Personally, I had never heard of the phrase “white coat syndrome.” After spending the last semester at Oasis of Hope, however, I have become accustomed to hearing it multiple times per day. When used appropriately, this “syndrome” is used to describe the nervousness or fear a particular person has about going to a doctor. Now, as many of you know, nervousness/fear will trigger a physiologic response of your sympathetic nervous system, “fight or flight”, which can accompanied by an increased heart rate, dilated pupils, and elevated blood pressure. Which is what leads me to how it is used inappropriately. For example:
A patient may present to the clinic with a blood pressure measuring consistently > 170/90. This patient is 50 pounds overweight, has a high sodium intake, is a smoker, drinker, and does not exercise frequently. When asked to discuss lifestyle changes or antihypertensive medication, the patient responds with, “ Oh my blood pressure isn’t really that bad, I just have white coat syndrome.”
C’mon! Who are you trying to fool?!
Unfortunately, the frequent, inappropriate use of the phrase could result in the assumption that nervousness is only a card played by patients to explain their poor heart health. This is not always the case.
One afternoon, an Oasis medical assistant had presented the chart of a patient visiting Oasis for the first time. The patient’s blood pressure read some 200/100 mmHg yet had a normal body mass index and a relatively healthy lifestyle. The assistant was asked to go back and re-check...
“I’ve already checked twice. She claims to have white coat syndrome and is clearly nervous. She also had something she wanted to speak ONLY to a provider about. The patient is in exam room 1.”
Now, exam room 1 is decorated with a Bible verse and a wall-encompassing mural of children on the lap of Jesus. Why I tell you this will make more sense in a moment…
Upon arriving in the room and viewing the extreme nervousness of the patient, the provider cut right to the chase, “Why are you so afraid right now? We’re just here to help you!”
“Well, that’s what I am afraid of. I am afraid that you won’t”, the patient replied, “I know this is a Christian clinic, and I am transgender.”
Those last three words, spoken with a shameful tone, absolutely broke the hearts of our staff. There are a couple of reasons why. First, because we are Christians. This person clearly had been given the impression that we would treat her differently (more poorly) as a result of being a transgendered individual. For me, you could replace the word “transgendered” with “angry”, “alcoholic”, “gothic”, “preppy”, or any other descriptive term and the sentence would disappoint me the same. Because all of those words are only that: descriptions. Descriptions of a person who Christ died for no differently than you or I, and to think that Christians in her past left the impression that she was not worthy of equal treatment saddens me.
At Oasis, we are also health care workers in addition to being Christians, but the same rules apply to both: we are given no authority to differentiate treatment based on our own personal judgment of an individuals lifestyle. We are called to care for, love, or preferably demonstrate both to the best of our abilities for every patient, every time.
And that was exactly the message that was sent to our patient that day. By the end of the appointment, the blood pressure was almost back to normal.
That should be our goal as Christians, as health care workers, or even just as people, in my opinion: to pass on judgment, provide care for, and love people so much that they don’t have any reason to be nervous or afraid.
Check out this song by my favorite lyricist, Jon Foreman whose lyrics apply quite well to this topic:
“There is no us or them, there’s only folks that we do and don’t understand. [So] Put your ‘God Badge’ down and love someone.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EmMtulPvyg
One afternoon, an Oasis medical assistant had presented the chart of a patient visiting Oasis for the first time. The patient’s blood pressure read some 200/100 mmHg yet had a normal body mass index and a relatively healthy lifestyle. The assistant was asked to go back and re-check...
“I’ve already checked twice. She claims to have white coat syndrome and is clearly nervous. She also had something she wanted to speak ONLY to a provider about. The patient is in exam room 1.”
Now, exam room 1 is decorated with a Bible verse and a wall-encompassing mural of children on the lap of Jesus. Why I tell you this will make more sense in a moment…
Upon arriving in the room and viewing the extreme nervousness of the patient, the provider cut right to the chase, “Why are you so afraid right now? We’re just here to help you!”
“Well, that’s what I am afraid of. I am afraid that you won’t”, the patient replied, “I know this is a Christian clinic, and I am transgender.”
Those last three words, spoken with a shameful tone, absolutely broke the hearts of our staff. There are a couple of reasons why. First, because we are Christians. This person clearly had been given the impression that we would treat her differently (more poorly) as a result of being a transgendered individual. For me, you could replace the word “transgendered” with “angry”, “alcoholic”, “gothic”, “preppy”, or any other descriptive term and the sentence would disappoint me the same. Because all of those words are only that: descriptions. Descriptions of a person who Christ died for no differently than you or I, and to think that Christians in her past left the impression that she was not worthy of equal treatment saddens me.
At Oasis, we are also health care workers in addition to being Christians, but the same rules apply to both: we are given no authority to differentiate treatment based on our own personal judgment of an individuals lifestyle. We are called to care for, love, or preferably demonstrate both to the best of our abilities for every patient, every time.
And that was exactly the message that was sent to our patient that day. By the end of the appointment, the blood pressure was almost back to normal.
That should be our goal as Christians, as health care workers, or even just as people, in my opinion: to pass on judgment, provide care for, and love people so much that they don’t have any reason to be nervous or afraid.
Check out this song by my favorite lyricist, Jon Foreman whose lyrics apply quite well to this topic:
“There is no us or them, there’s only folks that we do and don’t understand. [So] Put your ‘God Badge’ down and love someone.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EmMtulPvyg