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?

Aren't you supposed to chart what the patient says? If they say 10 that's what you're supposed to put down, not "eyeroll" and put down what you think it is.

1- Telling somebody your pain is 10/10 is actually impossible. 10/10 would be the most pain imaginable, which would obviously render a person speechless. The best way to make somebody understand this is to do something truly painful to somebody after they report pain of 10/10.

2- Poochiewoochie, why are you here?

You aren't a nurse, and and have a low regard for nurses.

"From my experiences over the past year and a half my perception of them has changed a lot and not for the better"

"maybe some of these nurses that are acting holier than thou "

"those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. A lot of people in the medical field need to get over their prejudice "

"That's the problem-everyone is a drug seeker to some nurses and other medical professionals"

You are a patient who feels poorly treated by the medical system in general, and by nurses in particular:

"I've had 5 surgeries in the past 2 years"

" the one that was assigned to me the first night was too busy"

"Then I had to deal with some snotty CNA "

"doctors who treated me as if I was a drug seeker"

Maybe you should start a forum of likeminded folks. Or even better, a patient advocacy group.

If you read the heading of this particular sub-forum, you will see this isn't the place for you:

Emergency Nursing is available for the nurses and personnel from the Level 1 Trauma Centers to the smallest, most remote ED facilities, the Emergency Nursing forum is your place to discuss common practice issues, share knowledge, and even vent about the chaos that is your landscape.

Please note that it does not say that this is a place for people who feel they have been mistreated to educate nurses.

3- Answer to the OP: My pet peeve is how we validate all the nonsense people come in with. For example, somebody comes in c/o "dehydration", obviously tolerating po, and we run ivf. We are validating their concern. We are essentially saying "your problem is so severe, we ran the risk of poking a hole in a vein, and running stuff out of a plastic bag into your body"

Or- after multiple visits to a pcp, a pt does not get the medicine or procedure they want. They come to us, and get their perceived needs met. We arre essentially saying: "You were right to bypass your PCP. We know better than the provider who knows you best, and is familiar with your history. Come on back any time you don't get what you want from your pcp."

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Yeah, that is a big pet peeve...treating the patients perspective...now how am I supposed to do that....especially if that perspective is sort of irrational. Sometimes I would love admin to try it themselves. I can't be whatever you want me to be...otherwise maybe I'd make alot more money in a different profession. My sane patients give good feedback, but when you get a three page letter written in crayon how lousy the nurse was...I mean, how can you give credence to that sort of complaint? Laughing. How can you even ask me to explain it? I'm not real happy with the way admin is going...it's like they have no brains...or experience dealing with the public. That is my biggest pet peeve...learn to read between the lines admin.

My second biggest peeve is other nurses that take things from my rooms without telling me...especially stock....if you are out, go get a handful from the stock room, its not that much farther away....and don't take my IV pumps when I'm expecting a stemi in a few minutes. Grrrrrr.

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Specializes in ER.

My pet peeve is the customer service garbage where we give the patient whatever they want. Pt c/ o ankle pain, no swelling noted, nothing on X-ray but insists she can not walk and needs crutches. Why do we give these people them? Ugh.Same for the mvc people who turn their completely negative exam into a major drama. "Oh! Doctor says I can't go back to work for days." Or... You asked for an excuse For work and got it.

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I'm sure you've all expeienced this one . . . "My pain is a 10/10 (while texting) and I need 8 mg Dilaudid and some phenergan and benadryl . . . IV push only, not pills." I love it when they think they can place a medication order. Nothing yells more loudly "Narc seeker" than this.

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The ones that get me?

The homeless that have an entitlement attitude, upset because they missed curfew for the homeless shelter and EXPECT the ER to provide them a place to sleep, with no medical complaint what so ever.

I've had my share of these pts in the last week, and I tell them no, I will NOT put my signature on any paper stating you were seen in the ER so you can show you were here. It's not required nor is there a law that says I HAVE to. Your discharge papers will show the time you checked in and the time you were discharged. If you leave prior to being seen by a doctor, you will NOT get discharge papers and that's too bad. It is NOT the ER's responsiblity to provide you with somewhere to sleep for the night because you missed your curfew for the homeless shelter due to your shenagians. Next time, plan accordingly and be in by curfew. It is not the ER's problem you have no where to go.

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ecerrn... wat is a stemi??

Im a 4th year student and i want to work in the ER...

Im studying in Palistine and i might have a chance working in America... but that word just got to me since its not used here :/

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
ecerrn... wat is a stemi??

Im a 4th year student and i want to work in the ER...

Im studying in Palistine and i might have a chance working in America... but that word just got to me since its not used here :/

What is a STEMI? : Code STEMI

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
ecerrn... wat is a stemi??

Im a 4th year student and i want to work in the ER...

Im studying in Palistine and i might have a chance working in America... but that word just got to me since its not used here :/

ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

One specific example of a general pet peeve of mine:

Pt (who was there for the 3rd time for the same busted tooth, still yet to see a dentist): "I need a bus pass to get home."

Me: "We don't give out bus passes...is there someone who can pick you up?"

Pt: "I don't know...I need to use a phone."

At this point I direct her to a phone where she whips out here smart phone to look up her friends' phone numbers :nono:

After the phone calls: "No one can pick me up...are you sure about the bus pas?"

Me: "We don't do that."

Pt: "Is there somewhere I can get change for this for bus fare." (as the pt flashes me a $20 bill) :eek:

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One specific example of a general pet peeve of mine:

Pt (who was there for the 3rd time for the same busted tooth, still yet to see a dentist): "I need a bus pass to get home."

Me: "We don't give out bus passes...is there someone who can pick you up?"

Pt: "I don't know...I need to use a phone."

At this point I direct her to a phone where she whips out here smart phone to look up her friends' phone numbers :nono:

After the phone calls: "No one can pick me up...are you sure about the bus pas?"

Me: "We don't do that."

Pt: "Is there somewhere I can get change for this for bus fare." (as the pt flashes me a $20 bill) :eek:

Ya'll need to start thinking out of the box...I've been in this girls shoes before...that $20 could be all she has for the next week, two weeks, month to use for food, bus or whatever. Just because someone has a twenty doesn't mean there is more where it came from. And did you not consider that her phone is turned off cause she does not have the money to pay the bill, so she can't use it for calls but she can still use the address book?

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Buses also do not give change .

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1. The general lack of responsibility that people have for their own healthcare. Somewhere, somehow, people (generally speaking) feel that they should get free healthcare. I don't understand this. This is America, like it or not, we are a capitalist society. Your healthcare is not free.

2. Patients that get all ****** about the wait time. Actually, this should be #1. OMG. What is so difficult to understand? You are in the EMERGENCY department. The only time you will not wait for several hours is if you are a trauma. So be thankful! If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, "how long will it take?" AAAAAHHHHHHH.

3. When the friends or family members start telling me about their own ailments. So annoying.

4. Crazy people and drug addicts. I know, i know, you think i'm an a-hole. I just don't empathize with them. I try to change myself, i really really try. I just feel like a lot of these people need a good spanking.

5. Babies that die.

Thanks for reading my vent. I love my job!

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