Very annoying being asked questions with a thermometer in my mouth

Had a post surgical procedure follow up today.

The Young nurse took my vital signs, starting with my blood pressure, instructing me to remain still. After a few questions she said she’d be taking my temperature.

She no sooner placed the probe under my tongue when she started asking questions again.

I gave her a look and she said “what?”

After removing the probe I told her that it’s annoying to have a thermometer in your mouth and be asked questions . How do I answer?

OverRainbow,

You made a comment:

After removing the probe I told her that it’s annoying to have a thermometer in your mouth and be asked questions. How do I answer?

She should have been apologizing to you for asking you questions with your mouth “full” so to speak. Next time I would just go “Hmmmmm” real loud and point to the probe in your mouth.

I doubt she was a nurse. She was probably an MA. (Medical Assistant).

Not to be Johnny Raincloud but how long does it take for a thermometer to register these days. Just wait until it beeps.

Sounds like a missed opportunity on your part. You should have suggested a rectal thermometer so your mouth was free to answer questions.

I'm laughing out loud at these comments! LOL

😃😃

She was a RN. Anyway thanks for everyone’s repies.

That's like being at the dentist with a mouth full of metal instruments and they are chatting to you about the weather or something, I guess they are used to one-way conversations…

She no sooner placed the probe under my tongue…

Probes under the tongue have gone from our doctors. It is that forehead reader as of late. Those are a bit nicer because you can talk while it is used.

I was once asked by a doctor who had her finger up my bottom, about my bowel habits. I said, ‘You tell me’.

Also when dentists ask you questions when they have the their fingers or tools in your mouth. I feel like if I try to speak I’ll accidentally bite their finger!

I don't like the office personnel, who screen you, before the doctor arrives. They always ask me mental health questions, which I consider to be invasive. Besides, that's not what I'm there for. They also never make note of the questions that I want to address with the doctor. When the doctor arrives, I have to repeat the entire process again.

It's been a good 30 years since a medical practitioner used a glass thermometer to obtain my temperature. Probably more than a decade since a digital meter was placed in my mouth. I agree with JJM. Too many questions not asked by my physician are intrusive and the answers are ignored, anyway. I do try to take pity on the wonderful staff who are required by their supervisors to ask such questions, but once in a while an unhappy tone slips in.

However, if a thermometer was placed in my mouth I'd take it out to answer the question. If more than one question were asked, I'm pretty sure I place the thermometer on the nearest horizontal surface.

It has be a long time since I had a nurse take my temperature in my mouth.

It has be a long time since I had a nurse take my temperature in my mouth

Me too! With Covid-19 - most places assume you're temp is OK just from the “admission test” of entering the facility. Funny thing though, my wife had to see a podiatrist about 4-5 months ago about some numbness in her feet. The nurse used an oral thermometer - even though we had been screened when entering the facility. I asked why they used oral vs temporal - and the nurse replied “for better accuracy”.. I left it at that. Why a foot doctor would have to know within a half degree or so what your temp was ------ well, maybe that's why she a foot doctor vs a neurosurgeon!!!!

It just so happens that, today I had an appointment, at home for my health insurance carrier, (I'm ok they require it once a year) and guess what After sticking a thermometer in my mouth the Dr. started to as questions, is it a specialty, to be stupid in order to understand that you cannot answer questions with you mouth closed. When he finished I asked him about that he just shrugged his shoulders. (DUMB) I just hope I never run into him in an emergency.

I really agree with JJM over the mental health questions. I get so annoyed I bamboozle the nurses. She asked me ‘What was the name of the Prime Minister in 1985?’ My reply was Boris Johnson. She gave me a strange look and then said ‘Which year did the Second World War start?’ I answered 1918. Then she said ‘I’ll be back in a minute'. She ran out of the room and returned with a doctor, who said, ‘Are we having a spot of problems with our memory?’ I said, ‘We’re not, but you are having problems with your grammar. A spot of problems mixes tenses.' He said, ‘Do you know what year this is?’ I said 2020, as it was then. He said, hmmmm. Then ‘Who do you think was the Prime Minister in 1985?’ I replied, ‘I don’t think, I know.' Well, who was it, then?' ‘Margaret Thatcher’, I said. ‘Then why did you tell my nurse it was Boris Johnson?’ ‘Because she asked the wrong question, and if you ask the wrong question, you’re very likely to get the wrong answer. She asked the name of the Prime Minister in 1985. The name of the Prime Minister has been Boris Johnson since he was born.' Then, ‘you told her the Second World War started in 1918. It didn't it started in 1939.' ‘No, it didn’t', I replied, ‘it started in 1918, Have you ever heard of the Treaty of Versailles?’ ‘Of course I have’, he snapped, ‘I am a history graduate’. ‘Then you should know, shouldn’t you?. By this time I was getting very Bolshie and went for him. ‘Let me try you out’, I said. ‘Who was the last Liberal Prime Minister?’ ‘Ah, it was David Lloyd George.’ 'No, it wasn't' I replied, ‘it was Henry Herbert Asquith, the First Earl of Oxford and Asquith, and you haven’t got time to listen to my explanation.' He muttered something to the nurse, and went away. Score - Me 10/10, him 0/10. That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh. (Did you get the tune? KC and the Sunshine Band)

