Are You "Emergency Room Happy"?

[luvsJack]

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.

I don't find that to be true at all.

Some of the best doctors and nurses with the best bed side manners work in our ER. One of the doctors is so loved by many of the people in town that he has been begged to go into private practice.

It does take someone special to work in ER, but they must have a decent bedside manner because one of the biggest issues in the ER is fear. The patient's fear and the family's fear. The beloved doctor always said that first he dealt with the patient's fear and then with whatever was wrong.

I don't expect someone to "put on a band aid with a smile on their face" in the ER, but I do expect them to not be cold and unfeeling.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

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.

Just wanted to add.....the specific hospital I'm speaking about is a trauma center so that being said the most horrific cases are airlifted to the center.....It is also where most rapes from the county are taken.

God bless the ER people that are front line & ready for the most horrible crisis~

I imagine there are huge differences between small town ERs & a Magnet Award top 50 medical centers in the country center.

 

[belledreamer]

No clinics around here and for me, no insurance... So we have to go to the free hospital. I've only gone to an emergency room 3 times in my life. Once for an ovarian cyst that they at first thought was appendicitis, for a stomach virus that dehydrated me so badly that I was too weak to walk, and for a twisted ankle, (but that was because I had to ask off work and one of my managers said I couldn't come back to work without a doctor's note and I couldn't wait six months for a doctor visit... )

But I hate going to a doctor in general, so I try to treat things myself if at all possible. But I do get what you're saying because I've seen people in there and all they have is a runny nose...

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

No clinics around here and for me, no insurance... So we have to go to the free hospital. I've only gone to an emergency room 3 times in my life. Once for an ovarian cyst that they at first thought was appendicitis, for a stomach virus that dehydrated me so badly that I was too weak to walk, and for a twisted ankle, (but that was because I had to ask off work and one of my managers said I couldn't come back to work without a doctor's note and I couldn't wait six months for a doctor visit... )
.

There is no such thing as a "free" hospital. People with insurance pay for those who don't have insurance.
In the past year our deductibles & copays have gone up 2x because of the "free" hospitals

 

[crz4mm2]

No, I am not.
DH has been several times needing stitches....
DS went ONCE when part of his lower lip was bitten off by a dog
I have been ONCE with a migraine that I could not get on top of. Vomiting ALL night long.


I will only go to the ER if I am DYING! After thinking I was with the migraine, I went to the "preferred provider" hospital. To the tune of 450 bucks.
Later I was told I should go to "prompt care" which was owned by the competition... go figure I will not go again.

 

[kilee]

Just wondering where everyone lives that has all these clinics that set broken bones, do stitches, and are open 24/7?

Where we live we have 1 place that is open 9am-7pm daily for walk-ins for "minor problems" they don't do stitches and they don't deal w/ orthopedic issues. However, they do NOT accept any type of insurance and it's on a cash upfront basis. Ummmm...nope that is why I pay so much out of my paycheck for insurance.

Also, right around the holidays many offices around here will be closed for several days in a row. Take Thanksgiving for example--- you'll be lucky to find a doctors office open on the day after. Sorry, if you or your kid come down w/ strep on Wednesday night waiting until Monday to start antibiotics can be dangerous.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We get lots of drunks, who random doogooders find sleeping in parks and call 911 so we get to deal with the stinky, obnoxious winners till they wake up and go home.

In fairness, the other side of this: coming up on my local news at 11, a story about people ignoring a wounded man lying on the ground. He died.

 

[luvsJack]

In fairness, the other side of this: coming up on my local news at 11, a story about people ignoring a wounded man lying on the ground. He died.

Exactly, I would rather think I might send a drunk to the ER than allow someone to lay on the sidewalk and die.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I try not to go. Where I grew up, it was the only choice for broken bones. Your doc would just send you there, so when I broke my hand, I drove to my mom's hospital to have her look at it and then drove to the ER to get it taken care of. Don't assume that just because your clinics cast broken bones, all do.

Also, health care in our country can be a joke and leaves people with little recourse. I got a nasty case of what I thought was bronchitis last year. My insurance with my school did not start until October and my old insurance did not cover anyone within a 2 hour radius. Once my insurance kicked in, I still couldn't find a doctor to treat me because they wouldn't treat me sick until I saw them healthy. I went to one doc who would work me in, saw him for less than 30 seconds, and was given a prescription for antibiotics because he said I had strep. No fever, no test, nothing. I tried a Minute Clinic next. They did a strep test, it was negative, but said false negatives aren't uncommon and gave me an antibiotic. After that didn't work, I went to Urgent Care, who told me I had strep and gave me a different antibiotic. Had to go to urgent care twice.

