Patients that utilize WebMD

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I have nothing against the site webmd. In fact, I'll use it once in a blue moon if I'm curious about something. However, sometimes patient use webmd as a diagnosing tool. Had a parent call the unit yesterday after an hour she and her newborn were discharged convinced that the newborn had Cerebral palsy. She said she looked up the sx on web md and said that the newborn had all the sx, for example "left sided stiffness". I and another NNP cared for the newborn over the weekend and we never saw such sx. Ofcourse she was directed to the NNP for any further questions or concerns but this sure did give me a nice chuckle.

[amoLucia]

Before the 'Age of Computers', it used to be that the National Enquirer was the unofficial medical font of wisdom.

[linzjane88]

Oooh yeah. You can always tell when they are Web MD'ing it. The terminology is always so out of the norm when you look at the entire picture. You have headache, edema, vision changes, and decreased urine output....AND you want a taxi voucher? Ya don't say.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I'd rather they consult WebMD, which at least has medical experts contributing, than Google.