Sometimes I wanna strangle people....goes along with the "Rules" thread

[TazziRN]

On weekends there is only one admitting clerk on duty, she is both the front desk clerk and the ER registration clerk. ER pts come first; there is a sign up front that says if the clerk isn't there, to either wait or go to ER registration. The clerk was back here registering ER pt after ER pt, and when she went back up front an irate man whose wife needed OP labs started screaming at her that "the pt in the ER had better have been dying, and from now on she'd better stay at her desk!"

Rule Number 5001: do NOT scream at our ancillary staff and expect the other staff to be polite to you.

[TazziRN, RN]

Goes along with the ones who call and say they're bringing Dad in, could we please call Dr. T-- and have him in the ER when they get here?

I will be happy to call Dr. T-- but I ain't gonna do it until Dad gets there....Dr. T-- would roast me and arrange me on a serving platter if I called him first!

[traumamomtx]

Had a very rude pt once on the trauma/surgical floor. All the nurses groaned when they had to take care of him. One evening he had called to have his urinal empty since we only have 2 techs at night and they are always so busy I went down to empty it; I was charge so no big deal. When I got there he was ranting and raving about how long it had took me to get there; OK, like less then 5 minutes. He was just being a big jerk complaining about everything. I then proceeded to say "well I'm sorry it took me so long to empty your urinal be we were having a medical emergency down the hall". He says "I don't know what that means" very gruffly. I said "someone couldn't breathe!" Then his tune changed, "oh, well I didn't realized". I said "I know that is why I am letting you know we weren't neglecting you or the urinal". Never heard another peep from him the rest of the night.

[EmerNurse, BSN, RN]

I love my ER job - I really do. I always try to make my patients feel as through I'm thrilled to see them (sometimes with tongue firmly planted in cheek). I would never mistreat a patient or be unkind. This is sometimes a heroic feat... you see, I work in the county hospital ER of a major metro area....

Here is my wish list:

Please don't walk out of triage after signing in, go two blocks away, and call 911 from the 7-11 so you don't have to wait your turn. For a sore tooth. Times 3 weeks.

Please understand that I do NOT have the keys to the handcuffs that have connected you to the stretcher, and it's not my fault they're there. Ask that nice guy in blue sitting in the corner. Oh and no I do NOT want to know what you're innocent of.

Please don't call 911 for a sore knee , yell at me when there's nothing wrong and you're discharged, demand an immobilizer and crutches (you walked down the hall to ask about the wait just fine - 10 times), and then demand a ride home. Yes, I know we have to provide an ambulance to get you home (county, remember), but you don't have to wait on the stretcher. Let me introduce you to our waiting room. No I don't have a sandwich for you, either. And nooooo you don't have to pay for it.

Please don't use the waiting room restroom toilets as a trash container. All that water running down the hall only pisses us off. Daily.

Please do NOT.... NOT... use those two little magic words to get you into a room ASAP. (you all know what words those are). Once written down, we must follow protocol so you WILL get 2 large bore IVs, a host of meds you don't need, and spend 23 hours being observed. Is it really worth all that, just for a sore toe?

If you need to refill a prescription for high blood pressure, please forego the new gel nails and get the prescription. The ER is not the place for refills. Our city has 10 strategically placed county clinics, visit them, the people are nice.

The baby is crowning - YES honey, you're pregnant.

You don't want us to pull that out of there - and trust me, we don't want to either. But the x-ray's great for a hoot later

We're treating you for a sugar of 524. Please don't offer to share some of your M&Ms with me.. I'm hungry and MY sugar is probably 32, but ... puleeze.

Please don't go pee after you just finished all the water I had you drink so you could go for your ultrasound. Please.

Please don't deny illicit drug use on the triage form when we can clearly see that you've visited us for OD 6 times in the last 4 weeks. We remember you, trust me.

To the ALF: why did you send us, via 911, the 95 yo DNR resident with generalized weakness?

And I agree with every other "rule" posted!!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

please don't tell me that your child/parent/spouse/whatever is in terrible pain and really needs "a shot of something good" when they've just told me that they aren't having pain and don't need a pain med.

please don't refuse the oral pain med that was ordered because "it won't work anyway, and that other nurse always gives me a shot of the good stuff." especially if you're chatting on the cell phone, eating a big mac that someone snuck in for you, and/or cheering on your favorite "survivor" contestants at the time. if the oral pain med is ordered, that's what i'm going to give you. we'll talk later about how well it did or didn't work and whether or not i'm really going to wake up the physician to order you "a shot of the good stuff."

please don't waste my time by dragging me away from my other patient (who has no blood pressure, an o2 sat in the 80s and a sucky rhythm) to tell me that i need to talk your child/parent/spouse/whatever into taking the pain med they've just refused because you know them better than anyone and they really need it. believe me when i tell you that talking your loved one into taking a pain med they've just refused is not high on my priority list at this time.