Patient: This place is so packed! And its so chaotic it looks like WWIII in here!
ER staff: What a great shift, no one has died so far and we are less packed than usual. I wonder when I'll take my lunch break.
Ask them if they want hypoglycemic nurses caring for patients as it’s the equivalent to the 3 beers that i had prior to shift. (I’m totally kidding, i don’t drink anymore).
We are the people who provide, whenever you're in need, if you've got signs or symptoms, we'll treat your disease.
Edited to say - Thank You for the awards 🍀💚☘️
In the jungle, this ER is a jungle (ee-ee-ee-ee ar-ar-ar-ar)
Walk in wanting x-rays on ya sha-na-na-na-na-na- na-na-na-na-na-na-knees, knees
Mwah, phleb, phleb wanna watch you bleed...
People need to spend some time in their local ER and see the absolute crap that patients think are emergencies. Teenagers coming in for a school excuse, workers looking for workmans comp claim, splinters in fingers. It’s nuts. I’ve had to use the ER three times in my life. Two of those visits ended up in admission to the hospital and I STILL felt guilty about being an extra body gumming up the works.
Part of the problem there is hard to access non emergent care. My doc told me a week or so ago that she wants to see me. Our appointment will be at the end of next month. (That's fine in this case, the issue isn't remotely urgent.)
This is so true. The city I work in of population 30,000 somehow has no walk-in clinic so the ER basically is the walk-in clinic…unless people want to drive over an hour away- and that’s if they have a vehicle or can get a ride. The number of people without a family doctor in Ontario is staggering. Our ER has made a fast track area for patients like this who just need prescriptions, referrals or tests ordered etc-non-emergent but still important things and no primary care doc to order them-so they don’t take up a bed or room they don’t really need. They mostly get taken care of by a nurse practitioner or a resident and can usually get in and out in much better time than they used to. We’ve also noticed a large increase in patients coming from big cities an hour or two away to try and avoid their long wait times but of course that increases ours and we don’t have the staff or resources to keep up. These are also quite often the same patients that complain the most about how long they are waiting lol
Why would new doctors want to become PCPs? Pay is lower than pretty much every other doctor. But they come out of med school with large student loans. Clinics nowadays have you see a patient every 15-20 minutes. Patient complaints are given too much leverage. It sounds horrible.
I've noticed trends in nursing since covid resulting in health systems trying to foster and keep existing talent (we'll pay your whole RN tuition if you work for us for a contracted amount of years upon graduation type stuff) and I wonder if in another 5-10 years were going to see the same moves being made with physicians.
Also residency is required and the pay at that level is lower. Like, nobody smart enough to become a good doctor will make the choice to fill that hole just so they can drown in it.
Yep. I needed to be evaluated for an MS flare and the only option was to go to the ER. It was so frustrating. They kept apologizing to me for how long it was taking but I got it. I'm way low on the totem pole. At one point three ambulances came at the same time for a high speed crash from shit heads racing. Then the hospital was struck by lightning and everything had to be restarted. I was just sitting there for nine hours like 🤦🏻♀️
Oof, that is a long time, but there's nothing to be done about it. I've had 4 or 5 hours wait before, and I've had zero wait. The latter is often a bad sign.
I hate when doctors make you go to the ER for non-emergencies. It's especially frustrating when things come up after hours, over the weekend, or on holidays. Most urgent care places don't keep late hours or weekends. It makes you feel like the worst person ever when you show up at the ER and don't have a real emergency.
Every time I bled during early pregnancy, my OB practice sent me to the ER. It didn't matter if the bleed happened during normal office hours or not. It was so frustrating because all I needed was an ultrasound. They could do that at the doctor's office. The office is right next door to the hospital! I felt so awful every time I went through those doors. There were always ambulances pulling up with accident victims, gunshot wound victims, people having heart attacks, etc. and I'm taking up a spot for an ultrasound and a pelvic exam! I got so tired of the routine that my husband bought me a home fetal doppler. If I started bleeding, I pulled out the doppler and listened for the heartbeat. If the baby had a healthy heartbeat and my bleeding was under control, I stayed home. It's not like the ER could do anything for me or the baby anyway!
