Question

What about medical science is inherently subjective? Give examples. How does this impact the medical care provided?

Answer 1

Subjective data in meedical science

Subjective data is the informations about the patients that we obtained through a conversaion with patients and their realatives.We can simply say that the data we cannot obtained using our 5 senses is called subjective data.

Gathering subjective data is the first and foremost step of treating a patients since long years.It is the first step of a nursing care plan as well.But for an effective and safe medical care both subjective data and objective data need to be considered

Examples of subjective data

1.When you suffer from a back pain, and go to consult a doctor.Doctor ask you about the site of pain, how long do you have the pain, the intensity of the pain etc.It is an example of gathering subjective data from the patient

2.While doing a nursing rounds in a ward, a patient reporting the nurse that he had severe headache in the last night and couldnot sleep well. It is an another example of sibjective data.

Impact of subjective data on medical care provided

• It helps to make assumptions about ;what are the facts about the patient condition, what all things  might have occured, what interventions may have to be done for a better outcome.(But an objective data needed to confirm these assumption)
• A subjective data helps you to understand about the whole background of a patient, and to get an overall view on 1st visit of a patient to the hospital.
• It helps to know better about a patient and thereby helps us to act as a patient advocate.
• It is also an oppurtunity for the patients to express their thoughts,feelings and concerns.
• There is a high chance for personal biasis on subjective data; subjective data usually based on personal interpretations.It is depend upon how he /she preceived while communicating with patients and theire relatives.
• This subjective data varies with person to person, and also depend up on situations,for example,if a patient rates his pain as 10/10 but he is eating and sleeping well. so we cannot administer a strong or moderate analgesics for him.