Are You "Emergency Room Happy"?

[locolala]

My dd fell off her horse and hurt her arm. Everyone thought it was broken, even the trainer. I happily took her to Urgent Care, hoping to get an x-ray, etc. As the intake nurse took my info, as soon as she heard my dd hit her head in the process (wearing a helmet, horse gave a slight kick to her head as it got up...not a big deal with horses, I was only concerned about her arm) anyway, they refused to see us and said we HAD to go the emer. room for a CT scan. I tried to get them to assess the arm but no go, they were insistent re. the ER. Very annoying.

Waited until the next day when ped was open. Ped laughed about the supposed head injury. Gave us an x-ray slip and in the end, the arm wasn't even broken.

Honestly though, you can still have head injuries with a helmet on. I had a top of the line helmet on and had a bad fall, ended up with a skull fracture. I would have insisted your daughter go to the ER as well, with my riding students anytime you can't get back on the horse you're going to the hospital.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I can't speak for the other posters, but I'm really taken aback by your hostility. There's just a lack of professionalism in the way you're speaking. My mother was an RN for 40 years and I never once heard her speak that way about patients. Ever. And believe me, my mother was as far from being a rosy human being as you can possibly be.

What kind of nurse was your Mom?

I have to say ER docs & nurses are a very specific person. They have no tolerance for people who waste their time on scrapes & colds. They run on adrenaline & are always in the "ready" mode.
I will say they are not always the greatest with bed side manner~

What I will say is they are the people that you want taking care of you if your in a life or death situation. The people you want reviving your husband when he's having a major heart attack or your child is blue.

If you want someone & expect someone to put a band aid on with a smile & tell you to take Tylenol for your cold go to a doctors office & leave the space in the ER for people who are facing a true emergency.

 

[mariolatry]

I have to say ER docs & nurses are a very specific person. They have no tolerance for people who waste their time on scrapes & colds. They run on adrenaline & are always in the "ready" mode.
I will say they are not always the greatest with bed side manner~

What I will say is they are the people that you want taking care of you if your in a life or death situation. The people you want reviving your husband when he's having a major heart attack or your child is blue.

If you want someone & expect someone to put a band aid on with a smile & tell you to take Tylenol for your cold go to a doctors office & leave the space in the ER for people who are facing a true emergency.

Some ER doctors are like that. Some are not. My husband chose emergency medicine because he liked procedural based medicine, feeling like someone came in with Problem A, he did whatever (even if it was nothing much except reassure them that it wasn't serious), and they went on their way slightly better off. He has little patience for sitting in an office, managing Mabel's everyday blood pressure meds. He hasn't much for a bedside manner but he's very good at getting people in and out efficiently and with good care.

It's not so much the need to vent here. I've worked in health care for 15 years. I know from crappy patients. It's the anger apparent in the post that's throwing people off, I think.

ETA: I should add that the only real complaint that we both have is people who come in drug-seeking. He sometimes says "Today all I feel like I did was help people with their Percocet deficiency."


ETA: I should add that there are lots of things that don't seem like an emergency but could indeed be threatening. I had a older female patient who came in with bad indigestion. She was have a MI (heart attack). Thank God she didn't take her husband's suggestion to take some Tums and sleep it off. I had a 17-year-old girl who came in with a stiff neck. She nearly died from meningitis. I had a patient who scraped his foot on something while walking on the beach. He put a Bandaid on it and forgot about it until his foot turned red and green. He lost his lower leg from a community-acquired staph infection.

People don't always know what's serious and what's not. Better to err on the side of caution and let the doctors determine the course of action.

 

[tammymacb]

I dunno...I'm not sure where the angry came from. 'Cause I'm not angry. I'm actually flipping back and forth between the Dis and booking a cruise. What I was doing was venting and what I was accused of was not being nice....

Just one last "dumb patient" story because those of you who don't see it, would never believe it.

The week after Easter I got an encode ( the patient was coming by ambulance ) The complaint was a 20 something female ate a hard boiled egg that had been sitting on the counter for a WEEK and now had nausea and vomiting.

Yes, this woman ( who was dumb ) ate a week old unrefridgerated Easter egg and now was taking an ambulance ( and keeping it from someone who may really need it ) because she had an upset stomach.

Really?

 

[SundaeAfternoon]

Lots of things aren't very nice. However, they are reality. I didn't say that "Everyone I care for is dumb" I said I take care of a lot of dumb patients. And I stand by the statement. If you don't have to deal with dumb people in your profession, consider yourself lucky, because often they're not only dumb, but they're dumb AND annoying.

