Hot Cheetos are a public health menace

She caught me one day, I must have had a look on my face? Or maybe she was just used to explaining herself. She said, "I'm just so used to saying 'no' all the time to him ... 'no' to toys, 'no' to trips, 'no' to cool new shoes that everyone has, ... at least I can say 'yes' to the treats."

I felt like such a judgmental orifice. Until I walked in her shoes .... As someone who doesn't have to worry as much about money, who works a steady job, whose husband makes good money blah blah blah ... I don't place the same value on food as someone in her shoes might. I can say "yes" to the aquarium, "yes" to those new shoes ... and "no" to the Cheetos.

This hits home hard for me. Been there before. Still said no to the Cheetos (*most* of the time), but I fully understand the inclination to say yes. Bravo for seeing it from the other side.

I guess I am thinking a little differently but I do not think the person who wrote about this meant to make fun of a patient, I get frustrated at what goes on in the emergency room too. What goes on in the hospital. There are times we need to vent and this forum should be safe to do this as long as HIPAA is adhered to.

I come from a background that you could only complain if you were really sick. Looking back I remembering seeing a doctor maybe 2 or 3 times. One time a big fish hook stuck in my leg, another time the bottom of my foot got sliced from a soda pop pull tab (back in the day when the pop tabs came off and you threw them on the ground) and 3rd a motor vehicle accident with my pops on a logging road. It is how I am taught to access health care-only in an emergency. Any troubles i.e. stomach upset, cold, flu, chicken pox you treated at home. Heck I remember one time I had hot embers form the fire place give me 2nd degree burn on my arm. We treated it at home. I am still alive.

In todays society people are taught to seek medical attention for any little affliction. I know there are stereotypes of people on WIC, food stamps-assistance and I think the programs are great but sometimes I wonder about people healthcare choices, about choices people make in general about availability of food, about access to food, quality of food, and how some people say, children in America are starving.

Being prior Military I have been to 3rd world countries and seen starving children/people, I have seen the Kurdish camps in the first Iraq war and how those people starved up in the mountains, and being a geriatric specialist I have seen how humans at the end of their life slowly "waste away" into a skeleton.

Getting back to emergency room behavior of patients. I can understand how medical staff assigned to the emergency room could have the need to vent when patients come in with their own "snacks" . It tells me the emergency room is being treated with about as much respect as a movie theater.

What we need to do is educate people about diseases and cost. Educate people starting in the school system as young as 1st grade. Develop a plan that takes a patient throughout their life in different grades so by the time the school children get to high school, the patient they are learning about has 2 chronic care conditions and they most surely will know the history of how they got there. Incorporate economics into the picture, the cost of diabetic supplies, the cost of a blood test, all this should be so transparent to a patient just like going to the grocery store and knowing what is on the shelves and the cost. Knowing the actual cost of medication with and without insurance, how much the state you live in gets monies from the state and government and how it is allocated.

All these are not transparent at all in the US. Most people do not know the true cost of their healthcare, of what it takes entering the front door of your PCP to walking out and everything in between-we need to teach that so people understand. I would like to think once this is accomplished people will then truly understand healthcare and treat it better than what they are currently doing.

This hits home hard for me. Been there before. Still said no to the Cheetos (*most* of the time), but I fully understand the inclination to say yes. Bravo for seeing it from the other side.

Okay, but the occasional time you did say yes, would it have been fair for an observer who didn't know you to decide that you didn't care about the health of your kids? I mean, the evidence was right in front of their face, right?

This just shows that one snapshot of a person does not even remotely give us enough of a picture to make judgments.

Getting back to emergency room behavior of patients. I can understand how medical staff assigned to the emergency room could have the need to vent when patients come in with their own "snacks" . It tells me the emergency room is being treated with about as much respect as a movie theater.

What we need to do is educate people about diseases and cost. Educate people starting in the school system as young as 1st grade. Develop a plan that takes a patient throughout their life in different grades so by the time the school children get to high school, the patient they are learning about has 2 chronic care conditions and they most surely will know the history of how they got there. Incorporate economics into the picture, the cost of diabetic supplies, the cost of a blood test, all this should be so transparent to a patient just like going to the grocery store and knowing what is on the shelves and the cost. Knowing the actual cost of medication with and without insurance, how much the state you live in gets monies from the state and government and how it is allocated.

All these are not transparent at all in the US. Most people do not know the true cost of their healthcare, of what it takes entering the front door of your PCP to walking out and everything in between-we need to teach that so people understand. I would like to think once this is accomplished people will then truly understand healthcare and treat it better than what they are currently doing.

