Anybody else have days like this?

Nurses General Nursing

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i come into work an hour early for a meeting, which is ok........no biggie. as i hit the back.....more than the usual monday......rooms 1-22 filled, plus hallways, a, b, c, d, e, f, g are filled. 12 waiters in the rack...for over 4 hours. then had a preson call off, which fortunately (was the one thing that went right) i was overstaffed by one person. :) while at one time diversion meant just that, the rules by the hospital were changed.........to only diverting squads not under our med control. then it was changed to......lets not divert anybody.........if we can avoid it. nobody wants that........but seems the people making these decisions are not the ones working in the er, with their licenses on the line......and a waiting room full of people.

in the meantime........the waiters yell at me, my co-workers yell at me, patients yell at me........doctors give me a hard time, because we can't keep up......and are not on diversion. :o

we then get a sqaud call for an acute cholecystitis.....which someone takes in our last monitored bed......then i get a call on an abdominal evisceration with bleeding........so i switch the two patients......i mean? when is the last time somebody died from acute cholecystitis and needed a monitored bed? i catch it from that person.........:o then i get told this nurse sucks, that nurse sucks etc etc. nobody is happy with anybody.....and i catch it all!!!!! :o

somebody looses their chart and its my fault........:o ct tech calls from the main department all the way on the other side of the hospital ( and we have our own ct scanner and tech in the er)......and tells us to send the pt who needs a ct of the orbits doen over there, because its their new policy! this used to be routine in the er......now we have to give someone up to take them over there........ the agency people kepe asking for a pyxis number.....and i havent been able to get there...... then a complaint on the telephone........ then more complaints from the 6 hour waiters in the wr....... and from the people who are admitted and dont have beds or rooms yet........ then the labs ordered for a women (i.e. trich, chlamydia oral and vag, and some other stuff...........that seemed to be nothing but a confusing situation...........because lab wont take them unless the right labels are on the right things......and they cant seem to be able to tell us which go to which? now for two days.......have occupied on the average 11 beds in the er with inpatients for two days, and limited room for our true er pateints......... thought i was going to stroke out!!!!! :o

me

I forgot to add that the gravel guy had a fx c3!

Sounds like that day just plain 'ol sucked! :eek:

I think that's one of the hardest things about ER...things can go to hell in a handbasket, and you're virtually powerless to stop it...you just have to deal with whatever you get hit with. No wonder you always hear ERs referred to as "The Pit" or "The Dungeon!"

All we can do is do our best and hope it's good enough, and that we and the patients will survive it! ;)

Specializes in ER, Hospice, CCU, PCU.

Sounds like all my nights for the part month...........however...........I am now officially on vacation for the next 10 days and I'm not doning nothing, not going anywhere just vegetating!

Hopefully when I get back I can deal with it all over again with a better frame of mind.

By-the-way Do ER nurses get lunch breaks???????????

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

thanks april.......yes wed was better!!! ;)

everybody else thanks too...........and no i rarely get lunch anymore.......4 times in three weeks.

Suzy k

I don't have any answers or suggestions for you but, I will say a prayer for your sanity.

Jax

Hi. CEN, after reading your initial post, I had a 15 point rise in both my s/d bp. That usually warrants another pill. After you wrote you had a better day Wednesday, it's now come down. P_RN, your offer of a hug was so sweet. Hoahee! What a day CEN!

Specializes in Home Health.

Well Rick and Suzy, I haven't had days that bad since I decided to leave the hospital setting, but this is a bad day in HH...

Call 3 pt's in am to set up visits, one is in a very bad area of town, he gets first vs. Call next one, she is a total hip repair, home from rehab. Her neice answers phone, says hold on, I talk with pt, it is about 9 am, I tell her I will be there between 10:30 and 11:30.

Get to firstcase, all is OK there. Move on to the THR, her neice answers the door, says, well, something is going on. I say excuse me? She says, well, she fell this morning and she can't getup. I say take me right there. Lady is AAO, I ask how long have you been here like this? She says since just before you called.

SAY WHAT?????!!!!! I guess it would have been using too much common sense to TELL ME that when I spoke to her, BTW, I am lying on the floor and I can't getup. DUH! (NO, I didn't say that to her.)

I couldn't get her up by myself, she REFUSED to let me call 911. So stupid neice calls another family member who comes and helps me get miss BIG heavy BUTT off the floor, then he splits 10 sec later!

Now had they told me she was on the floor, I would have re-arranged my priorities!!

Now, where was that post about how stupid are you?????:D

I don't ordinarily hold this against anyone, but this woman was a retired LPN. Scary thought huh? In fact many of my pt's have been retired nurses the last few weeks. I'm having a run on nurses!!

Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

I remember a mom several years ago that asked us if it was ok to keep bringing milk in now that she had Chicken Pox!!!! And she was there in person, had been visiting her baby everyday, etc.

Yes, really!! OK, now we've got 30 or so immunocompromised premies and NB's--all exposed to Chicken Pox! Not to mention staff!

What a nightmare!

CEN, glad that things are a little better for you now. Of course, I'm sure you know that these things come in cycles. They always end, but sometimes you aren't sure that they will!

Hoolihan, watch your back! I'm serious-getting a large woman up off the floor with a total hip is tantamount to lifting a slippery bag of wet cement, even WITH help. This woman definitely gets the dim bulb award for the week!:rolleyes:

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

thanks cathy, been over a week now........but every monday gets the same way. then tuesday i came to findout, that the system is making a maximum hourly payout to the agencies........which we would have drowned miserably wiithout the past few months. they are offering to pay, 7-10 dollars and hour less, then they have been.....and thats it. if this is the case......then we could not be able to get agency people in even :o boy........it could be bad.........maybe i'll have to leave and go agency then? we'll see...............

me :rolleyes:

Geez! Have they spent all their budget paying top dollar to rentanurses, and now find that they still need them but can't pay them? That is definitely an Einstein move! Could they offer a bennie or two, like free parking, or free meals, scrubs laundered, childcare, or something, to entice people your way?

If you could be assured of guaranteed hours, agency might be the way to go. When I worked agency, there was always the possibility that you could be cancelled. The other thing is to be sure that you have health insurance. I'm sure that you know all of this, but just thought I'd throw it in, if you are serious about making the move.

We are in a recession, but healthcare will have to continue, and people will have to be paid-that's about as certain as death and taxes. We just have to stick it out, the best way we can. Good luck!:rolleyes: :)

Hey !! If I didn't know better I'd swear that it was my sister, but she's in a Virginia ER. However, she added that they are all asking for the flu shot, smallpox vaccination and oh yeah, test me for anthrax!!!

No thank-you, I'll stay on my nice little Oncology unit. We just send our patients home, or to the home or HOME.

Good luck to you. Don't forget to breathe.!

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