September 30, 2025 • 28 mins
#191: Ever wondered why your doctor seems to rush you through your medical history? Or why getting that MRI your provider ordered takes weeks of insurance battles? The disconnect between what patients experience and how the healthcare system actually functions creates frustration on all sides.
Drawing from 15 years of healthcare experience, as both a provider and a patient, I'm pulling back the curtain on how medicine really works. When patients say "no one is doing anything for me," they're expressing a genuine frustration born from a system that often fails to communicate its processes effectively.
Medical providers use differential diagnosis, a detective-like process, to narrow down possible causes based on specific symptoms. This explains why they ask such targeted questions and sometimes seem to cut you off mid-story. It's not rudeness; it's their training to find the most critical information quickly. Meanwhile, nurses use structured communication methods like SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) to deliver life-saving information efficiently.
Behind the scenes, insurance companies create enormous barriers through prior authorization requirements that delay necessary care for 94% of physicians. Your provider may be fighting battles you never see, writing appeals and conducting peer-to-peer reviews just to get you the test they know you need. America spends more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation yet has worse outcomes because our system prioritizes "sick care" over prevention.
Whether you're a patient trying to be heard, a nurse communicating critical information, or a provider navigating systemic barriers, better communication is the key. Remember that medicine is humans helping humans, we're all learning together how to create better healthcare experiences through clearer communication.
If you've ever felt frustrated with healthcare, this episode offers practical insights from someone who's seen it from every angle. Share it with someone who might need a new perspective on navigating our complex medical system.
You can now send us a text to ask a question or review the show. We would love to hear from you!
Follow me on social: https://www.instagram.com/babbles_nonsense/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Johnna (00:00):
What is up, everyone?
Welcome back to another episodeof the Babbles Nonsense
podcast.
Today we are shifting back tosome healthcare talk to kind of
keep it a little bit more lightand different.
But I wanted to pull from bothsides of my world and that being
like a nurse and a provider,but also a patient at the same
time and talk about how medicinetruly works because believe it
(00:20):
or not, I actually have theseconversations in my day-to-day
life more than I can even count.
And it it begs to wonder likewhy nobody's talking about this.
And just know that I'm also notgiving medical advice.
This is just my perspectiveafter 15 years in healthcare and
after lifting listening tocountless patients, especially
veterans during their exams.
(00:41):
Over and over I hear thephrase, no one is doing anything
for me.
Um, and with my medicalknowledge, it's mind-blowing
sometimes to see the gap betweenwhat patients are experiencing
and how the system functions.
So today we're going to breakdown how to communicate with
providers, both from the patientperspective and the nursing
perspective, how medicine isactually taught and practiced,
(01:03):
and why our system is set up forquote unquote sick care instead
of true preventative care.
So if this is something you'reinterested in, give it a listen.
So thank you for staying if youstayed.
(01:40):
Um, I want to start first fromthe patient perspective, like
when it comes to um howfrustration can build up and how
we speak to providers and stufflike that, because I've been
there myself.
And honestly, I get wherefrustration builds because
providers are trained in what'scalled a differential diagnosis.
That means when you come inwith a complaint, providers are
(02:03):
building a list of possiblediagnoses in their heads and
working to narrow it down.
So it's kind of like detectivework in a way, you're kind of
working backwards from likeinstead of so it's like if you
think about detective work andhow they have evidence and then
they have to come to the answer,it's kind of the same thing.
When you come in with symptoms,that's quote unquote evidence.
And then you have to do testingto get to the true problem.
(02:26):
But here's the key the morespecific and direct you are as
the patient, the easier it isfor your provider to get to the
right test and treatments tohelp you a little bit better.
And I know for me, like becauseI do have medical knowledge, I
understand this and grasp this.
But when I talk to patientsabout it and talk about how you
like patients really shouldadvocate for themselves, like as
(02:47):
a provider myself, I do not getupset if a patient is Googling
or using Chat GPT or whatevertheir symptoms to kind of help
explain their symptoms becausemaybe they're so vague they
don't know how to explain them.
So we can use an example likeabdominal pain because it's so
broad.
Like if someone comes in withan abdominal pain, that could be
so many different things,right?
So if someone comes in andsays, My stomach hurts, we have
(03:10):
to ask a dozen questions.
Where is the pain?
Is it your right upperquadrant?
Um, or is it your right lowerquadrant?
Because depending on where yourpain is, that can be make a big
difference, right?
So if it's your right upperquadrant, I'm over here thinking
your gallbladder or your liver.
If it's your right lowerquadrant, I'm now thinking, is
(03:31):
this your appendix?
Is it an ovarian cyst if you'rea woman?
Is it testicular torsion ifyou're a man?
Could it be possibly aninguinal hernia with referred
pain?
So depending on where your painis, makes someone narrow down
their differential diagnosis.
I'm hoping y'all are allstaying with me here.
And then it determines on whatkind of testing you're gonna
get, right?
So if you're telling me it'syour right upper quadrant of
(03:53):
your abdomen, of your stomach,your abdomen, then I may want to
order an ultrasound of yourgallbladder versus if it's your
left lower, I may want to do,you know, do we need a
testicular ultrasound?
Do we need a transvaginalultrasound to rule out ovarian
cyst versus testicular torsion?
Do we need a CAT scan with IVversus oral contrast depending
(04:14):
on your body weight?
Because sometimes the smalleryou are, IV contrast isn't
enough to see some organs.
You have to do, you have todrink oral contrast.
So there is a reason whyproviders ask certain questions.
And when patients don't answerdirectly or when they give
sometimes too much history,sometimes that can make it
(04:34):
harder.
So we have two extremes ofpatience.
We have the patient who saysalmost nothing, making the
provider have to draginformation out of them, or you
have the patient who starts withsomething like in 1990, and
then finally 20 minutes later,they mention the real reason why
they're there, and a providermay or may not have zoned out by
(04:54):
then.
And and I don't mean thatdisrespectfully or any kind of
rude, um, but neither one of theextremes of someone having to
pull information out becausethen now it's almost like
pulling teeth to get the patientto even speak, or then you're
having to like kind of hurryalong the patient who's talking
about he had this pain in 1990.
(05:15):
And even though that may beimportant down the road with
questions, that's not important.
And I guess I'm maybe comingfrom an ER perspective, and I'm
thinking like critical care,because when you're in the ER,
you know, you're trained whatwill kill you first.
That is what we are trained on,like obviously life-saving
measures because you're in anemergency room.
But the takeaway is forpatients to be clear, to be
(05:38):
direct, and trust that yourprovider is asking certain
questions for a reason.
The questions they're askingare not random.
They're helping them narrowdown that list of possibilities
in their brain.
