I have 3 topics today:
1. comments in blogger
2. medical "protection"
3. I forgot--maybe I'll remember later. :(

First of all, I want to apologize to my visitors for not having comments. When I opened my blogger account, blogger didn't automatically come with the ability to provide visitors to comment--believe it or not! In fact, I had a separate service which provided this for a while. It went out of service and, because of that, actually made my blog inaccessible for a while. I will be looking into this, as I do want to hear from you. I wrote on Bob Bly's blog that there were 3I's of blogging: immediacy, interactivity and intimacy. Obviously, the second can't happen without comments enabled! And the third is certainly impaired, since perhaps more revealing comments are made in response to folks' comments. So, as soon as I get thru a few projects here, I hope to get comments working here, again!

Medical protection. I visited a site today which advertised a way to reduce medical errors--specifically, way(s) in which you, as a patient, could protect yourself from medical errors. One of the questions the sales letter asked was if you doctor consulted with anyone about your treatment.

Believe me, I am all in favor of reducing medical errors (who wouldn't be? ahhhh...hmmm). However, to call a doctor's expertise into question at the fundamental level of their training is just offbase. Would you want your teacher to consult with you on her training plans? Your tax accountant to consult with someone else about your taxes? Your lawyer to have to consult someone else about his legal advice?

No!

That is the definition of an expert--someone who can provide a service without having to consult with someone else. There are certainly places where physicians will consult--and, with the current malpractice issues in medical care, they are more likely to call up someone sooner rather than later if there is any doubt in the care, or if it even edges into another area of expertise.

Trust me, there are better uses of our healthcare dollars than requiring doctors to always get a second opinion (which is what this sales letter would seem to imply.)

I do, however, highly recommend that anyone who goes into the hospital have a friend or relative there with you, especially if you will be under heavy medication. That way, they can be an advocate for you with often over-worked floor nurses and aides. Your friend can help by knowing what medications you are on, and make sure that the nurse tells you what medication you are getting and what it is for, when she or he gives you one.

The biggest percentage of medical errors are medication errors.

Everyone in the medical team who is involved with giving a medication is responsible for making sure that it is an appropriate medication, an appropriate dosage, and that the medication is not contraindicated for that particular patient.

In nursing school, nurses are taught the "5 rights" of medication: right patient, right medication, right route, right dose, right time. And, in fact, there are some medications that nurses are required to check "with another licensed personnel"--it's the law in many states. These include insulin and blood products. But administration of potassium, heparin and digoxin are critical, as well. Why? Because an incorrect dose of these medications can be rapidly fatal. I learned these in Nursing School thru the phrase "Did I Kill Him (or Her)"? (d=digoxin, i=insulin, k=potassium, h=heparin).

You should know, as well, that there are things which are considered to be medical errors that don't substantially affect the patient. In medical errors, it can be if the medication is not given within 30 minutes of the indicated time. For some medications, this is critical; for others, it is not.  ¶ 4:09 PM (0) comments