I have been in the ER for 5 1/2 years, yet people still completely shock me with their stupid comments. So 3 vents for me....
1. "I don't have the money" when I asked WHY the child was 2 years behind on shots..Yet, the mother had a Blackberry, Coach purse, VERY nice nails and clothes. And tylenol and motrin (according to her) are the same thing and cost a lot of money. WHAT?!?!?! I just don't understand WHY these people even have the nerve to say "I don't have any money" when clearly they have money for things they WANT and not what the child NEEDS! She looked at me like I had 15 heads when I told her there are TONS of free clinics, etc.
2. "I'm allergic to Latex so that is why I have a ton of kids." OK--first of all, I'm just asking "are you allergic to latex" not if you have a ton of kids. So I bounced back with the comment "There are non-latex condoms." VERY quickly he said "They are too much money." PRETTY SURE KIDS COST MORE!!! But then again, I'm "paying for them"....
3. Patient comes in for a follow up..stating he didn't have a ride to the specialist follow up appointment...so HOW did you get to the ER???
Clearly these people need a wake up call, but no one wants to do that...We just baby them / spoon feed these people over and over. I work all of the time to pay for everything I have...and I still don't have half of what these people bring in with them that are saying "I don't have the money."
Craziness is all I can think of when I'm leaving work....
I was down in the ER "looting" their Dibold for meds we were out of (3 in the morning, and our pharmacy has banker's hours, grr....), when a parent brought in a 5 year old kid. No big deal, million times a day, until the charge nurse comes up and asks if I'd been anywhere near the kid. Luckily, I hadn't. Kid had strep throat, "didn't like to take his medicine" so the parents didn't make him, and now the kid's getting airlifted because his heart's packing it in, fever was over 105 -- and dad's the county ambulance chaser.
They've got a "court clock" up in the ER breakroom, where everyone's picking a day/time for the papers to be served on the lawsuit.
Call Child Protective Services--this is child neglect! In CA, we are required to report it.
Specializes in Hem/Onc, LTC, AL, Homecare, Mgmt, Psych.
Ohhh the smoking thing in front of kids drives me BONKERS! When the kid comes in smelling like they've been sitting in a bar all night. Then the parent wonders why the kid has bronchitis and colds and ear infections all the time--- If a person wants to smoke---- do it outside and AWAY from your kids and babies.
And as much as they don't like to hear it, I'll also say something about the link between ear infections and smoking, esp when the poor kid is crying in pain, but has had no meds, and mom/dad drag the kid outside to smoke while waiting to be called.
Our hospital gives out taxi vouchers in a few rare cases.
We make patients call for rides before medicating them. People will come from 2 towns over and then say they don't have gas to get home. The high gas prices have decreased a few of the frequent knee/arm/dental/back/foot pain patients
OH, OH, who wants a sad-pathetic-who-is-to-blame-why-do-I-live-here-story? Everyone? Great, here goes. So, about 2 months ago, early on a Sunday morning I am chatting with the charge nurse and she takes a phone call. She seems confused, "Ma'am? I don't understand. Why do you have the ER mattress?" She hangs up and tells me that a pt was sent home last night with the ED stretcher mattress and as instructed, the pt's wife is returning it this AM and please don't be upset, she is on the way. WHAT????
So, of course, I make a point of meeting the wife in the front of the ED because I need to know what is going on. I don't know how things work in other places but here, we have local EMS who transport emergencies only and another ambulance crew, who I refuse to give free advertising to by giving their name, that will transport emergencies out of the city/parish limits and they also haul most nursing home cases and do contractual transports. They have recently initiated a rule that they will transport a pt home from the hospital only if the pt is bed bound. Meaning if they can sit up in a wheelchair, being propped, at all, they will not transport. So this is frequently a problem as it was this day as the pt weighed somehwere near 500 lbs. He lived at home and was transported to the ED on an emergent basis by EMS but this other company refused to bring him home. He laid in the ED stretcher for about 4 hours after discharge as the entire ED attempted to get him home. Between the social workers, the RNs and MDs, the fire dept, the ambulance crew, and pt and family the best they could do was a pick up truck. No joke. By the end of the night the pt was in tears with his wife crying, "please, let my friend take me home in the back of his truck, we do this all the time." His friend drove the pick up truck through the circular drive at the front and he was loaded via hoya lift, ED mattress and all into the back of a large pick up truck and driven home where the wife called 911 to get the fire dept out to help get him out the truck and into the house. By the way, he sustained injuries to a recent skin graft during this time. So, as promised, the wife woke the next morning and immediately brought our squished mattress back. After further research it turns out that the transport ambulance would have brought him home, but our hospital would have agreed to pay half the costs and someone else the other half. Right now, I can't remember who the responsible party was, but they refused. So, this man rode home in the back of a truck, much like many people transport large appliances and dogs, with the hospital gown still on and his hospital ID band blowing in the wind. I am grateful the ride home was uneventful. I am grateful that my hospital didn't wind up on the 6 o'clock news. I am grateful I wasn't interviewed by the local press. How mortifying. How inappropriate. How pathetic. But I ask:who's fault is it and who could have done something differently? I think at the end of the day, my hospital should have agreed to pay the entire costs to get him home safely and appropriately. Please keep in mind that I work for a not for profit in a very poor community. We are always "in the red." Please cast your votes now!
