Thing is, if someone is going under anesthesia, I understand why the dentures are an important bit of information, since it would probably be a bad idea to be wearing them when they're under. I don't think that's where that info goes in the chart, though.
It is important that the anesthesiologist be aware the patient wears dentures. Whats funny is that the next sentence implies that the dentures, rather than the patient, have a latex allergy.
I agree with @Candida Gomez--it's relevant medical information. I would not be one bit surprised to learn that what we really are seeing here is an EMR system that doesn't have a proper place for the information so they stuck it in with other information the anesthesiologist would be looking at anyway.
Well, if anyone would know, it'd be the patient who knew if there was not a speck of latex in his/her those little eeny, weeny, white teeth. Eh, eh? What did you just tell me, my pearls?
This is one of those cases where the modern use of "they" instead of "his" or "hers" falls down on the job. But the scribe did write the sentence correctly. They [see?] just needed to reorder the paragraph.
The use of "they" as a a singular form is about as old as the use of "you" as a singular form, although nobody seems to go bananas over "you." "They" fell out of use for a few centuries because of a handful of language snobs, not because it's not native to the language. But it still can sometimes cause a chuckle, as it does here.
Thing is, if someone is going under anesthesia, I understand why the dentures are an important bit of information, since it would probably be a bad idea to be wearing them when they're under. I don't think that's where that info goes in the chart, though.
ReplyDeleteIt is important that the anesthesiologist be aware the patient wears dentures. Whats funny is that the next sentence implies that the dentures, rather than the patient, have a latex allergy.
DeleteAnd this, my dear friends, is a prime example of lexical ambiguity.
ReplyDeleteWell, if I was intubating a patient and their teeth fell out, it might give me a slight coronary.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the patient is a conjoined twin or has multiple personalities?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure patient's partner appreciates patient's use of a dental dam, but would probably be even happier if patient took out dentures first.
ReplyDeleteBut definitely keep them away from Scribe and SGML.
ReplyDeleteI agree with @Candida Gomez--it's relevant medical information. I would not be one bit surprised to learn that what we really are seeing here is an EMR system that doesn't have a proper place for the information so they stuck it in with other information the anesthesiologist would be looking at anyway.
ReplyDeleteWell, if anyone would know, it'd be the patient who knew if there was not a speck of latex in his/her those little eeny, weeny, white teeth. Eh, eh? What did you just tell me, my pearls?
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those cases where the modern use of "they" instead of "his" or "hers" falls down on the job. But the scribe did write the sentence correctly. They [see?] just needed to reorder the paragraph.
ReplyDeleteBut it does make me giggle.
The use of "they" as a a singular form is about as old as the use of "you" as a singular form, although nobody seems to go bananas over "you." "They" fell out of use for a few centuries because of a handful of language snobs, not because it's not native to the language. But it still can sometimes cause a chuckle, as it does here.
ReplyDelete