Speaking of Blogs…
Technology is currently booming within the field of medicine. We practice in the age of electronic medical records, "live" data, computerized images and hand-held devices. Informatics has become a specialty in nursing, and we often pride ourselves on how much we can accomplish using some state-of-the-art device.
Not to mention the importance of the Internet. Where would we be without it? We receive labs online, communicate with patients via e-mail, log in patient information, and look up any bit of information that we need to find quickly. From our perspective, the use of the Internet has improved our jobs; however, we are not the only ones reveling in the information at our fingertips.
Our patients can search the Web just as well as we can, if not, at times, better. Mention one word to a patient or parent, and you know that they can't wait to get home to start looking for a treatment or a cure. This is not to imply that searching the Internet in an attempt at self-education is a bad thing, but rather to demonstrate just how powerful it can be.
In our informatics classes we learned to assess a Web site to easily determine the reading level of the site, as well as the applicability to patients and relevance of the information. And although it would be impossible to be knowledgeable about every site out there, it is helpful to know how to size up a site that a patient promises knows more than you do.
But Web sites that provide medical information aren't the only thing that is out there. In an age of online dating, chat rooms, instant messaging and blogs (that aren't all as respectable as this one), people can exercise freedom of speech in just about any way that they so choose. And in some instances, there is a danger to this.
I am impressed by my preceptor at the adolescent behavioral clinic I attend each week as she asks every patient about what sites they frequent on the Internet and about what blogs or chat rooms they visit. While it would again be impossible to monitor everything that is out there, I have learned that it helps to be aware and to guide patients in the right direction.
As providers, it is part of our obligation to assess for high-risk or potentially harmful behaviors, and we now practice in an age where Internet use should be counted among them.