Do you ever correct people about medical stuff?

mappers · Jan 29, 2013

Well, in the short run, it doesn't really matter, but when misinformation is out there, I think it only leads to more misinformation. If people stop getting the flu shot because they got it last year and had the stomach flu anyway, that's a problem.

For my guy with cancer, his telling me that he had bladder cancer made me stop and question the treatment plan. I thought the treatment plan was for prostate CA and he tells me he has bladder CA. The treatment plan wasn't really what we normally do for bladder CA so I had to re-read patient hx to make sure I was doing the right thing. We were.

Cancer is treated based on the primary cancer, so when patients start comparing their plans (and they do), I think it is important that they know what they have. So when I hear in casual conversation, that so-n-so has bone cancer and someone pipes in that their grandma had bone cancer and they had this type of treatment, they could be comparing apples and oranges. Do I question or correct them when it is a non-clinical, causal type setting? NO! It's rude and inappropriate, but I privately wonder how well they were educated about their conditions, by their providers. I then think about my practice and how well I'm educating my patients.

mappers · Jan 29, 2013

Have been trying to tell my Mother for years that going out without a coat on is only going to give me hypothermia, not pneumonia. I've also tried to tell her that not every head cold requires an antibiotic and that OTC cold meds only provide symptom relief..they don't "cure" a cold (so no Mom, I don't need to take it a few extra days just to make sure the cold is gone!).
I love her to death...but some issues are just banging my head into a brick wall. I figure if I can't get my own Mother to understand it's probably best to just keep my mouth shut with the rest of the world.

What about weather? Last week, the temps around here were lows in the teens, highs in the 20's. Today, the high is supposed to be close to 70 and next week will will be normal 30s - 40s. I've heard a lot of people say, "No wonder we are all sick!" :rolleyes:

RNdynamic · Jan 29, 2013

i guess my main question would be, why does it bother you when folks misspeak?when i hear about someone having cancer, i don't get hung up on its semantics...rather, that they have ca and are fighting a horrific battle.also when i hear of those telling 'everyone' about their cancer, to me, it is a cry for support.as stated, people deal with their crises differently.some are private, some are extremely vocal.so yeah mappers, rather than wonder who tells others what, i'd be curious to know why it bothers some people when others are misinformed?someone having a "stomach flu" is pretty self-explanatory...regardless if it is a misnomer.same goes for any other ailment out there.if you get the gist of what they're trying to say, why sweat the small stuff?curious, that's all. :)leslie

Not always is the gist adequately conveyed if people are using the wrong terms for certain illnesses. Years ago, AIDS was called the "gay cancer," an offensive term for a disease that is not the same as actual cancer.

kool-aide, RN · Jan 29, 2013

C'mon guys, lets get back to having fun!

Prostrate really annoys me! Also, my grandpa thinks that every lab test requires fasting, and nobody will convince him otherwise! Haha

allnurses Guide · Jan 29, 2013

C'mon guys, lets get back to having fun!
Prostrate really annoys me! Also, my grandpa thinks that every lab test requires fasting, and nobody will convince him otherwise! Haha

A family member thinks they will starve to death if they have to fast for a blood test first thing in the morning. Of course, I have to point out that they fast every night unless they get up to eat something and the blood test was scheduled for about the time they ate breakfast.

Also, my grandmother always complained about how much blood the lab tech would take - not realizing it is so very small.

:)

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jan 30, 2013

closing for staff review due to going off topic

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jan 30, 2013

OK I have moved several posts from view due to taking this thread off topic. Can I please request that we try and stay to topic and thanks everyone for posting

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Jan 30, 2013

What about weather? Last week, the temps around here were lows in the teens, highs in the 20's. Today, the high is supposed to be close to 70 and next week will will be normal 30s - 40s. I've heard a lot of people say, "No wonder we are all sick!"

LOL...we must be neighbors because I have the same weather pattern (loving the 60+ degrees today). Unfortunately for me, I have a horrible head cold which my Mother couldn't help but tell me today was due to the weather and the fact that I didn't have a coat on. :no:

leslie :-D · Jan 30, 2013

Do I question or correct them when it is a non-clinical, causal type setting? NO! It's rude and inappropriate, but I privately wonder how well they were educated about their conditions, by their providers. I then think about my practice and how well I'm educating my patients.

ah...ok.

i thought we were talking only about non-clinical, casual settings.

that is what i based my answer on.

regardless, a great response to my question.

thank you.