What does the above have to do with the unfortunate patient and her family in the OP's scenario? The ED is not a house of worship. Patients/family members bringing "snacks" to the ED? When they may spend six hours (or more) in the ED and miss lunch and dinner it's actually a sensible idea. Then they won't have to bother the staff asking for a turkey sandwich (another frequent complaint of nurses on this forum) when the cafeteria is closed. Patients/family members can't win.

Again, what does educating patients as to the cost of their care have to do with the unfortunate family in the OP's scenario? My health plan doesn't publish this information and the medical group only publishes basic information on fees ahead of care being received. People who are poor and don't have medical insurance/adequate medical insurance will naturally be likely to use the ED more.

Bad post OP. Near retiring anytime soon?

Okay, but the occasional time you did say yes, would it have been fair for an observer who didn't know you to decide that you didn't care about the health of your kids? I mean, the evidence was right in front of their face, right?

This just shows that one snapshot of a person does not even remotely give us enough of a picture to make judgments.

Other people's opinions of me are none of my business. If they want to stew in their own negativity, they're welcome to it. If they're looking for guilt or self-loathing on my part, they aren't going to find it. Trying to change the opinion of someone who already had their mind made up before they had all the facts is a waste of my time.

Other people's opinions of me are none of my business. If they want to stew in their own negativity, they're welcome to it. If they're looking for guilt or self-loathing on my part, they aren't going to find it.

The point isn't whether or not you personally care about other peoples' opinions, it's to make the point that seeing a person in one particular moment of their lives tells us very little about who they are. And that is something that NURSES need to remember.

The point isn't whether or not you personally care about other peoples' opinions, it's to make the point that seeing a person in one particular moment of their lives tells us very little about who they are. And that is something that NURSES need to remember.

I know you're looking hard for some kind of disagreement, but I don't disagree with that.

I would have taken the opportunity to educate my patient on how this kind of food can cause abdominal issues and why.

I remember when I was young and stupid, and no one had ever educated me on healthy eating habits. I grew up thinking it was okay to drink only soda, eat cereal, chips, and boxed/canned foods. I didn't know any better until I started to educate myself. If someone had respectfully said something to me along the way, it would of been helpful! Standing in judgment does nothing to advocate for your patient.

In my early 20's, I did a complete 180 and became the purist of healthy eating and exercise. I also majored in nutrition at university before becoming a nurse. I still didn't feel any better overall from eating extremely healthy and exercising. So I became more balanced and now I feel better! Really managing stress and making sure to get enough rest is what made me feel better. I know from experience, that yes eating a bunch of junk food is bad and cause harm but eliminating it doesn't always completely heal a person. Balance is important and just because you feel amazing being fit and eating healthy doesn't mean someone else will feel that way. Gene's play an important part - epigenetics! They may have a lifetime of unhealthy eating to unlearn.

Advocate! Judging our patient's doesn't help them or us for that matter!

Reminds me a lot of Terry Wahls's work. Thank you for posting.

What we need to do is educate people about diseases and cost. Educate people starting in the school system as young as 1st grade. Develop a plan that takes a patient throughout their life in different grades so by the time the school children get to high school, the patient they are learning about has 2 chronic care conditions and they most surely will know the history of how they got there. Incorporate economics into the picture, the cost of diabetic supplies, the cost of a blood test, all this should be so transparent to a patient just like going to the grocery store and knowing what is on the shelves and the cost. Knowing the actual cost of medication with and without insurance, how much the state you live in gets monies from the state and government and how it is allocated.

Oh how I liked this post, though I am not 100% concordant with it. I am so passionate about the two Americas and how one gets crap food, and the other generally avoids it and gets to shop at WFoods, has the time not to mention the money to choose slowly and leisurely, to read up on the food, to cook it with love and enthusiasm, share it, with increasing knowledge. This must change! I believe that we need to advertise and those ads need to feature images of things like Starbucks lattes, candy bars, bags of chips, just the usual junk food, with a question mark next to the image. Then an arrow leading to bottles of metformin, glipizide, eliquis, hctz, atorvastatin etc and so on. Because that's what it's about, for me, pure and simple. End of story. And we need to realize that poverty, stress, and lack of time will lead to these choices which leads to ill health. This is so glaringly obvious to me.

/rant

Ok, let's examine my points from the opening statement. There are several themes and subject matter I brought up.

I don't think anybody misunderstood you.