their staff are quite fearful of the next rash of swine flu and the personal risk it poses to them. Since I was not coughing, no one asked me to wear one. However, there is never an excuse for being rude!!

I'd definitely find another doctor's office that can take the time to post multiple signs requesting that masks be worn by all patients that are coughing or showing other symptoms of major concern! I guess it makes sense to have these kinds of procedures in place although I have NEVER encountered them myself...but there is NO reason that they should have treated you in such an unprofessional manner! Feel better soon.

Ditto what M R said...it is standard practice in all the hospital/doctor's offices I have visited in the last three years. There are usually signs posted and masks right next to the signs. I think I would find it rude for a patient with bronchitis to be hacking all over me or my daughter, when they could just put a mask on.

Yes, they were kind of rude, but I would have asked the nurse to get you to put on a mask!

There are signs all over my pediatrician's office and they should have had one at your doctor's office.

This year it's not only about people being sick, it's about preventing it from spreading. Sit back and think about how you would feel if you were another patient in that waiting room.

Maybe the dr. just had a patient with swine flu and was protecting you. Maybe her wasn't sure if you had bronhitis when he told you to put the mask on. Was he ever rude like that before. 300 people have died in Illinois this year from swine flu. Protecting everyone in the office may be called for if he had a patient with the "bug". Bedside manner is important also. He was wrong for the way he handled the situation if he was that gruff with you.

N. are you offended in the manner this situation was conductded or offended b/c you were asked to do this? If it's b/c you were asked to do this, I woudldn't go ahead and find another doctor over this. I wasn't told to do this but I was in the waiting room of my doctors office (going for my Depo shot) and another patient came in, checked in at the front desk and sat to read a magazine. In 5 minutes this lady might have coughed two or three times. I didn't think nothing of it but other patients waiting looked at her as if she had an infectious disease. Eye contact between these other patient towards the front desk girl I guess forced the office personnel to direct the coughing patient to and the side of the front desk where they had hand santizer, tissue, and masks. It seemed to me like the front desk girl was kind of uncomfortable of having to single out this lady in front of everyone but she was kinda made to do this by the evil of of the other patient. After the mask went on the other patients were at ease.
Maybe your doctor wasn't trying to be rude but rather was uncomfortable to have to put you through that but knew he had to do it given this whole swine flu outbreaeak and knowing how pwople react to it.
Think your actions through and see if this all is really worth possibly losing a good doctor over.

Hi, N.! I, too, had the beginnings of bronchitis a few weeks ago and was asked to use a mask, too. I asked the receptionist about the reason and she explained that anyone with respiratory problems are required to wear a mask in their office. It's common practice to protect the other patients. I was ok with wearing it and my daughter thought it was hilarious.

i've been seeing signs at all kinds of dr's offices and pt offices for at least a year now - and i go to a lot

My doctor has a sign posted on his door that if you have anything running from your body (i.e. pink eye, snotty nose) or a rash you have to use a separate door and be put into a separate exam room immediately so as to cut down on contamination of the other patients. Some doctors have no tact in how they ask for something. If you really like the doctor try and put this aside. If you go to any ER you will see piles of masks for adults and kids, hey, I have been tempted to put one on when I was not sick just to be sure I did not pick something up!

My son and I both have asthma. His is much more severe and he frequently suffers from bronchitis and croup. Because a little virus/bug that might give another child or adult a cough, bronchitis for awhile - he ends up in the ER. People come to work sick and hack all over - I go home and strip at the door, put my clothes in plastic bag and jump in the shower. If I know kids are passing around cold etc at school - he goes to school with hand sanitizer and carries a mask in his back pack. He gets home I make him do the same - get out of the clothes and go wash off in the shower. Otherwise - we spend time in ER and he misses school and I miss work.

So no, I don't think it's rude or unreasonable. At our doctors office and the ER - ENH - if you walk in with cough you are to put on a mask and leave it on. Makes perfect sense to me. They don't know who is contagious from who isn't. I don't blame the doctor for being upset. Why should you have to tell and adult multiple times to put on a mask and leave it on. It's for everyones best interest If the health care professionals get your spittle all over their scrubs - they will take that all over the office.

