I was surprised to find a patient in the labor ward with nasal prongs in place, without any indication.
"Why does this patient have nasal prongs?"
"She had acute fetal distress" came the answer. "Wh gave her oxygen through them."
"How is the fetal distress now?"
"We gave her oxygen and Ringer's lactate rapid infusion. Now there is no distress."
"But why is she still receiving oxygen?"
"No. We have switched off the oxygen."
I checked. The water through which the oxygen is passed before being given to a patient was without any bubbles. So there was indeed no flow of oxygen.
"But why are the nasal prongs still in place?" I asked. This was quite curious.
I leave the answer to the imagination of the readers. A few choices are as follows. There could be other answers too.
"Why does this patient have nasal prongs?"
"She had acute fetal distress" came the answer. "Wh gave her oxygen through them."
"How is the fetal distress now?"
"We gave her oxygen and Ringer's lactate rapid infusion. Now there is no distress."
"But why is she still receiving oxygen?"
"No. We have switched off the oxygen."
I checked. The water through which the oxygen is passed before being given to a patient was without any bubbles. So there was indeed no flow of oxygen.
"But why are the nasal prongs still in place?" I asked. This was quite curious.
I leave the answer to the imagination of the readers. A few choices are as follows. There could be other answers too.
a) So that we can switch on the oxygen as soon as there is fetal distress again.
b) So that the patient feels that she is receiving some treatment - a sort of placebo therapy.
c) We forgot to remove the prongs.
d) If we put them out somewhere, they would get contaminated. They are quite OK in her nose.
I have put the radio buttons just for those students who are habituated to selecting one choice when they see multiple choices*. This is not a response form that will get sent anywhere after one clicks on a choice. :-)
(* That is the result of the entrance tests they have to pass through for getting admission to a graduate and then a postgraduate medical course. I wish the University would adopt some better method than this one. But I am not big enough to influence the opinion of University officials.)
b) So that the patient feels that she is receiving some treatment - a sort of placebo therapy.
c) We forgot to remove the prongs.
d) If we put them out somewhere, they would get contaminated. They are quite OK in her nose.
I have put the radio buttons just for those students who are habituated to selecting one choice when they see multiple choices*. This is not a response form that will get sent anywhere after one clicks on a choice. :-)
(* That is the result of the entrance tests they have to pass through for getting admission to a graduate and then a postgraduate medical course. I wish the University would adopt some better method than this one. But I am not big enough to influence the opinion of University officials.)
