911RN

Why do people feel that it is OK to yell, scream, verbally abuse and threaten the staff in the ER? I'm sure they wouldn't act that way in a grocery store, bank, or car dealership. I always say that it is the person who needs to be seen the least who complains the most. Just over the weekend I was told that Mom was gonna come back and shoot this place up, (after we took protective custody of her child) I had a pager thrown at me. Triage is a tough job, you need your assessment skills, and a very tough skin.

It's a game that we all play First attempt to call report: I'm sorry, that nurse is hanging blood Second attempt: She's in an isolation room Third attempt: She's at lunch Fourth attempt: she's in report. Fifth attempt: She's hanging blood in an isolation room while eating her lunch and giving report. Once a clerk forgot to put the phone on hold and I heard her tell the nurse that I wanted to call report, The nurse told her to tell me that she was off the floor. I told the clerk that next time to make sure she had me on hold before lying to me. Report was taken. Seriously, I know that floor nurses are busy. The Er nurses just feel that we don't have the option of choosing when we get our patients. We certainly can't tell an ambulance to call back in 20 minutes with the code coming in, even if it is time for lunch.

Been there, done that! I had a private conversation with a co-worker regarding some problems in the ER. She ran straight up to the supervisor, who is a friend of hers, and told her exactly what I had said. I got called in for having a bad attitude, not being a team player. Now, I trust NO ONE! There are those who run to the bosses to "tattle" on everyone in order to make themselves look better. This will continue until management chooses to stop this behavior, but they do love the spys. I could do this 10 times a day if I chose to. The ER gossips just do not stop. I go to work to do my job, go home and get a paycheck every 2 weeks, PERIOD!!! It's not my life, it's my job.

There is nothing worse for a triage nurse that to have a sick child wait in the waiting room in pain. Tears your heart out. i have no problem with parents bringing a child to the ER for legitimate reasons. My peeve is the mom who shows up with a child for a temperature who hasn't given ANY antipyretics. This is unacceptable to me. Why make your child suffer so we can see how high the temp is? Educate your patients, any fever will respond to the correct dose of tylenol or ibuprofen, given at the correct times. :angryfire

My personal favorite is the disgruntled pt sitting in the waiting room for a bit, leaving, going home to call 911, then ending up right back in my triage area to wait some more. Sorry, because you called 911 does not get you immediate medical attention, plus, you have just increased your wait time because you go to the back of the waiting list for your headache. Believe me, they are not happy to see my smiling face again.

In IL, we are required to call the police in cases of suspected DUI, stabbings, shootings, sexual assault, physical assault. It should not be a HIPPA violation.

I worked in the ED for 3 years before I became a CN. You are the person with ALL the answers. You should know all of your ED policys, hospital policys, prehospital policys, law enforcement policys, legalitys of your state. Yes, I know that the charge nurses are "lazy". I am responsible for staffing, assignments, putting in admission orders, transfer patients, transportation arrangements from outlying hospitals, MD orders, narcotic counts. I try to get into every room to which an ambulance comes, triage "urgent pateints" Don't forget the disgruntled patients, family's, and staff. If you think you are up for it, go for it. I think you may need a little more experience.

I'm sorry that this happened on your first day. It does happen, something you never get used to. SIDS, drownings, MVC's, child abuse. Please know that everything was done to save this child. Every ER nurse and Dr can tell you the story of their first pedi death. It never gets any easier, sorry to say. You will see the worst of the worst in the ED. You will also see the miraculous saves. You save the ones that you can. I had a child abuse case this week, child w/ a skull fracture from Mom's boyfriend. Yes, I cried on the way home.

Yes, they are certainly a PIMA. If the pt does not know the meds, we are required to call the pharmacy and get the list. Jacho is also now requiring smoking cessation questions/counseling for every pt, and nutrition counseling. I can understand this for admitted patients, but for the average toothache, suture, or cold sx pt it can be alot of time. We have a FF pt who comes in sometimes 2 x a day, with a med list 2 pages long that we have to write up for each visit.

"How much longer?", "How many are in front of me?" "Why did he/she get to go back ahead of me?" All from the 20 something year old who broke her fingernail in an altercation w/ her baby daddy baby momma.

Yes, my 3 y/o can puke at will. Just started around Thanksgiving after a bout with a stomach bug. If she eats something she percieves as "yucky", or with "skin on it", she will barf before it hits the back of her throat.

One of my pet peeves is the call that so and so's mother, brother, aunt, 2nd cousins daughter is coming in, and could we make sure that they don't wait. Lets see, I have 20 in the waiting room, 5 who should have been seen hours ago and you want me to take the cardioligists daughter back with a toe injury???

Illinois also has an implied consent law when you are issued the dl. ISP brought a drunk, MVC in and I had the audacity to question the officer about consent for the legal BA. Our Md's will draw a BA if they deem it medically necessary, but the PD has to get a warrant for the results. We can give them the results verbally, which they usually know when someone has been drinking.

As a Charge Nurse, I am responsible for making assignments at the beginning of the shift, and assigning patients to the staff. I do have a desk beside the central monitors. Admission orders come to me and I put in requests to the bed placement nurse. Usually the pt's nurse takes admission orders from the PMD, or the ER doc will write basic admit orders to get the pt to a room, with the floor nurses taking the rest of the orders. Ambulance calls come over the MICU phone and anyone with MICU certification can answer them and assign rooms. If a critical pt, or a trauma is coming I am alerted to let the MD know. I handle pt concerns and complaints, coordinate transfers. We do have someone to take orders for direct admits, except on the weekends. We are provided a portable phone and a pager so we can leave the desk and assist the nurses. Some days it is very difficult to get away from the desk.

Not Mean nurses, TOUGH nurses. Yes, we are testing the new staff to see what you've got. You have got to be tough to put up with all the abuse that we take from patients, Doc's and the floor nurses. Do I love my job, YES, I do! Like working in a circus