mycrofft
Still crazy but elsewhere
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As/If prehospital EMS starts to widen into primary care:
Saw an article today on a nursing CEU website (Medscape); googled the issue and found another article:
http://formularyjournal.modernmedic...sion-can-lead-longer-hospital-stays?page=full
In both articles was this: "...of the 30 million US patients reporting as penicillin allergic, 28.5 million actually are not". :huh:
ANY allergy statement really ought to be followed up with some questions, such as "Who exactly said you were allergic to PCN?", "How old were you when you were told you were allergic?" and "If you had an allergic reaction, what was it like?". Open ended questions with followups.
Time and again I would hear of an allergy, and the followup answers were often "Oh, my Mom told me when I was a kid", or "No I never had a reaction, but my uncle Frank did…", or "Yeah, I got that shot, and I started sneezing and my eyes were watery". "I'm allergic to all 'cillins', except ampicillin". Or their meds summary includes Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanate).
Or adult milk allergy: "Yeah, if I get milk I get the runs and it's yellow, and I get gas…but pizza is OK".
PCN allergic status disqualifies many patients from many useful and potentially less-risky meds and may leave them open to Clostridium difficele super-infections.
Anyone else have any instructive patient contacts about allergies to medical measures?
Saw an article today on a nursing CEU website (Medscape); googled the issue and found another article:
http://formularyjournal.modernmedic...sion-can-lead-longer-hospital-stays?page=full
In both articles was this: "...of the 30 million US patients reporting as penicillin allergic, 28.5 million actually are not". :huh:
ANY allergy statement really ought to be followed up with some questions, such as "Who exactly said you were allergic to PCN?", "How old were you when you were told you were allergic?" and "If you had an allergic reaction, what was it like?". Open ended questions with followups.
Time and again I would hear of an allergy, and the followup answers were often "Oh, my Mom told me when I was a kid", or "No I never had a reaction, but my uncle Frank did…", or "Yeah, I got that shot, and I started sneezing and my eyes were watery". "I'm allergic to all 'cillins', except ampicillin". Or their meds summary includes Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanate).
Or adult milk allergy: "Yeah, if I get milk I get the runs and it's yellow, and I get gas…but pizza is OK".
PCN allergic status disqualifies many patients from many useful and potentially less-risky meds and may leave them open to Clostridium difficele super-infections.
Anyone else have any instructive patient contacts about allergies to medical measures?