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Omg, I was talking to the Dr. NOT the nurse who initially met me. Geez. THE DR.
You seem to be the defender of all who have to take BP's.
I’m defending someone just doing the job they’re being told to do and were hired to do. It just seems like low pickings, easy pickings, vs just telling the doctor you prefer not to have your B/P tested on arrival. She doesn’t get to decide what to do before the doc sees you, he does. She’s following a checklist given her by the doctor when he hired and trained her.
That's another similar thing. Every time I go to almost any doctor they weigh me. And I am badly overweight. Has any of the doctors ever said one thing about my weight? Just once...one of my cardiologists said I definitely needed to lose weight...and he was more overweight than I!
Huh, my doc ever so gently and nicely will sometimes 'suggest' that if I lost twenty pounds some of my meds might 'go away'. Never any real pressure, just the subtle "I know that you know you need to lose weight" always just below the surface of whatever reason I'm in the office for.
I’m defending someone just doing the job they’re being told to do and were hired to do. It just seems like low pickings, easy pickings, vs just telling the doctor you prefer not to have your B/P tested on arrival. She doesn’t get to decide what to do before the doc sees you, he does. She’s following a checklist given her by the doctor when he hired and trained her.
Which job will put faulty information in your medical record. The doctor was not present when I declined the blood pressure read. All the nurse had to do is tell the doctor "He wouldn't let me." The doctor knew why. He knows that blood pressure taken under the wrong circumstance will give a totally bogus reasoning and knew that I can take it home and report -- as I did.
Which job will put faulty information in your medical record. The doctor was not present when I declined the blood pressure read. All the nurse had to do is tell the doctor "He wouldn't let me." The doctor knew why. He knows that blood pressure taken under the wrong circumstance will give a totally bogus reasoning and knew that I can take it home and report -- as I did.
"The medical record" is whatever data they put into the computer system during or after the appointment. You sit there and behave like an adult while the nurse does your BP when you get there. And then you behave like an adult again when the doctor comes in, and ask him to do your BP again. If the doctor sees a significant difference, he might do it a third time, and put in the middle of the three.
If you know better than the doctor's office, then stop wasting their time and stay home.
Thanks for posting this thread. I feel exactly the same way. I only had one doctor out of several in Alabama that followed apparently fairly recent new protocol: waiting 10 mins. to take a patient's blood pressure. That was at UAB Medical Center in Birmingham - a wonderful place, very professional -- and friendly and courteous, I might add.
I had one office that used antiquated equipment that consistently gave a reading forty points higher than every other office. They finally got a digital device, and guess what: it still registered at least 40 points above my normal, and every other office's reading. That is just lame. I started refusing to have my pressure taken there and insisted on them putting the usual reading in my chart. That was not met with, shall we say, enthusiasm.
And yes, I've had workers get huffy with me when I ask them to wait to take blood pressure.
It's presumptuous to assume that OP or anyone else on this thread was "belligerent" when requesting that their blood pressure be taken after 10 mins. It can easily be done while you wait, sometimes upward and beyond 30 mins in the exam room. It's a simple ask, and easily accommodated. I've never gotten huffy but boy they sure have, like I was criticizing the way they do their job. That's on them. I'm only interested in an accurate reading.
Just because someone does a minor rant online about it doesn't mean they were belligerent at the time. The rant is due to ongoing frustration with the process, and inaccurate readings being logged onto a chart.
It's presumptuous to assume that OP or anyone else on this thread was "belligerent" when requesting that their blood pressure be taken after 10 mins. It can easily be done while you wait, sometimes upward and beyond 30 mins in the exam room. It's a simple ask, and easily accommodated. I've never gotten huffy but boy they sure have, like I was criticizing the way they do their job. That's on them. I'm only interested in an accurate reading.
Just because someone does a minor rant online about it doesn't mean they were belligerent at the time. The rant is due to ongoing frustration with the process, and inaccurate readings being logged onto a chart.
This sounded needlessly snotty to me, like he wanted to "get her" or show her up or something, when she was just doing the job the way she was trained. And she wouldn't have been (IMO) "pissed off" if he had politely declined and explained his reasoning. It just sounds like he was rude about it.
"The nurse came back at the end of the visit for a different reason after the doctor had left and I cheerfully told her "Oh by the way, my blood pressure is fine." "Oh what was it?" "117/69 when I took it at home yesterday as I reported to Dr. Nyugen." No comment."
Well the actual point is that she wasn't trained properly (according to 2013 protocol).
And it may have been that she reacted the same way I've been reacted to, like I'm criticizing them or inconveniencing them, which wasn't true at all.
Look, I know that health care workers are stressed. I get it. But when inaccurate results are recorded, that's a problem and they need to recognize that. I've had more than one worker look at me like I was being a problem and it was clear they didn't care about an accurate reading.
It's pretty much a given that my Doc retakes my blood pressure towards the end of the appt. Even the nurses admit they shouldn't take it as soon as you walk in, but they do it anywhere.
My doc office is on the 4th floor. I take the stairs up, and usually take 2 at a time. All my info is stored so i just check in and I'm usually being led to the back room immediately. Most often I have a full bladder anyway for a urine test.
All situations where taking one's blood pressure is not ideal. I do it anyway, and then after sitting there in peace and quiet for 10 mins, we take it again when the doctor comes in.
You're reminding me that my dad who's been with Kaiser for years told me that they take his blood pressure twice, and record the second reading taken later during the appointment.
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