Would you go to the ER for this?

[greenfiremajick]

My friend's a nurse and she has been having trouble breathing, etc. She refuses to go to the ER because she's embarrassed. She isnt turning blue or anything, but she has been hacking producing nothing, etc and can't get a DR's appt. Would you be embarrassed to go to the ER with those symptoms, if you were a nurse and worked at that hospital? I am not asking for medical advice....I'm asking about whether or not you would be embarrassed to go.....

[greenfiremajick]

To breathe is to live -- difficulty breathing = having trouble living. Not too proud or embarssed to find out the nature of the problem. I had chest pain that was significant in my mind and I went to the ER and they kept me overnight for observation and to have a cardiac stress the following day. Nothing is too embarssing when it comes to common sense that dictates when something is wrong. If the nurse doesn't want to use the same hospital where she works - there might be another option such as a medi center or even a different hospital. By the way, has her condition improved?

Well, see if it were me I'd like to think I wouldn't be embarrassed but then again I've never been a nurse at a hospital that I was contemplating visiting the ER at, you know? She said she was able to "produce" or something to that effect. I asked for that in English and she said she was hacking up gunk. This apparently equated with her feeling better, so good news indeed!

The next closest hospital would be aprox 70 miles, or about 45 to the really crappy one.....

[rwright15]

I am wondering with all the millions of ambulatory care clinics and walk in clinics, why she can't get an appt. Most of them are "no appt necessary"....

[ItsTheDude]

she can't get a doc appt? there's more than one doc in most places, not to mention doc n boxes/urgent care clinics.

she's a nurse? if someone is hacking at work, they're asked if they've seen a doc, if not, they're sent to the clinic or ER to get it checked out, no telling what she has.

would i be embarrassed to go to the ER over something like this? YES, what a waste of resources, you can find a doc to see you easy, unless you live in the middle of no where.

[Lizzy88]

In my case, nurse or not I have to go, unless I don't care at all about my life. I think she has to check that up because it can be something serious.

[KB24]

I'd rather be embarrassed and know everything is ok instead of taking a chance of something bad happening to me because I was embarrassed.

People come to the ER for a toothache, headache, fever, etc.

She should go visit a doctor to make sure it's nothing serious.

[MikeyBSN]

Being that plenty of people go to the ED for dinner and a work note, I would no longer even feel the slightest bit embarrassed about going to the ER for any actual complaint, as trivial as it may be.

[nursel56]

Why can't she get a doctor's appointment?

[trixie333, ASN]

Don't be embarrassed....this complaint is OFTEN presented in triage...I triage hundreds of pts. a week..... I welcome the chance to assess respiratory problems....Sats and auscultation of lungs in triage provide a lot of info.....some people have severe bronchospasm and are not even aware of it, they just feel miserable...when asked why they came to the ER, many pts. reply: "I suddenly got worse", "I work, this is the only time I can come", "This is the only time I can get a ride", "My appointment is not till next week, and I can't wait", etc. For the most part, most pts. will receive good to great care and go home satisfied..... a very few will be admitted...so, in a nutshell....common complaint, common presentation, don't be embarrassed.....

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

I had a co-worker that was embarrassed because she was having stomach upset, diarrhea and bloody stools. She didn't tell the 3 nurses that worked with her in the office (I was one of them).

She went home ill on Friday and we went to her funeral the next week. If we would have known, we would have hauled her to the ER. Bleeding ulcer that was left untreated.

otessa

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

Seems like nurses are always the first to take care of themselves LAST. Which is a shame, we should be our first priority. Not saying our patients aren't important, but we certainly can't help others if we can't help ourselves.

Most nurses I know have a "suck it up" and "tough it out" mentality.

I would probably go to an urgent care if I was having trouble breathing from a really rough cough. I think most nurses have connections to be seen somewhere fairly quickly. If I really couldn't breathe, was turning blue, etc or gasping for air my butt would be in the ER in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's hard to decide whether something is ER worthy or not. But urgent cares are usually fairly quick and they see simple colds and stuff all the time.