What awkward advice have your family members asked for?

[NurseLauraM]

Ever since becoming a nurse, heck even while I was still in nursing school, my family members (and non-nursing friends) have come to me with medical questions. Of course I expected this to some extent. However, what I did not anticipate was the amount of very private information that would be shared with me, by some otherwise very reserved family members.

A few I can think of:

- Sister who frequently asks about issues "down there"

- Father who suddenly loves to tell me all about his bathroom habits (even when they are perfectly normal)

- Same father who calls me, no matter the time of night, every time he takes a Tylenol or Advil (for his arthritis) to "consult" with me because he "doesn't want to become addicted to pain killers". The kicker is he never takes more than one, every couple of weeks, and has never been prescribed a controlled substance. Despite his limited use in very low doses of non-addictive medications he has this irrational fear of becoming dependent on any sort of medication (hey I guess it's better than wanting a medication for every little boo-boo)

- Very shy aunt who pulled me aside to tell me about a rash on her bottom at a family dinner

So what are some odd/embarrassing/awkward or just plain ridiculous medical questions your family members come to you with?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Not a question, but a few years ago while visiting my parents, my aunt called my mom. Very quickly, I hear my mom blurt "Here.I.Stand can help you" and she gives me the phone. My aunt was calling to request help inserting her lady partsl estrogen ring .

[Davey Do]

This isn't about a family member asking any awkward questions, but what the heck:

A little over 20 years ago, a farmer hurriedly drove his pickup to my house and asked me to come with him, for a fella had run his four wheeler into a concrete bridge about a mile down the road. I grabbed my big fishing box medical kit I've had since I became an EMT and jumped in the truck with him.

On the way, the farmer said he was passing by when he saw this guy laying in the road with another couple of guys standing around. Well, except for one guy, who was beating the accident victim on the chest.

I arrived and a couple of guys were standing around, so I got out my stethoscope, BP cuff, and flashlight. His VS were okay, PEARL, and there were no body fluids leaking from his body. They said one of the guys had gone to fetch an ambulance. These were the days before cellphones were ubiquitous.

One of the guys said, "Shouldn't you be doing something?!" I told him that his VS were okay, he was breathing okay, he wasn't bleeding, so the only thing to do was to keep him safe and monitor him until the ambulance arrived.

When the ambulance arrived, I gave the Paramedics a report while they took over. They relayed their appreciation and did their job.

The accident victim turned out to have suffered a closed head injury, was transferred to St. Louis, and everything came out okay.

[globalRN]

I get asked for antibiotic script....I explain why I can't ...end of story.

[Burnt Out, ASN, RN]

There was a man that used to help my husband at his family's business. He came to our house one day to help my husband move something because it was too heavy for me. He told me he thought he had a kidney infection and asked if I had any antibiotics "laying around". I told him no, that I didn't have any and then I nicely and gently told him that NO one should have leftover antibiotics as you need to always finish the course you're prescribed unless you have severe side effects or an allergic reaction and you've notified your doctor about it and you've been told to stop the antibiotic.

My dad likes to talk about his bathroom habits as well.

[Davey Do]

My dad likes to talk about his bathroom habits as well.

We old guys are like that.

I'm always keeping my work wife, Eleanor, up on my bowel status. She's so loving. She says things like, "Thanks. I didn't need to know that."

Who else am I going to tell? Belinda doesn't want to hear about my bowel status. And she's a medical nurse!

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

My father thinks I'm a veterinarian, rather than an RN. He has called me to ask me if I had supplies so he could artificially inseminate his dog. I did have a foley catch kit from school clinicals left over, so I explained how to use it....

A few months later, he asked me to determine whether his dog was pregnant...um....how? I am not an OB nurse and besides, how would I know where a dogs cervix was or how to get one to pee on a stick?!

Awhile after that, he asked me to check on his dogs foot for s/sx of infection and to tell him which tx is appropriate. I was able to assess the foot for erythema and swelling but he looked at me strangely when I told him I think his dog needs antibiotics and I have none---I explained I'm not a pharmacist!

(PS he has been breeding pure bred doggies since before I was born....not sure why he needed my help....LOL!)