And I know if you don't haveany medical knowledge, you
probably didn't even know that,but I thought it, you know,
should obviously be sharedbecause miscommunication is one
of the top causes of medicalerrors.
(05:59):
Um, the Joint Commission hascited communication failures as
a leading cause in over 60% ofsentinel events.
And sentinel events are seriousunexpected outcomes in
healthcare.
That shows just how muchclarity matters in patient
provider communications andtheir conversations.
So, like I said, both extremescan become a problem because if
(06:20):
you're giving too muchinformation and it's kind of
overload for a provider, thinkabout a conversation that you
have with your friend.
If they're giving you so manyfacts and so many details that
you're having to go, wait, holdon.
Now I'm getting confused.
You said this here, this there.
It's the same with medicine andconversation.
When we give too much,sometimes it becomes brain
overload and you are kind offorgetting why they're there.
(06:45):
And I don't mean that, again, Idon't mean that
disrespectfully, but think aboutthere was a quote one time, and
I can't remember, like people'shumans' attention spans are
only so long.
So when we give drag outconversations, and I'm bad about
it myself in my personal life,like I'll drag out
conversations, long textmessages, especially to men
where we know like they shutdown after like two or three
lines.
And I do the same thing.
(07:05):
Like if I'm scrolling on socialmedia and I come across a post
that's forever long, I'm like,I'm not even reading this.
And I know that's that's awful,but we have been conditioned
and trained for that quick,fast-paced in our everyday life,
and it kind of transcends intoour jobs.
And sometimes our jobs ishealthcare.
But again, this is just from myperspective.
(07:26):
I'm not saying every provideris like this.
Um, I have like 13 years ofcritical care experience, and
this is just what shaped myhealthcare experience because I
first started in an ICU as abedside nurse, which is critical
care, and you have to learnlike and discern and learn.
And then I went to emergencymedicine for I think 11 years,
(07:46):
and then I did trauma for a yearbefore I transferred and before
I transferred into like clinicwork where I saw that there was
kind of a disconnect.
But I saw it in the ER too,like like when people would come
in, for example, with chestpain, and you're trying to be
like, okay, does the chest pain,does it radiate?
Does it, does it go anywhere?
Does it go to your arm?
Does it go to your back?
(08:06):
Where is it?
Is it on the left side?
Is it on the right side?
Does it hurt when you take adeep breath?
Have you traveled recently?
Do you have any history ofcoronary artery disease or heart
attacks?
Does your family have anyhistory of these?
These are specific questions tosay, in my mind, to narrow
down, could this be a heartattack?
Is this musculoskeletal pain?
Is this a pulmonary embolism?
(08:27):
Those are the things I'mthinking.
And I know sometimes, again, ifyou're not medical and you
don't know this, then it doesmake it hard to understand why
sometimes physicians orproviders are being like trying
to hurry you along in a story.
Like again, I'm telling you, Ihad a lot of the elderly
population would come in and go,Well, in 1999, I had chest pain
(08:47):
that was on the right side, andI went to the doctor multiple
times, went to the ER multipletimes, had multiple cardiac
casts, and they couldn'tdetermine what was causing my
chest pain.
And even though that againcould be important later, 1999
chest pain doesn't have anythingto do with 2025 chest pain
unless you say everything that,like if you answer everything I
(09:09):
ask and then you say, well, youshould also know in 1990 I had
the same exact chest pain and Ihad a heart attack.
That's very important, right?
Like that's factual.
But if you're telling me theycouldn't determine what caused
your chest pain in 1999 and yougo through a 10 to 15 minute
story, and then the outcome isthey didn't know what was going
on, that's not going to helpsomething in 2025.
But I don't want to deteranyone from saying what they
(09:31):
want to say to a provider.
I'm just trying to give kind ofperspective from a provider
standpoint.
Okay.
And then let's go on and moveto the nursing side, like the
conversations from a nursingperspective.
Um, when you're speaking to aprovider.
So for me, you know, I've beenthe nurse, I've been the
provider, I'm still a nurse, I'mstill a provider.
Um, and I worked in the ER for11 years.
(09:53):
One of the biggest lessons Ilearned from this was the
shorter and more focused youreport to a provider, the
better, especially tospecialties like surgeons.
Um, providers get dozens ofcalls in a shift, and we have to
remember that, especially ifthey're working 12, 13 hours,
they're on call and now they'reworking 24 hours.
So a quick, clear summary getsattention quicker than a long,
(10:17):
drawn-out explanation, you know,will get a turned out.
So, for example, let's let'sthink about like a patient who
fell and they're on bloodthinners.
So, to me, a bad version ofcontacting a provider would be
like, hi, sorry for calling, butMr.
So-and-so in room two fell inthe kitchen at 2:32 p.m.
(10:37):
Three staff witnessed this.
He, we believe he hit his head.
Um, I checked his MAR and he'son Eloquist, which I've known
and found out is a bloodthinner.
I've contacted the family.
They're very concerned, they'recrying.
Um, the patient seems to beokay.
I did check themneurologically, and I don't find
any neurological symptoms to bewrong at this time, but we did
(11:00):
call EMS to send them to the ER.
We just wanted to let you knowthat.
Versus, hey, Mr.
So-and-so fell, he hit hishead, he's on eloquist, we send
him to the ER and the family hasbeen notified.
So you like, even though thefirst one, yes, you're telling
everything, and it's importantfrom a nursing perspective
because in nursing we see thepatient and the family in the
(11:21):
room as a whole, versus when youcome to the provider side,
you're seeing you're trying tomake sure the patient's okay,
right?
And I'm not saying nursingstaff is not doing that either.
But then you you have way morepatients.
You may, like as a nurse, youmay have, you know, four to five
patients that you're takingcare of for the day.
And then as a provider, you mayhave 50 patients on your list
to see versus call versus yourcalls versus everything else,
(11:45):
right?
So the quicker you can get tolike, because that's just a
quick, like, okay, thank you somuch for notifying me.
I will make sure to see thispatient on my next rounds.
And then, and then you couldgive your orders, right?
Like Q2 hour neurochecks, youknow, you know, if the if the ER
doesn't do a CAT scan, we needto do that.
And then that kind of makes ita better.
So I'm sure you can see thedifference in those two um
(12:06):
communications from a nursingstandpoint to a provider's.
Both share the same facts.
You know, one will take maybetwo or three minutes where the
other takes, you know, or sorry,one may take 90 seconds where
the other takes 10 minutes.
And as a nurse, you know, don'tever apologize for doing your
job.
Like I've had nurses call mebefore and be like, I am so
sorry to contact you.
(12:27):
Don't ever do that.
