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“No Sleepovers”: 63 Healthcare Workers Warn About Things That Are Much More Dangerous Than They Seem
Wear a helmet when you ride your bike. Look both ways before crossing the street. Be extremely careful when frying food in hot oil. There are plenty of things we do every single day that could end in tragedy if we ignore the safety rules seared into our brains. But there are also some things that you should probably just avoid point-blank, unless you want to take a trip to the hospital.
Healthcare workers on TikTok and Threads have recently been discussing activities that they would never let their loved ones partake in, due to what they’ve seen. We hope this list doesn’t unlock new fears in you, pandas, but it is a good reminder to always take your safety seriously. Good luck making it through to the end, and be sure to upvote the warnings that you think more people should hear!
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#1
Former peds nurse and also child of parents born in the 1920s: I would never let anyone I love forgo vaccinations.
RELATED:
#2
Continue to prolong their lives when quality of life is poor. At a certain point it just becomes cruel.
#3
Live in states with 6 week abortion bans.
TheBadHalfofHel 16 hours ago
Corollary: Do not live in a 'red state'. Your education quality, personal choices, morality, and overall well-being will be dictated by the government.
#4
Energy drinks. I'm in Cardiology and they are not good for your heart.
user221824878:
Energy drinks. As a paramedic I’ve seen too many young otherwise healthy people go into crazy rhythms because of them. Had a couple in straight up A-fib. No way.
#5
Accept medical advice from social media influencers who have affiliate links in bios, courses or supplements to sell, advertising that they found the big secret that the evil powers that be have kept from you but if you pay them, then they’ll give you the goods.
#6
Urologist here - I never let my kids play any contact sport without wearing a cup.
I’ve had to repair damaged or remove shattered testicles from kids who haven’t worn their cups during a practice or game.
CUP UP!
#7
Pediatrician here. ATVs. Refuse vaccines. American Football. Chiropractors - ESPECIALLY for babies and children. Respect Dr. Oz 🤮. Drink raw milk. Home birth. Listen to anything RFKJ has ever said. Refuse sunscreen…the list goes on.
#8
No alternative (quack) medicine for cancer.
Chich the witch 1 day ago
Been trough it 4 times (all career related). I'll take evil old western medicine thank you very much.
#9
Forensic pathologist here. It's best to say 'no' to: smoking, [illegal substances], donorcycles, ATVs, chiropractors, 'wellness' grifters, home births, bed-sharing with babies, not wearing seatbelts or helmets, ignoring mental health issues, ignorning chest pain, refusing vaccines, firearms in the home, running from the police, dismantling safety devices, running back into a burning building, engaging with unfamiliar dogs, pools without gates and alarms, elderly people on ladders...the list goes on and on.
WindySwede 1 day ago
We have free healthcare here, and yet people wanna have home births. Do you like playing rụssían roulette with the life of your newborn? 🙂↔️
#10
Make sure you really WANT to be pregnant and raise children.
#13
Chiropractor manipulating a person's neck. I have seen 2 occasions where a person ended up in our ICU after this. Both times, they needed surgery to repair the damage
#14
Be sedentary. I see far too many relatively young people almost immobilized and out of breath doing simple tasks because of weight and inactivity.
Peeka_Mimi 15 hours ago
Tell that to my neuropathy. I just spent 48 hours curled up in a ball crying/screaming, wishing to be euthanized.
#15
I wouldn’t let my 6’4”, brick solid son play football, even when coaches begged. When a college coach said “Son, I will let you walk on and teach you this game and see that you get a scholarship,” my son said: “Sir, you haven’t met my mother. Not gonna’ happen, but thanks.” So many other things, as well, but football spinal injuries are so pointless.
#16
Blue swimwear (it blends in with the water and makes kids almost invisible to lifeguards).
Spencers slave no more 1 day ago
Rash vests with built in floats have been available for years here in New Zealand. Just don't leave your kids unsupervised in water ffs.
