Saturday, August 24, 2013

edutcher was wondering...


The Blonde and I returned to one of our favorite controversies yesterday - whether she should start a blog.

Here's a woman with 43 years' nursing experience in many fields - oncology, communicable disease, rehab, med-surg, etc.; a great diagnostician (she can tell by your smell if you're sick), excellent knowledge of medicines and their interactions, and so on. She wants to do a Q&A format - kind of a nursing Dear Abby or a legal Althouse.

So, the question is,  you want to impart knowledge to a great many people, particularly those in your profession, what's a good blog format? And how do you handle comments? Or is such altruistic thinking a wasted effort?


Or do you go the Althouse route and keep it general with an emphasis on your strong suit?

56 comments:

chickelit said...

I think the reason you don't see more of this is licensure issues. Doctors are still protective and lawyers are still litigious. That being said, I think it's a great idea, especially for a retired professional who can afford to do so.

Of course, edutcher could handle the comment editing like Meade does for Althouse.

Icepick said...

she can tell by your smell if you're sick

In fiction, Hannibal Lecter had that trick.

It's often not that hard with cancer patients, even if they're not on chemo.

And I have this vague recollection that Dr. Joseph Bell did similar things as well.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

a nursing Dear Abby or a legal Althouse.

Too many boobs.

Leland said...

The Dear Abbey type blog has the problem of requiring disclaimers that any advice given cannot be taken as direct medical advice as she will not be able to physically examine the patient. Easier to do the Althouse format with the possible bonus of not having to pretend a sense of impartiality.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Kidding!

Leland said...

+1 to El Pollo's licensure issue.

Leland said...

I would think the boobs would make the blog popular. Just need 3 more sets to make the Rule of 5.

Freeman Hunt said...

Let people email in with questions. Don't have comments.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Don't have comments.

That's right, we don't have a comment to spare.

edutcher said...

I hadn't thought of the legal (licensure) end of it.

She's more interested in the profession and how it's being handled, but I think she's really thinking of a between professionals thing.

That's why I thought putting up her opinion the way TOP does it and inviting comments might be the way to go. This is the kind of discussion I hoped would happen, so keep the ideas coming.

I'm going to have her take a look at this, so go easy on her.

She's different in a lot of ways from me.

(yeah, I know...)

ricpic said...

I always smell like a field of new mown hay.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm still waiting for the "Fuck it" Key. Can a nurse provide me with one thru ObamaCare?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Usually I'm 150% for comments--I generally avoid places that don't have then--but in this situation, her comments section would quickly turn into a pit of internet quackery weirdos arguing their own pet theories of health & wellness. For example, I was reading a recipe for roasted broccoli this morning and the comments went into the triple digits with people yelling back and forth about the minutiae of whether high heat causes the nutrients to convert to cancer-causing compounds. I'm with Freeman-I wouldn't do comments.

I would also share the concerns of others regarding licensure/liability. Remember the guy in North Carolina who got in trouble over his paleo-eating blog for dispensing medical advice without a license?

Chip Ahoy said...

There was a blog that I lost track of three hard drives ago written by an Emergency Technician in London. His was more like a diary covering the bits that made being an ET in London interesting. It is/was a very interesting blog and I wish I could find it.

He explained what he did, what happened, the sort of things that come up. Things you do not expect. Repercussions arising from entitlement society, for example, old women who called emergency just to have human contact and careful attention. Written not from an advice standpoint, but rather recollection and good storytelling that brings forward all kinds of interesting things.

I recommend it!

Give it a go.

What the heck.

If it turns out you don't care for it, close it down, or stop energizing it. (I always wondered about the graveyard of dead links at Ace of Spades, then I realized it is a very odd reader loyalty)

Icepick said...

Too many boobs.

Must ... exercise ... RESTRAINT.....

Icepick said...

I think I've ... I think I've herniated something ....

chickelit said...

Freeman Hunt said...Let people email in with questions. Don't have comments.

This could avoid any "patient liability" issues. I also like edutcher's idea of it being nurses helping nurses. The profession is changing fast, or is going to change. Routine care must be devolved to nurses, PA's & NP's.

chickelit said...

Icepick said...
I think I've ... I think I've herniated something

You probably just pulled your groin. Try pulling it again.

rhhardin said...

Steamed lunch.

With rice.

edutcher said...

El Pollo Raylan said...

The profession is changing fast, or is going to change. Routine care must be devolved to nurses, PA's & NP's.

It's been that way for a long time.

One of her favorite lines has been, "You see the doctor about 5 minutes a day. If you go bad any other time, it's the nurse that's going to keep you alive".

Obviously there are crash teams, etc., but the nurse works with them, as well.

Trooper York said...

Well I see a couple of problems if The Blonde starts a blog.

First off you might get a creepy guy who comments on every post and would still kiss her ass even after she told him she thought he was stupid.

Also you will have to learn to make pancakes and mow the lawn.

Next thing you know you will be renting dogs and stuff.

Be careful my friend.

ndspinelli said...

Hell, anyone can smell it when someone has diarrhea.

