Ok, so I had to go to the ER (first time ever) because I sliced open my finger on Christmas. So I get into the room and I dont tell the nurse that I am in fact a nurse also. Well I wasnt my normal self bc my index finger was almost cut in half, but the nurse starts my IV, misses the first attempt, gets the second but keeps tourniquet on and my blood starts pouring out, well I look down to see him wiping my blood off with his ungloved finger:eek: then he wiped the blood off his finger onto his scrub pants:madface:. He tapes the IV on with on piece of tape (no dressing). I ask him to get something to cover the IV and he says it should be fine until the doc gets there. Well then he starts my EKG leads and places them in the wrong spots, so i asked him if the white lead should be at the top right, he said "oh yea, you a nurse?" I said yes, BAM! He goes "well I wish you would have told me that before, we cut lots of corners in the ER"..... Then off he goes to get me a dressing for my IV. I guess I should have told him upfront, but when the ER doc comes in he says "well your a nurse, you just need to do proper wound care and you should be fine" Im like NOO Please tell me exactly what I need to do bc I am the Worst nurse when it comes to taking care of myself.....
I have been to the ER twice this past year. Once with my son, whose b/p was sky high and was starting to mumble. Turns out he had pneumonia. But, I am glad I was there. Some staff was really good, but some were so sloppy and didn't seem any more oriented than my son was. The Doc listened to his lungs and said, oh they sound ok, well, just before I took him in, his lungs were full of crackles and he had egophony on the left side. The doc said he's fine, you can go. Resp was 36. I asked for a 02 sat, can you believe they didn't even do that? It was 84. They finally took an xray, to find what I had already figured out, pneumonia. My son asked me to go with him on a follow up appointment, and that doctor listened to his lungs and said, "oh, there are some sounds in there" when I asked what the sounds were, she looked at me like she was inspecting a bug, and said, I said sounds, you know noises. I told her I had listened as well, and how the egophony was decreasing, and the crackles on the left were less, and there was polyponic inspiratory and expiratory wheezes, and was that what you heard? She turned in a huff, and the next person we saw was there resp therapist.
The second time, it was me in the ER for my leg. I had sharp pains and couldn't stand on it. It was interesting to see how I was treated, as I didn't volunteer my employment. But, after being left in a hall way for 2 hours after an xray, while the nurse talked to several friends on his cell phone, and was rough and rude, I kindly asked when we were returning to the ER. I had wanted to see what it was like to be on the other side. One the ride back, I commented it was really different being on the opposite side of the w/c. You would have though I poked him with a cattle prode. He suddenly came alive, and for the rest of the stay, I was his new best freind.
On discharge, the Rn was reading a generic form, and kept giving me cast care instructions, and I keep reminding her, I have no cast. But, that didn't deter her, from continuing. I had to stiffle a laugh when she told me if my toes swelled and turned black and began to dislodge to call back. I figured she was a lost cause. Good thing I was a nurse, she was pretty convincing and some people probably go home and check their toes frequently.
I hope I never end up in a hospital, as this was one of the better ones in the area. I would be afraid to go to sleep. I am an lpn for 20 years, and hope I learned some lessons from both of these experiences. What it feels like to be helpless, and to depend on someone who wishes you were gone, and feels you are old and useless, and thinks they can treat you poorly. I pray God will keep me from those attitudes toward my long term residents that I face every day.
Ah tiroka, if your body parts start falling off, you need to return. Pick up your toes on your way by, because we don't need you leading zombies into the ER. We have enough of them on staff.
I'm an ER tech and I hate it when we have family members/vistors come in and the first thing out of their mouths is "I'm a nurse" ok... that's nice.... but no need to breath down my neck every time I come in the room!
I work in a very very busy ER. When we get pt's that are nurses, no matter what speciality, I find they are often more understanding when things take a little longer, they have more patience and understanding
funny story of my own.... I HATE getting my blood drawn... I can get blood from anyone, anywhere 99% of the time, but I hate getting my own blood drawn... I am a "blind stick" and there is only one place I can get blood drawn, and that's if the person drawing it is good enough....
So I'm at the doctor and he tells me he wants to get some blood to check my TSH, rheumatoid panel....He leaves the room and I see all the equipment on the counter(butterfly!)... so I go ahead and do it myself! ( I know... stupid thing to do but I couldn't help myself. I had met his MA and she seem a little ditzy which just made me more nervous )
So just has a finished the MA walks in the room and the look on her face was priceless!! I gave her the tubes and she walked back into the hall and told my Dr what happened. He came back and asked if I was a nurse.... I told him no I'm ER Tech. He just laughed and said well thank you and dont do that again...lol
interesting note... a few months later during another appt he asked if I was looking for a job cause his MA was leaving!
So basically what you're saying is that you partook in the same obnoxious, "look at me, I'm someone special" type behavior mentioned throughout this thread...AND you're not even as much as a nurse to boot....
As a former MA who actually happened to be VERY good at drawing blood I would have been less than amused with your antics and my docs would NOT have condoned such behavior happening in their offices.
I was recently hospitalized and I'm young so a lot of the nurses asked me if I had moved to the area for school (because my dad had flown from out of state to be with me) and I told them no I'm here for work and most would then ask what I did for work. But I didn't announce it to anyone with no reason to. The only thing I got annoyed about was that I had to go in for MAJOR surgery (5 hour crainiotomy) and the anesthesiologist, who made a comment saying she had read my hx and knew I was a nurse, didn't give me any sedation prior to taking me to the OR. I know most places do but I think she didn't because I was relatively calm and not freaking out but I still think I would have liked the option, there was ALOT going on in that OR room when I got there and that definitely started to freak me out. And then they started strapping me to the table before I got anything either...not the greatest part of my experience there but I have recovered well and moved on.
No, I don't ever. I'd rather see upfront what kind of person/nurse they are than see a facade. Also, nurses specialize and other nurses forget this. They seem to think you know everything about their area. I'm like, hi, our jobs are very different.
Still, all fun aside, that's gross. It's understandable not to do everything by the letter, but infection control?!! Hand to blood, puke. I don't even go into a patient's room without gloves. I did that once when I was new and a patient's PICC line was coming out. I instructed the CNA to put pressure on it un... well anyway, long story I got hep C blood on my hand. Thank God I didn't catch it.
It irks me off when I hear someone on the floor say...Nurse in 34. Be careful...I am like...Oh please...If you would just do your job in the first place then you wouldn't care if that person was a nurse or not.
Then off he goes to get me a dressing for my IV. I guess I should have told him upfront, but when the ER doc comes in he says "well your a nurse, you just need to do proper wound care and you should be fine" Im like NOO Please tell me exactly what I need to do bc I am the Worst nurse when it comes to taking care of myself.....
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Wave Watcher
751 Posts
Nope.