Why do I continue doing what I do? Well, I also took care of 3 acute MIs this week ( including one who had coded - was dead on arrival ) and got them all to the cath lab. The code was pretty young ( early 60s ) and we got his heart beating again and he got his arteries cleaned up and is alive and will be discharged. I also took care of a very nice man in the middle of a HUGE stroke, who I facilitated going to another facility were they will do a new procedure on him ( he'd passed the 3 hour window for us to treat him by arrival ) that may save his life and keep him from being perminantly handicapped. I also took care of several people who had ligitimate heart, lung, kidney issues etc etc that needed help. And those are who I go to work for.

Or maybe, you'd rather see people all rosey who don't have my 20 years of experience and have the ability to speak their mind?

I have friends and family members in the medical profession. It's a tough job and people who aren't in your profession have no room to judge. Kudos to you for all that you do!

 

[tammymacb]

So now you all can tell me I'm dumb.

I haven't been in an ER since I was a child with a broken bone. That was back when you HAD to go to the ER for broken bones because primarys did not have the ability to deal with radiology. I've passed through ERs 3 times ( with ruptured membranes on my way to deliver children in Labor and Delivery )

What I haven't gone to the ER for-

During a night dive in Grand Cayman I was stung by an unknown kind of ( probably jellyfish ) and had swelling and horrible pain in my arm. The tenticles had wrapped around me and covered about 1/3 of the area of my left arm. I was in so much pain, I was vomiting in the shower when I returned to my hotel room. Though I pay for DAN ( divers alert network ) insurance for just this type of emergency, I refused DH when he wanted to take me to the ER. I slept it off and was diving the next day.

During a cave dive in Florida, I ruptured both of my eardrums. Talk about excruciating pain! I drove home the next day, saw a doctor who immediately sent me to a University ENT who did surgery the same day.

Last year at BWV, during the Food and Wine festival, I was going down the Keister Coaster, stepped too far onto it and slipped. I fractured and dislocated my right middle toe. When I hit the pool, my toe was sticking up at a 90 degree angle. I popped it back into place, ( while still in the pool ) ( you could hear it crunch ) took 4 motrin and headed back to Epcot...

 

[PatsMom]

The last time I went to the emergency room was about 7 years ago. I had fallen down my stairs and injured my ankle. Because it was the middle of the night, I crawled back up my stairs and into bed. As soon as I was laying down, the pain was overwhelming. And I have a very high pain tolerance. My husband turned on the light to look and my foot was flopping around uselessly and turning green. He said he was calling an ambulance. I refused the ambulance because my insurance wouldn't pay for it if the leg turned out not to be broken. My husband wasn't going to argue with me at that point. He just got me some flannel pants, woke up my daughter and pulled the car across the lawn to the front door. I crawled down the steps and into the car.

When we got to the hospital, the doctor looking at my foot asked me if I had a preference for my orthopedic surgeon even before taking an X-ray. It was a bad break that took about 4 hours of surgery to put back together. Lots of hardware left behind in my leg.

Last year I almost went to the urgent care when I fell and hurt my arm. But I had friends visiting from out of town. So I waited until the next day (Sunday). And then I told my husband that I thought I must have hurt something. So we went to the urgent care. Where I was diagnosed with a crushed radial head - I had managed to break the darn thing! The orthopedic doctor didn't want to come out on a Sunday for a minor break so I was put in a sling and given pain medication and told to see him first thing on Monday. Turns out to be a great bone to break if you are going to break one. No cast needed - it either heals or it doesn't. Mine now has to have surgery because of arthritis in the joint.

I probably would have waited until I could see my regular doctor but she is close to 100 miles from home (near my work) and I wasn't sure about driving with my arm hurting so bad!

I am also blessed with a very healthy daughter who has never needed the ER. She went to the walk in once or twice with ear infections and once with a serious allergic reaction. But never the emergency.

 

[wvjules]

As a woman (but not a mother), I am the same way!

The last time I went to the doctor (other than the dentist for cleanings, and dermatologist for a mole removal) was last summer, at 1am when the pain of my strep throat was more than I could handle. Before that, I hadn't been to the doctor since I was 12. I am 27 now!

So far, nature has cured all of my colds just fine... along with tea and honey, hot toddies, and OTC cold meds!

Isn't that a good example of a non-emergent visit to the emergency room that prompted this thread?

 

[AKL_Megs]

Isn't that a good example of a non-emergent visit to the emergency room that prompted this thread?

Hmm... well, it would be, except that, like I said before, I went to the URGENT CARE instead of the ER, since it was a non-emergency. And yes, the man at the urgent care was a doctor... the doctor I was referring to as the first doctor I had seen since I was 12.

