Patients Think They’re Helping Doctors And Nurses By Doing These 55 Things But They’re Actually Not

Psychiatrist here- Using jargon or medical terms that they've decided describes what they're going through rather than describing the symptoms themselves. They may think it saves time or makes it easier for me, but are sometimes irritated that I will ask them to tell me what they mean or give examples of every single one. I'm not doing this to make life harder or challenge a patient, I actually need to know what a patient means when they say they "get manic." Most of the time, the term that the patient has used isn't accurate. 


So many medical terms have basically been hijacked by social media and twisted or diluted to the point of being meaningless, and most people don't see serious mental illness up close to appreciate what certain terms actually mean in a clinical sense. TV and movies are notorious for showing inaccurate portrayals of mental health conditions. And overall, there seems to be a wildly idealistic expectation of what "normal" looks like, to the point that people think they are severely mentally ill because they're not a happy, perfect, productive robot 24/7. .

When I try to assess my patient and the family members won’t stop answering

Edit: I don’t want to keep replying individual - I’m talking about, for example, if I’m trying to ask questions to a patient in an acute care ward of a hospital to assess their neurologic status - I don’t want anyone else but the patient to answer. Or if I go into the room and mention something that happened overnight to the patient to start a conversation where they can try to tell me what happened, and a family speaks first, it doesn’t help me assess the patients orientation, memory, cognition, speech pattern, gaze, affect, what their perception is, their understanding, where I need to educate, etc. I’m asking questions for many reasons other than what it seems. If I finish asking the patient and they’re a poor historian, we will PAY family to assist (jk but I wish, caregivers are saints). We love family, we love family collaboration.


someonebesidesme:
We had the opposite problem. Our mother lived to be 96, and during the last several years of her life, the doctors would ignore her, and ask us questions about her — even as she was sitting RIGHT THERE. We consistently had to tell them that she was the patient, and they needed to discuss her issues with her. She was sharp and alert right up to the end — could rattle off all her medications, dosages, side effects, etc., but the doctors would still try to engage us instead.

Stop watching Fox News. Can't tell you how many patients I've had that listened to bad health advice on Fox News that think that they are going to come in and teach me how to do my job. I have a degree in my field. Fox News does not.

Ophthalmologist here. Sometimes family members will help give the correct answers on the eye chart, especially when the patient is their child.


Me: What letters can you read on the chart?


Child struggles.


Parent whispers: It’s OFLCT.


Me (not out loud): Huh??


Shoddy_Signature_149:
I saw that a LOT while evaluating for concussion and clearance to return to sports. “You know, I already figure your brain is working OK. I need to check on theirs, though.”

Lie, minimise symptoms. As Dr House says, “ everybody lies”.

WelfordNelferd:
I was doing an admission assessment on a patient and asked if they smoked cigarettes. They said "Only when I drink". Then I asked how often/much they drank, and they said "Every day, all day".


flockyboi:
Yeah, feels like some people haven't heard the whole "always lie to the cops, never lie to your doctor" thing.

This is more for relatives but: when a patient brings a family member/friend to translate, I need them to translate, not speak for the patient.

I get that you think you're saving time, but I need to hear from my patient in their words, and they need to understand the specifics of what I'm asking or telling them.

Also, it's super dehumanising for us to just talk about a patient in front of them in a language they don't understand.

summer-lovers:
This is why I always use the translator for anything more than stopping in to ask if they need anything. Otherwise, I just don't have any confidence that family isn't interjecting their own ideas and observations


Queenpunkster:
It is strongly recommended to use a medical interpreter for anything in medicine, even with bilingual friends or family available.
One reason is that a layperson, even an intelligent person, is not going to have the medical terminology to appropriately explain things to the patient and to assess understanding. This even applies to doctors who speak the language, who did not have their medical training in that language. For example, a native Spanish speaker who had their medical training in English, should not be translating for Spanish speaker unless they’ve had additional training in medical Spanish.
Another reason is that a friend or family member does not have a legal obligation to interpret accurately and may not do so due to cultural or personal reasons.
Is the patient insists on using a family member, they’re supposed to have a waiver that they have declined a medical translator. This is a huge legal liability.

Coming to the nursing station instead of using the call light. Family members standing in the hallway staring at you instead of using the call light. 

Also adding: this post isn’t about UNANSWERED call lights. This is about just not using the light at all. Everyone and their mother has a story about their call light going unanswered, myself included. This is about the family that stops me mid med pass in the hall to ask to fix the sink dripping. Use the light and the unit clerk can page engineering. .


icouldbeeatingoreos:
I tried to give someone a hint last week by politely saying oh hello family member standing in front of my workstation, I have to go answer this call bell but once I’m finished I can come back and speak with you. They did in fact disappear back into the room.
I don’t love being summoned with a bell but I like it more than someone coming up directly to where I’m trying to chart and staring at me until I look up and then them going “oh you’re not busy ok can I…”. My love I am very busy it’s just all on computers now.

