Dealing with "Web-Trained" Patient/Family Members.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

My mother needs ___________, I read it online! Call her Doctor Please. (3am)

Now, before I upset anyone, I am not talking about the desperate "Cancer Families" seeking other treatment forms, or the Patient that hasn't got any better despite all Medical efforts.

You know who I'm speaking off, . . .The family member or patient that can Diagnose the Problem, form a treatment plan, and tell the doctor exactly what medications they need, and How long they need to be in the hospital. They know what labs need to be ran, and think they should have access to 24/7 MD support for the slightest idea or question.

I am not talking about the patient/family who want to better understand their diagnosis, treatment plan, options, and prognosis. I am talking about Medical Plan Mutiny!

"Can you call Dr. XXXXXXX?, I read about XXXXXXXXX on XXXXXXX.com and he is way off in left field with his treatment. I want YOU to recommend XXXXXXXX!" (2:30 AM Sunday, Day Before D/C according to Progress Note)

How do you deal with patients/family members who get an online 24 hour Medical Degree?

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.
:eek: Thats my mom :eek:She will call me randomly "Hey, I think I have something called a pheocromocytoma, it just popped up on web MD, it says its serious, should I go to the ER"I love it!Me: What? Why? Whats going on?Mom: I forgot my atenolol for 2 days and my BP was 168/89 at walmart, I'm pretty sure its a hypertensive crisisMe::eek: Stop forgetting your meds Mom!!
I love it!
Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.
What's worse....looking it up in line or seeing an ad in TV. I've had people who work in my building who have family members there call me and tell me "My mom needs_______. I saw it on television. YOU need to speak to her doctor." my response is always the same. You see ads for beer and Viagra and and and on TV. Does your mom need those, too?
Omg, I got to use that one before you get it copyrighted! That is just Genius!
Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.
Before my dad passed away in September, I got a call from mom telling me he was in the hospital with chest pains again. Something told me to ask if he'd been taking all his cardiac meds, and mom proceeded to tell me:"Well, Lisa (granddaughter) told him she had read on the Internet that these meds caused ________, so he got worried and stopped taking them!"Needless to say, asses were chewed, instructions given to listen to the nurse son and DIL rather than the HS Dropout flunkie, and the doc was called and informed.I could have committed murder.
So sorry to hear about your dad though.
Specializes in none.
My mother needs ___________, I read it online! Call her Doctor Please. (3am)

Now, before I upset anyone, I am not talking about the desperate "Cancer Families" seeking other treatment forms, or the Patient that hasn't got any better despite all Medical efforts.

You know who I'm speaking off, . . .The family member or patient that can Diagnose the Problem, form a treatment plan, and tell the doctor exactly what medications they need, and How long they need to be in the hospital. They know what labs need to be ran, and think they should have access to 24/7 MD support for the slightest idea or question.

I am not talking about the patient/family who want to better understand their diagnosis, treatment plan, options, and prognosis. I am talking about Medical Plan Mutiny!

"Can you call Dr. XXXXXXX?, I read about XXXXXXXXX on XXXXXXX.com and he is way off in left field with his treatment. I want YOU to recommend XXXXXXXX!" (2:30 AM Sunday, Day Before D/C according to Progress Note)

How do you deal with patients/family members who get an online 24 hour Medical Degree?

I baffle them with my BS. I say something like "yes, WEBMD says that But that disease has another web site you have to look for it. I found it at the very end of my goole search it was attack on to a main site,the site has three sub-headings. The web site began with a or c I can't remember. but I'M sure it's there...." I go on and on until they get confused or they go to someone else. Being an LPN and therefore, in their eyes a dumb- Dumb I don't get too many of these people. Just use a lot of BS.

At work, we call the constant internet searching of diseases, meds & treatments "Googleitis." There doesn't appear to be a cure for Googleitis, and those people affected by Googleitis are reluctant to be educated by anyone or anything that does not appear on a computer monitor.:D

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.
I baffle them with my BS. I say something like "yes, WEBMD says that But that disease has another web site you have to look for it. I found it at the very end of my goole search it was attack on to a main site,the site has three sub-headings. The web site began with a or c I can't remember. but I'M sure it's there...." I go on and on until they get confused or they go to someone else. Being an LPN and therefore, in their eyes a dumb- Dumb I don't get too many of these people. Just use a lot of BS.
I agree BSing is a fine art!!!!
Specializes in Gerontology.

