What do your ER patients families say or do that irks you?

Specialties Emergency

Published

Copying from the OB thread but using ER patients and families.....

I hate when patients say "i'm a hard stick" If I had a penny for every time I have heard this (and usually get a line in the 1st time), I would never have to work again.

I've only been an RN for 6 months, but I started in the ED. I'm already pretty cynical.

EVERYONE comes to the ER hungry. If it's not the patients asking for food, then it's their family members ranting and raving over how terrible the service is, where's the doctor? Can't she have some food? I've never had to wait this long before. etc...

"My doctor told me to come over. He said he'd call and you'd be expecting me." Sorry, ma'am, we're still going to have to ask you a bunch of questions about your history, because I don't have a personal copy of your file.

The worst patients seem to be the young female abdominal pain patients. Oh, the drama! Ask them for a urine sample and they take 20 minutes to get up off the stretcher. Then you see them chatting on their cell phones, sneaking Cheetos from their purse, asking for food. They also seem to hit the call light the most.

One thing that really peeves me off is when the patient is being discharged, the doc tells them they can go home. So the patient gets dressed and stands in the door STARING at you. Or they push the call light "the doctor said I could go home, when are you going to take this IV out of my arm??" Well, sir, the doc has to write up the d/c instructions, and then I need to type them up and print them out, and oh yeah, I'm just a little busy right now with my patient whose pressure is 80/35 but I'll drop what I'm doing and rush over to get you home.

Another thing I've noticed is that no one seems to take their diabetes or HTN meds the day of their visit. So you hook them up, get their pressure, and it's 220/115. "Yes, I take pills for my pressure...No, I didn't take them today". Or, "no, I haven't taken them for 3 days because I ran out"....grrr...totally avoidable ER visit, not to mention dire consequences for their health.

I was just remarking last night how it's the sickest patients who are the most enjoyable to take care of. I had a little old man last night, end-stage prostate ca, lives alone, was found on the floor, banging on the walls for help, covered in feces. We cleaned him up, he smiled and thanked us, started making little jokes. Apologized because the chemo makes him forgetful. His neighbor brought his meds over--he takes oxycontin q12h. Never once complained of pain, even when I asked him. He was admitted and orders were written. I gave him pain medication--he finally admitted to hurting all over. Smiled the biggest grin when I have him the med and thanked me for helping him. It makes the job worth while to help someone who's truly suffering.

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

I forgot to mention the family quote of "My son/daughter/brother/third cousin removed is a doctor/nurse/mortician". And I care why? Like I'm going to wipe their butt with our freshest egyptian cotton now?

However, it is those patients who thank you for the simpliest things that make it worth it. Had a classmate who told us a story "I was in Wal-mart, and this man came up to me. He was a patient of mine, and he remembered me. He said he'd never forget me, b/c I brought him water whenever he asked for it and no one would get him any" Simple things... -Andrea

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
:rotfl: :uhoh21: Comments made by and general behaviour of patients that irk me include (but are by NO means limited to):

- No. 1 pet hate is the the young dying swan/drama queen... doted on by their significant other/mother/father... PUHLEASE...! Vomiting once is not a medical emergency... nor is having diarrhoea... once....

I may be alone in the fact that if I have gastro I want to sh*t and vomit into my own toilet, shower in my own shower and crawl, almost dying into my own bed...

-"How long am I going to be here? I have to [insert something obviously more important than their MEDICAL EMERGENCY here- may include work/ family but more often than not social commitments]" - we like to keep people here as LONG as possible... its great for general attitude of patients... they LOVE to wait... or so I am lead to believe.

- After rating their pain as as 10/10.... refusing analgesia.....

some people really don't appreciate sarcasm when I say... " so... on that scale of 1 - 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain imaginable, say on par with getting both of your arm and legs ripped off at that moment before you lose consciousness due to the pain... you'd be right about there now :)?

- "I hate needles... and I am not having one..." - Okay... have fun bleeding to DEATH... Recently we had a woman of K18/40 with heavy PV bleeding... refusing IV access/analgesia... for multiple hours... she just wanted an ultrasound... *sighs*... she ended up in theatre.. not before she had 2 IV's inserted...

- "I've been here for (insert grossly overestimated amount of time)... this is ridiculous... get a doctor in here NOW!" - I'm sorry but all the doctors are at the pub having lunch at the moment... having a few quiet drinks... they LOVE to make angry people in a whole lotta pain wait as LLLLOOONNGGG as possible... it's good for their conflict management skills...

- "When am I going up to the ward?"- when still on the ambulance trolley at triage... normally complete with suitcase, handbag and every other possession ... how about never?

- "It's nothing like on TV" - that may be because you have come to the ER for a splinter in your finger as opposed to losing limbs in a MVA.

Comments made by and general behaviour of patients families/relatives that irk me include (but are by NO means limited to):"

- refer to first comment above...

- "Mum/Dad doesn't like [this],[that] or [the other]... " before even introducing myself....

- "Mum/Dad hasn't eaten all day... s/he needs something to eat NOW" - It's 2:00am and s/he is here for investigation of abdo pain.. s/he isn't getting anything... this may take away from the fact that the patient is ASLEEP (!)

-"Mum/Dad is diabetic and needs something to eat..." With a BGL that is OFF the scale... I think she is fine and dandy for a minute while I just prepare this insulin infusion......

- "I am not leaving" - Did you want to see your significant other/mother/father use a bed pan... or get an internal of some description? :uhoh21: ...... We had a patients partner get escorted out by security because he refused to stand OUTSIDE THE ROOM while his partner was having a lady partsl exam..... Dx PID secondary to chlamydia...