This is mainly a frustration towards the lack of health literacy in today's society, but when patients have an allergy list a mile long, but none of them are actually allergies. You are not allergic to benedryl because it makes you sleepy, that's a side effect.


And yes, some side effects are truly awful. But they aren't allergies, and sometimes the side effects are worth dealing with short term to fix the problem you're having.


EDIT - since this is being missed, and people are getting defensive, I'm not talking about critical intolerances or severe, life threatening, side effects. I'm talking about common, known, mild, side effects of medications being misunderstood as allergies. Antihistamines makes people sleepy. Adrenaline makes your heart race. Caffeine can make you jittery. Antibiotics can cause mild GI upset. Niacin can cause facial flushing. None of these need to be in the ehr as an allergy or intolerance.


catrosie:
I also wish eHR would have a consistent section for intolerances, not just allergies.



Neon_Green_and_Pink:

I'm in the same boat. I have epilepsy, and while I'm not allergic to bupropion, it gives me seizures. It's still listed in my online chart as an allergy because apparently my doctor's online system doesn't have an option for "adverse reaction" or "intolerance".
I just tell new medical staff I see that I'm intolerant and not allergic and let them know what happens when I take it. Not any skin off my back but I imagine it might be easier for them if they were able to see it on my chart.

ER nurse. People walk into to triage with no or poor knowledge of their own medical history. No knowledge of the meds they are taking or what they are for. It’s absurd. I’ve had fathers bring in their children who don’t know their history, if they have allergies, some don’t even know their birthdate.


Alicatsidneystorm:
I will never forget the guy in the bed next to me and poor nurse is taking his history which was not easy. As nurse is walking away he yells: “oh I forgot about the kidney transplant.”


notreallylucy:
Not a doctor. I don't know how grown up adults with no brain problems just walk around not knowing what meds they're taking.

So one of the most common thing patients often do, thinking it helps, is self diagnose and come in completely attached to that diagnosis. It’s totally understandable, people Google their symptoms because they’re worried, but when someone is fixed on one idea, it can make it harder for doctors and nurses to properly assess the situation with an open mind...

swvagirl:
The flip side to that is that women will sometimes go to a lot of doctors for pain or something else and get told its anxiety, or we should lose weight. So we turn to Google to help. Granted we should take it with a grain of salt, but knowing possibilities of potential diagnosis is important too. Now if you can sit down and say definitively no its not X because you don't have Y then great.


Charming_Garbage_161:
The ONLY reason I was diagnosed with endometriosis was bc I had a hernia repair and they saw my intestines were stuck to my abdomen and the hernia, so they took a sample and tested it. This was after years of painful periods and basically hemorrhaging every month if not twice a month. Within the year I went to a specialist and got my uterus yeeted. It doesn’t solve the problem 100% but at least I feel less sick every month bc I was bleeding an oz about every hour and ten days straight.

When heavily incontinent patients try to help you clean themselves and end up making it ten times worse. I get it, sir, you’re used to your independence and I am all for letting you do what you can..But in certain situations, I really just need you to lay back, keep your hands to yourself, and let me take care of you this time, because you got poop all over your hands and bed rails and pulse ox and the bottom sheet! Nooo— i couldn’t avoid the full bed change :/

As I like to quote Lloyd Christmas “this is a lot easier if you just lay back!”.

Go to the bathroom by themselves and dump the “hat”

“I didn’t want to bother you” … yeah, you’re here for CHF and we’ve told you a dozen times need to measure your output. Please stop doing that.

Alternatively, go to the bathroom themselves because “they didn’t want to bother us”, but disconnect multiple wires/machines in the process of doing so and now we gotta straighten everything out.

Ik it can be hard to get someone to come in for the bathroom and that’s justified to go solo if nobody comes, but not asking at ALL to even give a chance for someone to come is so frustrating.

Dentist here. I hate when parents tell their scared kids that if they don’t brush their teeth, I ( the dr) will have to give them a “big shot”. It’s usually accompanied with side eye to me and a look that says I’m the devil. Like my job isn’t hard enough!! Please STFU!!!

nicbloodhorde:
Parents: the dentist is evil and will punish you if you misbehave!!!!
Also parents: why is my child afraid of the dentist??????


PracticalCandy:
I tell my 5 year old if she doesn't brush her teeth everynight than the toothfairy won't give her much money for her teeth because she doesn't like teeth with cavities and decay. So far it's worked every time.

Please take your regular medicines before your appointment! I can’t titrate your blood pressure meds if I’m only seeing your unmedicated blood pressure. There are times when you might need to hold meds before a procedure or surgery, but when you’re coming to see your primary care doctor, take your meds like normal. 