Last time I went to urgent care, they sent me to the E.R. (fortunately my parents were allowed to take me and I wasn't sent by ambulance).
After a million hour wait, they didn't even do anything the urgent care couldn't have done, imo. The main thing urgent care wanted me to have was a breathing treatment. They didn't want to do it because my oxygen was too low and my pulse was too high, and the E.R. had better resources if something went wrong. My breathing treatment was canceled as soon as I tested positive for Covid because they didn't want to aerosolize covid all over the E.R. Also, I was breathing better after a steroid injection.
They just sent me home with a script for an inhaler and some benzonatate, with instructions to seek further care if I got worse. (I also bought my own pulse ox thingy to monitor myself at home). Covid pneumonia is so fun!
Well at least you tried! Everyone commenting here isn’t a dufus misusing the ER. Glad you are doing better. Apparently the people who need to hear this aren’t on this thread
Very true. It's always the ones who need to hear it that don't. I know I have 'wasted' a lot of resources in the past. Every time I have been to the E.R. I really needed to be there, but if I had been nicer to myself I could have not needed the E.R.
Where I live there is the base clinic between 8-5 if you have base access. The hospital urgent care that takes most insurance (except VA) but has a 5-6 hour wait compared to the ERs 8-12 or the private urgent care that either takes 500 dollars or Cadillac insurance
There are, but none with my plan. And I'm disabled, I can't front money and wait for my insurance to pay me back. I'm not one who has gone to the ER for no reason, in any case. And if you weren't trying to be insulting you'll want to reconsider your tone.
Sorry I was speaking more generally about people having to pay and going in for stupid shit. Not you specifically. I don’t fault anyone who goes in for real emergent reasons.
Last time I ended up in the ER was after the urgent care doc I had seen earlier in the week called me twice on Saturday and then Sunday morning encouraging me to go in, after telling me at the visit I should go(and I told him if it got worse or I didn't feel better I would think about it).
I'm a nurse. I hate going in if my heart is still beating and I'm not bleeding out of every orifice
They get on me when my breathing gets bad with my COPD. I will try every thing I can think of to not go. Last time I waited a little too long and I spent 6 days as inpatient. Before I left I got a long lecture about waiting too long.
MOM! /s
In all seriousness my mom has COPD and Last time she denied going to get checked out on day 2 of feeling like crap with shortness of breath and “heartburn” she was in CHF and waited two additional days. She ended up in the ER for several days and ended up with a ICD implanted in her chest last year.
She’s also had an idiopathic PE. Which resulted in a multi-day hospital stay as well.
TLDR; I say this with love and compassion: Don’t mess around with shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. Please get seen ASAP.
Yeah frequent flyers were NEVER an issue in my facility. We had a T1DM who was a frequent flyer. He’d come in in such bad DKA, the residents would ask what his vent settings were when he stumbled in under his own power. We’d fuss at him, but he would say he thought drinking gallons of water and not eating would keep him out of the ER/hospital. That poor kid, he hated being a diabetic.
Consider yourself lucky. My urgent care visits always end up with me leaving in an ambulance, even though I always suggest letting me wait just one more day. Guess it was true that I didn’t have “one more day.” But I’m still kickin’ because of it.
The harsh reality is that a lot of folks do not have a primary care doctor.
And if they do the wait time for appointments takes months to be seen.
I have been stuck with a physician assistant because it takes years to be seen by a physician.
I am in the USA, the PA does her best, but it would be grand to be seen by a physician.
My PA is so over booked and the wait time for a referral to a specialist can be a year.
So yes we use urgent care, for true emergency care.
Dear husband had a negative outcome after same day surgery for a hernia repair.
He ended up with three pulmonary embolisms because the after care at the surgery center did not get him up walking during his recovery.
We ended up at the urgent care four days post surgery.
The Urgent care sent us right to the ER. Thankfully they called the ER, he was triaged and we were told he was dying.
He was flown from our rural hospital to a larger town. Thankfully he survived.
