Seriously?!?!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2013

Because we are very entertaining. I mean, in what other specialty will a co-worker say to you with a big smile, "i've got cpr in progress inbound, wanna come in and play?"

It the whole train wreck syndrome.....they are so horrified they can't look away.

Sassy5d · Feb 22, 2013

Is a copay charged? There needs to be a way to give people incentives to go to the right level of care. I think my insurance has a $50 copay for emergency services if not admitted.

There's no copay when you have no insurance or your 'insurance' is care source/Medicaid. Not trying to be an #*~ but I have yet to hear/see these type of requests for treatment from anyone with private insurance.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2013

I like the....."I was camping and got poison ivy" you ask where and they show you their right ankle with...you guessed it poison ivy. :sarcastic: Non draining, non infected....poison ivy. :yawn:

YOU ask when did this happen they answer..."last weekend". :saint:

When you ask them "what changed" or "became worse" that made them need to come to the ED at 0300 on Friday a week later during a hurricane...... :eek:

They answer....."It isn't worse it just".....(wait for it) "still itches." :arghh:

Really Dude???? :roflmao:

Altra, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2013

Yep -- what's been said above.

The "it still hurts/itches/annoys me" chief complaint is, in my experience, 90% of the time from otherwise functional human beings. Calls that functionality into question, ya know??

CodeteamB · Feb 22, 2013

Is a copay charged? There needs to be a way to give people incentives to go to the right level of care. I think my insurance has a $50 copay for emergency services if not admitted.

I'm Canadian so no copay, hospital care is publicly funded, you do have to pay for your ambulance though.

love2garden · Feb 22, 2013

See, if Health care was more organized he would have been triaged immediately to an urgent care where he was treated with good service and received a bill.... and forced to pay that bill just like any other service!!!

redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2013

My favorite was the mom who brought her 7 year old in the middle of the night for vomiting....once....36 hours ago!! Really??? Whatever happened to saltines, ginger ale and time? Works wonders. Then she freaked out when I had to start an IV and give fluids. She asked if he really needed the fluids, I said since he isn't holding anything down yes he did, then she said it was only once awhile ago...I nearly bit through my tongue on that one!

I'd have liked to hear the answer to the question I'd have asked, "What treatment did you have in mind when you came to the ED, ma'am?"

redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2013

Is a copay charged? There needs to be a way to give people incentives to go to the right level of care. I think my insurance has a $50 copay for emergency services if not admitted.

No copay for most if not all Medicare and Medicaid programs, that's why it's no sweat off their back to come on visit the ED for every piddling thing they can dream up.

redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2013

Lol brick wall sometimes. Large volume of non-ER posters. What draws people in to this specific forum?

Right now it's on the sidebar under "liked topics," so you're going to get people that don't even realize where they're posting.

opossum · Feb 22, 2013

I work in ICU, but also oriented to the ED a few times...I thought I'd like it but I learned that indeed, I am simply not cut out for ED nursing. I lack the patience and wherewithal to deal with the nonsense described above AND drop everything to attend to true emergencies. I get too confused, frustrated and overwhelmed...maybe it's just our ED (which is overwrought with structural problems as it is), I don't know.

Anyway, I remember one night I was orienting over there and a 20-something perfectly healthy young woman comes in, c/o shoulder pain after washing her kitchen floor all day. I just could not understand what she wanted us to do about it. I think she got an X-ray or something and some pain meds to take home. Diagnosis of "shoulder strain". :bored: Just weird.

CodeteamB · Feb 22, 2013

I'd have liked to hear the answer to the question I'd have asked, "What treatment did you have in mind when you came to the ED, ma'am?"

I ask that question all the time when I'm having trouble getting to the bottom of a chief complaint. " what are you hoping we can do for you today." It seems to startle people into honesty ie: "I want pain meds/my MRI today/a sick note for work" etc. It saves some time and allows for educational opportunities/ referral for appropriate level of care.

CodeteamB · Feb 22, 2013

To clarify my last, we do not triage away, rather provide a list of PCPs and remind patients that they can avoid ER wait times by making apps with a GP next time they experience similar troubles.