That Good Housekeeping article

traumamomtx · Oct 29, 2005

I can't wait to read this article and I plan on responding if it isn't fair and just. Seems like the respect level for nursing has gone down so much in general.. I guess that patients think that the doctors can stay and pass their meds, assess them constantly, drop an NGT, place a catheter, and just be their to listen to them complaints and all. Unreal how poorly nurses are treated these days. I actually had a nurse tell me the other night that she "went into a patients room and the pt was cursing at her because he was woke up for vitals (he was GSW fresh post-op), a DFS check, and he was tired of it" she politely asked him to please stop cursing at her that she was doing her job and taking care of him. His wife responded by saying "he can cuss if he wants we're paying the bill". CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!!!! All I can say is he is lucky he wasn't my pt because I would of been down there giving them the what for in a professional but stern tone thinking in my mind you both need to be slapped and demerol/ morphine withheld a little longer then needed.:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

LydiaNN · Oct 29, 2005

I got the same generic response to my e-mail that you did. IMHO, no one at the magazine gets a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for this piece of trash.

Victoriakem · Oct 29, 2005

At my ED a group of us wrote a letter & faxed it to Good Housekeeping, basically telling them not to have patients lie to the nurse, have the patient relay their symptoms to the health care provider & not someone else, unless they are totally incapable of doing it themselves, ie dementia, etc, & not to expect to be at the head of the line just because their Doc called in their information. I told one young woman that I had several people with notes from their Docs & that she would just have to wait to be seen like the rest. I can't wait to see the fall out from this to GH. This was very damaging for all of us & creates unreasonable expectations from the public, many of whom haven't a clue of what we do. However, I am finding that with all the nursing shortage news, that people actually think that nurses can be valuable people to have take care of them. :clown:

Jen2 · Oct 29, 2005

I will be writing them also. It's bad enough that half of our drug seekers figured out that if they say they have chest pain that they will be brought right back and recieve morphine right away, which of course does not work for them or they are allergic so then we start on the dilaudid, and just when you think you have given enough dilaudid, more dilaudid, dilaudid, dilaudid. Sorry but this is a sore subject for me when you have patients that are R/O appy's and so forth and then you have patients lie to you about their complaints only to get back to the main ED and have them tell the doctor the truth and then the doctor comes and gives you heck. Hey it's not our fault good housekeeping is telling people to lie. Then the person with the R/O appy or ectopic ends up perforating, because of all of the sudden onset of chest pains that we are crowded with. Off my soap box now, I think I'll tell GH about it now.

Mississippi_RN · Oct 29, 2005

I really think it is in poor taste for GH to endorse lying in any type of way, but most especially when your health is in trouble! Just the other day, a coworker and I were talking about the triage in our ER. She had brought her father in and there was another man who was sitting there when they got there. Well, they left about two hours later, having called her father's primary dr and got direct admit orders. However, that man was still there.. She had heard him tell the nurse on several occassions in a slurred speech that he did not "feel right" and his left arm was numb. The next day... he was in ICU...having had a CVA. Now, I understand that when all the acuity of the patients are about the same (somewhat stable) you need to go on a first come, first serve basis to be fair. However, when someone walks in that needs to be seen first (like someone who could have had a stroke and only has about 4 hours to receive TPA treatment) then they need to be seen first. By having people lie to the triage nurse, how in the world is she supposed to know who is really worse?!?!?

__:stone

Jen2 · Oct 29, 2005

By having people lie to the triage nurse, how in the world is she supposed to know who is really worse?!?!?

Exactly! I asked them in my letter to them if they would appreciate their childs appendix rupturing because someone came in and stated that they had a sudden onset of chest pain only to find out once the doctor sees them that their chest pain was from all the coughing that they have been doing for the last week because they have bronchitis. It happens all the time in the ED and the public needs to know that lying about your s/s can potentially put a very sick patient on the back burner.

babynurselsa, RN · Oct 29, 2005

The next aricle will undoubtably be about the overordering of testing in the ER due to patients lying about their symptoms. I am sure they will leave out the part about the patients lying.

This goes beyond ridiculious. I also agree that it opens up the potential for someone non-urgent to clogg up a bed that someone urgent may need and bad outcomes. Ohhh there is an idea for yet another article patients dying in teh waiting room because the cough x2 weeks who said chest pain x2hours got the bed first........

KatieBell · Oct 29, 2005

Holy Cow :confused:

I'm totally wondering just what happened, and when did GH magazine become authorized to give out medical advice. I'm really looking forward to triage this week.

And All I can think of is the annoying relative that comes out and asks for water when the patient keeps protesting "I am fine Aunt Susie, really!"

Oh this is a bit upsetting for my normally calm demeanor... :devil:

Jerico, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2005

Who is the MORON editor at GH?

mshooha · Oct 31, 2005

oooh, that just makes me seethe with anger. i too am going to speak my mind to them. i haven't read the article yet, i am almost afraid to. i am already angry enough without reading it.

RNCENCCRNNREMTP · Nov 1, 2005

I have not read the article but from the initial post I would add this. It is a good idea for patients with current, ongoing epistaxis to blow out all of the clots. A clot on the mucous membrane will not allow for vessel closure or retraction and so it will bleed and bleed no matter how much pressure is applied. Blowing out the clots allows for a fresh start, followed by firm manual compression x 10 full minutes without letting up. This will stop MOST anterior nosebleeds).

High blood pressure is rarely an acute cause for epistaxis (although chronic hypertension is a risk factor). I almost always see high BP in nosebleed patients (young and old). Mine would be up to if my nose would not stop bleeding, stress response and normal reaction. Get the epistaxis stopped and lo and behold, the BP comes down. IN 23 years I have never directly treated high BP in a nosebleed patient. It is not the cause, it is the effect.