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"
All of those were so funny. I once went to a doctor when I was younger because my chest hurt. He asked me what was wrong and I stated my scrotum hurt (I meant to say my sternum)! He laughed so hard and said, "Those darn chest nuts"!!!
Specializes in ER,ICU and Progressive Care Unit,Peds.
I don't know if this has been posted yet but i'll add my .
---Frequent Freda/Fred: the pt that comes into the ER at least once a wk for some random complaint, and can't be sent to fastrack because they are here so much. If you are known by your 1st name in an ER (by all the staff) in a city of 1 million plus then you come to the er way to much! You know those pts who you don't want to even mention their names in fear that they will show up.
Specializes in ER,ICU and Progressive Care Unit,Peds.
Preggers Polly: Oh...I've been vomitting all day...I'm (enter wks pregnant here).... Excuse me ladies n/v is a side effect of pregnacy not a medical emergency. Please see PCP for this.
Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.
NavyNurse06 :urck: Why would a long term ER nurse think you were uncaring. You are my hero. You have taken less time to learn one very important fact. 75% of our country abuse the ER. here are some more indicators to alert you to chronic ER patients: they know their medical record number and if they don't you do. You can list their allergies before you take the thermometer out of their mouth, they list the ER as their primary physician:chuckle. Your medical record lists their ER visits for that month as: TNTC :smackingf. The rural medics use their house as a reference point on a run. The patient insists on puting her own lavage tube down without help:omy: All of their meds are in a big bowl on the kitchen table and they tell the medics : the blue one is for hormones and the really bright yellow is for blood pressure and the pale yellow one is my water pill and the aqua one is - you get the idea:doh:. Your patient meets the ambulance at the curb with suitcases in tow and the last one for now is the patient that can tell by the burn if you have given them their desired dose of demerol and phenergan:grn:
In a few more years almost, Almost nothing with surprize you. You will need to worry about yourself if you lose your compassion for the REALLY critical patients. Until then pace yourself. I only made 9 years 2 months and 21 days before latex took my career away.:sstrs: That was March 12,2003 and I am still trying to get past it. Just remember, each patient has a story, but only a few ring true - they may not make sense but they will have a ring of truth. Pursue the truth the rest of the world will keep turning.:igtsyt::tku::usnvy::urck:
I don't know if this has been posted yet but i'll add my .
---Frequent Freda/Fred: the pt that comes into the ER at least once a wk for some random complaint, and can't be sent to fastrack because they are here so much. If you are known by your 1st name in an ER (by all the staff) in a city of 1 million plus then you come to the er way to much! You know those pts who you don't want to even mention their names in fear that they will show up.
Go ahead blast me for being uncaring....
I know exactly what you mean! We have several whose names are not to be uttered out loud in the ER. My little dog's nickname is Bacon because her kennel name is Porscha, and my family brought her home and starting calling her "Pork Chop". One of our regulars (God rest his soul), called himself Pork Chop, so she couldn't possibly be Pork Chop because if I talked about her in the ER, he would come in. So her name is Bacon (because she's a little pig). :chuckle We also are known to hold a miniature celebration of life (and death) when one of our regulars gets their celestial discharge. We always remind each other how that person is in a better place!
We also are known to hold a miniature celebration of life (and death) when one of our regulars gets their celestial discharge. We always remind each other how that person is in a better place!
IKWYM. The spouse of one of our regulars came in as cardiac arrest and did not survive. We did not have to look up family; we knew the phone numbers and names by heart. Made for a different level of comforting since we all knew each other so well, and I think it improved our level of communication.
I don't know if this has been posted yet but i'll add my .
---Frequent Freda/Fred: the pt that comes into the ER at least once a wk for some random complaint, and can't be sent to fastrack because they are here so much. If you are known by your 1st name in an ER (by all the staff) in a city of 1 million plus then you come to the er way to much! You know those pts who you don't want to even mention their names in fear that they will show up.
Go ahead blast me for being uncaring....
Know excatly what you mean! we have one pt that has made 30 trips in, in the last 2 months. He called on the phone one day and, he said, OH hi Ivana this is __, and I havent been in, in a couple days so I was calling and I think I will be in tomarrow.:uhoh21:
We had a pt that made 136 visits in less than 6 months. She would try to cook for us. She would arrive with her complete meal prepared and packaged for us with her c/o excrutiating migraine x2 days. I think we were her best friends. Really sad....Sometimes I really miss her and her husband.
He was like staff. He would work the door (we're a locked unit), get WC's for pts, fetch blankets....anything he saw that needed to be done. One time a faucet blew and before we could call maintenance, he had whipped out tools and fixed it. We tried to tell him not to do these things, but when you spend more time in the ER than at home, I guess you start feeling like its your second job.
I totally get the Latino thing, I am always in awe of the fact that they have so much familial support, but it's funny, none the less.
I was charting today (at home, hh nurse) and showed my husband the nurses note. He said "They're black." period. Sounds pretty racist doesn't it, until I tell you my husband is a black man. Some things are just cultural, you can take offense, or just laugh it off.
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here are some more indicators to alert you to chronic ER patients: they know their medical record number and if they don't you do. You can list their allergies before you take the thermometer out of their mouth, they list the ER as their primary physician:chuckle. Your medical record lists their ER visits for that month as: TNTC :smackingf. The rural medics use their house as a reference point on a run. The patient insists on puting her own lavage tube down without help:omy: All of their meds are in a big bowl on the kitchen table and they tell the medics : the blue one is for hormones and the really bright yellow is for blood pressure and the pale yellow one is my water pill and the aqua one is - you get the idea:doh:. Your patient meets the ambulance at the curb with suitcases in tow and the last one for now is the patient that can tell by the burn if you have given them their desired dose of demerol and phenergan:grn:
:smiletea:
Dolce, RN
861 Posts