I have read many different postings on various boards here where nurses seem to think it is OK for patients to wait for hours for pain and nausea medication. Well, it is NOT OK. Just because some other patient has a "life-threatening" ailment does not in the least justify having someone in agonizing pain and/or nausea lying in misery for hours. Many of these so-called "emergencies" that get triaged to the top are lifestyle-induced from obesity, smoking, drinking, drug abuse, and reckless driving. On the other hand, certain other illnesses in which the patient suffers severe pain are NOT due to lifestyle factors; they are random misfortunes that the patient did not create.
Nurses and other health care workers (excluding those who are solely private pay) are obligated to serve the public, and that means patients and their families and visitors.
I have read that one of the jobs of nurses is to "educate" patients about their disease and to provide emotional support and counseling about managing their illness. Funny thing, but when my loved one was in the hospital they received zero support or information from the nurses. All of the information was from the DOCTORS and the Internet.
Sooooooo, an obese person or cocaine addict who causes their own heart attack gets priority over a Veteran who risked their life serving their country? This is sickening but just another example of the disrespect and lack of appreciation shown to Veterans. Statistics show that 40% of the homeless are Veterans. Veterans who come to the ER should get top priority for services, especially if the pts triaged to #1 have lifestyle-related disorders.
Well, it is the patients, families, and visitors (ie, the Taxpayers) who are their Employers, not the other way around. The reason there is such a high rate of violence in ERs and hospitals is because nurses and other health care workers fail to live up to their duty to provide good Customer Service and show appreciation to their Customers (I find the word, "patient" very degrading).
Again we are not staffed for "families, and visitors" benefit - quite frankly, in an ER that is well run, there shouldn't be any nonfamily/SO visitors - It is an EMERGENCY ROOM, not the HILTON - and if the taxpayers want good value for their money, the nurses shouldn't be having to take care of any visitors, or "taking care" of the family (which should limited to one or two). If they are so busy taking care of family and visitors, of course they will not have time for the patient.
We are professionals in a professional environment. We are not waitresses or cashiers at Walmart. This is not Hotel where everyone can come and gab and have immediate bar service. It is an ER.
And there is NEVER AN ACCEPTABLE EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE.
And when you (look at me throwing in a WHEN, I mean IF) you become a triage nurse and you have pt. w/a MI (obesee, and a cocaine addict) and a vet comes in with a hangnail... and you triage that vet to first spot...
Sooooooo, an obese person or cocaine addict who causes their own heart attack gets priority over a Veteran who risked their life serving their country? This is sickening but just another example of the disrespect and lack of appreciation shown to Veterans. Statistics show that 40% of the homeless are Veterans. Veterans who come to the ER should get top priority for services, especially if the pts triaged to #1 have lifestyle-related disorders. [/b]
Yes, as sickening as it sounds drugs addicts, alchoholics, obese people, criminals, whoever is having a heart attack takes president over nonemergent persons.
We in health care can not discriminate nor can we show preferrential treatment.
I've very sorry about your situation and your experience.
And yes, I think that some lives are more valuable than others and how one got a disease or injury should be a major factor in triage.
Oh hi blue patient. I see that you can not breathe. Can you tell me why you cannot breathe? I'm sorry, but you need to tell me the cause of your inability to breathe. You see if this breathing problem has anything to do with any bad habits, or obesity, or immorality of any kind. I cannot treat you before this pt. in pain over hear. Also, he's VERY nauseous. Well, if you're not going to answer me than I have no choice to put you in the immoral waiting room where treatment will not be available for several hours.
Sooooooo, an obese person or cocaine addict who causes their own heart attack gets priority over a Veteran who risked their life serving their country?
I AM a veteran and YES, we are not allowed to choose whether or not to treat a pt. based on our judgement of there "value." Obesity is often not self-induced, btw. There are many physiological causes. Such as thyroid disorders, side affects to medications (like cortico-steroids). I had a friend who had cancer and blew up like a balloon from being on the steroids to try and save her life. She died, although she was MUCH MORE deserving of life than many people I have met. Life is NOT FAIR!