Also, we almost never have people fast before bloodwork any more. It doesn’t make my job harder but I do feel bad when people are hungry for no reason. .


Its_Curse:
Dude what they tell me to fast before blood work every. Single. Time. I guess we're doing different blood work? 


WoodsyAspen:
There are reasons to do fasting lipid panes and glucoses. It used to be a bigger deal before we developed some alternative ways of detecting diabetes, and we also used to think it impacted lipids a lot more than it actually does (except for triglycerides - I do actually have one patient with bad familial hypertriglyceridemia who I ask to fast). So, depending on your situation it might make sense. You also might have an old-school doctor or healthcare system who hasn't evolved with the times.

Complain about other people “going back already” when they were “here first.”
It’s not that simple. In the outpatient world, there are generally multiple providers and providers can get behind easily (see above story going all the way back to 1893). I’m much faster (appropriately) and I work with a physician who takes a looooooong time with patients. I could see two of mine while she’s still asking about the patient’s cousin or telling them about what all of her kids are doing. That causes animosity because people don’t understand it if they’re waiting for her.
Also, when I worked as an RN in an emergency dept, I don’t care if you’ve been waiting for four hours; if all of the other patients coming in have legitimate issues which make them a higher acuity, they’re going back first. Many people use the ER like a walk-in clinic. Think “I sneezed once today” and no other symptoms. Of course you can see a provider but the folks who can’t breathe are going back ahead of you.

Parents who start grabbing their young kids faces and saying don’t look, don’t look when I would need to remove a cannula.
Kids who were totally fine before this and very likely would hardly register it was being removed in the couple seconds it would have taken me, go into panic mode, start crying and go into high alert from their parents.

Using Chinese / Alternative/ Herbal / Traditional / Faith Medicine to “remove” or “melt” tumors that should have been surgically excised… And… using all that before coming to the good ‘ol surgeon, sometimes at late stage disease already (wherein the mass is already to dangerous to debulk).

Dry-Stop1629:
That black salve thing that was going around for a while.

Shaving their site too soon before surgery. some patients will shave their leg, groin, or belly a couple days or the week of surgery. alot of the time this causes the site to be irritated and even start ingrown hairs by the time u get to us. thats actually not ideal for surgery, its an infection risk, depending on what youre having done. ive seen a doctor cancel a knee replacement over an ingrown hair that looked infected. causes issues on both ends, for us its rescheduling, losing time and money from wasted supplies. for the patient, its just super inconvenient id imagine, they probably have to reschedule all their post op care (ride to and from, time off work, etc) and depending on how far out they get reschedule redo all their pre op things too cause labs and H&P need to be within 30 days at most facilities.

When the REALLY nice ones don’t ring, and then all of a sudden they actually ring. Then you go in, and they’re like I’m sorry to be a bother, I’ve been uncomfortable most of the night, or I couldn’t sleep all night. Girl/ma’/am/buddy/ms./whichever, you should have called to let me know. My job is to make sure you are comfortable, and taken care of. You are not a bother because you don’t ring at all for anything, and now I have to check up on you more often, because I lowkey feel bad that I didn’t do my job.

I love these patients by the way. They make my job a little more tolerable, because they truly need my help.

Shouya_Ishida1288:
Omg this was so my mother the one night I didn’t stay with her after her double stroke. “Oh i felt symptoms again, but didn’t wanna bother you” LIKE GIRL PLS. Thankfully when I got there in the morning the nurse was already telling her off for me. Loved him, he’s an amazing man.

Suitable-Risk-1795:
“Ive been having chest pain since midnight but I didn’t want to make a fuss” MAAM! Why didn’t you tell me when I took your vitals at 12:30!? Or when I took you to the bathroom at 3am!? Now it’s 6 and the doctor is gonna ask why symptom onset was midnight but the first EKG is at 6am! 

Save antibiotics for later when some else needs them!


skynolongerblue:
My ex’s dad would never finish his antibiotics. He considered them a super medicine and horde them for other ailments.
“I had a headache but I took an antibiotic so I’m good!”
I wonder if he’s alive now.


goddessofentropy:
My urologist gave me backup antibiotics because I have a uti basically 24/7. Like, a second, larger box in addition to the ones for the acute uti. Told me she trusts me to know when I need them. Which, I think I mostly do because I know what severity of symptoms has led to a prescription in the past, but I have no idea for how long to take them. They're expired now, was way too scared to diy them. Have to take them to a pharmacy one of these days so they can safely toss them. 
Unrelatedly, I had the flu a few years back (during covid funnily enough), and the GP asked if I wanted antibiotics. I was like, didn't you say flu, as in the actual flu, ie influenza virus? He said yeah sure, but it makes some people feel better if he sends them home with antibiotics. Wild.