Bizarre medical advice

[malbui]

This is something I've been meaning to post about for a while.

A few weeks back, I was cooking Sunday lunch and chatting to Malbuinette in the kitchen. I took a saucepan off the heat and turned to drain it in the sink, and while I was doing so Malbuinette took it into her head to walk across the kitchen, reach up and put her hand on the still-hot gas ring.

You can probably imagine the screaming.

So I did what was necessary to deal with the immediate pain and heat and once the screaming had died down a bit I phoned the emergencies ward at my local hospital for some advice, not really being prepared for this kind of event. I should mention that this is a very well regarded and equipped Swiss hospital, the place where Malbuinette herself was born in a complex birth and where I had state of the art spinal surgery a couple of years ago.

The nurse I spoke to was very calm and collected and gave me detailed advice, telling me what to get at the pharmacy and what to look for on my daughter's hand to see if a hospital visit would be necessary later on. When I asked specifically about pain relief, though, instead of recommending a product she gave me a phone number. I got her to repeat it, asking if it was a callout doctor, and she replied that it was a healer who could take the pain away at a distance. Just tell them the child's name and date of birth and they'd do the business .

Now, am I missing something here?


The important part of the story is that Malbuinette's hand has healed up very nicely: the blisters had gone within about four days and after a week or so all the dead skin washed off to reveal clean, healthy skin underneath. She has also learned a lesson about touching things in the kitchen, as have I. But I'm still baffled by that piece of advice.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Was the nurse speaking on behalf of the hospital, or did she make it clear that this was her own advice? Either way, did you call it to the attention of hospital administration? I would imagine they'd be concerned lest they quickly lose the reputation the have.

(Glad to hear Malbuinette has healed up all right.)

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

... and she replied that it was a healer who could take the pain away at a distance. Just tell them the child's name and date of birth and they'd do the business.

You're making this up. I know you're making this up.

~~ Paul

 

[Katana]

Nothing surprises me at this point.

My mother went to the hospital yesterday for a leg injury, and a physician's assistant told her that Advil was better than Motrin for pain.

{smacks own forehead in dismay}

 

[Loss Leader]

Write a letter to the hospital administration. I don't really want a nurse to get in trouble but people are going to think the hospital endorses that kind of stuff. Then, when it doesn't work, they'll sue. And win.

 

[joobz]

My mother went to the hospital yesterday for a leg injury, and a physician's assistant told her that Advil was better than Motrin for pain.

Of course Advil is better than Motrin. Advil takes only 5 letters to ease pain. Motrin needs 6 letters to function well. At least they are both better than ibuprofen, which needs a whopping 9 letters for pain relief.

 

[Katana]

Of course Advil is better than Motrin. Advil takes only 5 letters to ease pain. Motrin needs 6 letters to function well. At least they are both better than ibuprofen, which needs a whopping 9 letters for pain relief.

{smacks own forehead again}

You're right, joobz! How could I have been so stupid?

 

[KingMerv00]

Motrin is better.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I work at a Motrin factory.)

 

[Lisa Simpson]

Of course, acetaminophen is the worst of all.

 

[Piscivore]

Nothing surprises me at this point.

My mother went to the hospital yesterday for a leg injury, and a physician's assistant told her that Advil was better than Motrin for pain.

{smacks own forehead in dismay}

Didn't you see Orange County? Just don't take the "Excedrin".

 

[joobz]

Of course, acetaminophen is the worst of all.

Yeah, I always heard that acetaminophen was as effective as jacksquatitol

(got that from Steven Colbert last night)

 

[malbui]

Was the nurse speaking on behalf of the hospital, or did she make it clear that this was her own advice? Either way, did you call it to the attention of hospital administration? I would imagine they'd be concerned lest they quickly lose the reputation the have.

Replaying the conversation in my mind, I think this was personal advice and not hospital policy. I wondered about reporting it to the hospital administration but to be honest I wondered if I might look stupid. And a bad father: "you didn't take the nurse's advice and you let your child suffer?"

(Glad to hear Malbuinette has healed up all right.)

Thanks. She's got that small-child-quick-healing thing off pat - screamed herself hoarse for about 90 minutes and then was trying to play the piano again in the evening.

You're making this up. I know you're making this up.

If only I were. Some of my stories on this forum include a little exaggeration for humorous effect, but this one is straight up.

Write a letter to the hospital administration. I don't really want a nurse to get in trouble but people are going to think the hospital endorses that kind of stuff. Then, when it doesn't work, they'll sue. And win.

