Waiting Room Signage

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What verbage is used on signage in your waiting room to explain treatment by priority of triage level? Looking for good explanation with least words.

The louder you whine

the longer you wait

(sorry, couldn't resist)

-nancy

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

lmao!!!!!! :p i would love that sign out there!!!!! :chuckle

me :)

Oh excellent Nancy, i'm laughing so hard I'm crying.:roll

I'll order one too for here.

Willa, I don't think we have much at all...only emergencies are seen first or something generic like that.

Some people will take no notice whatever sign or explanation they get anyway...they want to be seen NOW. The sensible patients seem to understand the laws of common sense.

Not much help I know. Sorry.:D

We have a sign with a paragraph explanation about how ERs are not run on a first-come, first-served basis, and how the sickest patients are seen first.

It doesn't really apply to our non-English speaking population, as well as our illiterate population... ;)

As for many of the rest of them...either they don't read it, or they don't care b/c they still get pretty irate! ;)

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

well somebody made a sign, and hung it up in back of our ed. it says weclome to 1 west! wonder what people would think, if we hung it in the waiting room?

ummmmm???? 1 west? yes sir.....we are a floor now....the er will be closed until sometime tomorrow! :chuckle

me :)

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

What signage??? The pts ripped everything off the walll!!!

This guy called yesturday. He wanted to know how long the "wait" was. He had swallowed his TONGUE PEIRCING! and thought it was very important to know where it was in his body. However, he was at another hospital and hadn't gotten his requested x-ray after 4 hours and he didn't want to wait that long. I told him the wait was possibly 2 to 3 hours. He was irate. He said to me, is this an emergency room or a waiting room.

I explained that EMERGENCIES were seen immediately. His wait would be two to three hours!

Who needs signs?

Specializes in ER, PACU, OR.

well i was actually thinking of a sign that read, if you have waited less than 4 hours to get in back, we are ahead of schedule. :p

now i can explain where this one came from! we had a lady who was irrate, because she came in for rcva pain. the pain had been present for about two weeks. she walked over to the nurses/docs station, and asked when the doctor was going to talk to her. i told her, when he sees the x-rays and the labs are back. she then proceeded to tell me that they were all back. she also said, "i have been here almost 3 1/2 hours. this is ridiculous!" i wanted to say, if you have been here almost 3 1/2 hours, and your about ready to go, you have absolutely no reason to #$%^&!

hence.....my idea for the sign! :D

me :)

we have a sign, 2 in fact, that read patients will be seen in order of severity of illness, which may not always be in order of arrival.

it doesnt matter. people yell and complain anyways. it is always ME ME ME.

i had a young girl (10ish) approach the triage desk with an obvious wrist fx. i triaged her next and got her to a bed right away. when i got back to the triage desk, yes, someone came up and told me that they were here before that girl. and that person's complaint......... toothache. she waited a long, long time. ooooops.

the best sign we had was behind the triage desk. it was from the frank and ernest cartoon. they are at a sign-in desk and ask "where do we sign in?", they are told, we go by the honor system, to which they reply, "oh, we're next" triage to a T.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

Howdy yall

from deep in the heart of texas

Our witing room is full of signs, the whole ER is full of signs. Signs about pt rights, about triage, about use of cell phones, about carrying weapons, about animals, about how we will treat everybody irregardless of their ability to pay. about how we support minorities rights to health care, about how we advocate for those with disabilities. And you know what, NOBODY IS READING THEM ANYWAY.

Reminds me of an old song back in the late 60s

Signs Signs

Everywhere theres a sign

etc etc etc

keep it in the short grass yall

teeiuptom

I agree Tom. Maybe there should be a big sign that says, READ THE SIGNS!

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