@Dr_Higgs Good ones!!!!

The new mandatory Medicare questions are ridiculous and I always lie when answering them: "When was the last time you blacked out from drinking?" (Last Friday!), “Do you have thoughts about suicide?” (No, but I wish a lot of other people would!), ……

I usually leave the nurse laughing after I answer.

I would have told her, “If you're going to ask questions while you're taking my temperature, you're going to have to take it rectally.”

It maybe a little off-topic, but I thought it was so funny that I should share it with you all. It refers to my previous point about asking the wrong questions and getting the wrong answers. My local GP asked an elderly male patient if he took any supplements. He replied, ‘Just one’. ‘Which one?’. the doctor enquired. The reply, ‘the Sunday Times Colour Supplement’.

It has be a long time since I had a nurse take my temperature in my mouth.

For my sub it has been over a year and a half, before CoVid, since a medical person took his temperature under his tongue. The “click” of the plastic cover being ejected off of the probe sticks in my head.

Well say this for having a rectal temperature taken and it's that I can't do two things at once. It completely occupies my attention having a rectal thermometer inserted and registering such that I mumble when spoken to.

This is a great post! I get to experience the same crap during my doctor's visits. (Lucky me). It seems that the mental health idiots, a.k.a. “behavioral health,” which includes the majority of everyone in that field, are designing these scripted questionaires, which for me, are extremely offensive, moronic, and intrusive. “ Do you plan to harm yourself or anyone else ?” “ Are you afraid to live in your home?” “ Do you own a firearm?” And the list goes on, according to the social/political agenda of the day ! What many people don't realize is that you can be placed in a database, against your will, should you answer in the affirmative, to any of those interrogative, and obnoxious questions. They get away with it, because they, like Dr. Fauci, are considered to be “experts,” and their opinions are not to be challenged,(or you're a domestic terrorist, racist, etc. ). I'm certified to work in aviation, which requires the applicant to endure an extremely thorough background investigation. I was mistakenly diagnosed as being “suicidally depressed,” by a psychology student,( yes, a student), and a social worker, both, barely in their 20's. If my doctor hadn't removed that from my medical record, I would not be able to earn a living, and support my family ! We live in a country where common sense has vanished, and incompetent idiots are permitted to control our lives. Pretty scary.

@JJM Good post. I agree. I either lie or respond that I prefer not to answer to those kind of intrusive non-medical questions. I don't care how much privacy HIPPA claims to provide, everything that gets charted is fair game and out there to be seen.

Never had that happen; but at the dentist's he likes to start up conversation while working on my mouth. 😕

Temp by mouth- lucky you! I used to hate it when nurses tried to ask questions or start a conversation while you are on your side or tummy. Especially, while she was holding the rectal thermometer in place between your bare bottom cheeks.

Temp by mouth- lucky you! I used to hate it when nurses tried to ask questions or start a conversation while you are on your side or tummy. Especially, while she was holding the rectal thermometer in place between your bare bottom cheeks.

@ruthiney , I can only imagine how interesting that conversation would be with you as you lay there waiting for the thermometer to register

Sort of like when your at a restaurant and the server always seems to ask “how is everything” right when your mouth is full of food😬

Sort of like when your at a restaurant and the server always seems to ask “how is everything” right when your mouth is full of food😬

Worse yet is when the person answers with their mouth full!

Sometimes it’s not your inability to talk, it’s the ridiculous nature of the questions/statements.

When you go to a doctor’s office you are usually greeted with the casual greeting of “how are you doing today?” This is a greeting, not a medical inquiry. I usually reply “I’m in a doctor’s office, isn’t that a silly question?”

I am 6’6” tall. When the nurse tells me “the doctor will be with you shortly” I tell them my height and that everyone is with me shortly.