Hmmm - this is the point. I really don't want to get the nurse into trouble. The rest of the advice was spot on and the hints she gave about applying and fixing the dressings were really useful - when I took Malbuinette to her paed the next day I was complimented on the quality of the dressings, which for someone with ten thumbs like me is most unusual.

 

[Katana]

I used to think that acetaminophen was worthless, but it's not bad for headaches.

Of course, Tylenol is much better. (wink, wink)

 

[tkingdoll]

Holy hokey cokey! You must report this woman, she is at best highly negligent and at worse guilty of gross misconduct and child endagerment.

Think about this for a moment. Rather than give you advice on how to make your child's pain go away, she gave you a phone number for a commercial remote healing service. There are so many things wrong with that I don't know where to begin. Sod it, I'll start with:

1) Conflict of interest. The remote healer is a private business who is making money from referrals from a nurse at a good hospital. He is trading off the hospital's reputation and she is assisting him. I would fully expect she is receiving a financial kickback for her referrals, or knows the healer personally.

2) Prolonging the pain of a child. This is appaling. There is no evidence that remote healing works, so to tell someone who has called a hospital for medical advice to basically allow his child to remain in pain is negligent and cruel.

3) Potential health risks. Imagine if she gives the number to a parent instead of the actual medical advice about pain relief that she's paid to give, and that parent is gullible enough to use it. Now imagine that the child develops complications, and the pain is the body's way of saying "something is wrong!". You see the problem? And this is the problem with all alt med and why it's so dangerous. People die because they leave it too long. Now in the case of a child or a baby, who might not be able to communicate "no, this is a new pain and it's getting worse", the dangers are greater.

I cannot possibly stress how irresponsible this woman's actions are. I know you have said you don't want to report her because other than the remote healing part, the rest of her advice was good, but I urge you to reconsider, not least for the sakes of the parents who call in the future. She is causing unnecessary suffering to childen. She needs to stop.

If you are worried that an otherwise good nurse will be fired if you complain, ask yourself this: why is her action a firing offence in the first place? If she has done something so bad that you feel the need to protect her, that's the exact reason why you should report her.

Please reconsider. Just because she can dress a wound, it doesn't make it OK to advise you to leave your child in pain while a stranger says magic words elsewhere.

 

[Katana]

Teek has a point there.

Did you get a name, malbui? Then again, if she was the only one on duty at the time you called, she might be easy to track down.

I'd report her.

 

[JJM]

Hmmm - this is the point. I really don't want to get the nurse into trouble. The rest of the advice was spot on and the hints she gave about applying and fixing the dressings were really useful - when I took Malbuinette to her paed the next day I was complimented on the quality of the dressings, which for someone with ten thumbs like me is most unusual.

If you don't mention the nurses name, the hospital can take it as an opportunity to educate the staff, generally. There may be others that could use re-education concernig this, or other quackery. I think it is important.

 

[Starthinker]

But what if it is hospital-endorsed? What if they get a kickback?

In any case, if you don't want to get the nurse in trouble just tell them what happened and don't give her name. They will most likely respond to all nurses that this happened and not to let it happen again. Maybe hearing it from her peers, as in "can you believe that? Who would do something so stupid?" she would quietly keep her mouth shut and re-think her ideals.

 

[ponderingturtle]

But what if it is hospital-endorsed? What if they get a kickback?

In any case, if you don't want to get the nurse in trouble just tell them what happened and don't give her name. They will most likely respond to all nurses that this happened and not to let it happen again. Maybe hearing it from her peers, as in "can you believe that? Who would do something so stupid?" she would quietly keep her mouth shut and re-think her ideals.

And if it is hospital policy report the hospital.

 

[Boo]

I have to go with everyone else on reporting her. Medical advice cannot be taken as a gestalt. Bad medicine is bad medicine. While the rest of her advice was excellent the one bit on pain control was negligent and harmful. Pain control is very important in kids and especially with serious burns.

This needs to be brought to someone's attention.


Boo

 

[malbui]

A can of worms...

Thanks to all for your input thus far.

Since posting the OP I have learned that this kind of thing is not exactly unknown in this part of the world. I now know of two clinics around the lake from here who regularly call on this kind of "support" while patients are being transported, and as I understand it there is a senior burns specialist at a big teaching hospital who claims to have some kind of "healing touch", learned from some wise woman in the middle of nowhere. I really don't know what to make of this.