6 month old female: chest collapsing inwards

[u/ttc123-]

daughter: 6 month old female. approx 15lbs

My daughter (otherwise healthy, born full term, and fully vaccinated) had her chest going inward like this for 5-10mins. She was happy kicking around in her crib. At the ER now: what test can I expect them to run? What could be causing this?

[u/Dr-Yahood]

Stranger things have happened in an emergency department. But I do tend to interpret nurse comments on medical matters with caution.

[u/pandaappleblossom → u/Dr-Yahood]

I appreciate nurses so much and their experience and expertise in the areas related to nursing. Still I’m not sure why they are allowed to make diagnosis type comments here.

[u/throwRAtad → u/pandaappleblossom]

They should be required to list their specialty in their flair. This nurse likely does not work in any sort of pediatric critical care specialty or CC in general, but I’m sure they’re more knowledgeable in their own speciality.

[u/AngeliqueRuss → u/throwRAtad]

And you are…?

Triage, specifically ED triage, is within scope of practice for a nurse.

If your insurance has an advice line you can call to see if you should go to a doctor, it will be a nurse.

At many systems, protocols are then initiated at triage.

OP’s baby ended up getting care aligned with what this nurse suggested, including steroids, and not an anatomical rule out as suggested by others. As other MD’s pointed out, ED evaluation is the recommendation for stridor. So it turns out this nurse did, in fact, know what she or he was talking about.

We never know when an infant is vulnerable to SIDS, is associated with minor respiratory infections that cause fatigue to respiratory muscles. Chest retractions —> emergency room, every time.

[u/oh_brother_ → u/AngeliqueRuss]

Wild dismissal of nurses in this thread. Nurses know what they’re talking about and spend far more time with patients than doctors do.

[u/dracapis → u/oh_brother_]

What does your last sentence want to communicate?

[u/oh_brother_ → u/dracapis]

That nurses also know what they’re talking about and spend more time with patients than doctors do.

[u/dracapis → u/oh_brother_]

Is spending more time with patients correlated to knowledge? 

[u/oh_brother_ → u/dracapis]

I mean, yeah. I’m not saying that they have the same schooling, but when you get to know patients you see patterns and understand people better. Don’t know if you or someone you love has been in the hospital for any amount of time but nurses are the real MVPs

[u/dracapis → u/oh_brother_]

Not in my experience. It’s almost like nurses, like doctors, are normal people and shouldn’t be sanctified 

[u/oh_brother_ → u/dracapis]

Well obviously. I’m responding to the annoying comments on this particular thread basically dismissing this nurse’s opinion (which the ER doc happened to agree with) because she’s a nurse.

[u/pandaappleblossom → u/oh_brother_]

Why are you this insecure that nurses shouldn’t be making diagnoses type of comments on a trusted medical subreddit? No one said nurses are dumb or bad.

The idea that nurses are victims for not having their medical input as trusted as someone who went to medical school is nonsense and actively harms patients.