Physical appearance may deteriorate, and residents may disappear into private areas such as an office or restroom. You also may find these residents at the hospital when they are not on duty, or seeing patients late at night to avoid colleagues. A colleague's frequent disappearances, schedule discrepancies and arguments may be leading to conflict on the home front. Marriages begin to fail. You may learn that the resident has been arrested for drunk driving, has been disciplined by the medical board for prescription-writing violations or has serious financial problems.
Residents are often the last to notice changes in a colleague.
Nursing and administrative staff have probably already complained of behavioral and work problems. Patient complaints may have followed. You may have been putting in extra hours to cover tardiness and absenteeism. Your colleague also may be less reliable and less likely to be decisive. Handwriting may become indecipherable, and charting may be incomplete or filled with errors.