Whats your biggest pet peeve working in the ED?

Specialties Emergency

Published

Id have to say my biggest pet peeve is when someone hands you a medicaid card as they pull it from their Louis Vuitton handbag with bling on their hands after having rolled up to the ER in their Mercedes Benz! After that I'd say when someone comes to the ER for a UPT. Dont they know they are available at the dollar store now adays?

Yeah, we get that sometimes, though not as often as you'd think.

Narc seekers as well. Oh, you're allergic to all pain medication, EXCEPT narcs? Really? And then as soon as they find out they aren't getting any, leave.

Non-custodial parents who bring in their kids but don't know anything about them, whether their shots are up to date, their doctor, sometimes even the kid's address. Seriously??

......'I'm allergic to toradol, hydrocodone, etc...the only one that works for me is that 'd' one...dilaudid?...yeah, that's it!'

Had a gma one night that didn't know her grand kids last name :/ ...love it!

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I witnessed a rambunctious child BEG her parents to be seen in the ED when they originally came in for the mother (had to be a frequent flier based on the convos she was having on her phone that caused her to miss her name being called back the first time). After the kid was triaged and found out she would have to wait an hour to be seen the brat would not stop complaining about it to the point the mother said she would take them home. Obviously if you could go home because you can't control your child, you can wait until Urgent Care opens in the morning.

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I've only been in the ED for 9 weeks now, and already I have some major peeves.

1) The 20 yr guy who's triaged into my critical care room for 10/10 abdominal pain (which he apparently medicates with high-dose marijuana by the smell of him). I go in to assess, he's sitting on the edge of the bed playing with the TV controls, refuses to change into a gown, takes the time to tell me how beautiful I am, then as I'm about to pass out from the contact high, he says "So, I um, I didn't wanna say this to that other lady but my stomach's fine, I just got a rash that popped up. You know. Down there. Wanna see?"

2) The family member who repeatedly "forgets" that we asked him to stay in his son's room with him, but instead wanders to the code in the next room to observe the entertainment that the sick/dying pt provided for him.

3) The family member who acts like NS is an essential life-saving magical serum, and is sure to give me a play-by-play on how much fluid is left in the bag, reminding me that they'll need another one soon. Of course, let me leave my Stroke A or my chest pain/SOB to go pop another liter up there for you.

4) The family member who says "wait, can I have one of those for my headache?" as I'm giving his elderly mother her 325 ASA for her apparent MI.

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i dont know how no ED nurse has mentioned this yet..two of my biggest peeves are "seizures" you know that ones that can verbalize they are having a seizure during it, or are able to follow commands, and are never post ictal, hypertensive, or tachycardic. ive come to the conclusion that seizures are the adult equivalent to "temper tantrums" 4 year old throw hissy fits, middle age adults throw seizures. ive stopped many seizures dead in their tracks with the ammonia smelling salts....idiots, like do these people honestly think the medical professionals are going to be fooled. or the political correctness MDs use to cover their ass "i have non epileptic or pseudo seizures" i try my hardest not to laugh when i hear that.

secondly drunk/homeless/narc'd out people, it kills me that RN's give them warm blankets, pillows, multiple sandwhichs, juices, turn the lights off etc...uh if they are going to abuse the system atleast make it not enjoyable. they get no blanket no pillow, they get a hall stretcher under the lights next to the patch phone alarm, and no juice or sandwhich "for fear of aspiration"

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i dont know how no ED nurse has mentioned this yet..two of my biggest peeves are "seizures" you know that ones that can verbalize they are having a seizure during it, or are able to follow commands, and are never post ictal, hypertensive, or tachycardic. ive come to the conclusion that seizures are the adult equivalent to "temper tantrums" 4 year old throw hissy fits, middle age adults throw seizures. ive stopped many seizures dead in their tracks with the ammonia smelling salts....idiots, like do these people honestly think the medical professionals are going to be fooled. or the political correctness MDs use to cover their ass "i have non epileptic or pseudo seizures" i try my hardest not to laugh when i hear that.

secondly drunk/homeless/narc'd out people, it kills me that RN's give them warm blankets, pillows, multiple sandwhichs, juices, turn the lights off etc...uh if they are going to abuse the system atleast make it not enjoyable. they get no blanket no pillow, they get a hall stretcher under the lights next to the patch phone alarm, and no juice or sandwhich "for fear of aspiration"

First off I'm an epileptic so saying seizures are a temper tantrum is completely wrong. It depends how they manifest themselves I am not post ictal after mine but was after having a tonic clonic...I could still follow demands even in a post ictal state.

