This story is from a mum I worked with a few years ago I'm going to write this as a scenario that puts you in the shoes of the mum:
This is about an infant child who hasn't eaten in 3 days, they are taking fluids but not eating. But today he hasn't drunk much at all. You ring a "professional" nursing hotline which shall remain nameless for the purposes of this blog we will call them the parents hotline. So you've rung the nursing hotline to ask what to do for a feverish child who just wont eat? Now for the big question... do you take him to the hospital...
So now you ring the hotline for some advice as to whether or not you should go to hospital. Trusting the hotline to give you the right advice....
The advice she was given was give him red cordial it will perk him up... ok this is where I blow up while she is talking... W.WWWWHAT!!!! This would have to be the most preposterous advice I have ever heard... give a sick infant red cordial are you insane? I mean you could give him hydrolite or something else but red cordial... that's just absurd. (Mind you this mum told me he had been on hydrolite and the nurse knew this). Ok time to get a real professionals advice.
Right so this isn't helping... time to call in a locum (good call mum). Thank goodness for bulk billing locums in Australia... it's a godsend. so now you tell the locum what you had been told... the locum himself goes ballistic he asks. Hesitantly you give them the number of the nursing hotline and blew up at them... this was after the locum had rung an ambulance... your little boy has some thing major wrong with him... he is running a fever and needed urgent attention.
The hospital also asks you for the number of the nursing hotline and blasts them too. This hotline had trained nurses who should know better...
Moral of this story: If in doubt please follow your gut, and get a second opinion. It saved this little boys life.
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