Published
I have a concern. I am a basically healthy 19 year old female in nursing school. I recently have been having problems where my face will turn really head and feel very hot, but my arms and legs etc. are still cool. It makes my head hurt really bad. I also go to the gym and I dont know how accurate the heart rate monitors on the cardio machines are, but when I am exercising, my heart rate will go from 170 to 80 in less than 3 seconds. I got on several machines, and they all did this! I dont know if I should be concerned by this or what to do. I also get dizzy often, but was told earlier by a nurse practicioner that I just had fluid in my inner ear. I"m not sure what to do.
Laura
ADNRN, we definitely don't wait for the doc to diagnose. The docs have certain privileges under their licenses that we don't, but a good nurse doesn't just do "what the doctor ordered." Heck, a lot of critical care nursing in a teaching hospital is leading residents (who don't always want our input) in the right direction.
I'm happy that someone who laid eyes on prairiegirl thinks she just has a sinus infection. That would be great. To me, it doesn't explain why the NP didn't find that or why she had these symptoms on and off for months, but looking back, she mentioned that it had been happening for a while but only gave one example outside the last week or so. I nearly fainted at my wedding when I was 32- can't imagine how much more stressful it was for an 18 or 19 year old.
She got good advice, all geared towards encouraging her to get accurate info about what happened, get evaluated by someone in person, and not let her symptoms be ignored if they weren't going away.
Originally posted by ratchitADNRN, we definitely don't wait for the doc to diagnose. The docs have certain privileges under their licenses that we don't, but a good nurse doesn't just do "what the doctor ordered." Heck, a lot of critical care nursing in a teaching hospital is leading residents (who don't always want our input) in the right direction.
I'm happy that someone who laid eyes on prairiegirl thinks she just has a sinus infection. That would be great. To me, it doesn't explain why the NP didn't find that or why she had these symptoms on and off for months, but looking back, she mentioned that it had been happening for a while but only gave one example outside the last week or so. I nearly fainted at my wedding when I was 32- can't imagine how much more stressful it was for an 18 or 19 year old.
Which all adds up to: it's hard to diagnose online.
She got good advice, all geared towards encouraging her to get accurate info about what happened, get evaluated by someone in person, and not let her symptoms be ignored if they weren't going away.
OK, good reply, and I hear what you're saying, but I do think we do in fact wait for MD orders, except those things which are independent nursing interventions.
I intend to work in critical care and cardiac stepdown, I do not intend to make medical dx. That's not my profession, that's not my concern. Mine is to assess the patient's physical condition, report that condition, administer medications, and treatments, perform nursing interventions based on my assessments, educate patients and provide care to the degree the client cannot care for themselves. I don't intend to train residents, and I don't want to, unless they want to know about nursing care.
For instance, in the above, the best response might have been to say, "It sounds like someone hooked a battery up to your vagus nerve, but I'm not your cardiologist, so I strongly recommend you go see your doctor right away (I'm being facetious to make a point).
ceecel.dee, MSN, RN
869 Posts
No chopping here. That's just how we play.