What do you hate seeing the MOST in the ER!? - Page 2

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  1. Guide
    Apr 17, '12 by
    The "surprise" diagnoses of cancer ...

    The flank pain for which CT scan shows that yes, you do have a kidney stone ... but also hey, look at that mass in your liver.

    The n/v x few days which is presumed to be gastritis until ... hmm ... creatinine of 3.5 ... which leads to discovery of renal carcinoma.
    JZ_RN, DeLanaHarvickWannabe, Daisy Doodle, and 1 other like this.
  2. Apr 18, '12 by
    Mass casualties. When we're told to prepare for multiple victims from one incident at once....I want to go hide in a corner somewhere.

    Abuse is rough- especially when you hear through the grapevine later on that the baby with the long bone fracture who supposedly broke it rolling over was sent home with the parents by child services. Because then you not only wonder what the point of child services is, but also when you're going to see that baby again in worse condition.

    Sexual assaults, not only because they suck emotionally but because they are incredibly time intensive patients with all the evidence collection and coordinating with the police and social work and immunology to get prophylactic HIV meds etc.
    DeLanaHarvickWannabe and JZ_RN like this.
  3. Apr 19, '12 by
    Drunks.
    Drunks.
    Drunks.

    God, I will deal with ALL the drug seeking frequent fliers if I don't have to deal with drunks.
    I will deal with the polysubstance ODs if I don't have to deal with drunks.

    I am so SICK and TIRED of the frequent, abusive drunks in my ER. Especially the 'drunk and assaulted' cases - because they have to be in spinal immobilization till the doc can lear them.... and that won't be till they sober up; which given my ER location and the usual clientele we see - could be up to 12+ hours!!

    So it's 12+ hours of fighting with them to NOT take the C-collar off. It's 12+ hours of trying to toilet them Q 30 minutes. It's 12+ hours of listening to them whine, *****, moan, cuss and cry at the top of their lungs....


    GOD I HATE DRUNKS! Gah!
    opossum, JZ_RN, DeLanaHarvickWannabe, and 1 other like this.
  4. Apr 19, '12 by
    When I worked in the ED, it was OB patients, without a doubt. They just made me want to run screaming in the other direction. I remember getting a 29 weeker who was severely eclamptic. There were no beds up in OB, so there I was with this pt. with a fetal monitor, mag. running, etc. They did send down an OB nurse to help, but I was pretty much stuck there with her. I kept thinking, "Don't go into labor! Don't go into labor!"
    DeLanaHarvickWannabe, JZ_RN, Medic2RN, and 1 other like this.
  5. Apr 19, '12 by
    Quote from OCNRN63
    When I worked in the ED, it was OB patients, without a doubt. They just made me want to run screaming in the other direction. I remember getting a 29 weeker who was severely eclamptic. There were no beds up in OB, so there I was with this pt. with a fetal monitor, mag. running, etc. They did send down an OB nurse to help, but I was pretty much stuck there with her. I kept thinking, "Don't go into labor! Don't go into labor!"
    I had a parent-turned-patient who finally confessed to me after being in the ED a few hours with her child that she'd been having contractions steadily the entire time, and Oh, BTW, her last child had been born early too. I totally wanted to pretend she'd said nothing, but we got her triaged and transferred in a flash. At one point she said she had to go to the bathroom and I was all NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you don't!
    opossum, JZ_RN, DeLanaHarvickWannabe, and 1 other like this.
  6. Apr 19, '12 by
    Quote from hiddencatRN
    I had a parent-turned-patient who finally confessed to me after being in the ED a few hours with her child that she'd been having contractions steadily the entire time, and Oh, BTW, her last child had been born early too. I totally wanted to pretend she'd said nothing, but we got her triaged and transferred in a flash. At one point she said she had to go to the bathroom and I was all NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you don't!
    One of my colleagues had an experience with this recently- pt. was triaged and being taken by wheelchair upstairs by support staff who let her go to the acute toilets (no emergency bells) on the way. One of our Clinical nurses heard wailing from the bathroom and promptly went in and caught a bouncing baby boy- he looked at the wardsperson and said "just find a bell and press it man, just get me a doctor".
    DeLanaHarvickWannabe, JZ_RN, and Esme12 like this.
  7. Apr 20, '12 by
    I don't care how long I do this, the vomiting of gross amounts of blood still makes me cringe.
    JZ_RN likes this.
  8. Apr 20, '12 by
    the patients that come in because they forgot to fill their prescription at their GP and its now the weekend...

    the patients that have had a cough/leg pain/sore whatever for MONTHS and decide that TODAY IS THE DAY that they will come to the emergency department and not bother to see their local GP (in saying that yes i know that there are plenty of people who don't have their own doctors but still)

    rich ''important'' patients who want a private room, and don't understand why they have to wait.
    DeLanaHarvickWannabe, JZ_RN, and danggirl like this.
  9. Apr 20, '12 by
    oh forgot to mention! I work in a university/student town.... the amount of students we get during exam week is really ridiculous. They come in the morning before their exam with ''abdo pain'' and want to leave almost right after being asessed... but NOT WITHOUT a sick note!
    JZ_RN likes this.
  10. Apr 20, '12 by
    WOW! I understand the "my niece is a home health aide, brother-in-law works in the lab" etc I'm in LTC/SNF so our acuties differ but this still strikes a raw nerve!
    DeLanaHarvickWannabe and JZ_RN like this.