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?

Family member: "We have tried everything to get rid of his chest pains but nothing works! We are looking for someone who can help him!"

Me to the pt: "I see you have nitroglycerin prescribed, did you take any?"

Pt: "No"

Me: "Have you tried dieting and exercise?"

Pt: "No, no, no"

That's like me saying I'd do anything to lose weight except diet and exercise. This patient will do anything to be healthy except following a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes there isn't a magic trick people, the key to good health is a healthy lifestyle.

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ED nurses that wear t-shirts instead of scrub tops

:banghead:

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Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.
ED nurses that wear t-shirts instead of scrub tops

:banghead:

What's wrong with wearing tshirts?

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

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Maybe I haven't earned the right yet to comment on this thread; I'm only a student nurse at the moment.

However I do have experience with ED's in my capacity as a volunteer EMT. I completely agree with who ever said rude pt's. I can put up with almost any amount on nonsense as long as you're polite or, at least, not rude (since manners are generally the first thing to go out the window when you're a 12 on the 1-10 pain scale :p).

However, on the same note, I absolutely abhor miserable ED staff; nurses, doctors, administrators and everyone else. Granted, they are a minority but if you present to hospital with anything and if you meet 100 nurses and doctors and just ONE of them comes off as pained or dejected as you explain what's happened, that's all you'll remember. That ONE miserable nurse or doctor will make the other 99 look just as unpleasant in the pt's eyes and that's what he/she will tell his/her friends when they ask "how was the ER?"

Now before I sound like I don't appreciate what nurses do, I understand perfectly well that we're all human and there are parts of every job that people hate and we all have bad days where we could be a little bit more understanding to colleagues and pt's. Lord knows I have a few. But again, as with any job, there are certainly some ED nurses and doctors who simply should not be there and I must stress that they are a slim, slim minority.

Thanks for entertaining my musings. Hope to see you in the ED some day!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
However, on the same note, I absolutely abhor miserable ED staff; nurses, doctors, administrators and everyone else. Granted, they are a minority but if you present to hospital with anything and if you meet 100 nurses and doctors and just ONE of them comes off as pained or dejected as you explain what's happened, that's all you'll remember. That ONE miserable nurse or doctor will make the other 99 look just as unpleasant in the pt's eyes and that's what he/she will tell his/her friends when they ask "how was the ER?"

I totally agree that working with miserable staff stinks. There is no reason not to be pleasant to coworkers, patients, EMTs, etc. I want the patients to be fixed (or at least feeling better when they leave then when the arrived--although this is often not possible). I want them to 'like' the staff that was caring for them...even if they don't appreciate said staff until well after the visit. However, I can't say that I am all that concerned with how they answer the question "how was the ER?" You can fill in the blank of "how was the ___?" with "restaurant," "resort," or "spa," and the answer to that question would be important. However, the ER is none of those things, despite the opinion of some patients that a visit to the ED is a spa day.

While I agree with the vast majority of your post, I have to disagree with this one statement.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
ED nurses that wear t-shirts instead of scrub tops

:banghead:

Can you share why?

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I chart what they say and if it is over 10 I leave it blank and make a comment

THEN I FLAAC score their pain(typically its a 0) and make sure to write a note in the interdisciplinary not as to summarize my findings...very useful if behavioral med gets involved...

Hi, new to nursing here...Could you expand on this more, practicularly the note in interdisciplinary and behavioral health? Thanks!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
ED nurses that wear t-shirts instead of scrub tops

:banghead:

Just be glad its not a tank top, like Carol from ER.

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I think a big pet peeve of mine is the sense of entitlement some people have. People will roll right through on an ambulance and ask for some slippers and something to eat before I've even gotten them undressed, oh and did I say their pain is 12/10 while they are talking on their cell phone! Uuuuuugh!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
ask for some slippers

We had someone ask for slippers for her husband (the pt). The nurse went in the closet in the room and got them. The nurse went back in later only to find the wife stuffing her purse with several pairs...is there anywhere else in public that people can get away with that? Do people go to a restaurant, go to the 'waitress station' and steal silverware? Nevermind, I don't think I want to know the real answer to that one.

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I think a big pet peeve of mine is the sense of entitlement some people have. People will roll right through on an ambulance and ask for some slippers and something to eat before I've even gotten them undressed oh and did I say their pain is 12/10 while they are talking on their cell phone! Uuuuuugh![/quote']

It's universal. I love it! Plus Hi my name is... "Hey can you give me something for pain too? And a pillow?"

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Please don't lose any sleep about what I chart or don't chart. ;-) My point was if a medication helps your pain, it can't be a 10 anymore, considering 10 is the maximum.[/quote']

Lol I do the same!! That damn chart, no one understands!!

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