Do you ever correct people about medical stuff?

[mappers]

I'm not talking about patient education, I'm just talking about general conversation. I hear people get things wrong medically all the time, but I rarely correct people. For example, a relative said the other day that she thought her mother just had a kidney infection but then "We found out it was E. Coli! :nailbiting:" I didn't have the heart to tell her we all have E. coli in our guts and most kidney infections are E. coli.

I have a patient who also goes to my church. He tells everyone he has bladder cancer. He really has prostate cancer with mets to the bladder. This happens a lot with "bone" and "liver" cancer as well. I hear people say "so and so" had breast cancer and now they have "bone" cancer. Well, they most likely have bone mets, not bone cancer.

Normally, unless the person is seeking information from me or I'm in the clinical setting, I just keep my mouth shut. I figure I don't want to be an obnoxious know-it-all and, since I don't know the whole situation, I don't have all the facts.

What about you?

[nursel56]

I've only done it a couple of times, when friends say a word comically wrong and I want to save them from future embarrassment. Once, a good friend was telling me all about how they "debris" burns and how painful it is, etc (he knows I'm a nurse). I said, no they debride the wound. Did he thank me? No, he shook his head "no" and said, "it's debris". Hm. The nerve! I told him the correct word once more and dropped it. I understand why he thought that but you don't argue with the nurse about nursey words!

Another time somebody called a gurney a "guernsey". Didn't say a word.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I recently started watching "Prison Break" and in one episode, the prison physician explained how she was debriding a burn, but she pronounced it "de-bride" like "bride and groom"

[enschraemli]

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.

My mother is the exact same way! Last time I had a stuffy nose, she kept telling me to go to the doctor because I might have "walking pneumonia", when I really just needed a Sudafed, ginger/lemon tea, and water. I tell my brother to come to me from now on about cold symptoms since my mom, while she has good intentions, tends to overreact to everything =P

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

My husband works in health care also...not a nurse. I frequently hear him talk to his family on the phone about health issues. The only way he could give out more wrong information, is if he were on the phone 24/7.

I used to correct his side of the conversation, no telling what the other side was asking, but he continued to just spew out rubbish.

He enjoys himself so much being an expert, I just let him go.

[enschraemli]

I try not to correct people all the time so I don't look like a pretentious snob, but I'll make exceptions if someone is asking for my advice or if someone could possibly get hurt if I don't say anything. One time, my mom was sick and thought she was sick enough to take my dad's antibiotics, which he needed for a dental procedure. I had to explain to her later on that 1. The meds were NOT prescribed to her and she does not know how much she needs to take (if she needed any.) 2. If she was really that sick, she could've called me and I would've come home from school to take care of her 3. My dad really needed those antibiotics and now that she took them, he needed to reschedule his dental procedure and get a new prescription.

Luckily, everything turned out okay, even though my mom got upset because she thought I was being rude

[aprilpam77]

I don't correct people, only my close relatives.

[LalaJJB]

Stomach flu is the only thing that drives me nuts....especially when one of my RN friends say it.

[**12XY**]

I agree not to embarrass folks by correcting them, but if it could endanger their health a private one one one correction, done gently with full awareness of not talking down to them is the way to go. I do this a lot, but never in open or in a public place. Always private!

[bbmtnbb]

'Almost' Never anymore. Why would one want to pound their head against the wall and that is where correcting people always seems to take me. LOL Well, I do ask them to stop taking self prescribed or getting forced perscriptions from doctors who only write them to make them go away and feel they 'did' something. I tell them they are making antibiotic resistant strains for me to deal with and I prefer to have antibiotics that will actually work when I actually really need them. SO my only exception is to get on my soapbox about antibiotic abuse. We are all in this together and when we run out of meds that work we will ALL be in big trouble. Kind education is probably best but I tend to be stern.

[enschraemli]

I yelled at the TV during an episode of "The Mob Doctor" because a woman was going into postpartum hemorrhage and the doctors didn't bother to massage the fundus or start an IV pitocin. Needless to say I wasn't upset when the show got cancelled, it couldn't do House any justice for me lol.

[leslie :-D]

no, i wll not correct anyone, as i feel it to be incredibly condescending and patronizing.

i prefer to focus on the context of what they're saying.

still, i was reading a book where a woman was describing a scene where she was being intubated...

and described the tube going down her "esophagus".

obviously she hadn't hired a medical editor. :)

and yes, medical tv shows drive me nuts.

leslie

[beckyboo1, BSN, RN]

HOWEVER it drives me crazy when I watch TV and see all the mistakes made in a show or a film.

I have been known to shout at the TV on occasions

That drives me totally bonkers! If my family is around when a medical show comes on, they all roll their eyes and "say oh brother, can't watch this around Mom, she'll be correcting everything!"