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How to Manage Patients Who Self-Diagnose

Self-diagnosis is a process by a patient to identify a medical condition without seeking medical help from a professional. The diagnosis could be from the knowledge that a person learns by reading medical resources on the internet, books, dictionaries or past personal experience. Other diagnose by identifying similarities in symptoms and medical signs to those in family members or friends who are suffering from a condition.

Nurses should accept that self-diagnosis is now a reality in the medical field. The most challenging aspect of managing patients who self-diagnose is to establish trust and a rapport. It is clear that such patients have meaningful information about infections that they learn from discussions with other people, the internet or publications. It is essential to develop strategies that simplify the management of a patient who self-diagnose if you are a nurse or healthcare provider.

Tips To Manage Patients Who Self-Diagnose

1.Acknowledge the efforts by the patients

The first step is to make the patients who self-diagnose to feel that you appreciate their knowledge. Healthcare providers should get into the shoes of such patients to better understand what they are going through and to determine the better solution. Patients feel that someone is giving them the importance and validates their effort by acknowledging the trouble they took to research on their symptoms to the point of achieving a diagnosis.

2.Strike a friendly conversation

Communication is essential for an excellent healthcare provider-patient relationship. It is vital to approach the situation delicately even if a patient diagnosis is inaccurate. Start by acknowledging the valiant effort in an attempt to diagnose, articulate the correct diagnosis and demonstrate the common understanding. Explain the concept of differential diagnosis that occurs when different illnesses or injuries are present and show similar symptoms if applicable. A friendly approach recognizes the effort of a patient is self-diagnosing but corrects the wrongs without arrogance or belittling the person. This method of dealing with a patient does not entirely discredit the self-diagnosis but states the similarity of symptoms between the wrong self-diagnosis and the correct diagnosis. Approaching the situation with an understanding enables a healthcare provider to develop trust and better rapport with a patient.

3.Encourage verbalization of the feelings

Patients tend to listen to, and trust medical staff who encourage a verbalization of their feelings and listen to them .It also helps to establish a rapport that makes a patient reveal information concerning self – a diagnosis which is helpful in narrowing down to a better potential diagnosis.

4.Build on the shared information

The information by a patient provides an excellent opportunity to find something relevant from their symptoms if you can take time to achieve a good grasp of the things that a patient believes and understands. It is best to build on the information that patients share when it possible to add on to what you know about the symptoms and correct diagnoses.

5.Suggest extra resources to guide the patients

Providing additional information increases knowledge by the patients and might guide them to correct some false assumptions. Health experts should advise the patients to find information from websites and other resources affiliated to healthcare institutions and medical centers to access more accurate facts on self-diagnosis. Data from such locations has undergone a thorough examination before publishing to ensure that they carry the most accurate and up-to-date information. It is vital to inform the patients that they should avoid sites that have excess adverts because the writers may have edited the information to meet requirements that favor the advertisers.

6.Educate the patients about dangers of self-diagnosis

More people are spending time on the internet finding information about medical conditions and some might assume that they are masters of their health. Healthcare providers must diagnose, treat and also educate the patients to prevent mistakes in future. Healthcare providers must act as the patient's advocate after assessment and diagnosis. It makes it part of their duty to inform the patients about the pros and cons of a self-diagnosis.

If possible, you should provide visual aids for the patients to achieve a better understanding of the things that they might experience when something about their diagnosis goes wrong. Patients who get accurate information from their care providers will minimize reliance on the internet and other media for self-diagnosis.

Pediatric Pain Management: the Multidisciplinary Approach

Children getting treatment services to some of the pain they are feeling can sometimes become a hard and challenging situation to many pediatric doctors and nurses. Many controversies arise to whether there exist ways of treating pediatric pain or instead to only focus on how best one needs to treat the pain rather than putting more concern on the pain of the child.

Today, pain is perceived as a symptom of treating rather than an inevitable consequence. There exist various reasons why people treat pain. One of the most common reasons is because it is one of the most humane things that one can do. Some of the other reasons for treating pain are because adequate pain management reduces both the child and the parent’s anxiety helping them relax and cooperate to some of the procedures that are being undertaken.

Treating pain helps reduce the burden that most medical staff whenever there is no control to the anxiety both the child and the parent or guardian have. Some of the negative effects that are apparent to pain are that it increases the mortality rate, also creates hyperalgesia. Pain is also known to have a negative effect on the development of a child.

Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. The above definition has elicited mixed judgments to how people perceive pain regarding it as an inherent quality of life that appears early in development and serves as a signal for tissue damage.

What are some of the effects of pediatric pain?

Infants, when born, were initially believed to experience less pain because many believed that their nervous systems were immature. Although the ascending pathways of the neonatal nervous system are understood to be fully developed thus allowing the transmission of painful stimuli, the descending inhibitory trails are not established. The above showed that painful stimuli may reach the brain leading to more pronounced pain sensation in neonates than in children and adults.

So, what are some of the various ways to which one can manage pediatric pain?

