Florida Shoots Itself in the Foot

Although this article ("The Question Doctors Can't Ask," written by James Hamblin for The Atlantic) is now a few months old... please take into consideration that seven months is a very brief period of time in the health care and law milieux - very unlike that of social media. When it comes to research, nursing schools in general teach that peer-reviewed studies less than five years old can be considered reliable sources of information. Obviously, this article is not a peer-reviewed study. That doesn't mean it isn't worthy of ten minutes of your time - we are all (MDs and RNs included) someone's patient at some point in time (ideally across the lifespan but that's an entirely separate issue).

The item addressed in the article - Florida's relatively recently imposed law that doctors/practitioners/health care facilities are not allowed to inquire if a patient has a gun in the home - is one that could potentially affect many (particularly "red state"), if not all Americans, given the trend of "monkey see, monkey do" legislation among the states of our country (see: the addition of questions re: gay marriage and/or the legalization of marijuana to ballots nationwide in recent years).

I also humbly ask that you consider the notion that we are a nation increasingly overrun by political correctness, which seems to be a large part of the reason why this legislation passed to begin with. I personally believe the PC trend is equal opportunity in terms of its applications by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Questions that Florida lawmakers need to address (from the humble perspective of an RN):

Does "facility" mean hospitals and hospital-affiliated clinics, or also include private offices - in particular, those of psychiatrists/psychologists?  Does "licensed practitioner" refer solely to physicians, or are licensed RNs considered "practitioners" as well (as opposed to licensed "professionals")? Define medical "relevance" as it pertains to this particular law - what particular presence or absence of symptoms/diseases would deem the presence of a lethal weapon in the home "irrelevant" to the overall health and well-being of the patient and the people they live with? Shouldn't the overall risk of the presence of a weapon in the home be something at least ASSESSED by a health care professional, at some point, in some health care setting? A doctor? A nurse? A social worker? Counselor? Anyone?? Bueller???

Note to the general public: Lots of health questions have the potential to "offend." Guess what, patients (and we all are patients - including MDs and RNs)? Grow a pair of whatever anatomy fits, and deal with it.

I acknowledge that as a Registered Nurse, I am biased in this statement, but I'll say it anyway: RNs are rated year after year as one of the top most trusted professions nationally, right up there with teachers and firefighters. If we're talking clinics/hospitals here, dear Florida, why not allow the RN ask the tougher questions (which in practice, we generally are already doing, anyway) and use his/her clinical judgment to determine if MD (or Social Worker) notification is indicated? Just a suggestion.

In light of the statistics as mentioned in the article.... What an idiotic and dangerous piece of legislation. Know what's more offensive than your doctor/nurse asking if you have a gun in the home? As Mr. Hamblin responsibly addresses: Your 7 year old seriously injuring or killing (or being seriously injured or killed by) someone because s/he was curious how the gun worked and is not developmentally capable of understanding the risks of their "play," much less the permanence of death. Your disoriented family member (with Alzheimer's, dementia, schizophrenia...) getting a hold of it. I myself would have committed suicide (and most likely successfully) at age 14 had my parents not stored my dad's .22 safely (possibly per the urging of my physician).

All because no one was allowed to ask if, a) a gun is in the home, and, b) if it is properly stored. Because someone could be "offended." 

We're health care workers. We do our best to keep our own personal values/opinions/political beliefs out of our professional environments. You (general public/legislators) need to do the same, if we are to perform our jobs and promote your well-being to the best of our ability.

Oh, Florida. I pray you haven't started a trend.