What do you hate seeing the MOST in the ER!?

Specialties Emergency

Published

What is the thing that you hate seeing in the Emergency Room? Is it kids, traumas, lost causes, frequent flyers or........... What gives you heebeejeebies, Creeps, Chills, gags. Tears, bad taste in your mouth and Pulls your heart strings.

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

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!

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

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!"

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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!

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Specializes in Emergency, Haematology/Oncology.
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".

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Specializes in Emergency and Employee Health.

I don't care how long I do this, the vomiting of gross amounts of blood still makes me cringe.

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Specializes in Emergency.

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.

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Specializes in Emergency.

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!

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Specializes in retired LTC.

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!

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Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

Here it's the tweekers!

I want to do like that squirrel on "Hoodwinked;" record what they say, then play it back on slow mode to understand everything they said. Call ins suck, and come in 2's! Anal Mothers who will find you doing something wrong- even though your "analmomradar" is going BINK BINK BINK, and your going 4 miles out of the way to please. 34 medication Allergy list. The Dog ate my Medication (Why aren't you at Vet's then, must be bad dog?).

AND My Biggest Hatred-(double-edged sword)*

The guy(s) that come in wanting a clean syringe at 3am in the morning! I have actually had some even ask for a tourniquet, of course with a clean syringe- and even if it's against policy I do it- I'm an advocate. But, I do always tell them where they can go at a decent hour, a rehab hotline number, and paper on addiction (provided by AA with times of meetings, and call numbers for help. But I had to vent. I AM A HYPOCRITE I KNOW!:banghead:

*I really wish active addicts had a dependable resource to get clean syringes, and if my wife, mom, cousin, friend, etc. was on dope, I would want them to have a clean syringe (and 90 days inpatient tx), but we are not a shooting gallery!

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As a former county officer, when I took them to the hospital, they knew they better behave or they will not like the return trip to the jail.

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Jerks

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Good thing that jerk was not with me, LOL!

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