It's been standard practice for a few years now that any patient with a cough should be wearing a mask. Pretty much every office/hospital I've been to has signed posted indicating that visitors take such a precaution.

I was at the dr.s office a few weeks ago for a physical. On their door they had posted that some people may be asked to wear masks. I think it is a common thing - no slight against you. Too bad the doctor was rude about it though.

N.-

I am answering from the opposite perspective - the medical staff side - so maybe it will help to understand their requests. However there is no explanation for their rudeness or failure to explain "why" it was important for you to comply. I'm sure that if they took 2 minutes to do so - you would have been completely understanding and co-operative - as well as wearing the mask correctly.

Every day - physicians and their staff - see a wide variety of patients -from routine problems to illnesses. Every time a patient who is sick walks thru the door - they are exposed to that illness. It usually isn't a problem - as they have built up a fair amount of resistance to many of the more common "viruses and infections". However - when seasonal influenza or H1N1 hits - we become bombarded with those germs. Although most providers and their staff do receive the vaccinations for those types of viruses - it doesn't completely insure that they will not become sick. There are also those in the field that cannot receive the vaccines for a variety of reasons. If they are exposed - and become ill - they run the risk of then infecting more people before they realize that they themselves are ill. Once they become ill - they are no longer able to care for their patients, etc.....and must comply with recommendations to remain at home for the duration of their illness. We have physicians who when they were ill with colds,etc - wore masks every day to protect their patients from becoming ill. It would probably make more sense to you that the health care providers wear masks when they treat every patient - however - they would have to change masks between every patient to prevent cross-contamination, risk being misunderstood due to the barrier between them, as well as many other issues. Also- when a patient with the flu or H1N1 coughs - droplets spread throughout the air - and land on surfaces that other patients come into contact with. Although we try to wipe down those surfaces, something can be missed - and therefore everyone who comes into contact with that area is at risk for exposure.

It is a small inconvenience to the patient to wear the mask for a short period while in the office - but then if you truly do have the illness - you can take it home and use it to prevent the spread of the illness at home.

Unfortunately - we are going to see this occur more commonly as these types of airborn illnesses occur. We have used other types of measures to prevent the spread of other diseases ie taking a patient with a suspected contagious rash to an exam room immediately; shutting down an exam room due to contamination, etc... This is just one more way that your doctor is trying to protect you and all of his patients from all types of exposures.

I am sorry that you had such a rude response to your questions, etc...and hope that maybe they learn from this experience. I would take a few minutes to write a brief note or call the office manager to let her know of your negative experience. They may not be aware of how they came across - and may improve their interactions with other patients in the future.

Hope that you are feeling better-

P.

maybe there was really something wrong with the doctor and not you at all

Hi-i wouldn't be offended-all drs offices in our area have signs up that if you have a cough or are sneezing or have anything infectious that you put on a mask-and my dr has nop qualms about telling you to put one on-and I don't mind-its for everyones safety

This is completely standard! You should know if you have any cold/virus that you have to grab one and put it on right away!

It's normal to be asked to wear a mask and it is to protect you and others from spreading germs. I recently had a cough from allergy induced asthma that sounded like I had some sot of plauge....everyone in the waiting area was looking at me like 'I hope the mask is enough to keep her germs contained' and I wasn't even contagious. If I were sitting next to me I would move and be thankful the dr. office had the mask policy. Your Dr. should have been more polite about it but you should not be offended if asked to wear it. Hope you are feeling better!

I been to my docter a cuople times last month and anyone with a cuogh or flu like symptoms had to put one on in waiting area im not sure if they had to wear during their entire visit. I wasnt ask to put one on cause i was seeing for a knee problem. There trying to be safe because of that flu.

Most doctor's offices I've been in have signs requesting that all patients with a cough wear a mask...suppose it doesn't matter why you are coughing because others won't know if you are contagious or not. They also request that patients use hand sanitizer to preven the spread of disease within the waiting room area. Best place to get sick after all is a hospital or doctor's office.