Nurse: Sir, are you on any blood pressure meds?
Patient: No, none at all.
Nurse: Your blood pressure is really high (systolic near 200, diastolic 110). I'm going to have to call the doctor and get an order for you. (leaves room)
Nurse on phone and tells Doc story about Mr. HTN above.
Doctor: Mr. HTN is non-compliant with his blood pressure meds.
Nurse: He has a history? He's denied it to everyone who's come into the room.
Doctor: That's nothing new. Give him xx BP med now, and I'll come to see him.
A nice surprise for the morning...
1 comment:
I always liked studying the heart and I am pretty careful with my BP. I wonder if more patients would take their meds if they understood that the heart is a pump with a pressurized distribution system and high BP essentially erodes the tubing?
Most people understand, as basic mechanics, high pressure in small tubes = bad news, but they don't seem to understand this applies to their own veins and arteries.
Weird.
Personally, if I were a doc, I would create some kind of in office science experiment where patients can get a good visual on what high pressure does in small tubes.
M
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