Posted by Mary on January 10, 1998 at 16:31:01:
In Reply to: Re: ER posted by Mark Nesbitt on January 10, 1998 at 15:06:26:
Mark,
There are lots of diabetics out there who just aren't educated as to what good diabetic care is, or the need for an endocrinologist. Alot of the elderly have their own family doctor who takes care of everything. Believe it or not, these people don't even own meters to check!!
Most nurses who aren't in the diabetic field are not updated enough, either.The scene from ER and that nurse's reaction are very realistic ones, I can assure you! No fault of their own, just very busy work schedules make it hard for them to keep inserviced on everything!!
I work in a rehab department at a local nursing home that also does short term rehab. On one recent occasion, this patient's blood sugars had been in the 30's in the morning and by the afternoon was in the 300's. The nurse was accusing the woman of cheating, even though there were no sweets in her room. I mentioned to the nurse afterwards that maybe the woman had had a rebound and the nurse asked me " what's that?"
So, you see, there is an attitude out there amongst some but not all health professionals that diabetics are terrible at controlling their diabetes without fully understanding the whole concept.
Mary