What's the longest er wait time you have Even seen

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One big hospital here has been packed many times this is the one I waited 23 hours in the er for a room once . I was told at that time they had a 20 hour wait that day ! I was sick last week and went back to this same one and waited 9 hours to get in the back not. But after 4 hour they did come out in the waiting room to give me meds so I was thankful for that . But it got me thinking what is the longest wait you have even seen .

If you're waiting more than 3-4 hours, you're probably not sick, go home and come back later...or even better, go to urgent care. With that said, I've seen a wait time of 9 hours...the guy had a splinter in his finger and was too scared to take it out himself.

I broke my leg and had to wait 5 hours in an ER where I live. I was on my way to see my PCP when it happened so I kept my appointment and after she looked at it said she didn't think it was broken but if it made me feel better to go to the ER and get an xray. Considering the fact that I actually felt the bone snap,couldn't walk on it at all and it hurt like heck I did. When I told the ER nurse what my PCP told me she said it was a good thing I didn't listen to her because I would have been in a world of hurt that night.

The splinter story is what I love about this site. You guys have some of the best stories.

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Specializes in CCU, CVICU, Cath Lab, MICU, Endoscopy..
I have had patients tell me they came to my hospital because they had been waiting at Grady for 18 hours not sure if that's true, but I have seen Grady have 80 or more patients in triage at a time.[/quote']

Keyword...level 1 trauma center it is reserved for the most severe injuries, unless ready to pitch a tent.....

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I've seen 24 hour waits or longer, but it's a level 1 trauma center for uninsured and underinsured populations.
not because of their insurances status but because they have a cold and those hospitals are usually major trauma centers so the most acute are seen first.
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not because of their insurances status but because they have a cold and those hospitals are usually major trauma centers so the most acute are seen first.
Also, the level 1 trauma center I worked at was smack in the middle if a major urban area, and served a HUGE population. It was a peds hospital so just about everyone had insurance (govt provided or private) but we still had a heavy urgent care/ could be seen by doctors office burden along with lots of legitimately sick kids. In the winter season you can be moderately sick (maybe eventual admission to med surg, maybe discharge) and still wait a couple of hours in the waiting room before coming back.
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Specializes in ED.

The longest wait I have seen was 6 hours on a busy day. Complaint of flu like symptoms. They were pretty upset. Guess what? They had the flu. We gave them Tylenol and sent them home. When people stop coming in for BS reasons. the waits will go down :)

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I'm from Quebec, Canada, so waiting more than 12 hours is really common. I've seen more 24 hour waits than I can count. And I am talking about 24 hours in the waiting room, not 24 hours in a bed waiting to get a room.

Back when I was in nursing school I went in for UTI gone bad. Turned out to be bilateral pyelonephritis with peritonitis. According to the docs, when they finally decided to see me, I was hours away from kidney failure and dialysis. Wait time? Almost 4 hours before I was even seen. The fact that I had no temp at all made the triage nurse think that I was just exaggerating.

But yeah, waiting room, I've seen 24-36 hours. Been seen, but waiting for a bed in a room? Days. That's what happens when you don't have any consequences for going to the ER for stupid reasons. Makes the wait longer for everyone.

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.

Just last night 35 hours. All the ICU's were full in our hospital plus the other three hospitals in the nearby areas. Luckily they had given the pt a real bed rather than a gurney.

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72 hours waiting for a bed. When I left after my shift she was still waiting..

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Specializes in ER / ICU.

Years ago....

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I have never waited more than 15 minutes to be seen.... but I have breathing issues and when I go to ER it's appropriate. When I worked in ER in England though, we were the only level 1 trauma hospital for miles. One shift, we had ambulances parked outside and in the street because the hospital was full.... no beds, and our ER was over flowing from a 12 car MVA on the freeway. Many people were waiting over a day for beds on the hosp floor, even with the discharge nurses working overtime and transferring pt's out to let the MVA ones in!

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

20 hours for leg pain. Diagnosed with plantar fasciitis...

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The longest wait I ever had was a psych patient we were trying to get transferred for 63 hours!!!!!! We ended up admitting them to one of our med/surg beds bc no one would accept them!!! Felt terrible for them and their family :/:/

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