There exist general principles that can be applied to pediatric children to managing pain. One of the ways includes conducting an adequate assessment understanding where the pain is coming from and to how it can be managed. Some of the results that are brought to assist in providing a clear judgment to how the pain can be stopped.

Whenever pediatricians are conducting their analysis it is often common for them to anticipate some of the pain thus treatment is administered prophylactically. It is a process which ensures that every child after surgery will have pain the following day thus considered inhumane if the pediatric will not offer any painkillers after.

Another approach which doctors can use in managing pediatric pain is by involving the parents or the guardians of the baby who always offer the best explanation to what their children are suffering from. It is clear that in hospitals, pediatrics use these approach in reducing the anxiety that both the parents and their children have. There exist various ways to how medics assess the pain of children which can either be psychological i.e. checking a child’s respiratory rate, heart rate, cortisol levels, palmar sweating, blood pressure, etc.

Checking can also be behavioral which can include:

  • Body movement
  • Facial action
  • Crying
  • Posturing
  • State of arousal
  • Breathing pattern

There exist widely used drugs that are known to benefit and reduce the level of pain that the child may be born. They can include Opioids which are moderate and are often used to patients who are suffering from acute pain. Another drug commonly used is NSAIDS that are usually effective in managing mild-to-moderate pain and at other times combined with Opioids to for more severe pain. Most of the drugs administered often have their own side effects and so, it is always better to understand some of the benefits and limitations of using the said drug.

RNs Putting Innovative Ideas to Work

Nurses contribute immensely to the medical field and their skills are greatly appreciated by the public for the great effort they put through. They are instrumental in improving the life of a patient through the care they offer and innovative ideas that are mainly based on their knowledge to some of the best practices.

Innovation commonly translates to doing things differently thus helping one achieve large gains whenever it comes to performance. It is important to note that without nurses, the health industry would come to a standstill since they are fundamental people in the many medical facilities.

Innovative ideas are known to help patients strive through a disturbing problem and symptom that can help offer quality care and overcome some of the issues that affect them. Applying innovation to clinical practice helps lead the quality improvement and benefit many patients. So, what are some of the innovative ideas that registered nurses are putting to work?

Registered nurses nowadays use electronic medical records (EMRs) in identifying patients who may require specialized services in their clinical settings. Using predictive care models is critical in ensuring that they can easily predict and use some of the data in identifying falls, readmissions and make appropriate quick decisions before it is late.

Registered nurses are also using wearables that are useful and must be worn when in attendance to infant care which has brought improved care and comfort among patients when most of these ideas are put into practice and work. Some of the ideas include the coming up of an infant suit with an opening that helps provide umbilical cord exposure after seeing some of the problems parents were encountering in trying to dry their children’s umbilical cord.

Many of the caregivers also work to provide solutions to many common problems that can help improve a person’s life. It is with these connections that it has seen many nurses address some of the issues like offering patients caregivers that are available online hence have flexible time to conduct other issues that may arise.

Registered nurses these days have collaborative clinics that help various community and medical issues that may arise amongst them. An example is the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio, Texas, where nurses came up with the idea for an inter-professional and collaborative healthcare clinic. Most of these programs are under the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality & Retention (NEPQR) which provides support the development of safe, efficient, effective and equitable healthcare in collaborative practice environments.

Many of the registered nurses are also putting in innovative tools that aim to give hope to patients who may feel discouraged. Putting up larger posters in hospitals to try and motivate many of the patients is a good way to making them feel loved or appreciated despite the condition they are suffering from.

Nurses constantly using technology by employing discharge instructions through telephony which has helped many nurses record and fill any discharge of a patient when they are done getting help. The technology used helps both the staff and the patients including their parents or loved ones with instructions or any other educational video that is useful in helping improve communication between the inpatient and the family members.

Some of the innovations ideas made by nurses have been lifesaving and helpful to how they conduct most of the activities in the organization. For instance, in the operating room, Registered Nurse Jill Byrne of the Cleveland Clinic created a vest to keep surgical staff cool under hot operating room lights. The lightweight vest contains pockets to hold ice packs and is designed to fit under surgical gowns to fight heat stress. Most of the examples explained above show the kind of innovative structures that are useful in the day-to-day medial field.

Most of these innovations have not only helped to improve lives but also save the medical facilities in which they work in millions of funds thus reducing the number of readmissions saving both times and also improving the patient’s health.

NURSING PRACTICE IN FLORIDA

Nursing is one of the most widely chosen careers gaining attraction with many youths who would love to see their careers in the medical field. Nursing is known to giving the student the flexibility to working in various fields as the medical profession continues to evolve with new medication constantly becoming researched.

Nursing as a career path requires skills and specialized knowledge to overcome some of the conditions. It is a very serious job description which requires serious determination and attitude in ensuring that every patient receives the best healthcare possible they can ever get.

The above career requires nurses who are prepared and competent since it poses a risk and harm to the public if done by professionals who are not prepared in taking the job as a career. Many states in the US and other countries have acts which are usually enacted by the state’s legislature. Many of these acts, however, do not provide the necessary guidance that is needed in the nursing profession and thus has a board of nursing which is equipped with the authority to developing administrative rules or regulations that are useful in making the law more specific.