You're doing your job.
Like you should not have toapologize for doing your job.
Um, but just rem remremembering to give the critical
details that you know they needto know is the most important
part.
Like, obviously, if you if youwant to give more explanation,
do that at the end.
Like, if you need to say allthat other stuff because that's
(12:48):
just your personality, say it atthe end because you've already
got the provider's attention.
I guess what I'm saying is getthe provider's attention and
then say whatever you need tosay.
So if you need to say Mr.
So-and-so fell, hit his head.
He's on Eloquist, we sent himto the ER, family was notified.
I just wanted you to know thatthis was witnessed by three
people.
We did, you know, see it.
We did check his mar.
He's on Eloquist, which is ablood thinner.
Like you can say all that atthe end because you've already
(13:11):
got the provider's attention.
Just say what you need to sayto get the provider's attention.
Um, and that goes into theS-bar method, which is
situation, backgroundassessment, and recommendation
is actually the gold standardfor structured nurse-to-provider
communication.
Hospitals nationwide train onthis because it improves
outcomes and it reduces errors.
Because again, think of I needto look, I'm gonna look it up
(13:32):
really quick so I can just havethe facts about how long does it
take for people to loseinterest in a conversation from
non-biased sources, because Ithink it's seconds, um, which is
crazy.
I I remember reading it andthen I can't remember what it
(13:53):
said.
So let's see.
So it says from a 2023 studyfound that young adults could
maintain optimal attentionduring a continuous task for an
average of 76 seconds beforelosing focus.
And that's can't become morerecent because attention spans
(14:14):
um are influenced by digitaltechnology.
So that's why we live in thisdigital world.
And if you're someone'sattention span is gone in 76
seconds, you know, again, weyes, we do our best to stay
focused, especially in thecareers that we choose, but that
does not take away fromstatistics or, you know, kind of
(14:35):
human evolution and whatnot.
But, anyways, I want to alsoaddress why the system fails and
why it's broken, so that justfrom the provider, if you're
listening, I mean, y'all knowthis, and then the patient, you
may not know this.
Um, so here's where we're gonnazoom out for a little bit.
The reason patients often, inmy opinion, feel unheard is
(14:56):
because our system is notpreventative, it's reactive,
it's quote unquote sick care.
Um, insurance companies usuallyare in control most of the
time, and I don't know ifpatients know that.
Like your provider may want toorder an MRI, like let for um
for your back pain or something.
But insurance requires likewhat's called step therapy, and
(15:18):
their step may be first you haveto order an x-ray.
If there's nothing on thex-ray, second, they have to go
to six weeks of physicaltherapy.
Um, and then third, you know,if they go to physical therapy
and they're still having pain,then you can order the MRI um
before it gets approved.
But and I'll give you anexample of this.
I worked in a clinic, you know,where we did spine pain
(15:41):
management and we had a patientthat fell, it was acute injury,
even on top of their chronicpain, but they fell at work and
they came in, you know, not ableto really lift or move their
one of their lower legs.
I can't remember if it wasright or left, but I wanted to
order an MRI of the back becausewe did an x-ray in office and
it didn't show anything.
And an x-ray is going to showyou certain things like a
(16:02):
vertebral fracture, like a bonefracture.
Sometimes it can show you ifthe discs are, you know,
narrowing, which is degenerateto disc disease.
Um, it can't always show thingslike a herniated disc, spinal
stenosis, um spinal canalcompression, um, nerve root
ending compression.
It can't show you those things.
MRI is gold standard for that.
So if an x-ray doesn't looklike if you're looking at the
(16:25):
x-ray and you're looking at thepatient and their symptoms and
they're not matching, the nextstep would be to do an MRI.
I'm not going to send someoneto six weeks of physical
therapy, not knowing what'sgoing on in their back with an
acute injury, because we canworsen it with manipulation and
movements and stuff like that inphysical therapy.
So for this particular patient,I had to appeal because their
insurance denied their MRI, Ithink two or three times.
(16:47):
And appeals take a while, guys,and that's why it becomes
cumbersome.
Um, but it's, you know,obviously doing what's right for
the patient.
And it takes time becauseyou're still in clinic, you're
still seeing patients, you'rethen having to write this long
appeal with medical literatureto back up why you want to do
this.
Meanwhile, the insurancecompany is just doing their job.
They're following thisstep-by-step algorithm, and it's
(17:09):
usually someone with no medicalknowledge until you appeal it.
Some insurance is two, some isthree.
And then you can do what'scalled a peer-to-peer evaluation
where you actually get to speakto a provider, tell them what
you've done, give the give thesymptoms, tell them the x-ray
was unremarkable, and this iswhy you don't want them to go to
physical therapy prior to MRI,and then it gets approved, but
(17:29):
that's weeks later the patient'sbeen sitting in pain and
they're mad at the providerbecause they feel like the
provider's quote unquote notdoing anything.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes,they're actually doing as much
as they possibly can for thispatient.
And this isn't rare.
Um, according to the AMA, priorauthorization requirements
delay necessary care for 94%,94% guys, of physicians.
(17:52):
And more than a third ofphysicians report that these
delays have led to seriousadverse events for patient care.
So that's why like it's sofrustrating as a provider, like
when you you are medicallytrained and and I get it,
there's there's always got to bechecks and balances.
Like I truly understand that,and I appreciate that in any
healthcare where like someone'slike, Well, I don't really feel
(18:13):
this is necessary.
But when you see that it's, youknow, literally, I'm not
kidding.
Someone who graduated highschool, got a job at insurance
company, has no medicaltraining, and they they are
doing what they are trained todo, and that's to follow an
algorithm.
If they don't meet theserequirements, we don't approve
it.
And there is a huge gap therebecause we're not preventing
anything.
(18:34):
Let's say this particularpatient, I did not do the
appeals, I did not do thepeer-to-peer because it just
took too much time.
Let's say that.
And let's say I was like, okay,fine, let's just send her to
physical therapy and she had aherniated disc, and then I made
it worse by sending her tophysical therapy.
I just as a provider could notlive with myself doing that.
So of course I fought for thispatient.
And of course, we got the MRIordered.
(18:55):
But at the end of the day, it'snot always like that.
It's not always that easy orsimple because it's frustrating.
And so your provider may befrustrated at situations like
that and then have to come inthe room and try to put on this,
you know, smile to see the nextpatient when they're super
frustrated at a situation thathas nothing to do with the new
patient in the room.
And again, I get it.
(19:16):
People, I when I have theseconversations with friends and
family members, they're like,Yeah, but you chose that career.
Yes, I did.
But at the end of the day, weare all humans, and that's what
I'm trying.
We're not robots.