I'm very sorry that your loved one had to wait so long for medication. Perhaps a trip to the doctor's office for pain/nausea medication would have proved to give faster relief. Just a thought. Don't know how much of an emergent case it was. Since you've really told us none of the details.
Despite people like you, I'm still ecstatically working very hard in my first semester of nursing school.
Yes, everyone who's having to read this CRAP please fill out the pain assessment survery and return it to one of the RN's who is circulating the room.
I've already given an order for saline locks, and I will be ordering pain medication according.
For those in mild pain, your RN will be giving 30mg of Toradol IVP.
Moderate pain will be getting 75mg of Demerol / 25mg of Phenergan, IVP
Severe pain will get you 2-4mg of Dilaudid IVP.
Please submit your papers promptly so that I may sign your orders.
Dave :roll :roll :roll :roll :roll
Dave.......could you sneak over to the phone .....and page SECURITY...I think we need a weapons check. I would call myself but I'm stuck under the stretcher that got rolled over me, while I was fetching some lost dentures.
Oh, and have them bring some soft restraints. Tell them its a priority - it involves a VETERAN!!!!!
Your suggestion is interesting but brings so many factors into the triage decision that it could never be put into practice. Even if we rated acuity on a scale of 1-10 and self induced illness on a scale of 1-10 and added them we would always have people who would be unrateable as we can never know how much of their illness was their fault.
You mention smoking and obesity as being self induced- but what if the patient is a Vietnam Vet who has post traumatic stress and that is the only way he can cope. Is his chest pain HIS fault? There are a LOT of gray areas.
The triage process would take so long that people would die before the decisions were made. Let alone the triage nurse being murdered by all the angry family members waiting for their loved ones to get seen.
If you read the threads almost all nurses are frustrated by self induced illnesses, but we don't have a better way to cope with them, other than giving each person the benefit of the doubt. If your 14 year old came in with a life threatening asthma attack from trying a cigarette- self induced? Should we let someone like that die- because that's what I hear you saying? Correct me if I'm wrong
You MUST complain to the facility- I can't imagine that anyone with sense would brush you off. If you waited 6 hours, that is not right.
"In contrast, the nurses, who had ONLY 5 or 6 pts each, acted very rushed, as if they were doing us a favor by stopping by to talk. Well, it is the patients, families, and visitors (ie, the Taxpayers) who are their Employers, not the other way around. The reason there is such a high rate of violence in ERs and hospitals is because nurses and other health care workers fail to live up to their duty to provide good Customer Service and show appreciation to their Customers (I find the word, "patient" very degrading).
[/b]
You really have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to patient load. You will never have any idea until you are actually taking care of these 5 or 6 pts all by yourself. You are in no way shape or form our EMPLOYER. This is not a business, the people I take care of and will continue to take care of will always be patients. It is our TOP PRIORITY to provide good quality patient care, to help them get better and get them the hell out of the hospital. Yes, a busy nurse can always find time to smile and ask how the patient is doing, but when it gets busy, ITS BUSY and the nurse has to prioritize and might come off a bit rushed. Just keep in mind he/she is doing what they need to do.
You are right, hospitals and ERs are not hotels; they charge several times more per day than even luxury hotels but fail to provide timely, effective services for their Customers.
I've read numerous postings where nurses angrily whine that hopsitals are not "the Hilton", etc. That's right, a room at the Hilton typically costs in the $100-$200 range whereas a hospital room starts at $1,000/day. It seems to me that nurses and other hospital employees have an obligation to deliver superior services than hotels.
Why is it that hotel operators fielding hundreds of calls each day typically answer their Guests' phone calls on the 1st to 3rd ring whereas patients often wait and wait for someone to answer their call bell?
Erm, because nurses are all tied up trying to cram their many years of education and expeirence into twenty minutes when explain WHY we can't do this or that... TO YOU.
Dave, who's eyes are about to come out of their sockets.
Doglover
16 Posts
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Sooooooo, an obese person or cocaine addict who causes their own heart attack gets priority over a Veteran who risked their life serving their country? This is sickening but just another example of the disrespect and lack of appreciation shown to Veterans. Statistics show that 40% of the homeless are Veterans. Veterans who come to the ER should get top priority for services, especially if the pts triaged to #1 have lifestyle-related disorders.