ER NURSE PEEVES

Specialties Emergency

Published

Ok so I am new here just a humorous little rant here about my ER and probably every nurses ER would be a fun way to break the ice... So here it is everyone throw out saaaaaay your top .......5 most funny/annoying/ or irritating things that you have to hear/ see/ deal with in your ER as a tech ,nurse whatever..

1. Call light or family rushing out to tell me that the pt's fluids are done and I need to do something about it.

2. PT purposefully mispronounced morphine or dilaudid when naming them as "the only pain meds that worked last time" cuz they think that makes seem like less of a seeker...

3. Cries about 10/10 pain and screams bloody murder when I put the tourniquet on for IV

4. Cries about 10/10 pain while laughing and playing on cell phone

5. Upon initial assessment starts conversation off with ....WebMD says I could have.......

So come on all my ER peeps have fun with this!

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

When I walk into a room to assess a child who is playing with a phone and the parent doesn't tell them to put it away. Then the parent tells me the kid is super sick yet they are content with the phone. So rude!!! Ive had to tell quite a few kids to please put away the phone. Teach yourkids some manners!!!!

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3. Cries about 10/10 pain and screams bloody murder when I put the tourniquet on for IV

Seriously? They need to know what real pain is.

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Sorry to sound like an old nurse but in the last 2-3 years Ive been witness to countless newer RNs who complain about the workload in the Emergency Department, how surprised they were that they would have a 3-4 patient load, how unfair it is if in the Emergency Department they would receive more than 1-2 patients and hour, etc. *How would they have handled 10-15 years ago when ER nurses were expected to handle so much more, know your critical care drips, mixing your own drips, one technician or aide for the entire department, etc? Kind of baffled that some are coming in not realizing they would actually have to work?

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@LEFTFLANKPAIN

In my case it's the opposite, I'm a new nurse and my co-worker is a seasoned nurse (actually a couple yrs younger than I), she freaks out the minute we get rush of patients come in. I love my job and go in to work with a mind set of hard work.

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That makes my heart happy.

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Yeah I work hard. New to nursing but not healthcare. That phenomena is not just nursing but life in general.

It's funny, we all work hard to make things easier for our children, then we are shocked at their lack of effort. Not sure a generation goes by without this issue. I find it amusing when it's someone else dealing, and infuriating when I am dealing lol. Think how lazy our great great great great grandchildren will be ;) (if our species survives that long haha)

BSN GCU 2014.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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When I'm in triage, and they answer every question with "It's in my chart". I can't see your chart from the triage screen, plus there are things I need to review with you at each visit.

When I ask what brings them in today, and they tell me their life story. I've got three more waiting to be triaged, and I've had to pee for a good half hour solid, so if you could tell me in two words or less, that would be great.

When people think that standing in the doorway giving me the evil eye is going to make me move faster. It actually has the same effect as tailgating me on the freeway.

When folks come in for something non-emergent and demand we do everything in a big hurry because they have an appointment/to be at work/to go pick up the kids/some other random time commitment. I didn't force you at gunpoint to come to the ER when you have a pressing time schedule. That was your decision. My priority is to care for the sickest people first, not to make sure you get to your hair appointment on time.

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Everyone that comes into the ER is starving and "hasn't eaten all day". Its 1am why haven't you eaten all day????? And then they complain that the turkey and cheese sandwich is nasty.......yeah it's hospital food not Subway.

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"how much longer?"

me- "do you have any allergies?"

pt- "It's in my chart"

Preg tests and STI checks drive me nuts too!!

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I feel like all these pet peeves occur every single day! One big one I have is when the seekers ask you to push the dilaudid faster and at the bottom port because the last nurse did that. Pfft the only thing I do after that is push it slow at the top port of a saline drip and dilute it in a 10ml syringe.

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