#18
Never take off immediately at a green light, the extra 3-5 seconds u wait can save your life!
Spencers slave no more 1 day ago (edited)
Also on the driving spectrum: if you hear Emergency vehicles when you're at a red light, wait until you can see where they're coming from, especially when your light turns green. You need to stop for them, not the other way round.
#19
NO ELDERLY MEN ON THE DAMN ROOF! Call a roofing company!
WindySwede 1 day ago
Nor ladders, preferably of any age. Seen to many YT fail vids with ladders.. not that I wanna see them, they just include them 😕
#20
Former healthcare worker (music therapist) and current teacher. I don’t put pictures of my kids on social media, ever.
keyboardtek 15 hours ago
I am a jazz pianist. My dad used to play the same two songs on the piano over and over. At the end of his life, he had two strokes that left him unable to speak, unable to understand language, unable to walk. The nursing home had a piano in the cafeteria. We could not reach his mind with language, but when I played his two favorite songs, he started to cry. That was the last time I saw him alive.
#21
I'm a social worker and I'll say: let teenagers become fully peer centric. They still need their parents and parents have to work at maintaining the connection. Teens aren't grown enough to raise each other and they need the adults in their lives to avoid some pit falls.
Daisydaisy 1 day ago
And if your teenager does get into bad company or falls into unhappiness, keep loving them and supporting them and being there. They will grow out of it and you will still be there to love them. Don't give up on them or turn against them!
#22
As an acute care nurse i would say don’t self neglect. I support my loved ones to understand the importance of taking ownership of their own health decisions and care. Drink water, exercise, be kind to yourself and others. Chase peace, hydration, nutritious food and good company.
#23
To be honest if people knew how toxic alcohol is and what it does to the body, they’d never drink again.
mdsnurse2298:
Honestly? If you really wanna know, the answer is drink alcohol frequently. I work in a SNF. Chronic alcoholism causes far more disease and disability, more early nursing home admissions and more [fatalities] at a young age than all other causes combined.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 day ago
I've decided to never even start. Alcoholism kinda runs in my genes (luckily I have basically no contact with those people), I know I have an addictive personality and from those ~3 times I tried, I hate the taste. And I don't really feel like I'm missing out.
#24
Leave the house without saying I love you.
#25
My dad worked in the ER, made me promise to never buy my kids a trampoline. I never did.
#26
Pediatric NP here. Water beads, button battery toys, balloons, always wear a helmet. Never let anyone watch your kid around water— you always watch them yourself or other parent.
Whiskey Tango Delicious 16 hours ago
Small magnet toys. Swallow two of these, and surgeons say it's like operating on a gu'nshot wound without an entry point.
#27
Ride a skateboard/bike/skates without a helmet. We took care of a coworker-nurse’s son who was severely brain damaged after a skateboard accident. Heartbreaking.
Chich the witch 1 day ago
There was a motorcycle "No helmet"protest ride several years back. One guy crashed and died. They determined he would have survived if he'd had a helmet on.
#28
Ride in the back of a pickup truck, wash cars with a toddler, or ride ATVs. For reference I was a heart transplant coordinator and these were situations that were donors. I also can’t abide kids in a boat without a life jacket or being pulled on a sled by any motorized vehicle.
#29
ER Doc here: a LOT of my business is from [illegal substances], alcohol and gravity. The first two are easier to avoid
#30
Driving while intoxicated or tired.
#31
Toddlers eating marshmallows. Impossible to get out of the airway. Ask me how I know.
Whiskey Tango Delicious 15 hours ago (edited)
Grapes too. Don't ask me how I know. Edit: cut them up first.
#32
Be in the hospital alone for any extended period of time. While the staff caring for someone does their best, their is little to no mental stimulation or conversation. Nevermind that the doctor will show up ONCE a day and it may be your only chance to ask questions, understand the plan, etc. No one, even someone alert and cognizant, should be there alone.
