Why aren't nurses allowed to tell you?????

acatalina

acatalina

Cathlete
Ok, I had a sonagram on my gall bladder yesterday.I am going insane.Why aren't nurses allowed to tell you anything? They do these all day long. They know................I realize they are not doctors, but they know what they are seeing...
I tried to pull info out of her and she would not budge.
It P**ses me off. It is my body and i am the one hurting.
I would really like to know if there is something wrong.If she saw stones............
I sent my DD to the herb store yesterday to get me something. The doc hasn't given me anything and i feel like i have been in labor for 9 days.
I can't believe i blew 70 bucks on 4 bottles of herbs to cleanse the liver and gall bladder, but if it works it was money well spent....
Don't they realize we go nuts waiting for results.
Oh and the doctor has 24 hours to review them.
What if someone is dying??????
Well i have friends at the hospital. They are going to find out for me this am. I have to call her cell. She is in admin.
So at 7:50 i pause my WO and make a call before they put me in the looney bin.
Anne


http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=8227804&uid=3969941
 
Anne, nurse's are NOT trained to interpret ultrasound results. The results will be reviewed by a doctor and then your doctor will talk to you about it. For a nurse or technician to review the resluts would be improper. As for taking 24 hours to review them, yours is not the only one they have to look at. They are reviewing several of these things for people who are every bit as anxious as you to know their results. Hang in there---you will know soon enough.

Michele
 
I agree that it is very frustrating but there is far too much margin of error for a nurse or tech to be casual with a patient about what they think that they may or may not be seeing. Don't for a minute underestimate the complexities and subtleties of the body and it's conditions. As you are well aware, when an illness hurls you into the medical system you have to strap yourself in for a roller coaster ride. It would be irresponsible and potentially cruel for nurses and techs to speculatively diagnose or rule out conditions with the risk of error and further stress and distress to the patient should their best guess be the wrong guess.

I hope you have someone at home to help to ease your worry and understandable impatience. I spent 5 years immersed in the medical system with a critically ill family member, waiting for results was a huge stressor but it's important to understand it and find ways to cope so that your already stressed body isn't forced into doing doubletime stress, it ain't easy and my heart goes out to you (((((BIG HUG)))))). Be good to yourself and let us know how it's going.

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
Laurie, very well said! I aspire to your eloquence.

Anne, I guess this can be a hot button issue for me, but that's my problem and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I hope whatever they find is nothing too serious. Take good care and I hope you're feeling in the pink again real soon.

Michele
 
I didn't take offense.
I know nurses are not trained to read an x-ray. Neither are most doctors(my prevoius).
I am just sick of hurting and want to know what is going on.
I was given nothing,not told to stay away from certain foods.I have felt like i have been in labor off and on for over a week.
It takes your breath away.
I have been reading everything on line from diet to dissolving stones, if i have them.
I almost got desperate enough to do the olive oil and lemon flush.
Don't know if i could stomache that much grease..... ewwww.
I think she saw something.
She asked me if i was in alot of pain?
I told her I was ready to call Dr. Kavorkian(?). I don't take bad pain well/
Exercise pain is a good pain.This is fricken excruciating.
I just want to know if i got a flu bug or if something is wrong with me!!!!
I am worried and P**sed that they haven't done anything.
Anne

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=8227804&uid=3969941
 
>I'm pretty sure it's all about lawyers and malpractice.

exactly what i was going to point out. IF someone who isn't trained to read the reports tells you something they believe to be true and turns out not to be, they can actually get in trouble for it. some folks have sued over things of this nature, b/c they were led to believe one thing when it wasn't in fact true. i know it really stinks about waiting. i waited 3 weeks for my daugthers MRI results and it drove me nuts but you want to make sure the properly trained person is looking over your x-rays.

i really believe they should be able to give you something to ease the pain in the meantime. you have the right to ask for it.

kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
Let me tell you what I went through recently. I have been having majorly hard rapid heartbeats for the last 6 weeks. I finally went in about three weeks ago to get it checked out. Long story short, I had an Echo (sonogram of the heart) and the tech told me that I had two aortic valves working as one and that I'd probably would have to have surgery in about 10 years. I'm like, huh? So my follow up appointment with my doctor wasn't until March 7th (two weeks after the echo) so I paniced for those two weeks and my heart rate was sky high because of the worry.