And then there is the "Oprah Syndraome".

"I saw on Oprah/Maury/Ellen/whatever a person who was in a coma for years and then woke up and was better so my father/mother/whatever will do the same. And they were better RIGHT AWAY! - cause Oprah/Maury/whatever did not show the thousands of hours in physio/rehab that this person went through.

Yeah = you saw a once in a millon occurance. Your father/mother/whatever - had a trach, a g-tube, is non -vocal, had a Stage 4 ulcer, is hoyer lift and probably does not even know they are still on the planet Earth. They ain't "waking up" anytime soon - no matter what you say on Oprah/Maury/whatever...

Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.
Your father/mother/whatever - had a trach, a g-tube, is non -vocal, had a Stage 4 ulcer, is hoyer lift and probably does not even know they are still on the planet Earth. They ain't "waking up" anytime soon - no matter what you say on Oprah/Maury/whatever...

And in my world you could add - they are 99 years old too.

Recent conversation with a family of a 94 year old regarding full code status when resident should actually be on hospice care. Family insists that they don't want any heroic measures "just try a little CPR". Explained for over an hour that there is no such thing as a "little CPR". Gently explained bone crushing CPR in a 94 yr osteoporosis filled little tiny lady, blah, blah, blah. Long story short - she is still a full code (Her MD also tried with no success. Family basically implied CPR works on TV and we are just lazy).

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.
And in my world you could add - they are 99 years old too.

Recent conversation with a family of a 94 year old regarding full code status when resident should actually be on hospice care. Family insists that they don't want any heroic measures "just try a little CPR". Explained for over an hour that there is no such thing as a "little CPR". Gently explained bone crushing CPR in a 94 yr osteoporosis filled little tiny lady, blah, blah, blah. Long story short - she is still a full code (Her MD also tried with no success. Family basically implied CPR works on TV and we are just lazy).

Oh no, I am going to have to get DNR tattooed on my forehead when I get elderly, also "Please clean butt well between BM's" If I just have to go to a LTC center, even if I don't know who I am still, . . .I hope I die with a clean butt.

(P.S. I know what happens post mortem, but you catch my drift. Lol!)

Still has to get her water from the vending machines outside most supermarkets - then proceeds to put them in plastic bottles that're outgassing solvents into her water...and buys her ice from the supermarket - which gets the water for the ice straight out of the municipal water supply, and is made using unsanitized icemaking equipment...and so it goes.

Sigh.

----- Dave

Hahaha! Oh my goodness. Reminds me of a patient I had pretty recently who was convinced that the water at my facility was "raising her blood pressure." The nurse told me to get her VS, so I did. The BP came out a little high, and said she saw something in PARADE that convinced her to only drink bottled water. Never mind that she hadn't been taking her BP meds before she came to our place. :no:

And then there is the "Oprah Syndraome".

"I saw on Oprah/Maury/Ellen/whatever a person who was in a coma for years and then woke up and was better so my father/mother/whatever will do the same. And they were better RIGHT AWAY! - cause Oprah/Maury/whatever did not show the thousands of hours in physio/rehab that this person went through.

Yeah = you saw a once in a millon occurance. Your father/mother/whatever - had a trach, a g-tube, is non -vocal, had a Stage 4 ulcer, is hoyer lift and probably does not even know they are still on the planet Earth. They ain't "waking up" anytime soon - no matter what you say on Oprah/Maury/whatever...

I hate those stories they cover on TV where the patient "takes a stand" against their medical team and "went against their doctors, winning, etc." It really makes rare occurrences in medical incompetency seem like the norm. This is what I suspect is leading to this "me me me" approach to healthcare. The media influence is so powerful, and many people do not understand that many things on TV are warped by bias and a need to escape a slow news day. I took a media literacy and statistics class when I was in middle school and it has stuck to me since. I can't read about "research indicates that X lowers blood pressure" without thinking about P-values or sample size or double-blind testing. I only wish people would think critically about how media impacts their lives.

Yes, miracles happen. But sometimes reality checks are painful.

I took a media literacy and statistics class when I was in middle school and it has stuck to me since. I can't read about "research indicates that X lowers blood pressure" without thinking about P-values or sample size or double-blind testing.

A media literacy and statistics class in middle school? P-values? Very impressive

+ Add a Comment