Chapter 751: Chapter 305: Turning Point, Beware of Children’s Minor Injuries_2
The hospital is even stricter in its selection of talent.
Those with poor education or mediocre medical skills often end up working in township health centers, community health stations, or private clinics.
It’s not that they don’t want to work in large hospitals, but rather that they can’t get in.
The child’s condition will worsen further, and the doctor at the community health station actually has a certain responsibility. If they could have identified in time that the child’s illness was not a common cold, and given it the attention it deserved, perhaps the child could have received effective treatment promptly.
At the very least, they could have urged the family to quickly take the child to a larger hospital for examination and lab tests to identify the cause.
“Dr. Zhou, can the child take this medicine?”
The family obviously trusts the doctors in the large hospital more; they worry the medicine prescribed by the community health station’s doctor might be inadequate.
“Under normal circumstances, if it’s this type of cold, the child can take this medicine. But looking at your child’s current symptoms, it’s quite possible it’s not a common cold.”
Dr. Zhou’s words cause a cold shudder in the hearts of the family.
The woman’s face turns pale on the spot.
“Doctor, what exactly is wrong with my daughter? She won’t be in any danger, right?” She is very afraid that the child might have a serious problem.
“We’ll need to conduct further exams to determine the specific cause, but you can observe her face and fingers—they are both somewhat cyanotic, which suggests that the child might be beginning to experience some oxygen deprivation.”
A cyanotic face and fingertips are usually the most direct indications of oxygen deprivation.
When blood oxygen concentration falls below 90%, typical symptoms of cyanosis such as blue discoloration of the face, lips, and fingernails will appear.
After Dr. Zhou’s reminder, the young couple takes a closer look at their child, and indeed!
The child’s face and fingernails do show some bluish-purple discoloration.
This only increases their panic.
“Doctor, please, you must save our child!” Women generally have a lower tolerance for stress than men, and the child’s mother is already speaking with a cry in her voice. Frightened out of her wits, her heart is in turmoil.
“Don’t worry, she is just progressing towards more serious illness; the situation has not reached a terrible state yet. As long as we identify the cause in time and administer treatment accordingly, there shouldn’t be any major problem.”
Dr. Zhou continues to reassure the family while examining the child.
“Dr. Zhou, it seems like there’s a lump and swelling in the child’s armpit!” Ji You notices something abnormal while taking the child’s temperature.
In the past, old doctors preferred to measure temperature rectally in children.
It was not only unhygienic, but also uncomfortable for the children, making it difficult for them to cooperate with the examination.
Now, pediatric doctors have learned and take the child’s armpit temperature instead.
As more data is gathered, the medical reference significance is not much different from directly measuring rectal temperature.
Older-generation doctors were stricter due to harsher conditions and had fewer and less advanced examination methods, requiring more exact temperature measurements from the rectum.
Sometimes even a difference of 0.1 degrees could have a significant impact on the doctor’s diagnosis.
Low fever and high fever are completely different concepts.
Dr. Zhou touches the area, then lifts the child’s arm to visually inspect it.
“Her lymph nodes in the armpit area are swollen.”
Dr. Zhou concludes.
The child’s parents become even more panicked as one abnormal sign after another is found during the examinations.
“The fever is 40.3 degrees Celsius.”
Ji You reads out the result of the child’s temperature measurement.
To avoid errors, measuring the temperature must be done at least twice. Usually, responsible nurses or doctors will measure the temperature three times.
It must be mentioned that measuring rectal temperature is not as troublesome; it only needs to be done once.
Actually, measuring oral temperature can also provide very accurate results.
However, putting a thermometer in a child’s mouth, the family would first be opposed to it. They definitely think it’s unhygienic. The doctor’s thermometer is reused, having been in one child’s mouth then another’s, and even with disinfecting and cleaning in between, people utterly reject this method of taking temperature.
Another point, if a child were to accidentally break the thermometer, the mercury inside is toxic.
The risk is too great.
So, considering all factors, doctors and nurses now typically unify the method of measuring a child’s armpit temperature.
They would rather go to the trouble of measuring it a couple more times.
“Has the child’s urination and bowel movements been normal these past two days?” Dr. Zhou continues to inquire for key information.
“The bowel movements seem quite normal, but these past two days she hasn’t been urinating much. Especially today, she hasn’t urinated at all yet.” The child’s mother’s answer changes the expression on Dr. Zhou’s face.
This is a very bad sign.
In the ICU, if a patient doesn’t urinate for two days, the family can basically be notified to prepare for end-of-life arrangements.
“Let’s get her blood tested first! The child’s condition is serious. Make it urgent!”
After asking for some additional basic information, Dr. Zhou issues a very routine test order.
He doesn’t do like many novice doctors who order every possible test item that fits the case, not leaving any out, getting the full list for the patient.
This approach would not only generate revenue for the hospital and the department but would also avoid unnecessary trouble as much as possible.
To put it plainly, it’s about saving trouble and dodging many risks.
Conversely, experts in their field will be more concise and targeted when ordering tests.
Higher-level experts tend to start with one or two tests, then based on the results, make a further diagnosis before ordering new tests.