55 Surprising Patient Habits That Actually Make Care Harder for Doctors and Nurses
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.
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.
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.
Me? I am just a medical imaging tech. Been doing nuc med for 34 years and nothing patients do, except for showing up late, irks me. Took me a little to understand that I am working with people who are nervous and scared.
permabanmaybe1:
“Understand that I am working with people who are nervous and scared” is such a big winner here. I get that people are annoying, rude, and entitled but so much of this comment section is so whiny because they’re just tired of the nervous and scared reactions from patients. I’ve been the one yelling at any poor soul in my path and guess what, I also work a very stressful job where I’m yelled at for things out of my control. So, thank you for your post, and thanks to everyone out there taking the extra time to have patience and empathy.
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