Nurses and their own health care ...

Nurses General Nursing

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Ok ... here it is ... I hate going to the doctor! End of discussion. I really hate it. I also hate going to the hospital as a patient. I go to great extremes to avoid it all together. Why is that? Why, as nurses, do we wait until the last minute to seek medical treatment? I know I am not the only one who feels like this, but I want perspectives from other nurses.

I had to be hospitalized last year for several days .... of course, my insurance required that I go to the hosptial that I worked at. This was a horrible thing for me. Is it just me or do others feel the same way?

As nurses, we should be one of the first to seek medical care for ourselves when we don't feel well. I know for me, it is a very difficult thing to do. This past year I had a terrible bout with bronchitis ... I finally went to the docotr when I could not stop coughing. I should have gone earlier. Am I the only one who does this? :o

I think the problem here is that ya'll are going to DOCTORS instead of NP's :D :D :D

Seriously, it's dangerous to gamble with your health. You need to be seen a minium of once a year. No discussion. It's a must!

Dave

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

What's a zpak and why would you take prednisone with an active ear infection? Sorry I just got up maybe I'm missing something.

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Specializes in HIV/AIDS, Dementia, Psych.
I hate going to the doctor too! One of the reasons that I hate it so much is that I feel healthcare is the pits these days. Sure, I know there are some great docs & even nurses, but whenever I go to my appts, I usually get some nameless person in a scrub coming at me and not introducing themselves. They take my vitals or blood, or whatever, and I have to ask them for info (like what was my Bp).

Many clinicians and medical staff are cold and robot-like, not looking at you with any warmth to indicate they are human. If they introduce themselves, you are lucky. I hate being been poked and prodded at.They never tell you or educate you about anything unless you start grilling them with questions. Many health care staff just go about performing their tasks and you get the distinct impression that you are on an assembly line of health care. You leave feeling thoroughly annoyed, like a cow that went to market.

This is why I ALWAYS introduce myself by name & title to my patients & their loved ones. I explain the plan of care, the meds, the treatments, vital signs, etc. I ask if they have any questions. I try and answer them. I let them know I will be there for them if something comes up later. Half the time nobody has even bothered to explain what the diagnosis is! Patients are so scared...they never ask. People need a little respect and compassion. No one likes being left in the dark. And nobody likes being treated like a product on an assembly line.I sure don't.

So, I take good care of myself. I don't smoke, and rarely drink. I exercise and eat healthy (most of the time anyhow ). I get my annual exams...but I REFUSE to go in to a doc for anything else unless I am really hurting bad or on death's door. I just can't stand to be treated like that. I'd rather let things run their course at home & hope for the best.I told my hubby the only way I am going to the doc is if I lose a limb or something. LOL! :rolleyes:

I am glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. I also sometimes feel like I am annoying the doc or 'keeping' them if I ask too many questions. I HATE going to the doc!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Tweety - you are a man of my own mind! Golly - imagine being thrown on a trauma table, stripped naked and oh my God - the image is making me squirm! Then...to have to face your co-workers....NO, NO, NO!!!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Long Term Care.
Yeah, there's just something weird about having your co-workers get a look at your bare bum or the legs you haven't shaved since Christmas.......:uhoh21:

I'm another one who generally won't go to the doctor unless I've got one foot in the grave, or am in so much pain I can't think. (Then I went TWICE when I had the flu virus/shingles/sinus infection that laid me low for almost 2 weeks......that's how sick I was.) For one thing, as a nurse I usually know a) what's wrong with me, and b) that it'll pass. For another, as a nurse, I know all about those PROCEDURES doctors like to do (think "GoLytely"), and I don't wanna play! Sometimes I think that's why health professionals make the worst patients---we KNOW what we're in for because we've put other people through it, and it ain't pretty. Who was it that said "Ignorance is bliss"? :chuckle

:rotfl:

I laughed loud and long over "Yeah, there's just something weird about having your co-workers get a look at your bare bum or the legs you haven't shaved since Christmas....... " EXACTLY my sentiments! I hurt my knee at work and had to stop by the ED after my shift was over. As the tech ace-wrapped my leg, I felt embarrassed by my week-long leg-stubble and stinky feet from working the past 9 hours .