#33
Taking any medication/supplements not FDA approved or gas station THC. The amount of patients I’ve seen in psychosis from anything unregulated is insane.
Fungus John 1 day ago
yeah, the synthetic weed is dangerous af. I used to smoke it, but I wouldn't let anyone share because people have gone insane and died from that s**t
#34
Buy a young driver a fast car…..particularly a male. Just look at the stats if you don’t believe me.
Remi (He/Him) 17 hours ago
First car should be old and a bit shïtty, but with good safety ratings
#35
Rule #1. Get a 2nd opinion.
#36
Purchase united healthcare.
#37
Anesthesiologist here - I tell folks not to use a wire brush on their grill.
caittdaltt:
The wires can come out of the brush, and you can ingest them when eating and they can get lodged in your throat.
#38
Trauma nurse here, I’d agree with the donorcycle theme. The quickest, most critical trauma I’ve ever had was a donorcycle down. The pedal took out his abdominal organs and left them on the highway.
Spencers slave no more 1 day ago
Perhaps the US should focus on helmets and make them law. Anything else is simply bad luck.
#39
Grey or silver cars.
dinajunebuck:
The color makes it harder to be seen in rain, snow, fog and super bright lighting conditions. Always have headlights on.
WindySwede 1 day ago
We have an requirement to have some sort of light on in the front of the car while car is on.
#40
Pharmacist who’s worked in the ED at a level 2 trauma center. I have several:
- No motorcycles or activities you’d do at Glamis. A bike may stop, but the eyeballs keep going.
- Don’t get stupid drunk. Maybe no alcohol at all.
- Don’t stick an arm into an industrial dryer before it’s stopped rotating—sheets and towels will wrap around it and essentially twist it off.
- Always be aware of where your eye is in relation to an agave plant or trim the ends of your agave.
#41
Walk barefoot in the airport or airplane.
#42
Psychologist here - no sleepovers!
mentallyawbused:
Be careful where you send your kids with, unless you know the family personally but even then it’s risky because majority of cases are from people they’re close with. My mom would let me sleep over my best friends house only because she was a single mother. No men around.
missjp.30:
I worked as a forensic nurse, no sleep overs. And just what I witnessed boys are not protected, even if the law is involved.
#43
I work in ophthalmology. Exercise bands are a no go.
Trophy Husband 10 hours ago
Unless it's for physical therapy and you're being careful with it.
#45
Eat a fruit roll up that's rolled up. Let's just say if a kid gets choked, it's almost impossible to get an airway.
#47
When you get your blood drawn for lab work, insist on having the phlebotomist/nurse/tech label it with your name RIGHT THEN AND THERE. You’d be appalled at the unlabeled and mislabeled specimens the lab receives. At best, you have to have your lab work repeated. Worst case: your results are filed under someone else’s name.
Chich the witch 1 day ago
Where I go the vials have printed stick on labels and I get asked my name, DOB and address several times.
#49
My dad (paramedic ) we weren’t allowed to do a lot of things lol. Nothing that goes fast, trampolines, wear a hair tie on my wrist, swim at anyone’s house, no feet on the dash, never drove behind log trucks. The list goes on.
#50
Be in a car without a seatbelt. And making sure babies are properly strapped in a car seat, many leave the straps too loose.
Lady Eowyn 1 day ago
Having a pet in the car without some sort of restraint. I have a small service dog. She has a box-type seat that's fastened to the front passenger seat, with a clip that fastens onto her harness. I need to have her near enough to touch.
#51
NO CLAWCLIPS WHILE DRIVING!
#54
Go to a hospital owned by HCA or ascension. Or any hospital owned by a corporation for that. You are there to be a profit. Nobody cares about you except for your nurse who is overworked and underpaid and certainly has an unsafe patient load.
#55
Be a full code. For context, my dad is a PA who taught me about code status when I was young. So I’ve been DNR/DNI since I was in my 20s. And then I worked in the ICU and now I try to educate everyone in my life to what being a full code actually means.
