Nobody wants to spend a night in hospital, but everyone appreciates being there when they need the medical help.
However, a group of medical practitioners have revealed one thing that can needlessly prolong a patient’s admission, as it hinders essential information from being relayed effectively.
Responding to the Reddit thread entitled, ‘Doctors and nurses of Reddit, what is something patients do that they think is helpful but actually makes your job harder?’, numerous doctors voiced the same grievance.
Speaking candidly, one explained how relatives can inadvertently extend their loved ones’ hospital stay by answering on their behalf.
He stated: “When I try to assess my patients and the family members won’t stop answering.”
Elaborating on his observation, he continued: “I don’t want to keep replying individually – I’m talking about, for example, if I’m trying to ask questions to a patient in an acute care ward to assess their neurological status, I don’t want anyone but the patient to answer.”
“Or if I go into the room and mention something that happened overnight to start a conversation, where they can try to tell me what happened, and a family member speaks first, it doesn’t help me assess the patient’s orientation, memory, cognition, speech pattern, gaze, affect, perception or understanding, and where I may need to educate them.
“I’m asking questions for many reasons other than what it may seem. If I finish asking the patient and they’re a poor historian, we will absolutely ask family to assist. We love family collaboration.”
Nevertheless, some users contended that their relatives may struggle to articulate their symptoms and depend on family members to communicate with medical professionals.
Responding to this, another doctor stated: “I’m a pediatrician and this is still the one for me.
“Mum and dad – you will get your turn. I want to know what the child is experiencing firsthand as well.
“And I know a seven-year-old can be unreliable. But you can’t feel whether their stomach ache has gone away or gotten worse.”
Meanwhile, others reported encountering the reverse situation in hospital, alleging doctors disregarded elderly patients and addressed family members directly instead.
One user shared: “We had the opposite problem. Our mother lived to be 96, and during the last several years of her life, the doctors would ignore her and ask us questions about her – even as she was sitting right there.
“We consistently had to tell them that she was the patient and they needed to discuss her issues with her.
“She was sharp and alert right up to the end – she could rattle off all her medications, dosages and side effects, yet the doctors would still try to engage us instead.”