Sorry for the long post... but I could go on and on and on and on... but I won't....

Keep them coming though! I love comments such as these that only other nurses understand... :p

I have only been working in ED for 2 years... It doesn't take long to become a cynic.... (not that I wasn't before I started...!!!)

I am still laughing at the above comments. I am a med-surg nurse and can relate to some of these. I took my husband to our ER for kidney stone pain recently at 12 midnight. There was a couple sitting in hospital owned wheelchairs holding an infant and popping wheelies!!!! Never a dull moment.

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Specializes in Emergency.
After rating their pain as as 10/10.... refusing analgesia.....

some people really don't appreciate sarcasm when I say... " so... on that scale of 1 - 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain imaginable, say on par with getting both of your arm and legs ripped off at that moment before you lose consciousness due to the pain... you'd be right about there now :)?

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :chuckle :chuckle :crying2: :chuckle

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Specializes in ER.

some of my favs are the drunks that have BAL's anywhere between 350-500 complaning they havent had anything to eat for 3 days. the 3 days seems to be the drunken standard around here.

a lot of these same drunks are known to insist, upon discharge, that they had a couple hundred dollars on them when they came in. leather jackets are popular missing items in the winter.

family members that hover at the nurses station or in the doorways giving every staff member the hairy eyeball cause we arent moving fast enough for them.

the SI patients that insist they know their rights and can leave anytime they please after you've explained why they cant at least 5 times. (only applies to the rare sober ones)

patients that spit on the floors. they dont ask for a basin or anything, just hock one on the floor.

the people that seem to think the ER is a deli and get mad about all the people going in ahead of them even though they were there first.

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Specializes in ICU,ER.

have any of you seen an increase in the number of meth pts that are starting to use the ER as a place to "come down"? they come in, rocking back and forth... saying they haven't slept or eaten in 3 days and want US to bring them down. of course, they have a HR of about 120-130, so you have to do something. some of our docs are giving them ativan iv and that kinda peeves me.... it's like we are now a part of their drug cycle. as if your regular run of the mill seekers weren't bad enough... :rolleyes:

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Specializes in LTC, ER.
:rotfl: :uhoh21: Comments made by and general behaviour of patients that irk me include (but are by NO means limited to):

- No. 1 pet hate is the the young dying swan/drama queen... doted on by their significant other/mother/father... PUHLEASE...! Vomiting once is not a medical emergency... nor is having diarrhoea... once....

I may be alone in the fact that if I have gastro I want to sh*t and vomit into my own toilet, shower in my own shower and crawl, almost dying into my own bed... /QUOTE

you are so right! i always wonder why people run to the er because of vomiting once or twice! i have puked all over my house, cleaned it up, medicated myself and crawled into bed, but the drama queen in the er wants everybody doting on her/him because of a little vomit. i always feel like a little vomiting never hurt anybody.

also the people who haven't eaten for hours or days, i ask them/family, why is that my problem? these people know they are coming to er, they should eat before they come, or act like the smarter er folk and bring their own snack/dinner.

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Aaarrrggghhh!!!

The family members who feel they must tell you how much worse their kidney stone, laceration, back pain, whatever is than the patient you're triaging. I especially enjoy the ones who want to tell me their entire medical history.

I also enjoy the family members who want to know a detailed history of what's going on with the patient in the next room.

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I hate when a patient tells the nurse about the millions of medications they are on and then when you asked for their medical history, and they say none.

The patient that comes in with whatever sort of pain that has been going on for months and months. They are always the ones who make a big fuss about anything and everything.

When are you trying to place an IV, or any other procedure, the family closes in on the patient to watch but you can't even get close (or move) to the patient to do your work.

Family members that want to give you their whoe medical history and then for ask for advice, etc. Then some of them what their vitals taken. I tell them that they have to check in before I could do that. (hospital rule). But I hate when they go on and on. You would think they would be more concerned for their family member who is in the ER.

And no one ever thanks you for anything that you do (except the really sick ones).

I was talking to this cop and he said that he wanted to write a letter to the beer companies and tell them that they should just make a 2pack since that is all people drink.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
*LOL* Oh yes, the ones that say, "You'll have to use a butterfly needle..."

Well, that one would be me......

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it's always a butterfly, it's always 2 beers and it's always 6 hours.

people have never eaten, after the 100th visit in a month, they still don't realize they have to have a ride home before they get a narcotic or anything that would impair driving, and they are not smart enough to take the bandaid off from the hospital they just came from.

what is it about vomiting and diarhea that makes you want cheetos and coke? must be something because thats what i see all those n/v/d pts eating.

i hate it when the pt has a f/m 3 states away that is a nurse/dr and they call q 15 minutes for an update.

or, when telling the pt that you just triaged that you are taking them to a room/bed, they say...ooh, you are keeping me???? nooooo, you haven't even seen the dr yet...

i think my number one peeve though is the parents of the infant that you are getting ready to start a line on. when they say "you've got one chance, one chance only" that kills me. its like they think we stick needles in babies for fun.

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i think my number one peeve though is the parents of the infant that you are getting ready to start a line on. when they say "you've got one chance, one chance only" that kills me. its like they think we stick needles in babies for fun.

You mean you don't? :chuckle

What do you do in this situation? I think I'd be tempted walk away and ask someone else to do it. Or roll my eyes and explain it may take more than one stick..I'm sorry.

I have to work on that I guesss. :)

Z

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