P.S
I also think it is always wrong to put a dog in the bed of a pick up.
His friend drove the pick up truck through the circular drive at the front and he was loaded via hoya lift, ED mattress and all into the back of a large pick up truck and driven home where the wife called 911 to get the fire dept out to help get him out the truck and into the house.
Oh. My. God.
Ya know, if I were the charge nurse, I don't think I would have allowed this. I understand that everyone involved was between a rock and an extremely hard place, but I just don't think I would have gone for that. Better to come up with some dx to admit the patient overnight while social worker or case manager works on getting non-emergency EMS transport.
Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.
His friend drove the pick up truck through the circular drive at the front and he was loaded via hoya lift, ED mattress and all into the back of a large pick up truck and driven home where the wife called 911 to get the fire dept out to help get him out the truck and into the house. By the way, he sustained injuries to a recent skin graft during this time.
How humiliating for the poor patient!
On the other hand, there are not that many humane ways of transporting someone who weighs >500#--sick or not sick. We do need to think of ways to solve these problems, though, because obesity is on the rise!
Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
I understand all of your points but your last comment (below)....
Do you REALLY have less than half of what "they have"?????
Think about this.....
If this is true, then why are you working?
Remeber, the grass is always greener on the other side....
I'll tell you how THEY don't even have half of what I have....
1) I get to go home at the end of my shift, I'm not still stuck in a treatment room or lobby for 5+ hours
2) If I need to take a sick day, I call in, and my shift is covered - I don't have to go to an ER to substantiate my illness.
3) I have insurance/benefits: If I am sick, I go to my doctor's office NOT the ER. The people we are talking about have no choice but the ER for some of them.
4) I have two cars; one is paid for
5) I have a house and mortgage
6) I have over 800 hours of paid vacation saved up
7) If I need to travel more than a few hours away, I can fly I don't have to drive
8) I can afford Starbucks
9) If I smoked I could afford name brands!
10) I can afford to fill up my car's gas tank, not just "5$ on pump 3 please"
11) I can afford to have someone cut my grass for me
12) Satellite TV/Tivo
13) 2 laptops and one desktop computer
14) A savings account, IRA, and 401
I could go on, but you get my point.....
Fact is, it FEELS like "they" have a lot, but in reality all they have is what is seen/visible. Haven't you ever driven by a run down shack of a house, just to see a perfectly clean/shiny Caddilllac parked in teh front yard!!! It's all about first impressions - so what we SEE in the ER is the Cell phones, the PSP's, blah blah blah.....what we don't see is that maybe all that this person even owns of worth.....
I have been in the ER for 5 1/2 years, yet people still completely shock me with their stupid comments. So 3 vents for me....
I work all of the time to pay for everything I have...and I still don't have half of what these people bring in with them that are saying "I don't have the money."
Craziness is all I can think of when I'm leaving work....
What is your point? I am confused, or maybe just sleep-deprived.
I don't think it's fair to compare our healthcare in the U.S. to the case cited. That man's death may or may not have been due to lack of emergency care. Was there an autopsy? Who helped him get up to his weight of 990 lbs? Who enabled him to stay in his room (who fed, cleaned, toileted him?). There's more to this than what's in the article.
I understand all of your points but your last comment (below)....
Do you REALLY have less than half of what "they have"?????
.....
I don't know about them, but I definitely have less than half of what you listed. My luxuries are living without a roommate, and a car with AC/power everything, and saving enough/having decent credit to feel secure if a short term emergency cropped up. Yes, if there was something that I really had my heart set on I could have it, but mostly I make do so I can be sure to meet my personal responsibilities. High on the list of those responsibilities is making sure my family and I are healthy, and being ready for short term minor illnesses. Most people keep OTC meds at home like Tylenol, and have ginger ale, soup, and popsicles, or some substitute, and have educated themselves on what to do.
Neveranurseagain, RN
866 Posts
Call Child Protective Services--this is child neglect! In CA, we are required to report it.