A Walk in the Shoes of an ER Nurse

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Scenarios not likely to be believed by the triage nurse in your neighborhood ER:
I left my lortab at home,out of state in a vault with a timer.
I got this nasty blistered rash on my privates from the toilet seat at Dillards.
The gerbil seriously jumped past my anal sphincter tho tightly squeezed and up my ass.
I have no idea how that bic pen found it's way into my penis ( for the sixth time)!!
It still wrote afterwards.
My baby's daddy stole my xanax prescription while I was passed out.Well maybe.
I have pseudo-seizures and take xanax for them. See I'm having a seizure right now as she sips her smart water.
I sat on that bottle brush shoved 6 inches into my rectum.
The perfectly spaced scars on my arm are when I cut it on a broken window.
When visiting your neighborhood ED just assume we aren't going to fill your empty lortab,soma,xanax,oxycontin,morphine,dilaudid prescriptions just long enough to for you to get into see your doctor.
Also don't come to the ER and assume I know what that little blue pill is that you take for your blood pressure or that I have time to wait until you go out to the car to retrieve said medication. ( I don't) There are 10 people in line after you!!
If you must attempt suicide you defeat the purpose if you call someone and tell them that you just took 30 tylenol. All you do is buy yourself a large garden like hose shoved with conviction down your throat by a pissed off nurse who just did it twenty minutes ago to the guy in room 20 and was puked on for her efforts.
For the females:
When visiting the ER for belly pain assume we are going to do a pelvic exam and plan accordingly,ei bath that thing,yes it smells worse from our angle.
Science tells us that pregnancy results from non-contraceptive sexual relations and yes it could happen to you even tho he pulled out maybe in time (plan accordingly).
Also for the suicide wanna be DO NOT ATTEMPT ON THE WEEKEND. Nurses hate babysitting you while waiting on a psych consult.
We do not pay for free rides back to your trailer after your visit even tho your baby daddy left you stranded here. It is assumed that you got yourself to the ER on your own and you can get your ass home in the same manner.
We are still scratching our heads after you said your german shepherd raped you and had claw marks on your back to prove it.
Also confusing was the puppy fetus removed from the lady's va---a and telling the doctor she was having a miscarriage, the pathologist was not amused.
Yes we do laugh our asses off at some of the patients we see, it's how we stay sane. And yes you were probably one of them!!

mary of AL 12:01AM March 26, 2011

Montefiore does not see over 220,000 patients a year in their ER if they see 220 patients in a busy day...(this articles numbers look strangely similar)...but 220 (max) patients a day would be 80,300 per year...quite a bit different than reported.

A. Woods of NY 9:31PM April 11, 2010

Obviously you are still alive and well enough to whine. So I think the ER doctor did not do anything wrong, but (unfortunately) everything right. Just follow up with your primary doctor and have him do ultrasound of your calf or CT of your chest to R/O PE and stop making a scene in ER or attempt educating the triage nurse (we have seen it all and heard it all, yes we have!) Don't wait long enough to be really sick to show up in an ER, but instead take responsibility of your own health (don't make it government's responsibility) and may be quit smoking while own your birth control pills and have a healthy excersice regiment and eat less and lose weight!

fed up ER nurse of OK 6:22PM January 21, 2010

Does anyone know where to look for the lighted chart rack.When I worked @ a level 1 trauma center (16 yrs) we had a wonderful chart rack system. Any Ideas???

mary riley of OR 10:06PM November 28, 2009

I am a bit alarmed at the posts to this story. Lots of grammar and spelling errors.Are you sure you are R.N.s? And could the English gap be responsible for so many medical mistakes? Just a question.

Beatrice McFlanigan of NJ 3:40AM June 12, 2009

I am currently working in ER in Ja, if you think you have it rough, spend a few hour here. Many Jamaican watch these medical shows and see the fast pace and believe that we are idling. No manner how you tell them that right now in USA that is one of the election debate they just think you are trying to fool them into submission.
We have institute the ESI triage system and it worked well. It prevent the subjectivity in assigning clients priority. As well allow for the re-assignment of doctors to various areas based on the number of clients in a particular ESI.
But beside it all I really love working in the ER, as the fast pace and thinking on your feet is what realy love, also to see the response of clients to treatment.

Kaye Lambert Fletcher 11:26AM April 30, 2009

I have been an ED RN for 25 years and still love it. I feel that every day is a challenge and while some days more than others I would not change my profession. I am however disheartened by the nures who continually feel overworked, overwhelmed, must "go Union", put up with "bad" attitudes from peers, etc., instead of trying to see the positive and if no positive is in sight to take the innitive and make try to make change for the better. Life is what you make of it and I feel that instead of "bitchin" we need to pull up our big girl panties, take care of our patients, families and each other and make our workplace and profession what we want it to be without the negativity and blame.

JR Collins of CA 5:38PM April 16, 2009

I missed this article from last year.
Anyway, I can't help but respond. I work in this same facility for the past --almost 10 years -- Anisa Mertiri is a colleague. She works day shift I work night shift. I'd like to thank the writer of this article despite the very limited scope covered (triage part), I appreciate that someone had seen the positive side of the care. I understand those comments coming from RN's that have been in this business for years. What this article offered is just a glimpse of what goes around the life of an RN in a given 12 hour shift.
But nonetheless, it's appreciated.
I hope to share more as an insider on my blog, which is intended to be fair and balance. My goal is to present an anecdote to allow outsiders peek into the inside world and take their comments observations, suggestions and put together a data that could hopefully offer some improvements to the challenges that everyone faces----the crisis in ER----we all have to use the ER one way or the other.
Once again, thanks for giving notice of the good care rendered.
Believe me, every RN wishes to provide the best care when we leave home to work, but things can change quickly when we arrive to the workplace.
See ya' all there.

Jiino of NY 3:39PM February 19, 2009

I want to comment on the sugary piece regarding the ER and nurse Anisa Metiri. I've been a patient at Einstein and have been in the ER. I remember presenting to the ER with chest pain, pain the right calve (mind you I had a hx of PE though rather small). The doctor sent me home with a Rx of Atavan or some such thing. The ER is usually too crowded and the wait times are horrendous and all they are concerned about is getting you out of there. PERIOD. There is no care in healthcare and the nurses can have some really bad attitudes. As an aspiring nurse, I do not look forward to jeopardizing my bladder control because I couldn't even take a bathroom break and my lunch hour is mandated by law. I was told to head for ED after graduation or Med-Surg and right now I'm not sure which one.

PrincessYo of NY 12:32PM December 03, 2008

This article doesn't even touch what an ER nurse does in a 12 hr shift! To all the nurses who don't get lunch breaks or breaks to go to the bathroom... GO UNION! I used to work in TExas with no ratios no breaks no lunches and it sucked. Working in California is awesome! There should be articles wriiten in different ED's and what level trauma facility they are considered. Working conditions vary from state to state.

egm of CA 8:52PM November 01, 2008