Two weeks into the whole debacle, I finally got to see a real doctor who told me that I had virus triggered asthma. All in all, I spent close to $200 on what turned out to be wasted visits before I finally got a proper diagnosis. I now trust those places as far as I can throw them. I have a great doc now and hopefully I will never be in that position again, but if I am, I hate to say that I would be tempted to just go to the ER.

 

[luvsJack]

Just wanted to add.....the specific hospital I'm speaking about is a trauma center so that being said the most horrific cases are airlifted to the center.....It is also where most rapes from the county are taken.

God bless the ER people that are front line & ready for the most horrible crisis~

I imagine there are huge differences between small town ERs & a Magnet Award top 50 medical centers in the country center.

Your right, it takes a special person to work in the ER. And I am fairly sure that just about any ER is going to get some pretty horrible cases. I, for one, know that I couldn't do it.

I have a friend whose sister has been an RN for many years and has only worked in the ER. That is where she chooses to be and she is good at what she does. Actually she works only weekends and in the ER in different cities. Like one weekend she will be in New Orleans, the next weekend in Mobile and the next on the MS Gulfcoast and the 4th weekend she will be off. I would be scared to ask her some of the things she has seen, especially in NOLA and Mobile. I must say that I have been surprised that she has never changed her attitude about her patients or her job. She loves what she does and feels that she is really making a difference.

 

[countrygrl4]

I work in the chemistry lab at my local hospital and used to spend my younger days in the hospital ( feet issues which lead to major corrective surgery on both feet) and I used be like why have a doctor if you are just going to come here? I don't get it!

 

[aprilgail2]

IMO, unless you are going to die or there are NO clinics around, you don't need the emergency room. Even if it's broken, the clinic can mend it. Last time I was at the clinic at 1am for strep throat, there were TWO kids getting casts on broken arms!

WHY would we pay for an emergency room when the clinic can stitch it up for her $20 co-pay!

Any "clinics" we have around here are not open past 9...and that is late for them. We do have a late night pediatric place that I take my daughter to but that is only if it is not a real emergancy because its 30 minutes away and the hospital is 5 minutes away. So when it comes to Asthma or anything she goes to the ER. We pay nothing for emergancy room visits but if I go to the Dr there is a 20.00 co-payment but I still go to the Dr whenever possible!
When my daughter was little we didn't have to wait in the ER ever, she had had a few febrile seizures so when she went in with breathing trouble and 105.8 fevers they brought her right into the back. If the people that don't bother having health care didn't use the ER as their own private Dr's there wouldn't be the waiting time there is there. Half the people there don't even speak English.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I haven't been to the ER since I was 2 and needed stitches in my forehead. I have plenty of friends who are medical professionals, from nurses to doctors, and I call them first. If they think I need the ER I go. So far I haven't.

One of my friends in a trauma nurse at a level 1 trauma unit in town and she is appalled at the stuff that walks in there. They are attempting to treat gun shot wounds and people walk in with tooth aches. Go to the freaking dentist and let the trauma unit deal with the people who are in need of trauma care.

I'm gonna guess you have never woken up with an abcessed wisdom tooth at 2am. I was unable to speak and had to write a note to my husband begging him to take me to the ER.
No clinics here, just the hospital and the dr. Last week, I went to my dr for a severe panic attack...he SENT me to the ER. I got a shot. I don't know why he wouldn't do it in his office, but I was following his orders. Those are the only 2 times I have been to the ER in years (with one exception, and in that case from the ER I was transported to Baptist Hospital where I spent 4 days in critical care). It was life threatening and I know that's not what you are referring to.

 

[Acklander]

There is no such thing as a "free" hospital. People with insurance pay for those who don't have insurance.
In the past year our deductibles & copays have gone up 2x because of the "free" hospitals

I can't get insurance, as I'm uninsurable. You don't pay my way, I do that myself thank you very much, as a matter of fact, I'm subsidizing YOU because I'm charged at a higher rate than the insurance companies for the exact same procedures. It's very hard to get a Dr. appointment without insurance, even with self pay, so people in that situation many times have no option beyond going to the "free" hospital.
So sorry your deductibles and copays have gone up 2X in the last year. I wish I was in your shoes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Really? Well take a walk in my shoes for a weekend and get back to me on that one.

I see many very sick people who need help. I see "more" people who ( if they had to even pay a $10 dollar copay ) would not go to the ER. But since they don't have to pay, they go to ER for everything.

More than once a day I triage a patient and ask " Who's your doctor?" and their response is "Dr X" ( who's an ER doctor and doesn't have patients...but this patient sees them every week.....)

I also see drunks, psych patients who hit, kick, bite, spit....I've been threatened, charged and puked/crapped on. And we don't have a psych ward so we hold these patients for days until we can move them.

I take sad of old, sick dying patients who are on hospice and terminal, but the nursing home doesn't want to deal with the death paperwork so they send them to the ER even though they're a DNR.