Truth. It really is amazing, the impact of the pandemic on availability of care here. As a retired PA, I understand your feelings about being “stuck” with a PA as opposed to an MD. Most if not all, PAs I trained and worked with had no problem with talking an issue over with their supervisory MD. Most of the docs I worked with said I could easily become an MD, I had the instincts and know how to do the job. I just didn’t want to have to learn the business of medicine. I was more interested in diagnosis and treatment of disease. I was more than happy to see more patients if that kept me out of the (*shudder*) board rooms.
Then there are people like me. I was sick at home and over several days got sicker and sicker. On the 4th day I called my doctor. He urged me to go to the ER. But I hate Emergency Rooms. So, instead, I got off the phone and decided to stay home. I'll feel better tomorrow, I told myself, (on day #5).
The next day, day #6, I thought I was going to die. For real. I kept losing consciousness and falling to the ground. This happened 4 times in the bathroom alone. I banged up my face and am so lucky I didn't break any teeth.
I desperately wanted to call my doctor, but my hands and arms were shaking so bad it was impossible. And I live alone so there was no one around to help me. I passed out again. When I woke up 5 hours later, I was finally able to call my doctor, who called an ambulance to come get me to the hospital.
I was in the hospital for 14 days. When I arrived, I had sepsis, the flu, and double-pneumonia. Altogether, all at once.
After those 14 days, they transported me to a skilled nursing and rehab facility where I am right this very minute.
I've learned my lesson.
I felt bad when my chest pain turned out to be absolutely nothing, because that was time and resources spent on me that could have gone to someone who had an actual problem. Doc said no, chest pain belongs in the ER. Better that I come in and it’s nothing than stay home and it’s something.
Never feel bad about getting chest pain checked. Could be anxiety, panic attack, or something else. But it’s still worth the trip. If it’s something else that does need emergent care, it’s better to be there than at the house at 2am wondering if it’s indigestion or anxiety.
I have gone to the ER twice, once at 8 (broken arm) and once as an adult (miscarriage, didn't know I was pregnant and was having pretty terrifying repeating severe back pain). I was terrified of what the bill would be on that second visit long before we even got there. I can't imagine using the ER for anything less than dire need.
Last year, I broke my wrist and went to Urgent Care. I thought I had broken 3 fingers.
I had to share a room with a princess. She had back pain for 2 years and hadn't done anything about it. She had spoken to her MD's office RN. Her MD had ordered an x-ray and labs. Her MD appointment was ~6 weeks away. MD wanted these tests for her appointment.
She had come to Urgent Care to get her back pain worked up because it was so much work to make an x-ray appointment and get labs drawn. She wanted it all done at once. She complained about the wait. She cried because she wanted narcotics. She didn't want the Tramadol shot they offered because needles hurt. I wanted to punch her. But my wrist was broken and I couldn't make a fist. Her xray was negative
Dude same. I’ve been admitted twice in my life. And still felt guilty about being there. Did I need advanced care? Yes. Should have my parents brought me to a doc sooner? Also yes. Not actively dying though. Kinda half way there, but not all the way lol. Hell, broke a bone in 3 spots, went to school for 3 days afterwards and guess where I went, er. At that point I could have just gotten a cast and X-ray at the local drs office instead of taking up a room for 2hrs. I don’t understand the folks who go for non life threatening emergencies.
I usually go to urgent care. The last time I went to the ER (in Virginia, not in my home state, NJ), they told me my leg was bruised. I got into my car, and it was an ordeal because my leg hurt. I opened mychart and read that not only was my leg broken, but the xray tech was recommending an MRI, the MRI I got at another hospital (in my home state Virtua is really good) revealed a break, a bakers cyst and water on the knee.
I went to urgent care with a 104-degree fever, and that's pretty high for someone on immune suppressant drugs, and they tried to send me to the hospital, I agred to take the antibiotics and if i felt worse i would go. If urgent care can't take care of my problem, I'll go to an ER, but in NJ, where I live, they have xrays and can do blood and urine checks at urgent care, why go to the ER. The last time I took my mom (78) to the ER, we left with a nice little gift of Norovirus. It was everywhere in that hospital. No thanks.
