ER waiting

[Guest guest]

As a current ED nurse (Just got home as a matter of fact), let me tell

ya why you and others have to wait so long for a bed, and why you pay

such a high price for health care.

First let me say this. My ED is the busiest (or second busiest,

accordin' to what year it is) ED in the state of Alabama. With the new

system we nurses developed average wait times, after triage are around

10 mins. That's wait time in a chair, before being seen. Once in a room,

and being assesed, lab work etc.. etc... causes a wait.... Now, on to my

day.

2:45pm: Clock in and head to get report from first shift nurse that had

my rooms.

2:46pm: Obese, dirty female, 50, in wheel chair in the middle of the

hall yelling " I want a f-ing shot, my f-ing foot hurts!! " to the top of

her lungs, crying and shaking the arms of her w/c. I stop to ask her

what's wrong with her foot since no one else is in sight. " I stepped on

a nail " she said " When " I replied " 7AM this morning. " " Have you been up

here all day. " " Hell naw you dumb ass, I just got here, now get me

somethin' for my f-ing foot " I explain that she'll have to wait till the

doctor writes an order and her nurse will bring her something. She

coughs up a big mouth of green/yellow phlegm and spits it on me.

2:56pm: To the men's locker room to change t-shirts, and wash my

stethescope.

3:50pm: 36 y/o male. Chief Complaint: Toothache. Me: " How long's it been

hurting? " Him: " Oh hell I don't know about six months. " He was waiting

for me to be at work, I'm sure. Me: " Did ya go to your dentist? " Him:

" Shit naw I aint got no insurance or no money. " (of course his

undergraduate degree must be in English) Of course. Everyone know's

emergency care is free care.

6:10pm: On the way to the the nurses station outta trauma room 1 to have

the secretary call for the chopper for x-port of the 6 year old I'm

coding in the room, I get stopped by a 20 somethin' female complaining

of a pimple on her chest (Don't feel too sorry for her it's been there

for over two years), she grabs my arm and she say's " Look I've been

waiting for over 10 minutes I got shit to do. " I say, " So did the mother

of the 6 year old that's dying in that room, now please let go of my

arm. " I try to push past her and she pulls me back and say's, " Can I

just make an appointment and come back tomorrow? " Instead of trying to

explain the concept of how an emergency department works I just say

" Sure, what time ya wanna come in? " I'm off tomorrow, I don't give a shit.

8:25pm: Seven people, all from the same family, complaining of " nothing,

we just wanna be checked cause of the wreck we had. " When was the wreck,

I ask, the spokesperson for the family explains that she doesn't

remember, exactly.. but it had to have been around January or February.

9:10pm: After patching up the second shotting victim of the night I head

to the lounge for a much needed and deserved diet dr. pepper only to

find a patient in the lounge smoking. I explain that a) he can't be

there and that smoking is not allowed inside the hospital.. He coughs

and attempts to breath thru his tracheostomy and curses me as he leaves

the lounge, portable oxygen tank in tow.

9:40pm: A pack of cigarettes fall out of the pocket of the man that is

trying to get me to give him 30 lorcet 10's cause he can't afford to get

'em filled. ......

10:15pm: 64 y/o male complains of an addiction, won't say what kind of

addiction... Finally, he breaks down crying and explains that he is

addicted to sex. Sad. Truly Sad. I won't explain to ya what he did to

amuse himself as he waited to be treated.

I won't bore ya with anymore of the night... It got better and it got

worse.....

So, when ya have a real emergency, just remember not everyone in the ED,

even those seemingly in pain, are having a true emergency.

Randy

cindy rickel wrote:

Dear Tigger,

I have been on both sides of the ER fence so to speak. I once went in and was in

so much pain from a gallbladder attack, that I sat writhing in my chair for

three hours. By the time they saw me, my attack was almost over. I also was an

ER nurse for many years. It was not by our choice that people had to wait.

Believe me, we wanted to turn people in and out of there as quickly as possible.

Sometimes we would be so swamped with life-threatening emergencies like heart

attacks, codes, trauma victims, that our beds would be over flowing. Compile

that with lack of nursing staff due to the nursing shortage, and you have a

tailor-made wait. Not to mention the fact that we, as medical people have to

cover our butts with lab and x-ray tests to keep from getting sued frivolously.

For every procedure, lab test, x-ray, count on waiting an hour (once you are

inside on a cart) for each one. No one likes to visit the ER, especially when

they are hurting, but please don't shoot the messenge

rs. Your

situation is typical all over the country.

Cindy

tigger57ri wrote:

O.k. guys, I took your advice and called my surgeon (against my

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