Hot Cheetos are a public health menace

Aunt Slappy · Sep 18, 2018

Agree. The OP was yucky. That's all I can allow myself to say without going into a tirade.

Emergent, you really know how to bring out the SJWs who can't laugh at anything.

broughden · Sep 18, 2018

This will be the whole world if nothing is done to stop it.....

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Bubbaemt · Sep 18, 2018

Yep...

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2018

Sometimes I find myself having judgmental or rude thoughts, and I catch myself and think "wow I'm a jerk. I'm glad I didn't say that out loud." Self editing. Learn it.

ponymom · Sep 18, 2018

Jax taste better than Cheetos....just sayin's all

djh123 · Sep 18, 2018

Umm, it isn't a joke. New Mexico really does have an official question, the kids got it passed through the legislature. We take our chile very seriously. I just bought some green chile/cactus jam at the Renne Faire. I offered to put a little green chile in the cornbread one Thanksgiving, and my out-of-state sister exploded with "Is there ANYTHING you people don't put green chile in!?". Couldn't think of anything.

Well I didn't know it was official, geez ... but as I said, I love green and red, and have lived in NM twice for a total of 13+ years, so I know my chile pretty much. And yes, it would be great in cornbread ... I've put jalapeno slices in cornbread, but not green chile yet. I agree, though - you can put it in or on just about anything.

allnurses Guide · Sep 18, 2018

I had a woman come in for abdominal pain the other day. She accompanied by a husband and 3 small children. I walked into the room after reading the triage note in the computer.
There she was, a woman who had the appearance of someone with unhealthy eating habits. On the gurney was a large, opened bag of hot Cheetos. The family came prepared! The only thing missing was the 20 oz bottle of Pepsi.
Naturally she got a the huge workup, and by all appearances, I'm guessing it was a taxpayer funded one. And while I'm on that subject , why in the world are items like hot Cheetos allowable under the federal food stamp program? Oh, multinational corporation lobbyists of course.

I understand the need to vent and the overall concern about the state of healthcare in the country, but this post absolutely makes me sick. It is ignorant and judgmental. Because the family brought a bag of Cheetos, or because she's "unhealthy", or because she's poor (all of which are at best subjective judgments) does not preclude her from having an acute health issue, in fact, it makes her more likely to be having one. Did you ever think in your stream of judgement that maybe this isn't the way the patient wants to be or that maybe the patient doesn't/didn't have the luxuries that some of your "healthy" patients in the ED have, like access to Whole Foods or goat yoga? Did you think about the fact this is a person we are talking about?

If you want to have a commentary on the state of care in the ED or the state of health in the country than by all means we should all discuss it, there are numerous problems. But there is zero excuse for a nurse to take to the internet to make fun of a sick patient, which is what this is. Maybe the silver lining here is that we can all engage in some self-reflection on our practice in how we approach patients we want to blame for their problems.

Emergent, RN · Sep 18, 2018

Emergent, you really know how to bring out the SJWs who can't laugh at anything.

I had to look up the abbreviation SJW. There is a hilarious, albeit disturbing, plethora of over the top, confrontational SJWs. I thoroughly enjoyed the videos regarding a certain Hugh Mungus!

broughden · Sep 18, 2018

But there is zero excuse for a nurse to take to the internet to make fun of a sick patient, which is what this is.

Making fun of a sick patient with cancer? Wrong.

Making fun of a patient that brought something on themselves aka "Here hold my beer and watch this!" has long been an established right of both cops and nurses everywhere and one I wholeheartedly support.

Sometimes (ie often) people are idiots and all you can do is laugh.

pixierose, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2018

Sometimes I find myself having judgmental or rude thoughts, and I catch myself and think "wow I'm a jerk. I'm glad I didn't say that out loud." Self editing. Learn it.

I remember one incident long ago during my teaching days.

I had a single mom, low income, who typically sent her kid to school with, well ... crap. Frozen pizzas, donuts ... with the occasional apple.

She caught me one day, I must have had a look on my face? Or maybe she was just used to explaining herself. She said, "I'm just so used to saying 'no' all the time to him ... 'no' to toys, 'no' to trips, 'no' to cool new shoes that everyone has, ... at least I can say 'yes' to the treats."

I felt like such a judgmental orifice. Until I walked in her shoes .... As someone who doesn't have to worry as much about money, who works a steady job, whose husband makes good money blah blah blah ... I don't place the same value on food as someone in her shoes might. I can say "yes" to the aquarium, "yes" to those new shoes ... and "no" to the Cheetos.

Some of our patients certainly do bring in on themselves. Flaming hot Cheetos will tear your stomach to shreds, I'd agree But the rest of the post is just in poor, poor taste.

(And yes, I judge. But I really do try to check myself at the door ... and I really would hope someone would call me out and say, "hey, too much" or " easy now" if I was out of line)

HelloWish, ADN, BSN · Sep 18, 2018

I would have taken the opportunity to educate my patient on how this kind of food can cause abdominal issues and why.

I remember when I was young and stupid, and no one had ever educated me on healthy eating habits. I grew up thinking it was okay to drink only soda, eat cereal, chips, and boxed/canned foods. I didn't know any better until I started to educate myself. If someone had respectfully said something to me along the way, it would of been helpful! Standing in judgment does nothing to advocate for your patient.

In my early 20's, I did a complete 180 and became the purist of healthy eating and exercise. I also majored in nutrition at university before becoming a nurse. I still didn't feel any better overall from eating extremely healthy and exercising. So I became more balanced and now I feel better! Really managing stress and making sure to get enough rest is what made me feel better. I know from experience, that yes eating a bunch of junk food is bad and cause harm but eliminating it doesn't always completely heal a person. Balance is important and just because you feel amazing being fit and eating healthy doesn't mean someone else will feel that way. Gene's play an important part - epigenetics! They may have a lifetime of unhealthy eating to unlearn.

Advocate! Judging our patient's doesn't help them or us for that matter!

allnurses Guide · Sep 18, 2018

Making fun of a sick patient with cancer? Wrong.
Making fun of a patient that brought something on themselves aka "Here hold my beer and watch this!" has long been an established right of both cops and nurses everywhere and one I wholeheartedly support.
Sometimes (ie often) people are idiots and all you can do is laugh.

What if the cancer is lung cancer in a patient that is a smoker. Is it ok then? Or an alcoholic that developed HCC? Is it ok then? What about the patient that had treatable cancer that chose to go the homeopathic route that is now coming to the hospital to die from progression? Or the patient with HIV from abusing needles? This argument is as ignorant as the assumption that because a patient's family had Cheetos then she must be unhealthy and a waste of taxpayers dollars.

While I would argue as a blanket statement we shouldn't endeavor to make fun of anyone, least of all patients, there is a big difference between a "hold my beer and watch this" injury and simply being in the ED and having the appearance of being "unhealthy" or poor.

How long have you been a nurse? How do you decide which patients are "idiots" that deserve ridicule.

Just like every other poster here I am not immune to my implicit or explicit bias, but I do try to check it at the door when I am charged with the well being of another human. And believe me I understand it's not easy.