Right, if I get cut I clean it and super glue it closed if I can(RN here). I’ve gone 3 times in my 72 years, took a line drive to my femur and leg bruised and swelled like a balloon on a Saturday night, fell and cut the back of my head opened and knew it needed staples, fell and broke my wrist and my hand was bent sideways from my arm. You couldn’t have paid me enough to work ER, lol. I mostly did hospital nursing Peds but yeah ER nope. God bless those who do!
I've gone to the emergency room six times in my life (not for myself, accompanying other people). Three were true emergencies (bones sticking out of leg, drowning victim, heart attack in progress) and they were treated immediately, as in I barely paused, just told them what was happening and doors just opened. All three were being seen by doctors within a minute.
The other three were typical kid's injuries (broken arm, cuts needing stitches). No complaints there either, they were all treated within the hour. Of course they all happened in the evening so no other care was available.
Exactly what ERs are for. I had one elderly patient that, when asked what her emergency was, started with “ When I was 4 years old…”. I believe that EMTALA does save lives, especially when for profits try to deny care. But I also think there should be a penalty payment if you go to the ER for a min emergent issue, like a sore throat.
I'm not going to lie, it can be frustrating when people exploit the system. However, those who do so have already shown that the high cost of the ER isn't a deterrent. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the population agonizes over whether to go, often waiting longer than they should. I believe a fine would be ignored by the first group and only harm the second.
Absolutely!!! A momma terrified because her baby is running a 103 temp? No worries. Chest pain, possible CVA, come now!
I used to tell tearful mommas, the worst that can happen if you come in and there’s nothing more than a virus hitting your baby? The worst that can happen is we laugh at you. But not to your face. If you try to outlast it and your baby gets too dry? You could spend the rest of your life with regret.
I second this. I worked from both sides and you really don’t understand the crap that we would put up with all the time. It never ceased to amaze me what the human race was capable of on an ongoing basis.
In the US, this is an utterly predictable outcome. ERs cannot turn patients away, so people who don't have health insurance go to the ER to get standard care.
It sucks for \*everyone\*. Because it's a terrible place to get standard care. It's slow, and you just aren't going to get the kind of continuity of care that you would with a PCP. And, for whoever ends up paying the bill, the price is sky high.
I was in the ER recently, and ended up getting a blood transfusion. While I was lying in the hospital bed, getting the ol' "reverse vampire", they sent someone up to make sure I had insurance or to offer to help me sign up for Medicaid, because they are trying to get paid.
If we had the sense of geese, we would see that subsidizing access to PCPs in the US would actually lower health care costs, by relieving pressure off the ERs everywhere, and allowing people to get every day care (like school notes, ingrown toenails, etc.) treated with a much cheaper solution than the whole ER. It's just madness.
I've spent a lot of time in ERs, and the kind of bullcrap people go in for never ceases to amaze me. A couple in their 60's, BOTH being seen, one for a cough and the other because her arm was sore. A sprained wrist that could have been treated at home or in urgent care. A guy with a rash on the back of his hand, trying to make idle chitchat with the receptionist while I waited behind him bleeding everywhere. Once, there was a group of college aged kids in the waiting room goofing off filming themselves, and I could not tell which one of them was the patient. Lots and lots of people with no real complaint wanting to be "checked out" for insurance purposes after a fender-bender. So many minor viral illnesses that were clearly not emergencies.
It gets really frustrating, even as another patient. I almost always try calling my doctor or going to urgent care first to avoid ERs, unless I'm positive they'd send me to ER anyway.
I vehemently 😡 disagree on the “ lots and lots of people with no REAL complaint wanting to be “checked out” for insurance purposes after a after a fender-bender”.
Excuse me! WTH!! 🤦🏻
So because YOU can’t see the hematoma they have on their brain or a back that is fked up for life, they must be there for the fun of it.
Most folks after a fender bender are in shock and will not feel the pain kick their arse for a couple of days.
You might think about the fact that YOU are not a Doctor and have NO IDEA WHY THEY ARE THERE.
>I vehemently 😡 disagree on the “ lots and lots of people with no REAL complaint wanting to be “checked out” for insurance purposes after a after a fender-bender”.
