Friday, December 7, 2007

Are you having difficulty breathing?

Well today I have to say I was stumped. I'm a telehealth nurse. I give medical information and advise over the phone. Sounds easy but it's not. I assess symptoms and make recommendations with the only tool being the sound of the callers voice and what they tell me.
It was much easier in the ER when they walked in bleeding all over or smelling of ...well I won't gross you out.
I've gotten pretty good at reading vocal cues and tone and even better at trying to understand the different words others use for body parts. Sometimes people even go " it hurts right here." and I know they're pointing at something!
Usually it's about some body part hurting or bleeding or not feeling right. With extensive Q&A we usually get to the bottom of things and I can recommend a solution even sometimes recommending they hang up and dial 911.
Today I couldn't help.
I felt helpless.
It went something like this.
Me- "Health Link Dilys here are you having any emergent symptoms? Are you having difficulty breathing?"
Caller- "no"
Me- "How may I help you?"
Caller- "My hair is dull and lifeless"
Me- *pregnant pause*"What's lifeless?!"
Caller- " my hair."
Me- " Are you on chemo? "
Caller- " no"
Anyway, I advised a good shampoo and conditioner and patted myself on the back for responding to yet another medical emergency.
Dry cracked heels anyone?

2 comments:

Mika Ryan said...

very funny....I've missed reading your blog, good to see that you're back.

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