We can't just turn off certainfeelings and we do the, and I
trust me, guys, we do the bestwe can, but even your provider
(19:36):
is gonna have a bad day and befrustrated about patient care,
or maybe they were just cussedout in the room before you, or
maybe they, if you're working inan ER or ICU, maybe they just
lost a patient that they codedfor two or three hours and
they're sad and they don't havetime to decompress that.
So I guess maybe theperspective I'm coming from is
maybe show a little grace.
(19:56):
Like obviously, if they're notdoing what's right for you in
front of you, then obviouslypoint that out.
But if they are doing what'sright in front of you and
they're not doing what youexpect of them, maybe you are
expecting a little more handholding or expecting a little
bit more, you know, I don't knowif compassion is the right word
here, because I feel like evenwhen I've been in those head
(20:18):
spaces, I still have compassionand I'm still doing what's right
for my patient.
I'm still listening.
I'm still, I may just not be astalkative or, you know, as
smiley.
And I don't know the right wordfor that, but I hope that makes
sense and I'm hoping I'm makingit um make sense.
But um there's also, I want tomove on to the next thing,
there's also what's called thepreventative care gap.
(20:38):
And when the Affordable CareAct was passed during Obama's
administration, preventativeservices like pap smears and
mammograms were supposed to becovered at 100%.
And while the test itself mightbe free, facilities still bill
you for using the machine or forcoming into the facility
itself, which leaves the patientfrustrated and distrustful of
(21:00):
insurance because it's like, no,preventative health care is
supposed to be there to notdeter someone from getting
screenings.
Because let's be honest, it's alot cheaper to pay for a
mammogram screening versuschemotherapy for never getting
checked out.
And that's where the irony is.
Preventative care saves themoney.
And I'll give you an example.
(21:21):
The CDC estimates that every $1spent on childhood vaccines
saves $13 in healthcare cost.
Yet our system stillprioritizes reacting to
illnesses instead of inventinginvesting in preventative care.
We wait until you're sick,which that's a whole nother like
theory, right?
What's what's that called?
Um, conspiracy theory, whereyou know, Big Pharma owns a lot
(21:44):
of things, they push out drugs,like politicians are pushing out
drugs.
Let's say, and you almost wantto think like, why are
politicians backing this?
You have no medical training.
Um, you're saying all this thisstuff with no no years in
research, no years in medicine,and yet we listen because you
know we're taught to trust thesepeople, and then it's like a
(22:09):
cycle, like nobody's gettinghealthier.
Actually, America, I'm prettysure, and I'll look up that
statistic.
Let me actually look up that.
I think America is probably oneof the sickest countries,
maybe.
Um where let me look that up.
Where does America lie when itcomes to I'm gonna put in quotes
sickness compared to othercountries?
(22:32):
Because other countries do it alot differently.
Um a lot of people are likemost countries do allow people
to have health care.
And so it says that um in manyrespects the US has worse
outcomes than other high-incomecountries despite spending far
(22:53):
more.
And it says, um, that's toomany charts.
Let's see.
Break it down short paragraph.
Sorry, guys, I should haveactually looked this up prior to
doing this podcast, but I waslike, let me just look it up
while we're here.
All right, so compared to otherwealthy nations, America is one
of the quote unquote sickestdespite spending the most on
(23:15):
health care.
Chronic conditions likeobesity, diabetes, and heart
disease are far more common inAmerica, and in America, our
life expectancy is lower.
The U.S.
also has higher infant andmaternal mortality and more
deaths from conditions thatcould have been prevented with
earlier health care.
A big reason is that our systemis built around quote unquote
(23:35):
sick care, treating illnessesonce they appear, rather than
preventing them from thebeginning.
Things like insurance barriers,high cost, and fragmented
access make it harder to getearlier screenings or timely
treatment, while social factorslike income inequality and
lifestyle risk add to theburden.
In short, Americans pay morebut get worse outcomes, making
(23:56):
the U.S.
stand out as an outlier inglobal health.
So that is wild.
That is wild.
Um, but I we can't I kind ofknew that.
I just didn't knowstatistically where it stood.
Um, but anyways, I just want tokind of break it down like
this.
If you're a patient, justremember, be clear, direct, and
(24:17):
specific with your symptoms.
And again, guys, just know thatthis is my perspective.
This does not mean it's the endall be all or how all providers
think or feel.
Um, and I trust that theproviders are asking questions
for a reason.
And if you don't feel like theyare, get another provider.
Advocate for yourself.
You know, do it respectfully.
(24:37):
And if your provider isn't agood fit for you and you need
someone who does a little bitmore hand holding versus being a
little bit more direct, dothat.
Choose what's right for you.
Don't forget as a patient, youhave a choice in your healthcare
as well.
The way I practice as aprovider is that this is a
collaborative agreement.
Like, I want you to talk to me.
I want my patients to say, hey,are you listening to me when I
(25:01):
said this?
I still don't feel good withthis.
I know we've tried this.
Can we try this?
Like, I don't mind that.
I know some providers do.
And if you need someone whocollaborates with you and your
current provider's not, thenchange providers.
If you don't want thecollaboration and you just want
to trust your provider andyou're like, you know, I don't
care if someone's direct withme.
I know, you know, they comehighly recommended.
(25:22):
I don't need the hand holding,then choose that provider.
Just remember, as the patient,you also have a choice in
healthcare.
Don't forget that.
And I I educate my patientsthis all the time.
Don't forget that you also havea choice.
Yes, us as providers, we aresupposed to advocate for our
patients, but don't forget thatyou can also advocate for
(25:42):
yourself or your family members.
If you're a nurse, remember youdon't need to apologize for
doing your job, deliver short,focused reports, and then you
can add whatever you need to addonce you get the provider's
attention.
Don't forget frameworks likeSBAR to keep communication
clean.
And for all of us, we need topush for a healthcare system
that prioritizes prevention, notjust reacting once we're really
(26:05):
once we're already sick.
And that does come down tounfortunately politics, and I'm
not going to get political onthis podcast, maybe one day, but
this year I've actually paidmore attention to politics than
any years previous because Ididn't realize how important it
was.
Maybe it's just because I'mgetting older.
And things like healthcarereally matter to me, obviously
(26:26):
because I work in it, obviouslybecause I talk to patients on a
daily basis about it.
And I am very passionate aboutwhat I do and how I can help my
patients.
Um, so just remember thatsometimes that does come down to
looking at policies inhealthcare.
I think they sometimesoverpromise and underdeliver,
but that's another topic foranother day.
Um, we just have to remember atthe end of the day, medicine is
(26:48):
about humans helping humans.
And the clearer we cancommunicate, the better chance
we all have at real healing.