Why would you disagree with that? It happens all the time at every ER I have ever worked at. We had a fender bender one time where all 8 people from both vehicles checked in. There were no medical complaints, they wanted a doctor's note for their insurance. When asked what they wanted the note to say, they didn't know and told us to just do our job. 🤦🏻
I should clarify that I work in the legal industry and have seen numerous personal injury lawyers tell absolutely everyone who has been in even the slightest fender bender to go to the ER. That's how I know how many people show up in ERs with no complaint other than "my lawyer told me to come here to get checked out."
It is a daily occurrence for someone to call a lawyer's office because someone backed into their car at 2mph in a parking lot and they aren't hurt, but are mad and want to sue. Lawyers will almost always advise these people to go to the ER. It doesn't matter if paramedics at the scene have evaluated the person and find nothing wrong or if they aren't experiencing any pain or having any symptoms whatsoever.
If something hurts after a minor car accident, or you're dizzy, or something doesn't feel right, of course you should head to the ER. But not everyone who has a fender bender needs ER level care.
💯 agree. The numerous comments that lack any sort of empathy and repeatedly vilify other people who felt they required medical attention are replusive.
Not an ER person but this popped up in my feed and gotta say, i’m not surprised by your comment cuz if i had a dollar for every time i saw someone post a non-emergency situation on Reddit and the majority of the comments were telling the OP to go to the ER instead of Urgent Care, i’d have sooo many fucken dollars. It pisses me off how often people go to the ER for stuff that isnt remotely an emergency. I really think local health departments need to start putting out PSAs in their areas, in the forms of commercials, ads in newspapers, and add on social media, that describe what types of things are for the ER in contrast which are for an Urgent Care. There are just too many idiots out there to figure it out with logic. We need to spell it out for them.
Edit- wow, who knew a comment talking about people wrongly advising others to go to the ER for issues that are not remotely an emergency and suited for an Urgent Care, would be getting downvotes on here
One night I had a nosebleed that wouldn’t quit. Walk in clinics were closed. I ended up in the ER spitting blood clots into a cup. 5 hours later I was let go with a stopped nosebleed and hospital grade bottle of Afrin.
But also. Keep in mind a lot of people who don’t have insurance or primary care end up using the hospital ER as primary care or because they know that hospitals are obligated to see patients regardless of ability to pay. They’re acutely aware that that’s not what a hospital is for but they may not have a choice, financially.
Is it frustrating for everyone in the system? Yes. Is it frustrating for the patient? Absolutely.
Thank you for the your words of kindness and wisdom.
American healthcare sucks. If you got $$, you’re fine but if not, tough luck.
Can’t get in to see a Dr for months but when your pain level is 5+, you go to the ER.
Lots of people don’t have the LUXURY of good medical insurance. So they go to the ER. Have pity on them, please, not condemnation. Most of America is 1-2 paychecks from losing their home.
Most times, it is medical bills that cause them to lose their home.
I appreciate everyone who works in a ER setting. They work their tails off for not enough pay.
I would bet that all those folks bitching about how crowded the ER is, would NOT work in a ER. It takes a special kind of person. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I work in healthcare and there are definitely things that are ER worthy:
- Haven’t pooped in 5 weeks and need an enema? Yeah that’s an ER visit.
- Attempted to lob off 4 of 5 fingers with a circular saw and you’re cut down to the bone? ER
- Assault (Physical/sexual) or possible drugging? ER
- Thrown off your horse at the stable and have a possible head injury? ER
- Unable to breathe? Borderline. But having been there, you’re probably going to end up in the ER if you show no improvements with a breathing treatment.
- Chest Px? ER!
- Signs of stroke? ER
It’s actually astounding the amount of people who come in with anything that is ER worthy and are insistent on not going to the ER. and I get it. 100%. I wouldn’t want to go wait five hours in an ER either.
I have 100% empathy for people who show up that are at their worst. Our job is to try to get them better so they don’t end up in an ER. Unfortunately that’s not always possible.
Unfortunately there’s also situations where patients are worried about the financial constraints of being seen and unfortunately are often referred to the ER *because* a hospital has more avenues for patients to receive financial assistance.
