thought these were funny and true. add on if desired....
Alas, sometimes in the ER the family is harder to deal with than the patient. Here are some family member we all have seen in our ER:
DOORWAY GAWKER- stands and stares at the staff, arms folded, from the doorway with an impatient, angry looks on their faces
THE VENTRILOQUIST - talks for the patient until you tell them to stop it
THE SHADOW- you have to pry this person away from the patients bedside in order to do your job. then they watch every move you make as you start an IV, give meds, etc.
APATHETIC ANN/ANDY - brings a book, laptop - has a sort of been here/done this attitude - seems uninterested in whats going on
THE SUCKER - accompanies a patient with some kind of bogus chronic problem and has bought into it hook, line and sinker
THE KLEPTOMANIAC - you might catch this person rummaging through the cupboards, drawers and perhaps pocketing a thing or two
THE ERRAND RUNNER - may come up to the desk requesting warm blankets, footies, water, food, more pain meds, etc etc etc
MAMAS BOY MAMA - accompanies their grown son or daughter to the ER and sits with concerned look at bedside
BABY DADDY - accompanies girlfriend to ER and is suspicious of any male that comes into the room. Wants to stay there when pelvic exam is being done.
THE DUMPER- drops off confused mom/dad/annoying sibling/girlfriend/boyfriend and leaves
SPACE INVADERS - crosses that line into the staff area or follows the doctor into their area - definitely a no no
MAJOR HOLIDAY GIFTERS - brings mom/dad/grandma who they haven't seen for months to ER because they "aren't doing that well/can't take care of themselves/need to go to a nursing home"
CHICKEN LITTLE - runs to triage desk requesting help for mom/dad/etc in the car who are dying (99% of the time they are fine). Comes up to the desk and tells you heart monitor is dinging - is that OK??!!!
SUSPICIOUS STAN/STELLA- takes notes - wants names of staff, name of medication, name of tests. Has special "medical notebook"
Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.
Just thought about this one, been watching True stories from the ER on TV and it sparked this one. Hubby worked scrub tech in or and moonlight in ER. Transporting patient to CCU Elevator gets stuck between floors and when door opens the space is only about 2 to 3 ft. Patient is on monitors oxygen and beginning to look shaky. One of the regular MD"s is in the elevator too - when they pry doors open he bails out of elevator and hubby called him a coward and the Doc agreed. They got a backboard and slid it into the elevator he and the nurse transfered the pt to same, plopped the monitor and o2 tank on floor's floor. Then they lifted the patient up and slid him out and hubby climbed out after.
:bowingpur
He hated unit transfers when he worked ER but it was fun when he took pt from ER to OR. That meant I did not have to take care of them.
OF course there was the groin gsw that I road on stretcher to OR holding pressure on femoral.:rolleyes:
Loved the -Can't run with the Big Dogs reference, our shift a certain group of nurses was called the A Team.
the ones with diarrhea x 3 mos, needs a new rx for lomotil cant give a stool specimen in spite of the horrible diarrhea...asks for complaint line upon discharge, i gave her the number to the psych floor
Specializes in NICU, Peds, ICU/CCU, Cathlb,ER, Flight.
This collection is so accurate, it just makes me laugh out loud. Visitors in our ED are often with drug seekers, of course telling us that , "she's allergic to ASA, Toradol, Ibuprofen...even Vicodan. She needs that Dilodid, that's the only thing that works for her fibromyalgia." Eee gad!
I also love the 17 yr. olds who scream at the Dr. & demand to "talk to your boss, how dare you not give me medicine to control my pain?"
PS: Sometimes ,at the time these folks aren't so funny, but it helps to see the humor in such behavior. It will help me on my shift tomorrow.
Suspicious Sarah- pregnant and in for vomiting. While getting Phenergan/Zofran/whatever asks "Is this going to hurt my baby". Uh yeah...because we're stupid and oh, by the way, you dropped your smokes on the floor.
Love this thread!!! Y'all are hilarious, and I can see each visitor in my mind's eye.
I am SOOO glad I kept reading and did not post responses to those posters who seem to be, well, let's just say "lacking a sense of humor." I really appreciate Ruby's responses.
(I bet those ladies go onto websites for various other specialties and/or professions to do the same thing. Can you imagine what they say to the psych nurses or the morticians????)
Renal Ralph: I couldn't resist that large slice of watermelon at the cookout. Now I can't breath, and my heart feels funny. By the way when you get back from calling report to the MICU for my emergent dialysis since I just couldn't seem to get to my treatment for a couple of days prior to the cookout, would you bring me some potatoe chips, I need something salty.
BTW ED nurses I feel your pain in the ICU. At least y'all get to ship the PITAs out.
WOW!! I must admit, I'm guilty of quite a few of those titles; I never really thought about how my actions are preceived when my MAJOR care at that moment is the health of my loved one {in various cases my kids, my mom (& in-law), my grandparents (& in-laws), my 1st-cousin, my siblings (& in-laws), my husband, and myself have all experienced injuries/symptoms that warranted ER trips}. Thanks for the laughs, I'll try to remember how my actions can be viewed in the future
We can't win, can we? If we come in, we're going to be perceived as either bored or overbearing. If we don't come in, we are uncaring.:chuckle:jester:
Specializes in 1year medical surgical, 8 years ER..
So funny, and so true. I use to work in an emergency room where there were no security doors. I couldn't wait until we got them. Well they came. I now work where you need to swipe in. I'm just a little dumbfounded as to how are the people still getting in? What ever happened to one or two family members at the bedside at one time please?
Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.
We got a double set of security doors between the lobby and the ED door. When we would call patients back someone always hung back and kept the door open for anyone who wanted in. Security was NOT allowed to stop them, the hospital did not want to upset the "customers". Is there any one that can tell me when patients became customers? I hated press-gainey scores. :angryfire Our management felt that no one should spend more than 1 hour in the ER. One hour?
The visitors hang around the door like flies and as soon as it opens, several run back! We can't stop the "customers" either at my ER. You can't win!!!:selfbonk:
I hated press-gainey scores. :angryfire Our management felt that no one should spend more than 1 hour in the ER. One hour?
Dragonnurse1, ASN, RN
289 Posts
Just thought about this one, been watching True stories from the ER on TV and it sparked this one. Hubby worked scrub tech in or and moonlight in ER. Transporting patient to CCU Elevator gets stuck between floors and when door opens the space is only about 2 to 3 ft. Patient is on monitors oxygen and beginning to look shaky. One of the regular MD"s is in the elevator too - when they pry doors open he bails out of elevator and hubby called him a coward and the Doc agreed. They got a backboard and slid it into the elevator he and the nurse transfered the pt to same, plopped the monitor and o2 tank on floor's floor. Then they lifted the patient up and slid him out and hubby climbed out after.
:bowingpur
He hated unit transfers when he worked ER but it was fun when he took pt from ER to OR.
That meant I did not have to take care of them.
OF course there was the groin gsw that I road on stretcher to OR holding pressure on femoral.
:rolleyes:
Loved the -Can't run with the Big Dogs reference, our shift a certain group of nurses was called the A Team.
ER Nurses Rull:loveya:
Catch ya'll tomorrow.