And just remember, this is notto give any medical advice or
what to say or what to do,because I want you to obviously
communicate with your providerhow you want to communicate.
I'm just trying to give alittle bit of a tips and you
know tricks to maybe catch thatattention and then say other
(27:10):
things.
I know we all have to learnthis in our everyday life, but
just remember at the end of theday, everyone's humans and you
know, we're not we're not chatGPT, believe it or not.
Um, we don't know everythingand we're all learning together.
But thank you for tuning in tothis week's episode.
I hope it gave you a newperspective.
If it did, obviously share itwith someone who might need to
(27:31):
hear it.
And as always, this again isnot medical advice, just one
nurse practitioner's perspectivefrom years on both sides of the
stethoscope.
Actually, three sides of thestethoscope being the patient,
being the provider, and beingthe nurse.
But until next time, guys, bye.
What is up, everyone?
Welcome back to another episodeof the Babbles Nonsense
podcast.
Today we are shifting back tosome healthcare talk to kind of
keep it a little bit more lightand different.
But I wanted to pull from bothsides of my world and that being
like a nurse and a provider,but also a patient at the same
time and talk about how medicinetruly works because believe it
(00:20):
or not, I actually have theseconversations in my day-to-day
life more than I can even count.
And it it begs to wonder likewhy nobody's talking about this.
And just know that I'm also notgiving medical advice.
This is just my perspectiveafter 15 years in healthcare and
after lifting listening tocountless patients, especially
veterans during their exams.
(00:41):
Over and over I hear thephrase, no one is doing anything
for me.
Um, and with my medicalknowledge, it's mind-blowing
sometimes to see the gap betweenwhat patients are experiencing
and how the system functions.
So today we're going to breakdown how to communicate with
providers, both from the patientperspective and the nursing
perspective, how medicine isactually taught and practiced,
(01:03):
and why our system is set up forquote unquote sick care instead
of true preventative care.
So if this is something you'reinterested in, give it a listen.
So thank you for staying if youstayed.
(01:40):
Um, I want to start first fromthe patient perspective, like
when it comes to um howfrustration can build up and how
we speak to providers and stufflike that, because I've been
there myself.
And honestly, I get wherefrustration builds because
providers are trained in what'scalled a differential diagnosis.
That means when you come inwith a complaint, providers are
(02:03):
building a list of possiblediagnoses in their heads and
working to narrow it down.
So it's kind of like detectivework in a way, you're kind of
working backwards from likeinstead of so it's like if you
think about detective work andhow they have evidence and then
they have to come to the answer,it's kind of the same thing.
When you come in with symptoms,that's quote unquote evidence.
And then you have to do testingto get to the true problem.
(02:26):
But here's the key the morespecific and direct you are as
the patient, the easier it isfor your provider to get to the
right test and treatments tohelp you a little bit better.
And I know for me, like becauseI do have medical knowledge, I
understand this and grasp this.
But when I talk to patientsabout it and talk about how you
like patients really shouldadvocate for themselves, like as
(02:47):
a provider myself, I do not getupset if a patient is Googling
or using Chat GPT or whatevertheir symptoms to kind of help
explain their symptoms becausemaybe they're so vague they
don't know how to explain them.
So we can use an example likeabdominal pain because it's so
broad.
Like if someone comes in withan abdominal pain, that could be
so many different things,right?
So if someone comes in andsays, My stomach hurts, we have
(03:10):
to ask a dozen questions.
Where is the pain?
Is it your right upperquadrant?
Um, or is it your right lowerquadrant?
Because depending on where yourpain is, that can be make a big
difference, right?
So if it's your right upperquadrant, I'm over here thinking
your gallbladder or your liver.
If it's your right lowerquadrant, I'm now thinking, is
(03:31):
this your appendix?
Is it an ovarian cyst if you'rea woman?
Is it testicular torsion ifyou're a man?
Could it be possibly aninguinal hernia with referred
pain?
So depending on where your painis, makes someone narrow down
their differential diagnosis.
I'm hoping y'all are allstaying with me here.
And then it determines on whatkind of testing you're gonna
get, right?
So if you're telling me it'syour right upper quadrant of
(03:53):
your abdomen, of your stomach,your abdomen, then I may want to
order an ultrasound of yourgallbladder versus if it's your
left lower, I may want to do,you know, do we need a
testicular ultrasound?
Do we need a transvaginalultrasound to rule out ovarian
cyst versus testicular torsion?
Do we need a CAT scan with IVversus oral contrast depending
(04:14):
on your body weight?
Because sometimes the smalleryou are, IV contrast isn't
enough to see some organs.
You have to do, you have todrink oral contrast.
So there is a reason whyproviders ask certain questions.
And when patients don't answerdirectly or when they give
sometimes too much history,sometimes that can make it
(04:34):
harder.
So we have two extremes ofpatience.
We have the patient who saysalmost nothing, making the
provider have to draginformation out of them, or you
have the patient who starts withsomething like in 1990, and
then finally 20 minutes later,they mention the real reason why
they're there, and a providermay or may not have zoned out by
(04:54):
then.
And and I don't mean thatdisrespectfully or any kind of
rude, um, but neither one of theextremes of someone having to
pull information out becausethen now it's almost like
pulling teeth to get the patientto even speak, or then you're
having to like kind of hurryalong the patient who's talking
about he had this pain in 1990.
(05:15):
And even though that may beimportant down the road with
questions, that's not important.
And I guess I'm maybe comingfrom an ER perspective, and I'm
thinking like critical care,because when you're in the ER,
you know, you're trained whatwill kill you first.
That is what we are trained on,like obviously life-saving
measures because you're in anemergency room.
But the takeaway is forpatients to be clear, to be
(05:38):
direct, and trust that yourprovider is asking certain
questions for a reason.
The questions they're askingare not random.
They're helping them narrowdown that list of possibilities
in their brain.
And I know if you don't haveany medical knowledge, you
probably didn't even know that,but I thought it, you know,
should obviously be sharedbecause miscommunication is one
of the top causes of medicalerrors.
(05:59):
Um, the Joint Commission hascited communication failures as
a leading cause in over 60% ofsentinel events.
And sentinel events are seriousunexpected outcomes in
healthcare.
That shows just how muchclarity matters in patient
provider communications andtheir conversations.
So, like I said, both extremescan become a problem because if
(06:20):
you're giving too muchinformation and it's kind of
overload for a provider, thinkabout a conversation that you
have with your friend.
If they're giving you so manyfacts and so many details that
you're having to go, wait, holdon.
Now I'm getting confused.
You said this here, this there.
It's the same with medicine andconversation.
When we give too much,sometimes it becomes brain
overload and you are kind offorgetting why they're there.
