Sunday, October 23, 2011

Rabies and Afib (study shows no link)

Not long ago I wrote a blog about a patient who came in in rapid Afib, a rapid irregular heart rhythm.
Lisa Currier, sent me the following email.
"Rabid Afib- a rapid, irregular heart rhythm characterized by foaming at the mouth".
You see, I had written "rabid" not rapid.
I've admitted before that spelling is not a strong point for me. In nursing school my advisor said I was going to be a good nurse but that if my spelling didn't improve I wouldn't get the credit I deserve because people would look at my charting and go????????
Computerized charting, with it's many check off boxes has helped. Spell check has been a godsend. However, "rabid", being a legitimate word, isn't picked up by spell check.
I want to thank Lisa for pointing out my error. It allowed me to go back and correct my mistake and also showed me someone was paying attention to what I type. I'm glad that I have friends like Lisa who are comfortable enough to kid me about my mistakes. What God didn't give me in spelling ability He made up for in the ability to laugh at myself.
Also, and very importantly, I want to assure you that we have seen no increase in the number of cardiac patients presenting with rabies. The last thing we need is a bunch of worried people showing up with palpitations and looking for rabies vaccine.

3 comments:

Phyllis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Phyllis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
John Brady said...
This comment has been removed by the author.