Frustrating Things Patients Do

[SpecterGT260]

the second one sounds more sad than annoying

Right? Poor little old lady isn't gunna go home and git her some..... Exactly what I was thinking

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[phikapdoctor]

Patient lite a cigarette in the E.D. after we finished taking all his labs, we told him to put it out, so then he proceeded to discharge himself before getting his results. Turns out he had ulcer colitis.

 

[Poetic Silence]

Patient lite a cigarette in the E.D. after we finished taking all his labs, we told him to put it out, so then he proceeded to discharge himself before getting his results. Turns out he had ulcer colitis.

"Nicotine is not addictive."

~Big Tobacco~

 

[DrSnips]

Patient lite a cigarette in the E.D. after we finished taking all his labs, we told him to put it out, so then he proceeded to discharge himself before getting his results. Turns out he had ulcer colitis.

How in the heck did they diagnose ulcerative colitis from labs done in the ED?

 

[phikapdoctor]

How in the heck did they diagnose ulcerative colitis from labs done in the ED?

Past patient history, blood, stool tests, ct,
And recommended colonoscopy to confirm.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

"Nicotine is not addictive."

~Big Tobacco~

Anti-smoking is a scam man don't you know?

http://www.americansmokersparty.com/votethebumsout/

 

[HurricaneKatt]

Who is "the provider"? The physician? The nurse practitioner? The PA? Be more specific.

"Provider" is one of those terms that is used in places that have midlevels, and it confuses people as to who they are actually seeing.

Sorry. Provider = NP. In Alaska Nurse Practitioners have full practice rights. I work in an NP based family practice office.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

This is a daily thing you'll see in rotations. It can be frustrating when they have uncontrolled diseases and don't care to change, but some people want to change, but don't know how. Or they get defensive with the way the topic is brought up. Sometimes I see residents telling them "You should stop the drugs and eat right and go running!" and leave it like that, and the resident wonders why nothing has happened. -__-

So much of it seems like it comes down to how you approach them about it, but even then some people aren't going to change.
It made me pretty sad one day. We had a couple bring in their kid, all 3 obese. The child was, if I remember correctly, determined to be diabetic at or shortly after their visit. Several other family members were diabetic, and mom at the least was non-compliant. They also had bad hygiene. Their clothes were dirty, and they smelled. I just felt so bad for the kid. The kid has no control over being born into that family. While the parents obviously loved their child, I just feel like the kid will just face an uphill battle her whole life, through no fault of her own, just because of her upbringing, financial and family situation, and genetics. And it's like, if mom is non-compliant with her diabetes care, will the child get the proper care and treatment that she needs? Probably not. I felt like just sitting down with the kid and helping teach her how to eat properly and encouraging her to get involved in some sort of athletic activity if she could and just give her positive encouragement. But would that really change anything?

 

[KnuxNole]

Having lots of patience with patients is key. Maybe I still have rose colored glasses as a med student, but there are people who want to change, you just have to assess it. If you ask if they are interested in quitting/adjusting and they say no, you just tell them that if they ever want to make some changes, they know where to go. Some people just don't know how to change, what alternates they can do, or just grew up that way.

Forcing someone to change lifestyles or not understanding their side makes them defensive. Which is what I noticed a lot of residents doing: telling them to change/what they are doing is bad, and expecting them to follow without taking time to educate them or ask if they actually want to change. Because apparently telling someone that losing weight is a good idea in 5 secs = patient education.