(06:45):
And I don't mean that, again, Idon't mean that
disrespectfully, but think aboutthere was a quote one time, and
I can't remember, like people'shumans' attention spans are
only so long.
So when we give drag outconversations, and I'm bad about
it myself in my personal life,like I'll drag out
conversations, long textmessages, especially to men
where we know like they shutdown after like two or three
lines.
And I do the same thing.
(07:05):
Like if I'm scrolling on socialmedia and I come across a post
that's forever long, I'm like,I'm not even reading this.
And I know that's that's awful,but we have been conditioned
and trained for that quick,fast-paced in our everyday life,
and it kind of transcends intoour jobs.
And sometimes our jobs ishealthcare.
But again, this is just from myperspective.
(07:26):
I'm not saying every provideris like this.
Um, I have like 13 years ofcritical care experience, and
this is just what shaped myhealthcare experience because I
first started in an ICU as abedside nurse, which is critical
care, and you have to learnlike and discern and learn.
And then I went to emergencymedicine for I think 11 years,
(07:46):
and then I did trauma for a yearbefore I transferred and before
I transferred into like clinicwork where I saw that there was
kind of a disconnect.
But I saw it in the ER too,like like when people would come
in, for example, with chestpain, and you're trying to be
like, okay, does the chest pain,does it radiate?
Does it, does it go anywhere?
Does it go to your arm?
Does it go to your back?
(08:06):
Where is it?
Is it on the left side?
Is it on the right side?
Does it hurt when you take adeep breath?
Have you traveled recently?
Do you have any history ofcoronary artery disease or heart
attacks?
Does your family have anyhistory of these?
These are specific questions tosay, in my mind, to narrow
down, could this be a heartattack?
Is this musculoskeletal pain?
Is this a pulmonary embolism?
(08:27):
Those are the things I'mthinking.
And I know sometimes, again, ifyou're not medical and you
don't know this, then it doesmake it hard to understand why
sometimes physicians orproviders are being like trying
to hurry you along in a story.
Like again, I'm telling you, Ihad a lot of the elderly
population would come in and go,Well, in 1999, I had chest pain
(08:47):
that was on the right side, andI went to the doctor multiple
times, went to the ER multipletimes, had multiple cardiac
casts, and they couldn'tdetermine what was causing my
chest pain.
And even though that againcould be important later, 1999
chest pain doesn't have anythingto do with 2025 chest pain
unless you say everything that,like if you answer everything I
(09:09):
ask and then you say, well, youshould also know in 1990 I had
the same exact chest pain and Ihad a heart attack.
That's very important, right?
Like that's factual.
But if you're telling me theycouldn't determine what caused
your chest pain in 1999 and yougo through a 10 to 15 minute
story, and then the outcome isthey didn't know what was going
on, that's not going to helpsomething in 2025.
But I don't want to deteranyone from saying what they
(09:31):
want to say to a provider.
I'm just trying to give kind ofperspective from a provider
standpoint.
Okay.
And then let's go on and moveto the nursing side, like the
conversations from a nursingperspective.
Um, when you're speaking to aprovider.
So for me, you know, I've beenthe nurse, I've been the
provider, I'm still a nurse, I'mstill a provider.
Um, and I worked in the ER for11 years.
(09:53):
One of the biggest lessons Ilearned from this was the
shorter and more focused youreport to a provider, the
better, especially tospecialties like surgeons.
Um, providers get dozens ofcalls in a shift, and we have to
remember that, especially ifthey're working 12, 13 hours,
they're on call and now they'reworking 24 hours.
So a quick, clear summary getsattention quicker than a long,
(10:17):
drawn-out explanation, you know,will get a turned out.
So, for example, let's let'sthink about like a patient who
fell and they're on bloodthinners.
So, to me, a bad version ofcontacting a provider would be
like, hi, sorry for calling, butMr.
So-and-so in room two fell inthe kitchen at 2:32 p.m.
(10:37):
Three staff witnessed this.
He, we believe he hit his head.
Um, I checked his MAR and he'son Eloquist, which I've known
and found out is a bloodthinner.
I've contacted the family.
They're very concerned, they'recrying.
Um, the patient seems to beokay.
I did check themneurologically, and I don't find
any neurological symptoms to bewrong at this time, but we did
(11:00):
call EMS to send them to the ER.
We just wanted to let you knowthat.
Versus, hey, Mr.
So-and-so fell, he hit hishead, he's on eloquist, we send
him to the ER and the family hasbeen notified.
So you like, even though thefirst one, yes, you're telling
everything, and it's importantfrom a nursing perspective
because in nursing we see thepatient and the family in the
(11:21):
room as a whole, versus when youcome to the provider side,
you're seeing you're trying tomake sure the patient's okay,
right?
And I'm not saying nursingstaff is not doing that either.
But then you you have way morepatients.
You may, like as a nurse, youmay have, you know, four to five
patients that you're takingcare of for the day.
And then as a provider, you mayhave 50 patients on your list
to see versus call versus yourcalls versus everything else,
(11:45):
right?
So the quicker you can get tolike, because that's just a
quick, like, okay, thank you somuch for notifying me.
I will make sure to see thispatient on my next rounds.
And then, and then you couldgive your orders, right?
Like Q2 hour neurochecks, youknow, you know, if the if the ER
doesn't do a CAT scan, we needto do that.
And then that kind of makes ita better.
So I'm sure you can see thedifference in those two um
(12:06):
communications from a nursingstandpoint to a provider's.
Both share the same facts.
You know, one will take maybetwo or three minutes where the
other takes, you know, or sorry,one may take 90 seconds where
the other takes 10 minutes.
And as a nurse, you know, don'tever apologize for doing your
job.
Like I've had nurses call mebefore and be like, I am so
sorry to contact you.
(12:27):
Don't ever do that.
You're doing your job.
Like you should not have toapologize for doing your job.
Um, but just rem remremembering to give the critical
details that you know they needto know is the most important
part.
Like, obviously, if you if youwant to give more explanation,
do that at the end.
Like, if you need to say allthat other stuff because that's
(12:48):
just your personality, say it atthe end because you've already
got the provider's attention.
I guess what I'm saying is getthe provider's attention and
then say whatever you need tosay.
So if you need to say Mr.
So-and-so fell, hit his head.
He's on Eloquist, we sent himto the ER, family was notified.
I just wanted you to know thatthis was witnessed by three
people.
We did, you know, see it.
We did check his mar.
He's on Eloquist, which is ablood thinner.
Like you can say all that atthe end because you've already
(13:11):
got the provider's attention.
Just say what you need to sayto get the provider's attention.
