Patients knowing medical lingo

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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 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.
tongue
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I feel kind of bad for the patient that is so chronically ill that they know all the lingo and such. It means they've been in the hospital or dealing with the issue for a while. I don't think I could deal with chronic illness like that.

The internet has been both a blessing and a curse for the "informed consumer".

Yes I definitely agree with this- actually I couldn't agree more and you couldn't have said it better. I was perfectly fine and healthy until I came down with what we thought was a run-of-the-mill stomach virus in December and never got better. We did sooooo many tests and procedures, even traveled up to the Mayo Clinic in attempt to find a diagnosis, but like someone else mentioned, was bounced to different specialties. Luckily, my Mom and I were very adament about getting records and reports from every hospitalization or procedure and put them all together in a binder. We FINALLY got the correct diagnosis (chronic pancreatitis, which is understandable that it took a while to find because I do NOT fit the normal presentation- I'm only 17 and have never had an alcoholic drink in my life, and autonomic dysfunction- postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome to be exact- a.k.a./f.y.i. my ANS doesn't work right and respond to gravity correctly which causes a whole slew of other issues). We carry my binder of all the records in chronological order to every doctor appointment, keep and updated Excel document of both my meds and contacts/doctors, and keep my MedicAlert profile updated at all times as well. I can't even begin to tell you how helpful having all the records and therefor learning the terminology has been.

Though I've known I've wanted to be a nurse for years now and on my own researched and learned much of the basic medical jargon (and also volunteer in a Children's hospital so I hear some there too), I would have been so confused and frustrated if I had not. I've been in and out of the hospital so much this year that it has gotten to the point where when the nursing students don't know what to do I DO and help them! (haha saline bath anyone??) Though it certainly hasn't been any fun in a any way dealing with all this, it is nice to know that I already have that basic knowledge.

I also use the internet (reputable sites only- Medline is my main source by far) to every extent, and actually found the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis on my own and had a "lightbulb" moment and knew right away that's what it was- I had every symptom listed and it described exactly how I felt. But I didn't want to sound like a hypochondriac or cyberchondriac so I didn't say anything, but it turns out I was right. Now it's helpful (okay really frustrating) looking back at all the records and seeing all the signs and symptoms that were dismissed as other things, but oh well I can't complain- there are so many people out there desperate to find a correct diagnosis so in retrospect five months of searching isn't terrible.

Anyways, I was very interested to see this thread, as I always wonder what nurses and doctors think when I understand things they don't think I will. For the most part I definitely think that my knowledge has been appreciated, as it makes everyone's communication better, and also because they are both chronic illnesses I know it's not going away anytime soon I think it's incredibly important to know what's going on inside of my body. Though I definitely don't spout off jargon to impress anyone or use it to "drop names" I just know it because I'm dealing with it, and everyone always encourages a smart and aware patient, especially when I'm inpatient and there are a TON of different specialties involved and a "too many cooks in the kitchen" situation arises from orders being changed- glad we were on top of that otherwise we would have had some unfortunate med issues.

Haha I'm glad I do pay close attention since my Mom still hasn't mastered these 24/7 home IV abx and saline infusions (bloodstream staph infection from being in the hospital) even though we're on week three! All I can say is I'm glad I wanted to go into nursing before all this! And for the record since I get this question all the time, YES I do still want to go into nursing even after spending 77 days in the hospital this year. You are such an amazing group of people and I have more respect for you than any other profession and cannot wait to join you. You all work harder than anyone else and though you may encounter some unfortunate situations, you mean more to patients like me than I can ever begin to express. I thought I knew what the definition of "compassion" was, but it was truly demonstrated to me by an amazing group of nurses. A HUGE thank-you to all of you for everything- especially the little things that you do to go above and beyond!

Wow sorry I didn't intend on making this so long but just thought I would offer insight from a pre-pre-nursing student that has spent her time in the hospital this year. I was intrigued by all the replies and am relieved to hear that you don't find people like me that have chronic illnesses and have medical knowledge of them annoying, disrespectful, or rude among other things! Thanks again!

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Great post! And surprisingly, a whole heck of a lot of patients actually really DO know what NPO means. However, the latin words that NPO stands for? Now THAT'S another story. ;)

Hugz,

Carrie :)

Oh my gosh that drives me insane, and you're right about many patients knowing what NPO means, but it DOES NOT stand for "nothing per oral"!!!! It's Latin!!! And haha, for the record, it's nil per os.

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

We get in a hurry, we get pressured, we're no different from anyone else in that regard. But as long as we hold ourselves to a higher standard, we won't be critical of patients who "know something," we'll teach them a little more. And if a patient leaves the hospital having learned something, even if it is "what does NPO mean?" we have improved the life of that patient, even just a wee little bit.

And isn't that what we are about?

Great point...knowledge is power!

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Oh my gosh that drives me insane, and you're right about many patients knowing what NPO means, but it DOES NOT stand for "nothing per oral"!!!! It's Latin!!! And haha, for the record, it's nil per os.

Hehehe Yes I have heard a variety of explanations for what such Latin phrases mean. It always makes me laugh! One of my earlier jobs in a hospital was working in dietary nutrition...did it part time for 3 years, on breaks from school. So, that's when I learned what all of the typical abbreviations were that would be used in our area, including NPO and then supplements are also written in the same terms of BID, etc. Anyways...for that job, the RD we worked with did require us to know what the words were in Latin. Good call on his part! :)

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