Situation- guy's in the ED bed being treated for vomiting (emergent vomiting apparently) and his wife is at bedside- He starts throwing up and his wife (who is standing next to the big pink vomit catching device) YELLS to us at the nurse's station- "Aren't you going to DO something?! He's throwing up!" (And yes, he had been treated/medicated). Apparently the act of vomiting is an emergency in and of itself and the average spouse just isn't capable of say, I don't know, handing her husband the emesis basin.
*whew* sorry about the rant, but she had a really effective evil eye and I just had to get it off my chest. Maybe I was just stressed today because of the 50 PEOPLE WAITING today when I came on shift, and not an emergency in the bunch...nah, I love this job
Feel free to share your humorous/strange stories here (in a general, HIPPA-friendly way of course)- It would make for entertaining reading, I'm sure :roll
some people just need a license to breathe don't cha think? These are same folks who can budge grandma, 90 lbs soaking wet from the car but can carry the chips & sodas into the bay area & never get off their cell phone during the triage process....Here's your sign! & also here's your Oscar for drama!!
Here's a great family involvement story! Just this weekend one of our local paramedic units was alerted for an unconscious subject, by the time they responded, the call was changed to a cardiac arrest with CPR in progress. When the medics arrived the family was doing chest compressions on the patient. Paramedics were told the patient was unresponsive (ok, the family didn't use such a big word) so they (the family/friends) started CPR. Thank god for bystander CPR and education! The paramedics did the usual quick look assesment, monitor hook up, etc. Pt was in a perfect sinus rythym and responded to verbal stimuli. Turns out she had fallen down (passed out) as a result of a little too much ETOH. She was brought to our ER in the cabulance, treated for her ankle injury and sent home with her loving and life saving family! Fortuantely the bystander CPR was done poorly and she didn't suffer any additional injuries. Moral of the story...when you plan on drinking yourself into a stupor, make sure the people you are with know the difference between drunk and cardiac arrest
The ER was full (of course) and holding 12 (not bad for an 11 bed ER at the time!)
I was triaging a very sad little man who's family brought him in for suicidal ideation. Not the kind of pt. you can say "tell my your little problem and take a seat"!
Soooo...I'm talking to family and out of the corner of my eye I see a 20-something y/o sitting in a chair (someone who I haven't had time to triage yet) passing out and sliding out of the chair!!
So as I am trying to extricate myself from this distraught family and leap over the 6 people who have set up camp in the waiting room to catch this lady before she hits the deck...
Are you waiting with anticipation???...
My frequent flyer drunk with her sore throat jumps in front of me and screams...
"Hey, you're not taking her in front of me are you?"
So I, being the caring and compassionate newbie nurse that I was say...sit the Hell down and shut the Hell up!! Yes, I am taking her first!!!
The waiting room applauded.
My boss...who of course had JUST come out to help said...yup...I knew you were an ER nurse!!!
Say it over and over...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB!!
Way to go RN2 92. I loved your post, it got a laugh from me.
I had a question from the nurse who posted about the mother of the child with a fever dressing and covering up the child.
I am in school, and trying to learn, but this is one of the things I'm constantly hearing contradictions on. We were just told in class that if someone has a fever, you should not try to cool them off externally (such as undressing in cold weather, cold baths or alcohol) because that triggers the body to shiver, producing more heat and raises the body temperature more. Then I've also heard from mothers and nurses that only cool baths or alcohol baths reduced their child's or patient's temperature. I was just wondering about this.
The fumes from alcohol can be toxic so we don't do that anymore.
You need to undress the child to cool them off, but NOT to the point of shivering. Also keep in mind that a fever untreated can help to shorten the illness, fever is not a bad thing unless it is going up too fast and too high (seizures) or it is making the child cranky and miserable (comfort measures) in which case you would give Tylenol and /or Ibuprofen to help bring it down.
...You need to undress the child to cool them off, but NOT to the point of shivering. Also keep in mind that a fever untreated can help to shorten the illness, fever is not a bad thing unless it is going up too fast and too high (seizures) or it is making the child cranky and miserable (comfort measures) in which case you would give Tylenol and /or Ibuprofen to help bring it down.
good advice...
i did phone triage...
too bad most parents thinks fevers (and vomiting) will nearly KILL their child!!
Busy ER, any given night:
Wacky dad says: "My kid is vomiting, do something!!!"
Busy as hell me: (says nothing, hands dad a garbage can, and continues triaging)
too bad most parents thinks fevers (and vomiting) will nearly KILL their child!!
Busy ER, any given night:
Wacky dad says: "My kid is vomiting, do something!!!"
Busy as hell me: (says nothing, hands dad a garbage can, and continues triaging)
sean
yea, what is up with the puky thing anyway? why do we have to watch? does it make it less truamatic for the pt if we watch? in that case, for every vomiting pt, all the staff should go to that room, (we can take turns) and watch. bam! the pt is cured, they leave and that cures the overcrowded er. i will alert the media of this new cure so that all of the medical schools can be made aware!
Here's a great family involvement story! Just this weekend one of our local paramedic units was alerted for an unconscious subject, by the time they responded, the call was changed to a cardiac arrest with CPR in progress. When the medics arrived the family was doing chest compressions on the patient. Paramedics were told the patient was unresponsive (ok, the family didn't use such a big word) so they (the family/friends) started CPR. Thank god for bystander CPR and education!
well, what really happened here was the bystander has never missed an episode of er so of coorifice they knew cpr!!!!
The paramedics did the usual quick look assesment, monitor hook up, etc. Pt was in a perfect sinus rythym and responded to verbal stimuli. Turns out she had fallen down (passed out) as a result of a little too much ETOH.......
Cabulance...
treated for her ankle injury........... and sent home with her loving and life saving family!
and responded to verbal stimuli. Turns out she had fallen down (passed out) as a result of a little too much ETOH. She was brought to our ER in the cabulance, treated for her ankle injury and sent home with her loving and life saving family! Fortuantely the bystander CPR was done poorly and she didn't suffer any additional injuries. Moral of the story...when you plan on drinking yourself into a stupor, make sure the people you are with know the difference between drunk and cardiac arrest
Mushu
10 Posts
That's a lot of Ativan- but for a good cause