Um, and that goes into theS-bar method, which is
situation, backgroundassessment, and recommendation
is actually the gold standardfor structured nurse-to-provider
communication.
Hospitals nationwide train onthis because it improves
outcomes and it reduces errors.
Because again, think of I needto look, I'm gonna look it up
(13:32):
really quick so I can just havethe facts about how long does it
take for people to loseinterest in a conversation from
non-biased sources, because Ithink it's seconds, um, which is
crazy.
I I remember reading it andthen I can't remember what it
(13:53):
said.
So let's see.
So it says from a 2023 studyfound that young adults could
maintain optimal attentionduring a continuous task for an
average of 76 seconds beforelosing focus.
And that's can't become morerecent because attention spans
(14:14):
um are influenced by digitaltechnology.
So that's why we live in thisdigital world.
And if you're someone'sattention span is gone in 76
seconds, you know, again, weyes, we do our best to stay
focused, especially in thecareers that we choose, but that
does not take away fromstatistics or, you know, kind of
(14:35):
human evolution and whatnot.
But, anyways, I want to alsoaddress why the system fails and
why it's broken, so that justfrom the provider, if you're
listening, I mean, y'all knowthis, and then the patient, you
may not know this.
Um, so here's where we're gonnazoom out for a little bit.
The reason patients often, inmy opinion, feel unheard is
(14:56):
because our system is notpreventative, it's reactive,
it's quote unquote sick care.
Um, insurance companies usuallyare in control most of the
time, and I don't know ifpatients know that.
Like your provider may want toorder an MRI, like let for um
for your back pain or something.
But insurance requires likewhat's called step therapy, and
(15:18):
their step may be first you haveto order an x-ray.
If there's nothing on thex-ray, second, they have to go
to six weeks of physicaltherapy.
Um, and then third, you know,if they go to physical therapy
and they're still having pain,then you can order the MRI um
before it gets approved.
But and I'll give you anexample of this.
I worked in a clinic, you know,where we did spine pain
(15:41):
management and we had a patientthat fell, it was acute injury,
even on top of their chronicpain, but they fell at work and
they came in, you know, not ableto really lift or move their
one of their lower legs.
I can't remember if it wasright or left, but I wanted to
order an MRI of the back becausewe did an x-ray in office and
it didn't show anything.
And an x-ray is going to showyou certain things like a
(16:02):
vertebral fracture, like a bonefracture.
Sometimes it can show you ifthe discs are, you know,
narrowing, which is degenerateto disc disease.
Um, it can't always show thingslike a herniated disc, spinal
stenosis, um spinal canalcompression, um, nerve root
ending compression.
It can't show you those things.
MRI is gold standard for that.
So if an x-ray doesn't looklike if you're looking at the
(16:25):
x-ray and you're looking at thepatient and their symptoms and
they're not matching, the nextstep would be to do an MRI.
I'm not going to send someoneto six weeks of physical
therapy, not knowing what'sgoing on in their back with an
acute injury, because we canworsen it with manipulation and
movements and stuff like that inphysical therapy.
So for this particular patient,I had to appeal because their
insurance denied their MRI, Ithink two or three times.
(16:47):
And appeals take a while, guys,and that's why it becomes
cumbersome.
Um, but it's, you know,obviously doing what's right for
the patient.
And it takes time becauseyou're still in clinic, you're
still seeing patients, you'rethen having to write this long
appeal with medical literatureto back up why you want to do
this.
Meanwhile, the insurancecompany is just doing their job.
They're following thisstep-by-step algorithm, and it's
(17:09):
usually someone with no medicalknowledge until you appeal it.
Some insurance is two, some isthree.
And then you can do what'scalled a peer-to-peer evaluation
where you actually get to speakto a provider, tell them what
you've done, give the give thesymptoms, tell them the x-ray
was unremarkable, and this iswhy you don't want them to go to
physical therapy prior to MRI,and then it gets approved, but
(17:29):
that's weeks later the patient'sbeen sitting in pain and
they're mad at the providerbecause they feel like the
provider's quote unquote notdoing anything.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes,they're actually doing as much
as they possibly can for thispatient.
And this isn't rare.
Um, according to the AMA, priorauthorization requirements
delay necessary care for 94%,94% guys, of physicians.
(17:52):
And more than a third ofphysicians report that these
delays have led to seriousadverse events for patient care.
So that's why like it's sofrustrating as a provider, like
when you you are medicallytrained and and I get it,
there's there's always got to bechecks and balances.
Like I truly understand that,and I appreciate that in any
healthcare where like someone'slike, Well, I don't really feel
(18:13):
this is necessary.
But when you see that it's, youknow, literally, I'm not
kidding.
Someone who graduated highschool, got a job at insurance
company, has no medicaltraining, and they they are
doing what they are trained todo, and that's to follow an
algorithm.
If they don't meet theserequirements, we don't approve
it.
And there is a huge gap therebecause we're not preventing
anything.
(18:34):
Let's say this particularpatient, I did not do the
appeals, I did not do thepeer-to-peer because it just
took too much time.
Let's say that.
And let's say I was like, okay,fine, let's just send her to
physical therapy and she had aherniated disc, and then I made
it worse by sending her tophysical therapy.
I just as a provider could notlive with myself doing that.
So of course I fought for thispatient.
And of course, we got the MRIordered.
(18:55):
But at the end of the day, it'snot always like that.
It's not always that easy orsimple because it's frustrating.
And so your provider may befrustrated at situations like
that and then have to come inthe room and try to put on this,
you know, smile to see the nextpatient when they're super
frustrated at a situation thathas nothing to do with the new
patient in the room.
And again, I get it.
(19:16):
People, I when I have theseconversations with friends and
family members, they're like,Yeah, but you chose that career.
Yes, I did.
But at the end of the day, weare all humans, and that's what
I'm trying.
We're not robots.
We can't just turn off certainfeelings and we do the, and I
trust me, guys, we do the bestwe can, but even your provider
(19:36):
is gonna have a bad day and befrustrated about patient care,
or maybe they were just cussedout in the room before you, or
maybe they, if you're working inan ER or ICU, maybe they just
lost a patient that they codedfor two or three hours and
they're sad and they don't havetime to decompress that.
So I guess maybe theperspective I'm coming from is
maybe show a little grace.
(19:56):
Like obviously, if they're notdoing what's right for you in
front of you, then obviouslypoint that out.
But if they are doing what'sright in front of you and
they're not doing what youexpect of them, maybe you are
expecting a little more handholding or expecting a little
bit more, you know, I don't knowif compassion is the right word
here, because I feel like evenwhen I've been in those head
(20:18):
spaces, I still have compassionand I'm still doing what's right
for my patient.
