Reply With QuoteIt sounds surprising to me too. There's something more than needle phobia going on with this child.
R
I just started my apprenticeship to become a medical secretary working for a pediatrician.
The other day i was talking to my colleague when she told me about a 5 year old girl who had to get a neccessary injection which she refused because she has needle phobia and 3 people tried to hold her down but they still could not get it done because the girl was raging and was unable to restrain.
Now i am wondering how can it be that 3 adults are unable to overpower a 5 year old girl.
I told my collegue that its hard to belive and that i think if i was with them i would just hold her tight with my arms
wrapped around her body and somebody only has to take her arm and get the shot done.
But she (my collegue) said that she was also surprised by that girl's strength and never experienced something like that before. And shes working there for over 20 years.
But i still find it hard to beleive.
Did anybody ever experienced something like this?
It sounds surprising to me too. There's something more than needle phobia going on with this child.
R
Sounds surprising to me, also. Yes, restraint is necessary at times....and to fight 3 adults?
Is this the girl's regular MD? Maybe he has some ideas and or concerns?
Depends of the diagnosis of the child. It could be any number of reasons and sometimes restraints are needed, as long as they are not left on.
I'm more focused on the inability to reason and the intensity of the child's fight and what might be behind that. That she's still behaving this way by age five should trigger a psychodevelopmental evaluation. Not that I'm really knowledgeable in this field but, I'm thinking autism.
R
I agree with you, Ricu. I was thinking the same thing you were----why is the child acting this way, and what is the MD doing about it? And what about the parents, also? What do they have to say?
When I was kid I was terrified of shots - up until about 7 I fought tooth and nail it would take one person on each leg and arm. My mother always acted very embarassed aboutit - but at home she would threaten to take us to the DR. for a shot if we were bad. The Dr. was a place where bad children went. Then one day we went to a new doctor to made everyone leave except the nurse. He told me to close my eyes and count to ten while the nurse held my hand. When I got to ten I opened my eyes and he was all done. I never had a problem after that.
If kids are taught shots are something to be afraid of - they will be afraid.
Hppygr8ful
Excellent points, Hppy. We have no idea what this child's physician office visit experiences have been like. Hopefully things will change for her sake.
R
I think it is more a matter of doing no harm when giving the shot. If a child is thrashing around while you're trying to inject, you can do a lot of damage to muscles, etc if they move while the needle is inserted.
The situation puzzles me. Every day experienced nurses get in and out of a room giving shots before the child ever knows it had been given.
It is not unheard of to need help, but usually not needed. Have to wonder if this was the first time the child got shots, or went to this particular doctor. If a patient is a "difficult" case, usually there are things you can do to make it less traumatic. It certainly should not take three people to restrain a child unless they are special needs or have other extenuating issues.
Found this related website dealing with phlebotomy, think it is applicable here:
Mastering Pediatric Phlebotomy:"The phlebotomist performing a child’s first venipuncture is in a powerful position to affect how the child views every subsequent venipuncture for life. Make the first experience uneventful and the next experience will be considerably easier for both patient and the collector; but a traumatic first experience can guarantee the next needle event is just as traumatic. Worse, the child could become needle phobic for life."
http://knol.google.com/k/dennis-erns...eth2h0jki2d/3#
If this is how every shot is going to go for the child, they need to change doctors or deal with it a lot differently.
Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com
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