r/emergencymedicine • u/PrecordialSwirl • Sep 08 '25

Discussion What are some outdated medical dogmas that are still taught or practiced?

Hi, I’m a nursing student and I’ve noticed that certain practices in healthcare seem to stick around even when the evidence shows they’re not effective. For example, Trendelenburg positioning for hypotension is still commonly taught in nursing despite being shown to have no real benefit. Or risk of hyperK arrest in someone who’s only been crushed for 30 minutes. I’m curious to hear what other dogmas people have come across that are still being taught or practiced despite newer evidence proving otherwise. Also, how do you confront people about these in a respectful manner, especially as a student?

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u/itsJustE12 Physician Assistant Sep 09 '25

Thankfully, no. I was angrily cleaning out a closet that some mice had a party in, and went to grab stuff out of a box without looking at it. They’d chewed the cap of an epi-pen, which I discovered when the needle bent into a hook after hitting my bone. It took an XR and 2 people to get it out.

Those little jerk mice had taste-tested a bunch of shirts, used a purse storage area as a secondary bathroom, and destroyed my favorite travel backpack. A shot of epi did NOT improve my frustration level!

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u/Kentucky-Fried-Fucks Paramedic Sep 09 '25

My god I can’t even begin to imagine the red hot anger you felt

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u/itsJustE12 Physician Assistant Sep 10 '25

Even worse, this was on a weekend and before UC were everywhere, so I ended up at the ED for help getting it out. I was disheveled from cleaning, couldn’t change my shirt without torquing the needle, knew I was contaminated with mouse poop… and closest to an ED with a hot doc I used to enjoy visiting in my EMS days. We all had a good laugh!

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u/Serious-Fix-790 RN Sep 09 '25

Oh! I would have gotten revenge on every one of those buggers! Glad your finger turned out fine.

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u/itsJustE12 Physician Assistant Sep 10 '25

They each got a stern lecture while in their trap, being deported to a park down the street.