the boomerang patient

You know its going to be a bad day when you are walking up to the ER entrance and there is a pool of vomit in front of it. Uh oh.

The first thing I hear is a man yelling at the top of his lungs. Hey, I recognize that guy.  He was here last time I worked.  Went to our observation unit.  It seems after carrying on all night there, he has boomeranged back to us. And of course there is no bed available inpatient.  So for the next 8 hours we get to hear about q30 minutes how unhappy he is with his life. Wonderful.

On a day when someone is yelling for hours in the ER, I feel like I am working in an insane asylum or a torture chamber, take your pick.  Its a - either the patient gets a shit load of Ativan or the staff does, type of situation.  Take your pick doctor.  Maybe some of the patients would like some too, since they are suffering right along with the rest of us.  Hey, Ativan for everyone...its an Ativan party!

You have to laugh on a day like this or it will kill you. It becomes comical really. You laugh so you don't cry.

Finally they come up with a bed and peace returns and the quiet feels kind of weird.  Like something is wrong.  Something bad is going to happen, I just know it...