Research for fiction -- could really some help

Specialties Gastroenterology

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As I mention in the subject line, I am researching for a piece of fiction I am writing and I assure you it is strictly fiction, so I am not asking for any medical advice, just opinion that will in no way impact any real person in any way.

If anyone is available to provide an answer for the very ignorant (read: me), it would be very much appreciated.

My question is whether a patient can have ice chips if they have an NG tube and their stomach is decompressed? If not, what can be done to ease the sore throat post-op (with an NG tube in)?

Thanks so much for indulging me.

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They can have minimal ice chips with a doctors order. Xlocain, chloroseptic type sprays can help with the sore throat, also with a doctors order. Occaisionally rinsing and spiting will help with mouth dryness, as do glycerine swabs. NG tubes are always uncomfortable for patients. Good luck with writing your fictional story. Sounds interesting.

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Thank you. You've just proved 1000 times more helpful than an hour of futile research.

Again, thanks so much.

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You're welcome!

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
As I mention in the subject line, I am researching for a piece of fiction I am writing and I assure you it is strictly fiction, so I am not asking for any medical advice, just opinion that will in no way impact any real person in any way.

If anyone is available to provide an answer for the very ignorant (read: me), it would be very much appreciated.

My question is whether a patient can have ice chips if they have an NG tube and their stomach is decompressed? If not, what can be done to ease the sore throat post-op (with an NG tube in)?

Thanks so much for indulging me.

I'm so glad you asked, SanDiego. I'm all for literary license, but it annoys me to no end when I'm happily entrenched in an otherwise good novel and the author has some poor patient getting treated with something so radically wrong that I cannot finish reading the book.

So maybe you can enlighten us--when we see something like that, is there someone we can write to and get a correction?

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I'm so glad you asked, SanDiego. I'm all for literary license, but it annoys me to no end when I'm happily entrenched in an otherwise good novel and the author has some poor patient getting treated with something so radically wrong that I cannot finish reading the book.

So maybe you can enlighten us--when we see something like that, is there someone we can write to and get a correction?

I completely understand where you're coming from. While I know close to nothing about medicine (and as a rule, I *shouldn't* really write about it), I am an expert on another subject matter, and I simply avoid any books and or movies that are based on the subject because it's just never "right."

Getting a correction is tricky. Your best bet is to write directly to the writer and not the publisher. If it's something the author is inclined to change, they can do so before further editions are printed. Publishers won't care; they're just the middle men.

But like you said, fiction is -- as stated -- fiction, and authors are great abusers of dramatic license. But I know that, as an author, I would personally be very grateful if an expert took the time to correct something I had written -- if only to prevent the same mistake from appearing in my work again.

I don't know how you nurses manage to watch television with all the medical shows out there. You guys must go out of your minds watching all the wrong-doing!

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

Boy, you got that right. I did try to write to John Grisham and a couple of other of my favorites about it, but only found the publisher's address, which I thought would be useless.

So I vented here at Allnurses. Browse the forums, you'll pick up a lot of info, and feel free to ask questions.

Most of us are only too happy to promote the truth about nursing.

Here's a more recent thread on TV mistakes. Even though this thread is more about erroneous assumptions about the profession, there are plenty of other mistakes to be found in the average medical TV show:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f195/nurses-urge-tv-dramas-get-real-newark-star-ledger-200082.html

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I could see how getting through to an author like Grisham would be hard. You'd have to work through his agent, I guess. Whereas the little guys are just happy to get mail!

Browse the forums, you'll pick up a lot of info, and feel free to ask questions. Most of us are only too happy to promote the truth about nursing.

Thanks so much. And I've learned a ton already just by browsing these forums. I have to admit, I half expected to get the boot after I posted my question, but you've all been very kind and accommodating. I'm very grateful. And I hope you won't mind if I call on your expertise again in the future. All in the name of fiction, of course :)

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