I'm still listening.
I'm still, I may just not be astalkative or, you know, as
smiley.
And I don't know the right wordfor that, but I hope that makes
sense and I'm hoping I'm makingit um make sense.
But um there's also, I want tomove on to the next thing,
there's also what's called thepreventative care gap.
(20:38):
And when the Affordable CareAct was passed during Obama's
administration, preventativeservices like pap smears and
mammograms were supposed to becovered at 100%.
And while the test itself mightbe free, facilities still bill
you for using the machine or forcoming into the facility
itself, which leaves the patientfrustrated and distrustful of
(21:00):
insurance because it's like, no,preventative health care is
supposed to be there to notdeter someone from getting
screenings.
Because let's be honest, it's alot cheaper to pay for a
mammogram screening versuschemotherapy for never getting
checked out.
And that's where the irony is.
Preventative care saves themoney.
And I'll give you an example.
(21:21):
The CDC estimates that every $1spent on childhood vaccines
saves $13 in healthcare cost.
Yet our system stillprioritizes reacting to
illnesses instead of inventinginvesting in preventative care.
We wait until you're sick,which that's a whole nother like
theory, right?
What's what's that called?
Um, conspiracy theory, whereyou know, Big Pharma owns a lot
(21:44):
of things, they push out drugs,like politicians are pushing out
drugs.
Let's say, and you almost wantto think like, why are
politicians backing this?
You have no medical training.
Um, you're saying all this thisstuff with no no years in
research, no years in medicine,and yet we listen because you
know we're taught to trust thesepeople, and then it's like a
(22:09):
cycle, like nobody's gettinghealthier.
Actually, America, I'm prettysure, and I'll look up that
statistic.
Let me actually look up that.
I think America is probably oneof the sickest countries,
maybe.
Um where let me look that up.
Where does America lie when itcomes to I'm gonna put in quotes
sickness compared to othercountries?
(22:32):
Because other countries do it alot differently.
Um a lot of people are likemost countries do allow people
to have health care.
And so it says that um in manyrespects the US has worse
outcomes than other high-incomecountries despite spending far
(22:53):
more.
And it says, um, that's toomany charts.
Let's see.
Break it down short paragraph.
Sorry, guys, I should haveactually looked this up prior to
doing this podcast, but I waslike, let me just look it up
while we're here.
All right, so compared to otherwealthy nations, America is one
of the quote unquote sickestdespite spending the most on
(23:15):
health care.
Chronic conditions likeobesity, diabetes, and heart
disease are far more common inAmerica, and in America, our
life expectancy is lower.
The U.S.
also has higher infant andmaternal mortality and more
deaths from conditions thatcould have been prevented with
earlier health care.
A big reason is that our systemis built around quote unquote
(23:35):
sick care, treating illnessesonce they appear, rather than
preventing them from thebeginning.
Things like insurance barriers,high cost, and fragmented
access make it harder to getearlier screenings or timely
treatment, while social factorslike income inequality and
lifestyle risk add to theburden.
In short, Americans pay morebut get worse outcomes, making
(23:56):
the U.S.
stand out as an outlier inglobal health.
So that is wild.
That is wild.
Um, but I we can't I kind ofknew that.
I just didn't knowstatistically where it stood.
Um, but anyways, I just want tokind of break it down like
this.
If you're a patient, justremember, be clear, direct, and
(24:17):
specific with your symptoms.
And again, guys, just know thatthis is my perspective.
This does not mean it's the endall be all or how all providers
think or feel.
Um, and I trust that theproviders are asking questions
for a reason.
And if you don't feel like theyare, get another provider.
Advocate for yourself.
You know, do it respectfully.
(24:37):
And if your provider isn't agood fit for you and you need
someone who does a little bitmore hand holding versus being a
little bit more direct, dothat.
Choose what's right for you.
Don't forget as a patient, youhave a choice in your healthcare
as well.
The way I practice as aprovider is that this is a
collaborative agreement.
Like, I want you to talk to me.
I want my patients to say, hey,are you listening to me when I
(25:01):
said this?
I still don't feel good withthis.
I know we've tried this.
Can we try this?
Like, I don't mind that.
I know some providers do.
And if you need someone whocollaborates with you and your
current provider's not, thenchange providers.
If you don't want thecollaboration and you just want
to trust your provider andyou're like, you know, I don't
care if someone's direct withme.
I know, you know, they comehighly recommended.
(25:22):
I don't need the hand holding,then choose that provider.
Just remember, as the patient,you also have a choice in
healthcare.
Don't forget that.
And I I educate my patientsthis all the time.
Don't forget that you also havea choice.
Yes, us as providers, we aresupposed to advocate for our
patients, but don't forget thatyou can also advocate for
(25:42):
yourself or your family members.
If you're a nurse, remember youdon't need to apologize for
doing your job, deliver short,focused reports, and then you
can add whatever you need to addonce you get the provider's
attention.
Don't forget frameworks likeSBAR to keep communication
clean.
And for all of us, we need topush for a healthcare system
that prioritizes prevention, notjust reacting once we're really
(26:05):
once we're already sick.
And that does come down tounfortunately politics, and I'm
not going to get political onthis podcast, maybe one day, but
this year I've actually paidmore attention to politics than
any years previous because Ididn't realize how important it
was.
Maybe it's just because I'mgetting older.
And things like healthcarereally matter to me, obviously
(26:26):
because I work in it, obviouslybecause I talk to patients on a
daily basis about it.
And I am very passionate aboutwhat I do and how I can help my
patients.
Um, so just remember thatsometimes that does come down to
looking at policies inhealthcare.
I think they sometimesoverpromise and underdeliver,
but that's another topic foranother day.
Um, we just have to remember atthe end of the day, medicine is
(26:48):
about humans helping humans.
And the clearer we cancommunicate, the better chance
we all have at real healing.
And just remember, this is notto give any medical advice or
what to say or what to do,because I want you to obviously
communicate with your providerhow you want to communicate.
I'm just trying to give alittle bit of a tips and you
know tricks to maybe catch thatattention and then say other
(27:10):
things.
I know we all have to learnthis in our everyday life, but
just remember at the end of theday, everyone's humans and you
know, we're not we're not chatGPT, believe it or not.
Um, we don't know everythingand we're all learning together.
But thank you for tuning in tothis week's episode.
I hope it gave you a newperspective.
If it did, obviously share itwith someone who might need to
(27:31):
hear it.
And as always, this again isnot medical advice, just one
nurse practitioner's perspectivefrom years on both sides of the
stethoscope.
Actually, three sides of thestethoscope being the patient,
being the provider, and beingthe nurse.
But until next time, guys, bye.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com