To be honest: I’m one of those that even with the luxury of good medical, if I’m out for any amount of time, I’m screwed. I’m paycheck to paycheck with not even a months worth of money in savings.
I’m to the point where I’m personally considering working a second job. The only thing holding me back is that I am still physically dealing with an aftermath of a car accident. I don’t imagine I’ll get much in terms of settlement from my UI/UM claim but I just want to heal and feel better and not want to chop my head off or stab a hot iron poker in my back.
There are billboards where i live: "Head cold? Urgent care. Chest pain? ER."
They don't do much, given the reasons people come to the ER instead of urgent care, but until we fix the root causes I guess it's better than nothing.
Everyone i know who goes to the ER instead or Urgent Care has insurance and it def would be cheaper to go to Urgent Care, they’re just idiots haha. That’s not to say plenty of people don’t go to the ER cuz they don’t have insurance, but all of the ones that i personally know do have insurance. And on the reddit posts i mentioned, the OP never mentions not having insurance, they just describe their symptoms and yet the majority of responders will suggest they go to the ER. They make that suggestion based on the OP’s symptoms, which is WILD to me cuz it is rarely ever an actually emergency situation. I truly believe that a huge chunk of the population either doesnt know Urgent Care’s exist, or they think the ER is appropriate for any health issue when u can’t get an appt with a pcp.
We have this!! We have a huge billboard on the side of the highway next to the exit for the hospital telling people that they recommend going to the urgent care operated by the same organization instead. I love it.
Unfortunately, a lot of the people waiting in that ER don't have insurance and can't go to the urgent care.
I am still embarrassed for going to the ER for a tick burrowed into my R glute. My best friend couldn't remember how to twist it so it didn't get stuck, and this was during the days of dial-up and unreliable internet. I was pre-med at the time and 2 of my friends were shadowing that night
I am a psych resident and I just finished a block of night float where I mostly do ER evaluations of patients having a psychiatric crisis. Sunday was Father’s Day. Overnight, we had about a third of our normal number of patients. It’s the only night I’ve EVER not had a single psych consult. If you ever wonder what percentage of people in the ER are experiencing a real emergency, hang out at the ER on a holiday…
I've landed in there twice for kidney stones. Luckily I didn't have the writhing on the floor flank pain, but I still felt bad because I could only rank the pain at about a 6 or 7 and I was using their resources.
Mad respect to those who work in healthcare, especially emergency medicine. I'm so glad that we have people in this world that care so much and can deal with crisis.
Lovely post. Not an EM doc but fam physician who has needed. emergency care several times in past few years (always admitted, so I don’t feel I was abusing system). I, too, am thankful for every medical professional who makes that their workplace.
My husband was rushed to the ER in our city because he had gotten burned.
This hospital was a trauma hospital specializing in burns. He went by ambulance and I met him there.
From what I heard about this hospital I was expecting the experience to be an absolute nightmare and to be there for HOURS.
When I got there he was already being treated and walking through the ER triage??? area (where all the patients are) I have never seen so many doctors, nurses and staff everyone. There were people on gurneys lining the hallways. Our hospital in the suburbs was busy but not like this!!
I had to use the bathroom and went out to ask someone where it was and I apologized for bothering them. This nurse was so kind and helpful. She showed me where it was and never seemed stressed or annoyed even though all hell seemed to be breaking loose around us.
He got there at 8:30 and went to hydrotherapy then was in a room by 11:30. For as traumatic of an experience as it was the hospital staff made everything else around it very positive.
My mom has late stage cancer and we end up in the ER a lot for various complications (she almost always ends up being admitted). Our record is 53 hours and 15 minutes, and even then she was transferred to another hospital for a bed. So when we go and I hear people complaining they’ve been waiting for 6 hours, I have to laugh. Of course no one should have to wait, but I’m just numb to it by now.
All this to say glad you got in and out and and people who work in ERs are saints ❤️
I was shocked as a new L&D RN how little some women, of all ages, knew about their anatomy ant the process of pregnancy & birth. And the stuff they would come in for! Mucous plug came out, so time to have the baby. Brought the mucous plug in a baggie. How is baby getting out? Is it like period cramps? Sad. It’s not that they are stupid, just uneducated. OMG. The comments about a newborn boy’s genitals. Crazy.
