When you overhear someone discussing "medical things", and they say something you know is wrong, do you correct them? Not friends or family here. Like, if you are at a store and hear someone say something, or, like happens so often, if you are in a pts room and the visitors are talking as if you weren't in the room, and they say something that is blatantly wrong (like "I take lasix for my cholesterol"), do you say anything, or just let it go? I'm not talking about anything that would involve the patient - or anything that would be dangerous. Just people who think they know what they are talking about, but dont.
Depends on the situation. Like most, I don't want to appear like the know-it-all type.
Saturday night, I was in CVS and there was only one other customer in the store. This guy came in asking the clerk to help him find medicine for a stye on his eye. He went on to tell the clerk that he had an interview on Monday and really wanted this this problem resolved. I just mentioned that he should try warm compresses - a pretty benign suggestion I think.
Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.
If it is a patient or their caregiver, I will provide the correct info. I'll also say something to my closest family members or friends. Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut & hope that their ignorance doesn't land them a bed on my floor.
If it's a family member telling a patient something incorrect, I definitely correct them.
If it's somebody at Wal-Mart, I usually just MMOB even if I get a little laugh. Unless it's something really dangerous, which I haven't really ever heard. At that point I might speak up but like I said have never really experienced that. Good thread topic!
If I don't know the person, I usually don't say anything...once I was waiting in line somewhere and I heard a lady say to her husband, "He has rosacea...you know, the thing babies get from aspirin." I just giggled to myself... don't want to embarrass anyone if unnecessary.
Nope.. keep my mouth shut.. except when it's my Mom.. she keeps insisting her neighbor had a "rotator cup tear" and my Dad had "trigemini neuralgia"... I still can't get it in her head right....
If patients/family are asking questions to one another about what you are doing, take this as an opportunity to do some teaching. Patient education is the key to keeping them informed on what you are doing and why...
I'm not talking about anything that requires pt education, and please don't insinuate that I don't educate my pts. Education is my favorite part of this job. That being said, I don't have time to educate each of the 37 family members about why cousin Ed is taking protonix.
I'm talking about when you go through a list of meds with a pt, and as you start to give them, a family member walks into the room. They look at the patient and say "what is she giving you?", that kind of situation. Or when visitors are not paying attention while you talk to the pt, and you start to, say, strip a JP or something, and they say, either to the pt or each other, "what is she doing?". If you tell me that has never happened to you, I will be very surprised. That is completely different from them saying something to the pt about meds or whatever, or from dealing with issues involving safety or anything.
I'm not talking about anything that requires pt education, and please don't insinuate that I don't educate my pts. Education is my favorite part of this job. That being said, I don't have time to educate each of the 37 family members about why cousin Ed is taking protonix.
I'm talking about when you go through a list of meds with a pt, and as you start to give them, a family member walks into the room. They look at the patient and say "what is she giving you?", that kind of situation. Or when visitors are not paying attention while you talk to the pt, and you start to, say, strip a JP or something, and they say, either to the pt or each other, "what is she doing?". If you tell me that has never happened to you, I will be very surprised. That is completely different from them saying something to the pt about meds or whatever, or from dealing with issues involving safety or anything.
I was not in ANY way insinuating you do not educate your patients but merely stating that there is no such thing as too much education. Things like you described happen every day in my job, and each and every time I explain what is going on... It usually does not take more than a few seconds while I am taking pills out of packages or hanging an IV to explain to them what I am doing. If my brief explanation does not satisfy their curiosity I will refer them to the MD. Maybe we just have different styles of nursing (and I am NOT saying one is better than the next) I just make a point to constantly be informing my patients and their visitors of why something is done and when I am sick of explaining what protonix is for, I will ask cousin Ed to explain it to his family (while I listen of course) and then I fill in or correct any misinformation... This does take more time of course but is also a major part of nursing.
NurseCherlove
367 Posts
Depends on the situation. Like most, I don't want to appear like the know-it-all type.
Saturday night, I was in CVS and there was only one other customer in the store. This guy came in asking the clerk to help him find medicine for a stye on his eye. He went on to tell the clerk that he had an interview on Monday and really wanted this this problem resolved. I just mentioned that he should try warm compresses - a pretty benign suggestion I think.