When I finally seen my doctor she told me that most people are born with three aortic valves and some with two. I was born with two and they are that they are not working together like the tech told me. She said its quite common and I won't need surgery ever for it. She said the rapid heart beats aren't even associated with the valve thing, it was just a fluke that it was found. Ended up I was having anxiety attacks.

So for two weeks I worried myself sick (literally) to find out that it was not as bad as I thought.

I know you are in pain and want answers, I hope you already got them. But with my experience, I would have had him not tell me anything at all.
 
>Let me tell you what I went through recently. I have been
>having majorly hard rapid heartbeats for the last 6 weeks. I
>finally went in about three weeks ago to get it checked out.
>Long story short, I had an Echo (sonogram of the heart) and
>the tech told me that I had two aortic valves working as one
>and that I'd probably would have to have surgery in about 10
>years. I'm like, huh? So my follow up appointment with my
>doctor wasn't until March 7th (two weeks after the echo) so I
>paniced for those two weeks and my heart rate was sky high
>because of the worry.
>
>When I finally seen my doctor she told me that most people are
>born with three aortic valves and some with two. I was born
>with two and they are that they are not working together like
>the tech told me. She said its quite common and I won't need
>surgery ever for it. She said the rapid heart beats aren't
>even associated with the valve thing, it was just a fluke that
>it was found. Ended up I was having anxiety attacks.
>
>So for two weeks I worried myself sick (literally) to find out
>that it was not as bad as I thought.
>
>I know you are in pain and want answers, I hope you already
>got them. But with my experience, I would have had him not
>tell me anything at all.


And Debbie, that person should be fired if they haven't been already. It is NOT a techs place to interpret test results. They are not trained to do that. They are technicians, trained only to administer the test, NOT to read and interpret the result.

Debbie, it's really terrible that you were put through that. Sometimes, people with a little knowledge are quite dangerous.

Michele
 
I doubt he was fired, my doctor didn't even seemed bothered by the fact that he told me all this. She didn't even ask me who gave me the echo.
 
I think you should call the radiology director and as firmly but nicely make a report on this echo tech. They stepped way over the bounds of their profession. I'm a heart nurse and when our techs do the echo they always explain that the Dr. has to read the test first and then will review the results with the patient. Just think about the stress you went through and realize that unless this person is reported and reprimmanded/fired there will be many other people suffering as you did, basically due to someone's "ego". I find people who do this type of thing think they know more than they do, and it's kind of an ego trip for them to impart their knowledge (or lack of in this case).

I'm sorry you had to suffer the stress! Hope you are doing much better. Yes, that is a quite common thing. My son has the same type of valve situation. He is 23 and never had problems because of it.

Best of luck to you, and you look fabulous!
Lynn
 
Thanks Lynn, I appreciate your feedback. I'll see what I can do. I am doing much better, I decided to take a natural supplement for the anxiety and it has helped me tremendously.
 
Having been an RN for 21 years--got my BSN in 1985(I can't believe it's been that long--mostly in the O.R., including trauma and transplants), the changes in nursing are HUGE.
I would never take it upon myself, as tempting as it may be, to tell a patient results that I feel CERTAIN of. There is TOO MUCH liability(not saying you would sue someone)out there to put even the smallest amount of possibility of being incorrect. While I can appreciate your frustration(having been there with my own family members), it's not our place to do so.
Being a patient advocate is why I've been in this profession so long
and I'm still glad I've chosen it, HOWEVER, some things are meant to be done by a physician, in the end that is the person who holds the ultimate responsibility(legal and all)of your care.
FYI, you can pull all the strings you want(the person you know in administration), but in doing so can get that person fired--people not related to your course of care have no business in researching your information, and if they get caught they can and probably will be fired. I'm hoping you get the answers you are looking for.
Just my 2 cents.

Mary :)
BTW--there's the 4 F's as related to gallbladder issues that nurses are taught--female, fat, fertile and 40--all or some put you at higher chance for having gallbladder "issues"--be it "sludge" or stones or whatever may cause you to have the symptoms you are having. I know it sounds mean, and none may apply to you, but these are 4 of the "common denominators" for gallbladder issues, and anyone who says they aren't hasn't talked to a general surgeon who does gallbladder removals.
 
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