I also laughed in recognition of the "knowing too much" and the Golytely comment. I have two years before I'm supposed to go for a baseline colonoscopy (age 50) and I'm already stressing over it. I'm fortunately, very healthy, and go for my mammograms and paps every year (mammograms every 6 months because they're watching supposed calcification areas... :stone), grudgingly go in for RX renewals (required), but I'm motivated to stay as healthy as possible just to avoid the possibility of being hospitalized, but know that a chole or appy could be a possibility at any time. :uhoh21: Gives me incentive to always keep the legs and pits freshly shaved!

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I'm 45 and rarely ever sick. If I do get sick, I know what the problem is and take care of it myself. I absolutley hate going to the DR. I have been avoiding my annual pap crap because 1wk after the exam I may be doing rounds with the same DOC. I suppose if I had the chance to turn things around and the last memory the DR had of me was that I said to him, 'OK, drop your pants and climb up on this table.' Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He'd know I saw his big hairy butt and think twice about being irritable with me! Ha! :chuckle :rotfl:

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Specializes in Rehab, Step-down,Tele,Hospice.

I haven't had a PAP in approx 10 years due to the fact that all the Doc's on my insurance are the same one's I asst in surgery. NO WAY am I doing that.I generally diagnosis myself and than get one of the Doc's to write me a script, I havn't died yet so I guess I'm guessing ok. :chuckle

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I don't think it is a "male"thing as a previous poster said-I do think it is a "nurse"thing although I know plenty of laypeople that avoid medical care until they are half-dead but I feel that is out of ignorance....For myself I think it is all about the lack of control over my own body...I also have a real fear of just about any procedure you can name because I KNOW what can go wrong (have seen it) and I KNOW some of it HURTS...God forbid if I ever have to rent an NG tube-they better give me a whopping dose of MSO4 first...A chest tube?How many of you have seen that done with minimal anesthesia?They would have to put me in 4 point leathers....I don't like my body being invaded-I do not like the loss of my dignity.I don't care of I am in v-tach-don't snatch my gown all of the way off...argh..Our experiences as a patient makes us better nurses....Yrs ago I had to go to the OR for a D&C-I remember being told to scoot over onto the OR table-well,I was stoned blind from whatever the heck they had given me so I scooted-almost across the table and off the other side...I could not see anything but bright light-and I still remember the screeching laughter while they all scrambled to grab me to stop me from falling.I don't think it was funny...I also remember nurses getting a kick out of my mother when she had a reaction to IV zantac in the hospital and had increased confusion and hallucinations for several days...I did not think it was so damn funny,you know? That was MY MOTHER sitting in a geri-chair and eating invisible cheese doodles.....I know we have to keeo our sense of humor to get through the day but darn-don't laugh right in the patients face...

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I think the problem here is that ya'll are going to DOCTORS instead of NP's :D :D :D

Seriously, it's dangerous to gamble with your health. You need to be seen a minium of once a year. No discussion. It's a must!

Dave

I have to agree, I try at all costs to go to an NP rather than a MD. :chuckle

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

My physical doctor is an MD.

My uh "female" doctor is an NP.

I try to get both the physical and that loads-of-fun yearly exam done in the same day. Makes things a lot easier on me.

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Zacaries- a Zpak is a Zithromax dose pack. The Prednisone was for the swollen throat, and the pressure due to my ear canals swelling shut. It decreased the inflammation and made it bearable untill the ATB kicked in and did it's thing. Amazing little pills...

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I think the problem here is that ya'll are going to DOCTORS instead of NP's :D :D :D......

!

Dave

When I lived in Az, I saw a fantastic NP. She actually listened to me, and actually had a plan of care for me, and actually addressed my concerns. How's that for amazing!?

Where I live now, there is only one NP in the area. I saw her and she is the PITS. I miss my old NP! :crying2:

As for docs... I've never met one I would want to treat me!

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