How to recognize a Frequent Flyer

Specialties Emergency

Published

We were talking about this at work a couple days ago...

1. They ask for socks the moment they come back... and they're wearing the ones you gave them 2 days ago.

2. They list the ER docs name on the registration under "primary physician".

3. You can list their allergies FOR them when they come in.

4. The only order the doc gives you is "let's do the same thing we did last time... it worked." And it does.

5. They ask which doc is "on" before they sign in.

6. They're hollaring "I have a right to be here!" (not in your language either) - as they're rolling in the door on a stretcher.

I'm sure there's more out there...

Not to thoroughly screw up a pretty decent humor thread, but . . .

My wife was a FF, had to keep coming back to OB for tocolytics for our second child as our firstborn arrived definitely not yet ready for prime time, but they treated her as a first-timer every time. Way it oughtta be in my book. Every patient deserves a fresh look every visit.

As for drug seeking, there was a CA pt in clinicals that everyone had pegged because they didn't feel her CA warranted it, going nicely into remission as it was. I was there when the oncologist went ballistic 'cause the radiologist failed to compare an abdominal CT with a previous one as ordered, and the next day we had our comparison and what do you know, kidney stones. Since that day, "drug seeking" hasn't been in my working vocabulary.

I don't use "drug seeking" either . . . . every person deserves pain relief and I'm not going to change a person's addictions in an ER visit.

steph

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
I don't use "drug seeking" either . . . . every person deserves pain relief and I'm not going to change a person's addictions in an ER visit.

steph

Just give them a menu with the Daily special listed

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Just give them a menu with the Daily special listed

There ya go . . . . .:thankya: Easy as pie . . . .

steph;)

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I don't use "drug seeking" either . . . . every person deserves pain relief and I'm not going to change a person's addictions in an ER visit.

Yup. And the other thing, when an addict is off his drugs, since he's normally numbed up, the slightest pain is amplified. I mean, we go through life with zillions of aches and pains that we ignore, so we're sort of conditioned, whereas an addict off his drugs is hyper-sensitive to pain. That's why although objectively, opiate withdrawal results in flu-like symptoms, those symptoms are incredibly painful to the patient.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
there are ff's who are abusing the system, and then there are ff's who really need to be there. such is life.

i was thinking about this earlier today, with regards to the "patient dies in wr" thread.

talk about bumping patients to the front of the line.......

there are a couple, where all i have to do is hear their voice checking in, and they are next to triage. don't even need to hear the c/c. "next!"

while there is a difference between the ff that need to be there, and the ff that are just looking for ........ whatever ........ many of the ff's that "need to be there" would be better off if they were managed well by both themsleves and their pcps.

we had one lady who came in ever few weeks with a chf exacerbation. she drove many nurses nuts, but i loved her because she never lost her sense of who she was. she'd be gasping for breath, but still doing her crossword puzzles. "keeps my mind sharp."

several months ago, she came in as a full arrest, and didn't make it. i already miss her.

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