Are there doctors on duty in the ER? - Page 4

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  1. Apr 22, '12 by
    Quote from hey_suz
    I think the barrier is, they have so many times gone to the ER and waited, with their earaches and sore throats, and know that this new thing, this thing happening now, can't wait, so they think they will wait that long this time (following me here? ).

    So frustrating...
    Or they demand to be seen immediately because they think their earache or sore throat takes priority over the patient that is being coded next door...
    hey_suz and ~*Stargazer*~ like this.
  2. Apr 23, '12 by
    had a full load of 5 pts in rooms and 3 in my hallways and was also responsible for the trauma bay in my area which had been blessedly empty for an hour or more when we got a notification of gsw to the head and neck 27 yo male 2 minutes out - we all kicked in to high gear as we do - i quickly eyeballed all my pts (some of whom were very sick – but not dying!) and closed doors and curtains as the fd ambulance and pd escorts came flying into my trauma bay....sadly the young man did not survive - he had been shot by the jealous former bf of his fiance. we worked really hard on him and family arrived in shock, and everyone was a wreck, docs, rns, techs....it was really sad because we had a couple moments when we thought we had him back...

    i shook it off best i could and went to quickly re-asses my district and this one lady, walkie-talkie, who was there for abd pain n,v x 1 day was standing in her doorway where she had seen everything, and grumbling. i wasn’t surprised, she had been loudly moaning and complaining about the wait all night. i always kill em with kindness because i hate to let them know how much they irritate me. she gave me a nasty look and said “i pay just like he does, i shouldn’t be left to pee in my bed!” i go in her room and see she peed all over the bed and floor! a 48 yo woman who, all night, had walked to the bathroom in her room - a &*#$!^% ensuite bathroom mind you – had just urinated all over the place! i was livid and knew i could not open my mouth because i would regret what would come out. so i just stripped the bed, cleaned up the mess, gave her a new gown, called housekeeping with a mop and walked out of the room.

    when i had to return to give her more zofran i was like a robot. she kept trying to bait me with her whining and complaints but i could tell she had some awareness she had crossed the line. gee was it the mournful sobbing of the family across the hall maybe?

    i gave her zero energy and zero attention. in our ed the residents d/c the pts so i was just done with her. she tried to catch my eye as she left, dramatically, holding her belly and practically limping. ugh!

    another pt, a little old lady who had also waited patiently during that whole trauma, who was really feeling low and was getting transfused and was going to get a ca dx in a few hours, was the opposite – it always amazes me the spectrum of human behavior – i came in to re-assess her and she was all “i’m fine, you look tired, that poor fella, oh the poor family, i’m fine, you should go get a coffee!” i wanted to hug her.

    thank god i meet more like her than the a##hole who left with seemingly no appreciation of her decent health status. i sometimes feel like people don;t know how to be sick – like if your symptoms are minor have a chat with your doc on the phone get into bed with a tea or gatorade and lay around for 2 or 3 days for heaven’s sakes!!! every illness is not an emergency but some folks never learned that......
    hey_suz, Sweet_Wild_Rose, NO50FRANNY, and 1 other like this.