Liability would be a huge problem I think. You could have a prominent disclaimer, but that isn't worth much, if anything. Maybe w/ Skype and Facetime it could be like Web Therapy. I have a genital wart I would like the blonde to look at.

edutcher said...

nd, she can smell it on your breath or just as you walk by and tell you're coming down with a cold or something.

She can also see by the color in your eye or complexion.

PS She's going to read this post or do you two talk to everybody's wives like that?

Trooper York said...

You will need a thicker skin if you blog. Just sayn'

edutcher said...

She has it, but she would be reading this as a civilian.

She doesn't know the rules here.

Or lack of same.

Trooper York said...

Well as a good husband you can gently lead her into the fold. As somebody said before, technical blogs are even worse than general blogs for crazy comments and fighting. So following this joint for a few weeks might give her some idea of how it is going to go.

I am sure she will do fine.

Anonymous said...

Edutcher, do you speak to other's wives in a disrespectful manner? Why would you be surprised if someone speaks to your wife in the same manner in which you've engaged in? I was someone's wife too Ed.

Ed this could be a "walk a mile in my moccasin" moment for you if you open your eyes a bit. As for your wife's blog, yes, go for it! Comments could get dicey.

Anonymous said...

or

Walk a hallway in my crocs.

rhhardin said...

If you walk a mile in someone's moccasins before criticizing them, you're a mile away and you've got their shoes.

ndspinelli said...

edutcher, I bet he can smell that evil weed a mile away!

ndspinelli said...

I meant "she"

Aridog said...

rhhardin ....damn! You beat me to it. :-]

Aridog said...

edutcher ... as for your wife's idea of a blog, ... my 2 cents worth ... go for it if she feels strongly enough about it. As for comments, based upon your remark that it would ideally be peer to peer, with some non-peer questions, all the things others have said or warned about apply. In other words, tricky waters to navigate and she'll need to some other peers to participate (as is done here).

It would seem to me that non-peer questions would have to be by email or other confined medium. I can't see the Althouse model working for what you've said she wants to do.

edutcher said...

For those still following, she looked at the comments and wants everyone to know she isn't talking medical advice (she's the first to say nurses aren't allowed to do that), but more along the lines of professional nursing technique.

edutcher said...

Inga said...

Edutcher, do you speak to other's wives in a disrespectful manner? Why would you be surprised if someone speaks to your wife in the same manner in which you've engaged in? I was someone's wife too Ed.

We're talking in the to and fro of this environment, as you well know.

If I speak to Troop, I'm speaking to a commenter and not to Mrs Troop, who seems very nice.

You're trying to mix apples and oranges and you haven't got the apples.

As it were.

Anonymous said...

Professional nursing technique? There are a few huge nursing forums out there for that, but a smaller more intimate blog would be interesting I suppose. It would be interesting to trade "war stories" with a few nurses.

edutcher said...

PS Don't know about that, nd, but, when she got off the cruise ship in Belize, she could smell the hepatitis and pseudomonas.

PPS Your wart wouldn't faze her.

Anonymous said...

Ah Ed, your wife must be a saint, lol.

edutcher said...

Inga said...

Professional nursing technique? There are a few huge nursing forums out there for that, but a smaller more intimate blog would be interesting I suppose. It would be interesting to trade "war stories" with a few nurses.

That's the idea.

Anonymous said...

Once you've smelled C Diff, you'll know if one of your patients has it, even before a stool sample has even been taken and tested. I'm sure your wife would agree.

Anonymous said...

Same thing with occult blood in stool.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

'A BRAND NEW DAY IS COMING'...

Online doctor visits...

Drudge.

edutcher said...

She was helping a friend give her sister home health care and could smell the C Diff the second she walked through the door.

Phil 314 said...

chip;
It was Random Acts of Reality.

Here's the end

TTBurnett said...

It's not worth the time.

rcocean said...

Comments on a technical blog are a waste of time, you'll get 9 cranks/freaks/loser/bores for every 1 even half-way interesting comment.

Go the e-mail route.

rcocean said...

And be realistic, if you think the world will beat a path to your door (blog), you're wrong.

rcocean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Freeman Hunt said...

Ha! I must say, it's highly likely that TT here speaks truth.

Freeman Hunt said...

I would never have comments on anything even remotely medical. Unless I decided to keep a nest of yahoos.

Freeman Hunt said...

Also, the crowd of commenters here is pretty rare. Having comments generally means having three people saying, "Love this," some long-winded, pedantic wrong person who replies to your every comment or post, an occasional hater, and a guy who shows up here and there to post something totally incoherent.

Chip Ahoy said...

Phil, thank you for that!

The Dude said...

Inga, could you still smell the C diff even after you put the patients in the ovens?

Sydney said...

... but I think she's really thinking of a between professionals thing.

Best to do that kind of thing in private, not publicly, especially if you plan to trade war stories. The public reacts very negatively to medical professionals' unguarded view of themselves and their profession.

ndspinelli said...

Sixty, LOL! But remember the ref's warning prior to the first round, "Keep your blows above the waist."

Methadras said...

I don't think this will begin or end well.