A good 70% of stuff that comes into the ER is stupid shit that:
a) you could have seen your doctor for
b) you shouldn't have gone to anyone about
I mean seriously if you took away all the fools who come in daily for their little boo boos and perceived neurotic shit, we would be out of business.
If we ever tried to reform how people use the medical system, it would be a gigantic undertaking. People in this country can tolerate no discomfort. They want immediate gratification. The days of letting your body just heal itself for small stuff
are gone. As Americans we think we DESERVE to be able to go to the Dr or the ER for the sniffles. We demand that someone make it better RIGHT NOW.
It really is ridiculous.
4 comments:
I had a pt yesterday who had symptoms of a stroke A WEEK AGO... when I asked her why she waited till today, the day AFTER Christmas to grace us with her presence in the ER, she said, "OH well, it was the holidays. I didn't want to come in." And, no, she didn't contact her PCP.
Or the lady that has had a headache for ONE YEAR and today was the day she was getting it checked out. Not yesterday, or tomorrow, or LAST YEAR. TODAY! Sheesh.
People cannot be held accountable for their health!
Thanks for your blog. And keep it up. I'm glad to see I'm not alone in the nutty world of ER nursing.
Same story here. Real one we had yesterday "I didn't have time to fill that Coumadin you guys prescribed me because I've been so busy with Christmas!" Really? Okay, maybe Santa will bring you a PE for being such a smart girl this year!
SO TRUE!And the fact is that most times, people that suffer from NOTHING visit the ER in panic. They demand to be examined NOW. Last time i faced that, there was a guy having nothing, shouting to the triage nurse "now is my turn, me first".Then she shows him the indication that the que is formed according to the seriusness of each situation. And the guy looks to the above poster instead "DONATE YOUR ORGANS TO SAVE LIFES". And he starts shouting again"Why do i have to donate my organs??what's going on???". One of the funniest moments in the er...
And it doesn't help when they've been vomiting for 45 minutes so we fill them up with a liter of saline and zofran. Lovely, let's just encourage them to come in even faster next time! Nothing like reinforcing that they were deathly ill and really needed to be in the ED.
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