[jillrn1966]

I am lucky, my primary doc is cool and listens to me about me and my kids..not so lucky if i end up w/ student the day we come in..had made irate calls to office later! I do try not to play nurse card when in er..its hard cause live in small area and i float to most of the hospitals and most of them know me anyway! I do multiple specialites...lesson learned there as I do IV therpy and ER nurse so nervous when she started my line she blew it three times! and I have garden hoses for veins, you couldnt miss with a 14 gauge!...lol I just smiled at her and told her it was fine, we all miss from time to time!

[neneRN]

Agree completely with Zachary2011!

My guard instantly goes up when I have a nurse as a pt in the ER, especially when the first words out of their mouth are "I'm a nurse" or they have their badge practically pinned to their pt gown.
Please trust that I know my job and I really do know what I'm doing; that said, I have no problem whatsoever, and would encourage pts to tell me, "this happened to me before, and this is what helped.." But do not demand only certain meds/treatments, refuse others, etc., because you're a nurse. Each nurse/doctor does things differently, and as we all know, there is more than one way to solve a problem!
I do not tell people that I'm a nurse when I've been with family or friends in the hospital. I'd rather let the staff treat the pt without the added pressure/stress of feeling like I'm watching their every move.

[Happy-ER-RN]

Originally Posted by Zachary2011

I work in a busy busy ER, before this I have worked on PCU/ICU/CCU, and as Im sure many of you Nurses know when you get a pt. demanding TX before diagnostics or even after diagnostics it can be frustrating. It's people telling you how to do your job. I agree no one knows their body better themselves but its never proper to demand treatments or interventions as a healthcare person. There are ways to suggest and be diplomatic about what you want and then their are the ones that are demanding. Now when it comes to your child I completely understand, but instead of saying No Dr. he has to have this, say Dr. you know what worked well for him before, or Dr. you know he had trouble with that before. I see many Nurses as Pts. and even Physicians, and for the most part if you let them know the TX path your taking and the results of all diagnostics they are extremely happy. Nurses do not deserve special care, nor do physcians, (I do agree children do), I treat all of my pts. the same, as if they were family..........and sometimes family disagree. Just because you hav RN,MSN, or MD on your name badge is irrelavent to me. And as many of you ER nurses know when they are in the ER they basically post their badges on their forhead, so all can see that this some how makes them VIP. I understand there are bad nurses out there just like in any profession, so its always good to have some one that can understand and translate the medical interventions (hows and whys) to your family if they are being treated. But on the other hand a good nurse will do that for their pt.

I completely agree. I can not stand it when people think they know better than our doctors because they are a nurse, or they make some comment just to make sure I know they are in the medical field--which sometimes gives them the right to mess with all or our equipment, screwing up the monitors or turning up the 2nd Liter of fluids when it was ordered tko so now I have to get the pt out of bed every 5 minutes to pee.....I keep my mout shut when I go to the Dr.

[Victoriakem]

Originally Posted by neneRN

Agree completely with Zachary2011!

My guard instantly goes up when I have a nurse as a pt in the ER, especially when the first words out of their mouth are "I'm a nurse" or they have their badge practically pinned to their pt gown.
Please trust that I know my job and I really do know what I'm doing; that said, I have no problem whatsoever, and would encourage pts to tell me, "this happened to me before, and this is what helped.." But do not demand only certain meds/treatments, refuse others, etc., because you're a nurse. Each nurse/doctor does things differently, and as we all know, there is more than one way to solve a problem!
I do not tell people that I'm a nurse when I've been with family or friends in the hospital. I'd rather let the staff treat the pt without the added pressure/stress of feeling like I'm watching their every move.

When a family member or patient tells me they are a nurse, I always ask what their specialty is & it's interesting when the answer is that they are retired now or that the area of practice is Hospice. Not ED. A totally different outlook & orientation. So I never worry about that. I tell the "nurse" exactly what I am doing, size of angio gauge, etc until they can't take it anymore & shut up. Works for me.