 

[Arielle22]

In the past 16 years I have been to the ER once for me and once for DH.

DH had a kidney stone at about 1am (nothing like hearig a grown man scream to make you drive faster).

I went once 3 years ago. I fell down 3 steps outside my house. My ankle/foot started to swell immediately. However it was pay day and I was the Payroll/HR Mgr. So I went to work, distributed the paychecks and then left early. I had a severe sprain (dr said a break would be easier to heal) and spent 3 weeks on crutches then had physical therapy.

I have taken my older DD once when she was 5. She had been vomiting for days and was listless. She had to get an IV for dehydration and was then good as new.

Younger DD has been taken twice. When she was 1 year old we were camping in NH. She was on an antibiotic that she had taken once before. She had an allergic reaction where she swelled up, entire body was covered with red splotches and her ears, feet and fingers were turning black. It was a small 2 room emergency room but the doctor was great. The other time she had a raging kdiney infection which resulted in a week hospitalization. A month later she had surgury to correct a problem with her kidneys.

Our local hospital does have a clinic section where you can be seen for minor injuries. If I call my doctor for things which need an xray she will send us to the hospital anyway.

 

[wvjules]

Hmm... well, it would be, except that, like I said before, I went to the URGENT CARE instead of the ER, since it was a non-emergency. And yes, the man at the urgent care was a doctor... the doctor I was referring to as the first doctor I had seen since I was 12.

My mistake. I thought it was an ER.

 

[AKL_Megs]

My mistake. I thought it was an ER.

It's cool.

Although, I will admit, the pain was so bad, that the ER would have been my next stop, if for some reason, the UC was closed. I was ready to kill someone.

Don't get me started on finding a pharmacy at 1am in excruciating pain...

 

[MushyMushy]

What kind of nurse was your Mom?

I have to say ER docs & nurses are a very specific person. They have no tolerance for people who waste their time on scrapes & colds. They run on adrenaline & are always in the "ready" mode.
I will say they are not always the greatest with bed side manner~

What I will say is they are the people that you want taking care of you if your in a life or death situation. The people you want reviving your husband when he's having a major heart attack or your child is blue.

If you want someone & expect someone to put a band aid on with a smile & tell you to take Tylenol for your cold go to a doctors office & leave the space in the ER for people who are facing a true emergency.

In her 40 years she did everything but surgery. I grew up around the nurses in that hospital and they weren't the type to spout off or vent to the general public about the stupidity of patients, and I'm sure they saw their fair share.

 

[dis-happy]

Honestly though, you can still have head injuries with a helmet on. I had a top of the line helmet on and had a bad fall, ended up with a skull fracture. I would have insisted your daughter go to the ER as well, with my riding students anytime you can't get back on the horse you're going to the hospital.

Well, I did keep an eye out for concussion but her head was quite unscathed. And the pediatrician more than agreed it was not necessary for her to be sent to the ER for CT scan. Her actual fall was pretty benign (pony in trot slipped in mud and fell with her); just her arm was caught underneath and was hurting a lot. (Would have been different if she had gone flying off over a jump and landed on her head!)

 

[locolala]

Well, I did keep an eye out for concussion but her head was quite unscathed. And the pediatrician more than agreed it was not necessary for her to be sent to the ER for CT scan. Her actual fall was pretty benign (pony in trot slipped in mud and fell with her); just her arm was caught underneath and was hurting a lot. (Would have been different if she had gone flying off over a jump and landed on her head!)

Oh ouch! I'm glad she's ok. Kids are so bouncy, I'm jealous. I had a bad fall last October, came off right before a jump and ended up breaking my leg. Had I been a kid I think I would have been fine. I'm glad you're a responsible parent.. unfortunately there aren't many around these days . One of my students came off, lost conciousness, and mom refused to take her to the ER because she didn't want to pay the $50 copay. I gave her the money and told her to take the kid, she ended up staying over night with a concussion and broken ribs.

 

[tinkerbell198530]

Oh ouch! I'm glad she's ok. Kids are so bouncy, I'm jealous. I had a bad fall last October, came off right before a jump and ended up breaking my leg. Had I been a kid I think I would have been fine. I'm glad you're a responsible parent.. unfortunately there aren't many around these days . One of my students came off, lost conciousness, and mom refused to take her to the ER because she didn't want to pay the $50 copay. I gave her the money and told her to take the kid, she ended up staying over night with a concussion and broken ribs.