Lady Eowyn 1 day ago
In medical terms, "full code" indicates that a patient wishes to receive all possible life-saving interventions if their heart stops or they stop breathing. This includes procedures such as CPR, advanced cardiac life support, intubation, defibrillation, and emergency medications. It is important to understand how "full code" differs from other code statuses like DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) and DNI (Do Not Intubate), which indicate a patient's preferences for resuscitation efforts. 3
#56
Cardiac sonographer here - not let parents think sudden cardiac arrest couldn’t happen to their kid just because a doc (or urgent care) signed off on that sports physical. Every kid who has [passed away] from SCA had a sports physical on file.
#57
Social Worker- We will not own a pool ( I need to be present when you go swimming), my house will not be near a pond, No co sleeping, No sleepovers at others houses. No joining youth groups. Alarms on my doors Button Batteries Gone!
#58
Do NOT use the hand dryers in the bathrooms.
nottheactualphoto 1 day ago
Most bathrooms that have air blowers don't have paper towels. Wipe your hands on your clothing, I guess.
#59
Pharmacy Tech - let adhd meds be a LAST resort. Especially for your child.
Cloudy 21 hours ago
This one I personally disagree with. The ADHD meds worked wonders for me. However, the side effects interacted with my other medical conditions at the dose that worked best for me. So I reduced my dose and eventually stopped. The right ADHD meds are amazing. But like antidepressants you need to find the one that works for you. I would happily let my kid take ADHD meds.
#60
NEVER NEVER put a loved one in a nursing home.
#61
My daughters was a nurse during Covid and told me if we get Covid never let the hospital put myself or husband on a vent to breath.
Chich the witch 1 day ago
So, when it gets that bad just let you die gasping? She must be getting a nice chunk from your will.
#62
Donate their eyes. I’m a big proponent of organ donation and one of my kids donated a kidney. But I’ve warned all of them and their spouses- I’ll haunt them if they ever donate my eyes or theirs!
#63
I’m not in healthcare but dated a nurse. She came over after a shift crying her eye out. Car wreck. Said a patient was an organ donor and she was instructed to let him fight on his own. He didn’t make it. She Told me to remove organ donor and I did. That was over 10yrs ago.
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Dave Van Beurden 1 day ago
So basically stay inside, don't drink, no contact with anyone but also not stay alone. Got it.
Lisa T 1 day ago
Scare mongering. May as well say don’t drive, don’t walk, don’t eat, don’t sleep
WindySwede 1 day ago
Don't jump, stay hydrated but not to much. And someone said, dont take your adhd meds.. 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Load More Replies...
Ellie Ahmed 1 day ago (edited)
Not a clinician, but speaking as a health information manager with a background in privacy and release of information: I advise my family members not to submit DNA to any of those services popping up all over the place that tell you your ethnicity. And I advise you the same. Do you know how fuzzy privacy legislation still is on how to treat breaches of genetic information and how patchy the adherence of some of those companies is to information security? I’m not saying they’re all dodgy, I’m just saying if they decide to be you’re really not as well protected by current legislation as you’d probably like to be
Dave Van Beurden 1 day ago
So basically stay inside, don't drink, no contact with anyone but also not stay alone. Got it.
Lisa T 1 day ago
Scare mongering. May as well say don’t drive, don’t walk, don’t eat, don’t sleep
WindySwede 1 day ago
Don't jump, stay hydrated but not to much. And someone said, dont take your adhd meds.. 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Load More Replies... Ellie Ahmed 1 day ago (edited)
Not a clinician, but speaking as a health information manager with a background in privacy and release of information: I advise my family members not to submit DNA to any of those services popping up all over the place that tell you your ethnicity. And I advise you the same. Do you know how fuzzy privacy legislation still is on how to treat breaches of genetic information and how patchy the adherence of some of those companies is to information security? I’m not saying they’re all dodgy, I’m just saying if they decide to be you’re really not as well protected by current legislation as you’d probably like to be
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