[LuvDaTrauma]

I went to my regular dr after my sore throat and stinky breath just wouldnt go away. I had a negative strep screen but my doctor ordered a PCN shot anyways. The nurse that gave me my shot first dropped the uncapped needle on the floor and was going to stick me with it until I protested and after changing the needle - the IM injection was so high on my GM that I had shooting pains down my leg for a week. I have never had a problem before with shots! I was soo mad. She acted like I was an idiot when I told her that her site was a tad bit too high (like in my lower back!!!). She was snotty when she asked how I would know and i hated to throw the ER Nurse Card out there - but dang - I was upset. She then apologized and said I might be right! Might be?

I always go to my mom's doctors appts with her. She recently had a major surgery so my sisters went with us as well. I felt bad for the doctor because I am an ER nurse, my sister is a flight nurse, and my other sister is a nurse is CVOR. The doc was way cool and said that it was nice to know he had to be on his best behavior! We immediately said we werent there to check up on him - we were there for her. I trusted this doctor completely or she wouldnt have had him do the surgery. Its nice to have the inside track on docs, facilities, and what not.

[Little Flower]

All the posters here have for the most part gotten what they asked for from the ER docs and primaries.

However,

I know of a person who tried this with his primary and received a certified letter in the mail telling him that his doc would no longer attend him.

He found another primary and true to his nature and background found he needed to instruct again only to receive a second cerified letter.

Apparently the two docs communicated with each other...hence the second letter....or their staff/office managers did.

Docs are no different from lawyers in this regard. They will tell you they cannot attend you anymore but you will play heck finding someone who will after that as the next one will call the first one and get the low-down.

It is one thing to ask for certain kinds of treatment for another person who you are escorting/accompanying but when it comes to asking for yourself the playing field becomes a little tricky....especially if you are asking for any kind of med for pain. The first suspicion pretty automatic and is that you are drug-seeking....then immediately discounted.

anyway............

This was the experience of my friend and a true story.

This was just FYI

[francescafree]

Last summer, I started waking up in the middle of the night with laryngospasms and the feeling that my throat was closing. This was accompanied by a sound very much like stridor... but weirdly enough, I never felt shortness of breath at all. Then one night, while I was working in the ER-writing nurses notes and eating a bagel-the symptoms started. My co-worker sitting next to me, and the ER attending were very startled. They grabbed my chair and rolled me into the nearest room, slapped an oxygen mask on me, and ordered a stat portable xray of the soft tissues of my neck. The whole time, my lungs were clear and the xray was normal. The doctor gave me a script for a nebulizer/albuteral/MDI. This also happened at a friend's house (he is an EMT), and he threw me in the shower, thinking I was having some kind of croup attack. Needless to say, the more anxious I became from "having a pinhole to breathe out of", the less i seemed to be able to breathe. The next day, I called an ENT specialist, and asked if he could look into my throat and help me figure out what was wrong with me. He inserted a flexible endoscopic tube down my throat, immediately withdrew the scope, and said "you have the worst case of GERD I have ever seen!" He asked me if I had experienced any heartburn or chest pain because the entire back of my throat/epiglottis was swollen and reddened. (I had no pain at all!) He told me that the acid reflux from my stomach was backing back up into my esophagus, and the epiglottis was closing in an attempt to protect my lungs from stomach acid! He agreed that what I was feeling-the "sensation that I had only a pinhole to breathe out of" was exactly what was going on! I was started on Nexium, and that was the last of the terrifying larngospasms. My point in the story is that sometimes a dr will misdiagnose because of very atypical presentation of symptoms! For three months, I actually went along with the diagnosis of "asthma" even though I truly did not feel that was the answer. Oftentimes, a patient presents with mysterious/weird symptoms and it is like a mystery or puzzle for healthcare practitioners to solve.

[StatBlues]

I hate knowing to much too.

What is it with the docs now? To much paperwork, the love of money, short staff, or just do not care anymore...........?

Thank God for nurses!!

[JessicRN]

I awoke with a sore throat and was going on vacation the doctor asked me if I had any other symptoms and I said no but I know I have strep throat. The doctor told me she thought all I had was a viral illness and I kept asking for a rapid strep she finally gave in knowing I was a nurse then came back telling me guess what you have a sore throat . I got my antibiotic and off I went on vacation.(I was sick as a dog by the night)

[clee1]

Totally.

If it is something I recognise and am DEAD SURE of, I don't hesitate to request specific treatment.

Every MD I have ever seen has appreciated me not wasting alot of time to "get down to business".