“Here comes your margarita!” I hear the familiar words through the thin walls of the cubicle in the preoperative area as I talk to my patient on the other side of the cubicle. Their conversation then turned to, “It's never too early for a drink” and “It's 5 o'clock somewhere.” The theme is recurrent and uncomfortable. Sometimes it is, “Here is your cocktail” or “This is your happy juice.” I have even heard on occasion a nurse introducing the anesthesiologist to the patient with, “Here comes your bartender.” I ask myself, are we promoting ourselves as bartenders? Is this the lasting impression we want to leave with our patients and our colleagues about our profession?
Light humor with our patients during the preoperative period can help allay their anxiety and may distract them from worries during the stressful time of surgery. After all, relieving anxiety is an integral part of...
