Are ER nurses burnt out or just uncaring??

Janedough · Jan 18, 2011

First when people come in on a board (sometimes 3 or more people) we will remove the EMS board ASAP! first and secondary assessments are done and maybe a slide board be placed so that tranfer to the ct and xray is easier. The collar may stay on for a while- even longer if they find something questionable.

This case seems strange wish i knew both sides of the story.

Nurses care but like it was mentioned earlier they can not order meds on their own, even when requested they are not always ordered depending on the Doctor.

Just make sure to get all the facts :)

KyPinkRN · Jan 18, 2011

Inexcusable. I hope this facility doesn't claim any trauma certification. 20 minutes on a board is excessive unless injuries require it (rare). When I have a patient on a board I make sure a doc sees them quickly. It's not hard to clear a c-spine and get someone off a board as long as they're competent (sober without distracting injuries). If you can't clear them right away, you get a cross table c-spine or ct of the c-spine stat. From your description I can't tell if it's the staff or the facility that's to blame. Walking past the nurses station also doesn't tell you how busy the ER is. 4 hours? Hard to justify. Do that ER a favor and make a major complaint about your treatment.

I agree, with so much of the focus these days being on customer service a complaint to the nurse manager will probably go a long way. Minor MVA or not, this pt should have been monitored more closely than described. Lots of things happen in those split seconds and sometimes injuries don't manifest themselves til some time later.

izeofblu1973 · Jan 23, 2011

I agree with what everyone posted here, 4 hours on a backboard is ridiculous!

I do realize this is not the case here, but I would like to add that many people see nurses sitting at their stations (maybe even talking or joking around) and dont realize that there is nothing left for them to do or that they are looking up lab work or waiting for test results. There is a flow the the ER, you come in, see the triage nurse, see your nurse, get some tests done, wait for the doctor, while you are waiting for the tests to come back and the doctor to see you, there is nothing more for the nurse to do. She will check your vitals regularly and answer your question and such but dont think that she is neglecting patients, there may be an unusual break in her day. :) and I also agree that the other nurses that you see that are not yours, do not know what is going on with you , generally. Every nurse cannot know what is going on with every patient. Of course if you are asked to help and are able to , you do, but those nurses yu saw probably did not know you were on a backboard for 4 hours. Please dont generalize and blame us all. P.S. I am sorry that yu were treated badly, however, I am glad that were alright :)

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2011

okay so today i had a minor MVA...someone rear-ended me. i had my seatbelt on but my neck and head were causing me excrutiating pain...the paramedics were wonderful but once i got to the hospital -- nothing. I was strapped to the backboard for over 4 hours, with maybe one or two visits from a nurse to ask how i was feeling/check my vitals/etc.... they eventually gave me a dose of tramadol and i gave it 45 minutes to work and felt no difference so i pushed my call light and was told that a nurse would be with me in a few min....no nurse ever came. i know that the ER wasnt busy at the time because I could hear nurses/doctors/interns laughing and carrying on outside of my door and my boyfriend said he walked through and nothing was going on. i dont understand it.... are ER nurses just so burnt out with patients in pain that they dont care enough about it anymore? or what?? can anyone give me any insight on this???

Well, once you've worked with the public for a long time it's hard to keep caring. Everything becomes routine. After you've seen and heard the sundry problems that a person can get over and over it's difficult to take anything other than a task-oriented interest in them.

It's nothing personal, but nearly everyone becomes callous despite their role...just think about when you go down to get your driver's license renewed. You'd think they take courses on treating people like crap, but after you deal with so many jerks during the day demanding they have their license when there are a host of reasons they can't have one the clerks stop caring. The same could be said for any other public field.