Second off where do you get off on judging people? Again you don't know the circumstances to which they became drunk/homeless or narc'd out their minds.....you are a nurse not judge and jury! I've worked in a bridging program/recovery house and its tough, I've also worked in shelters and done a soup run. Exposé yourself and listen to people's stories...it will make you a better nurse

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

"They always have to use a butterfly needle on my for an IV."

and

On a person who came in with elbow pain x2 wks (no injury) that we had to stick multiple times for blood: "This is why I hate it when I HAVE to come to Emergency." Well, if it were an emergency for which you came to us, I would agree with you. If we came to your house and abducted you and brought you to the ER, I would agree with you. Otherwise, go to the store and buy some ibuprofen and go to the express lab with that script from your PCP (which she brought with her) for blood work...problem solved.

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First off I'm an epileptic so saying seizures are a temper tantrum is completely wrong. It depends how they manifest themselves I am not post ictal after mine but was after having a tonic clonic...I could still follow demands even in a post ictal state.

Second off where do you get off on judging people? Again you don't know the circumstances to which they became drunk/homeless or narc'd out their minds.....you are a nurse not judge and jury! I've worked in a bridging program/recovery house and its tough, I've also worked in shelters and done a soup run. Exposé yourself and listen to people's stories...it will make you a better nurse

I'm guessing they were typing in regards to people who don't actually have seizures. Do you believe people actually fake seizures? I've seen it too.

And yes, maybe the ER is the only warm place where people can get a blanket, pillow, phone, meal ect ect but maybe, just maybe, someone was venting on a venting thread about it?? I personally think general appearance and odor is a good indication whether or not someone is homeless. On the same note, it's frustrating that not only does it interfere with your nursing care for actual SICK people, those individuals feel the need to treat you like garbage and wait on them. They walk in, can walk out, yet they seem to be invalids during their stay.

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First off I'm an epileptic so saying seizures are a temper tantrum is completely wrong. It depends how they manifest themselves I am not post ictal after mine but was after having a tonic clonic...I could still follow demands even in a post ictal state.

Second off where do you get off on judging people? Again you don't know the circumstances to which they became drunk/homeless or narc'd out their minds.....you are a nurse not judge and jury! I've worked in a bridging program/recovery house and its tough, I've also worked in shelters and done a soup run. Exposé yourself and listen to people's stories...it will make you a better nurse

you miss understood me, im not speaking about people with diagnosed seizures via EEG. im talking about people with anxiety and personality disorders and whoooaaa is me. they do it to manipulate and get attention...its psychosomatic not neurologic in origin.

and ive also done work in a rehab center, and volunteered in a soup kitchen and i do listen to peoples stories, most of the time they are all the same "i dont give a **** fix me, i deserve that" or something along those lines. the sense of entitlement is beyond ridiculous, and most people who are in an out of those shelters and repeat Ed vistors sometimes multiple times in one day, i dont care how crappy their story is eventually you need to take some responsibility for yourself.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.

Rhi007, murse's talking about the ones who are obviously faking their seizures to get the ativan. The ones you can see are fake from three hundred yards away. Actual seizures are not a laughing matter.

ex.

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Specializes in ED, trauma.

Hahahahahahaha.

Listen, no one is making fun of actual epilepsy. What we are venting about are things that are actually fake.

For instance during my psych rotation, there was a patient who had "seizures" and boy were they intense. She would seat on her seat, yelling at the staff about why she couldn't have Folgers coffee because that's what she likes. We told her that we only had one kind.

Apparently not getting her way will bring on seizures. She started twitching, sitting straight up. When I attempted to move her to the floor gently to avoid injury she screamed in my ear "I am having a seizure what are you doing? Don't touch me!"....I let her be and asked her if she was okay, she grabbed the HOT coffee from my hand, said "This crap tastes so nasty. I can't believe you treat people like this."

I asked her if she was feeling any pain, if she knew where she was an what had happened. Her reply? "All your talking bring on my seizures," at which point she began to twitch on the seat again and screaming "I am having a seizure and nobody is doing anything"

Gotta love it.

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Specializes in ER.

Jan, that's what I call free entertainment. Just let her twitch, she'll get tired eventually.

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.

This happened yesterday, a pt complaining at discharge about how long everything took. Yeah it took a long time, and you were stuck on a gurney in the hallway cause we were PACKED! You saw how many pts we had, how we were running around, and I'm sorry but you had a UTI it wasn't life threatening. Grrrr! We try to do everything for everyone, and can only do so much. I can understand if we're sitting on our butts eating bon bons, but come on!

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