| Subject: Re: Here is a kid who should of had his pants pulled down |
Author:
Eric
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Date Posted: Sunday, May 01, 2011, 07:44: am
In reply to:
Tim #2
's message, "Re: Here is a kid who should of had his pants pulled down" on Saturday, April 30, 2011, 10:42: pm
15 years ago I worked in an ED. We had a 3 year old boy come in with general malaise. I took him into the exam room and when I went to take his temperature his father insisted I take it orally (with a probe thermometer like the one in the video.)
I was skeptical, but being a good patient advocate I complied with the father's wishes. Of course, the boy kept opening his mouth and did not keep it under his tongue. When I pulled it out I got a reading of 94 even though the boy felt hot to the touch.
At that point I looked the father right in the eye and calmly told him to pull his son's pants down as I was going to take it rectally. The father complied but kept apologizing to his son for what we were doing to him. I got the temp of over 104 in seconds flat without any complaint or sign of distress from the boy.
I got the impression that the resistance to rectal temps on young children is not being done for the sake of the child, but because the parents (or in this case possibly the ER Tech) are projecting there own discomfort onto the patient. I have found that as long as the procedure is explained and you are gentle, even children as old as 6 or 7 have no problem with it. Older children may have some mild shame, but unfortunately, sometimes that is unavoidable in the ED.
Children, even as old as 14 or 15 are very anxious about ED visits and we must do what we can calm there fears. Sure having their pants pulled down for a temp is stressful, but no more stressful to them then having a EKG, X-Ray, MRI, IV or the multitudes of other procedures we need to perform on them.
I retired 10 years ago, I would hate to think we have let PC thinking effect patient care, but then again, there are many stupid things we do in the name of political correctness.
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