padalyn
Truth is stranger than fiction - you really can't
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Messages
- 2,121
There isn't a specific date or time as to when the title of such a large department was changed to a more appropriate one...just a little information about why it isn't a "room" any more.
Think about it - this is a large multi-roomed and multi-disciplinary area that treats everything from trauma to the flu. People come into the ED for every little ill. To call such a large department a "room" is insulting to those who work there. The area uses: MD, PA, APN, BSN, LPN, NA (all of these in the immediate patient care), now add: X-ray tech, phlebotomists, CT techs, radiologists and many other ancillary personnel and you begin to see how many people work in this "room". In addition, the accreditation to become a trauma center requires that you have an operating room (or department) in the ETD...again; calling it a room is a bit silly, hmm?
Most do NOT have insurance; the staff are expected to take care of each patient instantly but may have 15 patients at the same time. No other area of the hospital has that type of patient load. Most areas are 8:1 at the worst. Only in the Emergency Trauma Department is the load rule lifted.
Ok - now that I have said that piece. I speak as an ED RN and a paramedic. I know the system inside and out. Here are the bottom lines.
Many people (the percentage is reaching over 50% in some areas actually) are uninsured. Hospitals are mandated by EMTALA laws to treat and see EVERYONE. The hospital 'eats' that cost. Many hospitals are going under; this causes the remaining ones to carry that burden.
Many patients choose to not listen to their instructions. When being discharged, the patient should ask questions about the prescription - in your case the Ibuprofen you were prescribed can be used in the over the counter version - look at the number of milligrams ordered and take the same number by doing the math. The OTC version is 200 per tablet - if you were told to take 800 - that is 4 tablets. Just be sure to take it with food. NEVER on an empty stomach. EVER. unless you really want a bleeding ulcer.
Next item - most ETD MD's don't read X-rays - the radiologist does. So, since the MD didn't look at yours I will assume the radiologist (a physician by the way) did, and gave the ETD MD a report of the findings. The ER RN will read the labs, not the MD, and report anything that is amiss. The ETD MD has most likely ALL the patients to take care of, not just the 15 or so the RN has.
In my full time job's (I am a paramedic at this facility) hospital the ETD is 85 adult beds (separate pediatric ED of about 35 beds), this is staffed by 3 or 4 MDs, 2 PAs, 2 APNs, and 15 RNs. think about how many patients each person has to see. That is assuming the ETD is only at capacity. For the most part, there are seldom less than 100 patients in the ETD at any given moment.
A pre-diagnosed issue that has not resolved is not as emergent as a life-threatening problem - such as cardiac arrest, or life threatening asthma. I can go on and on - but I think everyone gets my point.
I am defending my professions and co-workers here. I feel that you have maligned them in a way that is not fair. You are rating them based solely on your limited exposure and without the knowledge of what they deal with, have to do and the training required.
Yes, the ETD is a great place, however even the little community hospital ED is a very busy place. I work as an ED RN in a small community hospital - only 200 beds. The ED has 25 beds - we see an average of 15 patients at any given moment at 4am...during the day that number swells to 35. this is done with 3 RNs, 1 MD, 1 PA and 2 techs. So, the waits range from 1 hr to 5 hrs.
At my full time facility - the average wait is 6 to 8 hours.
If you noticed, I used 2 different terms to describe the Emergency areas of the hospitals - that is because the accreditation is different. The ETD is a trauma center, accreditated by the federal, state, and local governments. The ED is a smaller community hospital area that carries only state and local accreditation. All the staff that work in both are required to carry many years of experience and education. Please realize that the ED or ETD is not a clinic. We are used as such and that is just a HUGH burden on all of the health care system in the USA.
For you follow-up - please go to the assigned clinic, you only have to pay a little bit each month to ensure they don't sue you. But, many people lie about their ability to pay. There is also the illegal component here. Many people just are not qualified to our free health care system - thus the research. Yes, it takes months, because of all the cutbacks in personnel to find out you are being truthful. Not everyone is.
<Climbing off my soapbox now>
Thanks for "listening"
Hopefully yours IS pleurisy and is already resolving! 
I wasn't bashing anything/anyone. I was just concerned that I may have been misdiagnosed. The two doctors that kept coming in kept seeming to forget that I'm a diabetic because each time they came in I had to remind them and they'd act surprised. The doctor that checked my eye out didn't look inside the eye. Rather, he looked at the white of my eye and noticed that my eyelid was swollen at which point he said, "Oh, it's probably just your eyelid", as in he was guessing. I'm just concerned because my vision is a bit wonky and I see lights and rings of color if I rub my eye or even touch the bridge of my nose. 
Like you don't know that, eh? 
But Motrin makes me feel aaaaaaaall better. Except for my eye......but that's another story. 