That is so sad. I hate parents like that kids should come before money

 

[Crystal0608]

I am currently ER happy and here is why. Back in December, I starting having bad stomach pains, went to urgent care, got an x-ray. I was told to take OTC meds(tmi..didn't help, read on), sent on my way. First of Feb I fell on the ice in my driveway, went to urgent care, got more x-rays, & stuff for my sprained ankle (that part went fine).

Same week, more horrible stomach pain starting on Thursday and on Sat at 5:30am it was unbearable, so I woke dh up. He asked me couldn't I wait until 9 when urgent care opened? No!!! It's a very good thing I went to the ER b/c the viodin for my sprained ankle was masking the pain the dr said. The CT scan (only avail at hospital) showed my ruptured appendix with a football sized absess as well as I had a golf ball sized gallstone (will be removed next week) and a UTI, upper respiratory infection, and a cyst on my right ovary (it finally went away) the last three resulting from the infection in my body. I was physically close to dead without knowing it and had a 4 hour surgery and a drain tube in my tummy for over a week...all for stomach pain the urgent care thought was constipation. In this case, ER was the right choice.

 

[smkiya]

I've only been to the ER once, about 7-8 years ago. It was about 1 a.m., and earlier in the day I smashed my thumb in the car door. It wasn't broken, (we could have taken care of that at home anyway) but it did start bleeding under the nail. We just figured that we'd just go to the regular doctor the next day if it didn't stop, but it didn't. I took a pain pill (like the ones you get after surgery) and it didn't help AT ALL. I was in SO much pain and my entire thumb was hot and throbbing. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain, but I was just a wreck.

So we packed up and went to the ER. Took about a half hour...they drilled it, and when the blood started to drain it literally shot out of my nail about 3 feet in the air and got all over the doctor's coat.

I have no idea what things would have been like if we had waited until morning. I'm sure I would have went to the basement and attacked it with my Dad's electric drill before then!!

So yeah, not an emergency, but it was something that needed to be attended to ASAP based on the pain factor alone.

I'm an RN, and that sounds like an emergency to me.

 

[BabyTigger99]

My dd fell off her horse and hurt her arm. Everyone thought it was broken, even the trainer. I happily took her to Urgent Care, hoping to get an x-ray, etc. As the intake nurse took my info, as soon as she heard my dd hit her head in the process (wearing a helmet, horse gave a slight kick to her head as it got up...not a big deal with horses, I was only concerned about her arm) anyway, they refused to see us and said we HAD to go the emer. room for a CT scan. I tried to get them to assess the arm but no go, they were insistent re. the ER. Very annoying.

This happened to us, just recently. DSD was doing rollerblading in gym class, tried to stop herself by hitting a large gate. Ended up falling backwards and hitting the back of her head on the pavement. Called her doctor's office, they said they would not see her, and we had to bring her to the emergency room. So, needless to say, I will have to be on the phone with the insurance company when we get the EOB, because they will only pay like 50% if it is non-life threatening.

 

[WL Fan]

In defense of ER nurses everywhere...

We like our patients. We really do, or else we'd be doing something different. The problem comes in when people are stacked up in the waiting room VERY ANGRY at us because they are WAITING. What our patients don't understand, is that an ER is not a first-come first-served environment. We triage (sort) patients based on our experience and training. I know that your son or daughter is hurting, and I'm very sorry, but I have to do what I think is best for all of those waiting to see the doctor, and that might mean that someone gets to go ahead of someone else. I know it's not fair, but that's how it works.

We get discouraged when we see the same faces over and over and over again, knowing that the patients do not have a primary care doctor to help them with their pain management issues, we feel used and abused listening to the same trumped up stories, like we're not smart enough to figure out for ouselves what's going on.

When we ask patients not to eat or drink before seeing the doctor, it's for a reason, not just cause we're mean and nasty people. And no, we're not going to order a supper tray for patients as a rule. We'd rather find out what's wrong, discharge the patient and let them go get their own dinner. We're not set up for meal service in the unit, it's just not practical.

Sometimes when things slow WAY DOWN, it's because we're using all of our resources to help a critically ill patient. Not because we're lazy or out to lunch or tired. Just the opposite.

Every night I work in triage, I get hollered at, fingers jabbed in my face and nasty comments thrown over shoulders as patients wait their turn. Lovely, eh? I get lied to on a regular basis, because people think it will get them what they want.

Trust me. We can tell an honest to goodness illness/emergent need pdq. If you need us, please, come on in. It's what we love to do. Really. I've never worked in an environment where I felt like I was doing more good, helping more people, doing more teaching, soothing more souls that when I go to work in my ER.