What's the longest er wait time you have Even seen

Specialties Emergency

Published

One big hospital here has been packed many times this is the one I waited 23 hours in the er for a room once . I was told at that time they had a 20 hour wait that day ! I was sick last week and went back to this same one and waited 9 hours to get in the back not. But after 4 hour they did come out in the waiting room to give me meds so I was thankful for that . But it got me thinking what is the longest wait you have even seen .

Specializes in Emergency, Med/Surg, Vascular Access.
I'm an in El Paso and me my husband and three children have had to wait over 8 hours just for them to prescribe me an antibiotic and they couldn't get it straight on why I was there my poor children wasted a whole day in the ER because these people can't get it together.

You just don't get it, do you? You think that since you're not that sick it shouldn't take that long. No, honey, that's not how it works. It's called the emergency room, not the clinic room.

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I am curious as to the need for visit. Although I don't expect this person to return.

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Specializes in Emergency.

If you're waiting more than 3-4 hours, you're probably not sick, go home and come back later...or even better, go to urgent care. With that said, I've seen a wait time of 9 hours...the guy had a splinter in his finger and was too scared to take it out himself.

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True emergencies get seen first! We have a "second ER" that is more like and urgent care for colds, sprains, etc. Many of those could go to the doctor, but couldn't get an appointment or have no doctor. The main ER is for the traumas and AMI etc. People don't know what's going on behind the scenes and HIPPA doesn't let us share that info so they get frustrated by the wait. Our triage people will usually tell new patients the wait time so they can decide to wait or not and the back areas will give estimates as well. But even though we do that, people still complain. When they get up to the floor, I will usually tell them "wow! 6 hr wait for a bed, that's really good! Usually it's more like 12 hr". They don't know what to say after that...sort of deflates them.

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Im not an ER nurse but I once took my kid to the ER for her first allergic reaction (not anphylaxis) and the triage nurse told me the wait was about 8 hours, at which time I high tailed it out of there and went to wal-greens for some benadryl.

^ smart parent!!!

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

My mom waited for 9 hours to be seen in a local ER; Diagnosis: Multiple bilateral pulmonary emboli.

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8 hours for kidney infection. Friday night and was feeling terrible, so just doing what my NP at my other clinic told me to do. We had just moved here. Urgent Care had closed 30 minutes before, and we had to go to University because of our insurance. But....I was so fascinated watching all the people. My favorite, though the least dramatic, was the guy walking around with a HUGE bag of jerky. My (very few) trips to the ER was one of the things that made me interested in nursing.

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I've waited a varying time from 15mins to 7hrs. Because BIH is considered a medical emergency and after so many presentations the staff got use to me coming in late at night and I went through my standard running sheet. My appendix took 2 hospitals and 11hrs of waiting over 4 days before it was finally diagnosed and yes I did see my pcp first. Ended up breaking in half as they removed it coz it was gangrenous

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The longest wait? 20 min. The only time I go is if my son is having an asthma attack that his inhaler isn't controlling or a nasty round of croup that won't let a kid catch a breath (that a shower or cold air won't fix). We walk into the waiting room, they hear him, and open the door to triage. My daughter severely bruised her ribs once, and that was the 20 min wait. They saw her shallow respirations with wincing, asked what happened and back we went.

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I'm an in El Paso and me my husband and three children have had to wait over 8 hours just for them to prescribe me an antibiotic and they couldn't get it straight on why I was there my poor children wasted a whole day in the ER because these people can't get it together.
If that's all you needed, you weren't experiencing an emergency.
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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Presently, no longer than 5 mins...that was spent in triage and sent to a room...either I am vomiting because of my migraine or an exacerbation of complex-regional pain syndrome where there is a risk of dehydration, or syncopal episodes with severe muscle spasms (usually dehydration as well)...I'm just happy to get the fluids, IV toradol and roll...the soon I leave, the more acute pts can have my space!!!

In the past, I did wait two hours post bus accident to be evaluated...I had two fractures in my C-3 and C-4...hence me having CRPS (along with a near-death experience a YEAR AFTER the accident...no ER wait time then!!) :-/...and I have waited 2 hrs when I was post OP from my experience with HORRRIBLE constipation. I was already diagnosed with a small hernia, had my surgical wound debrided-it was designed to heal by secondary intention, so I was nervous scared and anything you can imagine...it's abdominal surgery...any and all nursing rationalization was out the window-I was SCARED. I'm just glad I didn't have any other post OP complications that can occur...trust me, senna tabs are my best friends :) !!! But I digress, I you can't get me to go to an ER UNLESS I ABSOLUTELY need to...people may have to start CPR on me-seriously! :-|

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Specializes in APRN, ACNP-BC, CNOR, RNFA.

I've seen 24 hour waits or longer, but it's a level 1 trauma center for uninsured and underinsured populations.

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