A patient has researched a medical condition on the Internet. The nurse's best response to the patient's questions and concerns is

Question

a. "Have you verified this information with your doctor?"
b. "Quality health information is not available on the web."
c. "What websites did you visit to get this information?"
d. "You can't really trust what you find on the Internet."

Answer 1

C
This question can lead the nurse into a discussion of what websites have quality information and how the lay person can evaluate the site as a source of information. This is the best option, because it opens the door to the nurse teaching the patient how to be a good consumer of health care information.
Instead of helping the patient navigate the web, this option seems paternalistic, leaving the patient to be totally dependent on the expertise of the physician. Although it is a problem that a good deal of health information on the web is confusing, out of date, or even incorrect, nurses should not try to discourage patients from using the Internet but rather help them become better at finding more reliable sites.
Many websites offer quality health information, but lay people need to be able to differentiate between the good ones and the poor ones.
The Internet does have sites that provide misleading, out-of-date, or even false information. However, many good sites are also available.