So, sorry about the attitude. But, it's not so much rosey.

Just sent you a PM--but wanted to post her as well that I do apologize for my own snappy attitude yesterday. It wasn't fair of me to do that.

Thanks for being a trooper in the ER.

 

[luvsJack]

I can't get insurance, as I'm uninsurable. You don't pay my way, I do that myself thank you very much, as a matter of fact, I'm subsidizing YOU because I'm charged at a higher rate than the insurance companies for the exact same procedures. It's very hard to get a Dr. appointment without insurance, even with self pay, so people in that situation many times have no option beyond going to the "free" hospital.
So sorry your deductibles and copays have gone up 2X in the last year. I wish I was in your shoes.

Its a shame that every time someone mentions not having insurance someone else has to chime in that "they" are paying your way; when that is not the truth at all. Health care is such a hot topic, but it would certainly be nice if everyone would wait to pass judgement until they have walked in someone else's shoes.

 

[MomRN]

When I was in nursing school and my husband and I were uninsured I went to the ER a few times for things I would never go for now that I'm insured. The major one being a bad tooth that would get abcessed about 1-2 times a year. The other being a sty. The sty I am kind of ashamed of, but I have had 100's of stys over the years, and this was by far the worst. My eye was swollen shut and I had a red streak starting down my face. They actually debated draining it in the ER, but referred me to the eye doctor on call. Fortunately I called to check the eye doctor at Walmart, where I get my glasses/contacts, and she drained it free of charge.

My son had several cases of illness induced asthma when he was a baby. He was insured through the state program, and even though there wasn't a co-pay, I still would have taken him if there were. It is just scary to see your baby struggle to breathe. That happened 2-3 times in 3 yrs. The other instance was a MRSA infection that kept getting misdiagnosed... it resulted in 2 ER trips and 3 drs visits, and finally being admitted and surgery to have it drained.

So, the answer to the question is... when I didn't have insurance, yes. I don't know if I would say I was ER happy, but definately used them as a last resort when home remedies failed. None of us have been to the ER now for over a year.

 

[iwrbnd]

When I was in nursing school and my husband and I were uninsured I went to the ER a few times for things I would never go for now that I'm insured. The major one being a bad tooth that would get abcessed about 1-2 times a year. The other being a sty. The sty I am kind of ashamed of, but I have had 100's of stys over the years, and this was by far the worst. My eye was swollen shut and I had a red streak starting down my face. They actually debated draining it in the ER, but referred me to the eye doctor on call. Fortunately I called to check the eye doctor at Walmart, where I get my glasses/contacts, and she drained it free of charge.

My son had several cases of illness induced asthma when he was a baby. He was insured through the state program, and even though there wasn't a co-pay, I still would have taken him if there were. It is just scary to see your baby struggle to breathe. That happened 2-3 times in 3 yrs. The other instance was a MRSA infection that kept getting misdiagnosed... it resulted in 2 ER trips and 3 drs visits, and finally being admitted and surgery to have it drained.

So, the answer to the question is... when I didn't have insurance, yes. I don't know if I would say I was ER happy, but definately used them as a last resort when home remedies failed. None of us have been to the ER now for over a year.

I wouldn't be embarrassed about the sty thing! I've rarely been to the ER & rarely go to the doctor but I'm a huge hypochondriac with my eyes! My arm could fall off and I would wait to see if another one grew back before going to the doctor but MY EYES......I don't mess with those babies!

 

[Becky2005]

I'm gonna guess you have never woken up with an abcessed wisdom tooth at 2am. I was unable to speak and had to write a note to my husband begging him to take me to the ER.

Mine wasn't a wisdom tooth but it was truly the only time in my life that I completely understood how someone could OD on pain meds. You just want the pain gone and you can NOT think clearly (at least I couldn't it was just all consuming pain). I actually took one of DH's pain killers he had from when he had his tooth removed. He happened to still have them (it was only Tylenol with Codiene -- so I knew it would be OK but I was desperate) but waiting for that to kick in I would have probably taken anything on top of it get the pain to stop it was excruitating. Even unmedicated labor wasn't as painful as that was. Mine was a cracked tooth that I had when pregnant but figured they couldn't do anything due to the pregnancy. It was about 2 months after the baby was born when the pain hit. If we didn't happen to have the pain killers at home, I'm pretty sure we would have ended up in ER because it was that bad of pain.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Its a shame that every time someone mentions not having insurance someone else has to chime in that "they" are paying your way; when that is not the truth at all. Health care is such a hot topic, but it would certainly be nice if everyone would wait to pass judgement until they have walked in someone else's shoes.

While it's true there are people like Acklander who can't get insurance, and people like MomRN who can't (temporarily, ideally) afford insurance - in MANY more cases, people just choose to not get insurance and instead use the ER as their 'regular' doctor.