Not always is the gist adequately conveyed if people are using the wrong terms for certain illnesses. Years ago, AIDS was called the "gay cancer," an offensive term for a disease that is not the same as actual cancer.

yes, "gay cancer" is undoubtedly an offensive, ignorant response...

but i am still not certain how i would respond in a "non-clinical, casual setting".

because when AIDS came to this country, it was thought to be mainly transmitted by homosexual men, AND it was pretty much a terminal sentence way back when.

so although AIDS is not a cancer, i do understand a layman's perception of its similarities.

unless the person is a patient, i try not to correct anyone as it makes ME feel petty.

i have seen (thankfully, only a small handful) people that readily correct others.

in a nutshell, it makes them appear obnoxious, imo.

but again, with a patient or pt's family member, like mappers/op, education is key.

leslie

tokmom, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2013

Stomach bug, maybe? I don't think the average person is going to say they have gastroenteritis.
It is true that it isn't a flu, though.

Yeah, I do know that that flu is short for influenza, but again, if I understand what they are saying, does it really matter? IMO it doesn't and I'm ok with that.

I'm not going to correct the elderly who have been saying stomach flu for the last 70 plus years of their life. I have enough trouble explaining other things.

The last time a pt heard they had a 'stomach bug' from the CNA, the pt really thought they had bugs in their stomach! I think I will stick to the stomach flu. I'm picking my battles on this one.

.

allnurses Guide · Jan 30, 2013

I guess I'm not going to correct the elderly who have been saying stomach flu for the last 70 plus years of their life. I have enough trouble explaining other things.
The last time a pt heard they had a 'stomach bug' from the CNA, the pt really thought they had bugs in their stomach! I think I will stick to the stomach flu. I'm picking my battles on this one, lol.
Yeah, I do know that that flu is short for influenza, but again, if I understand what they are saying, does it really matter? IMO it doesn't and I'm ok with that.

I agree EXCEPT if people are confusing stomach flu with influenza.

Which, in the debate over an annual flu shot, gets brought up all the time. ("I got a flu shot and then got the stomach flu so the shot doesn't work"). So yeah, then I correct folks.

But I say "stomach flu" or "tummy flu". Maybe we should just say "norovirus".

FlorenceFrightengale · Jan 30, 2013

My family members, bless their collective hearts, know NOTHING about medicine or healthcare (save my cousin who is an LPN but hasn't worked in a direct patient care role for years). We are backwoods, country people. My mother was the first one born in a hospital and she isn't the oldest child. I think you're getting the picture.

So, yes, I correct, because that is the only way they will learn. But it's a two way street...

For example, my grandmother knows much more about what to do with a sick baby or child because she raised so many without medical intervention unless they were actually bleeding or broken! So I'm fairly homeopathic about those things thanks to her. I see it as the generations helping each other out in that case.

My dad, uncles, cousins, etc., - at least one of them can fix ANY problem with my house or car. They don't feel bad telling me I have done something silly in regards to my plumbing or whatnot. So I don't feel bad telling them certain things. And now I've become fairly self sufficient.

I guess those cases are informing people. But this is about correction, isn't it? Whoops, first day here and already prattling on...

My husband. Well. He is a social worker (with congenital hydrocephalus and a VP shunt) whose mother is a former medical records manager (with a history of MI, CABG, CEA and CKD) so he and his family are the reason the phrase "a little knowledge can be dangerous" exists! I have to correct him constantly, but I see it as not only my spousal duty, but as a lifesaving measure, considering his personal and family histories.

He is a good learner and a good listener, thank the Heavens, but it's hilarious sometimes to hear his outlook on how things work in the hospital, or in the human body. He works strictly with MRDD patients, medically stable. (No, Mike, we can't give the 80 something whose family should make her a comfort care patient a LUNG TRANSPLANT and fix her and no, her insurance doesn't discharge her.)