Readers Digest

Readers Digest had an article about "Things the ER staff won't tell you." The article made its way through the ER and gave us a laugh.  I thought I would share some of our favorites............

1. In the ER, nurses provide most of the hands-on care. So be nice. 

     This one is so true..The last shift I work I had this lady come in that called me so many names I forgot what my name was.....ya know I'm sorry you wanted to kill yourself but after spending 5 minutes with you....the entire staff wanted to also!!!!

"Yes, we know you're waiting.... and  waiting....and waiting" If we had a room available we would put you in it.

Waiting is good. It means you're not going to die. The person you need to feel sorry for is the one who gets rushed into the ER and treated first.

Your emergency isn't necessarily our emergency.

If you come in with a virus, don't get mad because we can't tell you exactly what it is, be happy we've ruled out that is not an emergency.

When we say, Put this gown on , we mean you should take off the clothes underneath so we can see the area that we need to examine. Don't put the gown over your clothes.

**We would like to put these on a sign in the waiting room*******

1. Some ERs don't allow more than one visitor per patient  for a reason:  You get in our way. Nominate someone to be in the ER and have that person relay information to everyone else in the waiting room.

2. Standing in the doorway and staring at us while we work won't help your loved one get treated more quickly. We're pretty used to people trying to intimidate us!!

3 We don't come to your place of employment and yell at you and tell you how to do your job!!!

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Some of us are pretty good at spotting people who come in to score pain medication.....especially if you are specific about the drug you want or you drove over an hour to get here and passed many ERs on the way.

If you come in with a bizarre or disgusting symptom, we are going to talk about you. We won't talk about you to people outside the ER, but we need to vent like everyone else. (and a good laugh!!)

And yes.. I love the ER!!!

(we do have compassion for those patients who truely deserve it!!)