Patients knowing medical lingo

unc005 · Jun 15, 2005

This is something I would be interested in knowing too! LOL. I would be interested in knowing this on several different levels: as a nursing student as well as a patient(Type II diabetic, neurosurgery pt, etc.). Hmmm...*VERY* interesting(and good!) question!

Erin

P.S. *Personally* for me, I LOVE knowing what I know;-)---the the doctors and nurses that I deal with---as a patient---love it too;-). I can especially say this most recently having gone through two brain surgeries, and with one neurosurgery resident in mind;-). He even had come in late for one of my procedures, explained it was due to two VERY sick children---brain tumors, but that since I was a nursing student, he felt comfortable telling me this/had no problems letting me know the details. LOL. *SIGH* I thought that was neat.

evans_c1 · Jun 15, 2005

I like it to a certain extent. When they aare not even in the medical field tho, and THINK they know more than you when you are trying to convey something it is irritating. Sometimes I have to bite my tounge.

NurseforPreggers · Jun 15, 2005

What I find funny is when patients or their family members have a very small knowledge of medical lingo, but will find a way to throw the few words that they know around.

I had a pt's husband ask me the other day if I was going to TITRATE my IV drip rate. I said well ... its lactated ringers and they are on the pump at 125 mL/hr which is the doctor's ordered rate. He says yes, but I didn't see you count the drops per min to confirm accuracy. :uhoh3: I had to keep insisting to him that IT WAS ON A PUMP that is designed to run at the speed you program in.

It always makes me chuckle a little when father's ask me if they need to SCRUB IN to observe a lady partsl birth.

nurse_wannabe · Jun 15, 2005

Wow, I was just contemplating this this morning! :chuckle I am going to have a C/S soon, and am seeing my OBGYN on Monday... I was making a list of all of the questions I have, and one of them was whether or not I had to be NPO for a certain amount of hours prior. Then that made me wonder how she would react to me saying NPO... LOL. She knows I'm about to graduate nursing school, but I don't want her thinking I'm a know-it-all or show-off, because I'm really still quite unsure of myself. But then again, isn't it MUCH easier to say NPO than "am I able to eat?" Perhaps I should just stop being so anal and find something more important to worry about... :rolleyes:

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jun 15, 2005

Do you like it when patients know the basic medical lingo like sub-q, IM, the name of their disorder or diesease, and other such stuff?

I guess it depends on the patient. Last night I had one with very good veins (and a #16 in the ac) tell me that she was a hard stick. Yeah, tell me about it.... :rolleyes:

I explained in vain (hah! bad bad pun there!) that she could have been at that time because she was dehydrated, but she was certainly not dehydrated this admit.

I stuck her in a good spot and she flinched, I blew it, and it only confirmed her theory. Second stick, I just set her up and put it in before she could notice.

In her case, it really would've been better for her to know nothing at all about "hard sticks."

SmilingBluEyes · Jun 15, 2005

A "little" knowledge is a dangerous thing...

sometimes, it's not good.

But I do like well-educated and assertive consumers. They actually make my job EASIER. But just cause they know "lingo" and a "few" facts, does not mean they know enough. Sometimes, like I said, a *little* knowledge can be dangerous.

PamUK · Jun 15, 2005

I don't get irritated at all when patients/families know the medical lingo... should make your life easier, you may not have to explain everything in great detail because they will already know. Also, many patients with long term or rare illness know an awful lot more than the health care professionals because they have endeavoured to find out. We should celebrate this, not try to put them "back in their place" We don't have a monopoly on medical terminology. Patients are also less frightened and anxious when they know what you are talking about. How do you feel when you go to another profession and they talk their jargon & lingo and use their abbreviations? Lost... bewildered, confused, disorientated, panicky?

In the UK, the Department of Health has issued national guidance to actively encourage patients to participate in their care during intrathecal chemotherapy. The reasons behind this are that, many patients know exactly what drugs they are meant to receive and when... it helps prevent disastrous consequences of the incorrect drugs being given intrathecally instead of intravenously.

We should be moving away from the paternal model of "we know best, so don't interfere" attitudes

Trauma Columnist · Jun 15, 2005

While I like the well-educated consumer (thanks SmilingBlueEyes), I get a little freaked out over the ER patient that comes in with reams of paper he printed out from the internet about what his symptoms could be! Gee whiz - than they get offended that we don't have time to peruse reams of information that we most likely, already know!

SmilingBluEyes · Jun 15, 2005

While I like the well-educated consumer (thanks SmilingBlueEyes), I get a little freaked out over the ER patient that comes in with reams of paper he printed out from the internet about what his symptoms could be! Gee whiz - than they get offended that we don't have time to peruse reams of information that we most likely, already know!

that is what I mean. who said anything about a "we know best" attitude? If a consumer is truly educated, "lingo" is not what he/she is focused on, anyway. Too little knowledge is a very dangerous thing. My educating them does not convey a "we know best attitude" when I do it.

akcarmean, LPN · Jun 15, 2005

that is what I mean. who said anything about a "we know best" attitude? If a consumer is truly educated, "lingo" is not what he/she is focused on, anyway. Too little knowledge is a very dangerous thing. My educating them does not convey a "we know best attitude" when I do it.

I myself think that a little knowledge if used in the correct way (just as knowledge and to understand) is ok. Even as an LPN there are some people that when I see them I don't even let them know I am an LPN and let them do their job. B/c there are some things that I do not know or it has been awhile since I have seen or had it done so I don't say a word.

But I do assert myself and let it be know if I am treated like what I am say is not true or I am looked at like I am crazy or stupid then I first let them know that I am a nurse and that I have been dealing with this for blank many years so I can be talked to and treated with respect or they can get someone else to come in an see me. I hate being that way but when a nurse or a doctor trys to tell me that I am wrong about something that I have been dealing with since I was 15 years old now 33 or with my kids ADHD dealing with that for 8 years and have done extensive research, counsoling, and therapy now that's when I get upset and open up my mouth. But usually I don't say anything unless the nurse is starting to go into a lenghly discussion about something I'll stop her b/c it will save both her and myself time.

SmilingBluEyes · Jun 15, 2005

NO problem there, Angelia. Assertiveness is not synonymous with ignorance and aggression. I think you know what I meant by " a little knowledge".