Thursday, August 1, 2013

Self Diagnosis

I had a patient come in for a migraine. She self diagnosed herself as having meningitis.

I looked at her vitals and asked some questions:

"Why do you think you have meningitis?"
"Well, my neck is sore and I work in the hospital."
"What do you do in the hospital?"
"I'm a nurse."
"Have you been around anyone with meningitis?"
"No."

Ummm, okay. Nothing I saw would raise the meningitis red flag. She proceeded to act like she was dying and suddenly was unable to do simple things like raise her arm to apply the blood pressure cuff.
Come on! Seriously?!!
I told her since she thought she has meningitis then she would have to wear a mask for the duration of her visit. I also told her that since she stated she was too weak to get into the wheelchair to go to radiology (she walked into the ER) and raise her arms for a BP cuff, that she would have to use a bedpan. I don't think she liked that very much.

I caught the doctor before going into the room and let him know why the patient was wearing a mask for a migraine. He smiled and said, "Oh yes, precautions must be taken since she knows she has meningitis."

Miraculously, she was cured of all symptoms by the end of her visit and she gained enough strength to walk out of the ER on her own. We truly are miracle workers!

4 comments:

  1. What is wrong with people? You would think, being from the medical field herself, she would have a little more respect than to waste your time with exaggerated symptoms!

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