Nursing practice in the state of Florida is under the standards of the Florida Administrative code which are the permanent collection of state laws that are organized by their subject are into a code which consists of titles, chapters, parts, and sections that are continuously updated. The sole legislative purpose of the Nurse Practice Act is to ensure that every nurse practicing in this state meets minimum requirements for safe practice. The above legislation ensures that nurses who fall below minimum competency or who otherwise present a danger to the public shall be prohibited from practicing in this state.

For one to practice nursing in Florida, one must seek a license from the Florida Board of Nursing that is under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Health. The role of the department of health outlined under the Florida State 456, Health and Professions and Occupations state that all health professions shall be regulated only for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public under the police powers of the state. The above health professions shall be regulated whenever their practice is unregulated and thus known to harm or endanger the health, safety, and public welfare.

The Florida Board of Nursing consists of 13 members who are required to residents of Florida. It is made up of 7 registered nurses who come from different diverse fields and have been in the nursing profession for at least 4 years. It should also include 3 practical nurses who 3 years of practice prior to their appointment and 3 other members who have never been licensed and are in no way connected with nursing practices. All the above members are appointed by their governor for a term of 4 years.

The Nursing Practice Act ensures that the Florida board of nursing make and enforce rules and regulations for registered nurses, certified nurses, practical nurses, certified nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, registered nurse first assistants, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. The work of the Board of Nurse is to ensure that it monitors, licenses, disciplines, educates, and rehabilitates its licensees to assure their fitness and competence in providing healthcare services for the people of Florida.

Some of the specialties that Florida nurses can take include:

1.Legal Nurse Consultant Who are qualified registered nurses who use the skills and experience together with the expertise to consult on medical lawsuits

2.Certified Dialysis Nurse Are nurses who assist patients and individuals that have severe problems relating to their kidneys.

3.Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Assist in determining the health status of the patient as it relates to the risk factors and to the anesthetic management of the patient when in surgery.

4.Licensed Nurse practitioner Whose job description involves offering primary and secondary care to patients often in collaboration with a doctor.

Symptoms of Eczema Condition

Many people tend to suffer from some common type of itchiness either on your hands, chin, chest which becomes irritative making one scratch themselves. Many people often get the irritation on their neck and even behind their knees. The above symptoms are really irritating which is why a visit to the hospital will help figure out whether you have Eczema. So, what is this disease?

Eczema is a condition which affects the skin patches making them become inflamed, itchy, cracked, red and rough. In extreme cases, blisters may sometimes occur depending on the nature of the condition. The disease is often associated with atopic dermatitis which is a collection of diseases that involve the immune system. Dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin that is common with people that experience eczema.

Who is the kind of people that can get the disease? Is there a way to know whether your or your child has been diagnosed?

A brief understanding of Eczema is the first step to treating and knowing how one can manage it. The condition is known to affect a person’s daily routine which is why learning more about the condition is useful in helping you not focus much about the condition.

There exist different types of eczema. Some of the most common types of eczema include:

  • Atopic dermatitis
  • Contact dermatitis
  • Dyshidrotic eczema
  • Nummular eczema
  • Seborrheic dermatitis
  • Stasis dermatitis

Eczema condition can also be managed in many cases. It is, however, not easy to live with the condition. The above condition is known to mostly affect babies and children since they are mostly seen in their cheeks and chin. The above places do not mean that it does not appear in any other body part. Symptoms do vary from person to person and thus in most cases, many of these conditions experienced often go away whenever one continues to grow older.

Eczema disease is not contagious and thus one cannot catch it from another person. Researchers believe that a combination of a person’s genes and environmental factors cause eczema. Many believe that the allergy causes an irritation with a person’s immune system making reacting with an antigen of the body. What are some of the drugs or treatments available to people with eczema?

The above condition does not have any cure and thus depending with the age of a person, then there exist some remedies to which one can use such as phototherapy, immunosuppressants, biological drugs and other OTC remedies that they may be prescribed. One of the easiest ways to prescribe is by understanding your triggers so that one can avoid exposure. It is also important for one to use the prescribed medication that they have been given by their doctors or bought over the counter constantly to avoid any other issues. It is also important to implement a regular bathing routine which is useful in moisturizing one’s skin keeping it free from dirt and any other infection that may worsen the situation.

Symptoms that are found with people with eczema

Itchiness

It is usually mild and at other cases moderate. If the situation is dire then, one can have an extremely inflamed skin which can be so bad making one’s skin to bleed. One of the cases one should look out for are a red, inflamed skin, dark colored patches of the skin, areas of swelling or dry, sensitive skin.

What is the difference between eczema and atopic dermatitis?

There exist various types of eczema, however, each of the various types discussed above has their own symptoms and treatments. Whenever faced with these conditions, it is imperative to seek a medical know-how to the type of eczema that you are suffering from to have a better way to managing the condition. Some of the medications commonly used include the triamcinolone, mometasone, Elidel, hydrocortisone, desonide and many other drugs prescribed by the medical doctor.