ethical issue

Mkue · Sep 26, 2002

Good topic Ally. Patients are able to access all kinds of information on the web. I think that patients should contact their physicians office if they have any questions or health concerns. :)

nursenoelle · Sep 26, 2002

I agree guys, some of the inadequate info that they recieve will only cause confusion and sometimes undue worry. Pts need direct , understandable explainations of the process of thier diagnosis, and the treatments involved. This also goes for rx meds, those inserts that explain action, side effects , etc are not good enough. Med advice for the lay person should, IMO, be only coming from the medical staff caring for them .

det01 · Sep 27, 2002

I would give patients the advice I was given in Nutrition class. That info is to only trust sites that end in .org or .gov

.org is usually non-profit organizations (a good number of them may have national accredidation

.gov are governement sites

She said that these are usually trustworthy but to defiently stay away from .com because any idiot on the street could get one of those and fill it full of bad info...She was not saying all are bad, just that this is a good rule of thumb

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2002

I believe education is a wonderful thing. Knowledge is amazing. Get it where you can. I see it with people all the time(me included). Just take what the Doc says for law. You know if I had done that when I was young and was told by my family practioner that I would never have children. I would never have had children.(by the way I have two) I would recommend using internet sources as well as your Doc's info and always a second opinion.

dstudent · Sep 29, 2002

Hi Alley,

Try this URL

http://www.phcsg.org?conferences/Cambridge1999/camb99-05

Hope this helps you

Doreen

essarge · Sep 30, 2002

Sometimes Doc's are of the opinion that the patient doesn't need to know the whole story with all of the why's wherefores and how comes.

Before I had my hysterectomy, I had a Doc that thought everything that happened to women was in their head. After I had done extensive research on the web (and this included a wonderful site of women who had been there, done that...no dot org or dot gov was attached), I asked some very pertinent questions of the Doc. He, number one, got offended, and number two questioned my capabilities as a researcher. I ended up firing this doc (first time I ever did that and it felt great!) and going to a doc that read my chart and immediately scheduled me for the hysterectomy.....after calling the other doc and telling him that it was all in his head.....as in ego!!

I always advise patients to do as much research as possible, compare the research for similarities and use those similarities to get the answers that they are seeking.

By the way, the original Doc is no longer on staff at the hospital due to his "head" problem!! LOL!

Love-A-Nurse · Sep 30, 2002

i believe it depends on what information is being sought. a little knowledge can be a "dangerous" thing when it comes to our health, etc. i do agree with rhona somewhat too.