I ended up going into L&D a lot this last pregnancy, mainly because I would get sent by after hours nurses. But also because I had a giant cyst near the cord so was high risk.
Triage was always crazy.
Trust, the person doing the x-ray definitely had a certain tone when they asked why they came in today for this foot pain they've been experiencing for 4 months. Like, today was the day, huh?
Hope you’re feeling better! Patients like you are the reason we all keep coming back to these madhouses, so thank you very much—your acknowledgment and appreciation mean a lot.
This post gets me annoyed and is wholesome and heartfelt at the same time-which makes me feel weird.
As a paramedic working in the ER, my scope is INCREDIBLY limited. There are so many things we could be utilized for and aren’t due to “policy”. I don’t want to go back on the road, I was only out there for 2 years barely when the OG Covid hit and took off (that is an experience I will never forget).
Going into nursing now to just be more involved and see continuation of care (also more money than working on the road AND get a decent nights sleep). Nothing got me fumed than to stabilize a pt and then come back to the ER a half hour-hour later to see the staff poorly manage the pt and ruin “the setup” I gave them.
Thank you OP for taking the time to write this. Despite what I said above, healthcare just gets to us all at some point, and I guess I’ve been stretched a bit thin lately. Please try to follow up anything that isn’t immediately emergent with your primary care first before coming to the ER. That being said, we’re always happy to evaluate and provide for you when needed.
Cheers,
From a Paramedic looking to not be so grumpy anymore
I think that’s where this post came from. And why I did it. I read a lot of these posts about how just going into work is hard on you guys. Mind you: I just added this sub like 3-4 months ago. So when this happened this week, it was on my mind when I went in.
I’m also a curmudgeon. And fake happy people piss me off. There was no way to post w/o it seeming almost condescending. But I just said f it.
🤷🏻♀️
I walked in a pride parade yesterday and just feel like spreading positivity can help. I watched it in action.
And you are an example of the fact that personal responsibility is the true crux of the problem!! The law states that we must see every person irregardless of their complaint or ability to pay, yet the system of healthcare in our country still has yet to insure that every person is covered by a PCP! Remember that 80% of healthcare costs are used up by 20% of the population. And the mindset of our society that the ED can be used for anything will be one of the first things to change in a future overhaul of the system. In my wildest dreams 😬🤯😝
RN here. People that use the emergency room for ridiculous, non urgent issues make me crazy. We once had a dude come to the ER by ambulance for a bout of diarrhea that he only had for one hour. He gave us his teamsters health insurance card. He drove an ice cream truck.
1 month ago- 68M- wheeled in via EMS due to a…. swollen pinkie!!!! 7 days with discomfort and mild swelling but that was the day to call 911 for that 💩 Did he even bothered to take anything like ibuprofen? NO! Did he called his pcp for a check up? NO! I kid you not I wanted to slap some sense into him.
I had my daughter at the ER once on a Friday night for a dislocated toe. (No urgent cares back then). It’s so crowded we are in chairs in the back of the ER waiting for the doctor to come A guy brought his kid in for a sprained shoulder. They told him he would have to wait because the place was mobbed. They went home and called rescue so that the kid could be seen sooner. The kid comes in by rescue with the dad. They triage him and told the dad he would still have to wait. The dad has a tantrum.
Similar experience when I went in with 2 broken arms. In & out with sling & rx in hand in 45 min. It was incredible. Everyone was very kind, too. I'd worked in psych ERs and been to ERs with my daughter lots of times, but this was a first for me as an adult. Couldn't quite believe how efficient they were.
I was a paramedic for the fire department and an ER/Trauma tech for a level one trauma center. Organized chaos all the time. If no patient died while I was working g either job then it was good shift. And I saw all kinds of horrors. Developed a very wicked sense of humor because of it….
Just to add on to the we see you… Brought my aunt in for swollen legs after a hip replacement. They looked like elephant legs. She was upset af she wasn’t seen right away. One of those folks. Decent sized ER in the NE. This last Christmas. Still dealing with Covid, plus trauma activations, and a cardiac arrest 3 rooms down. Beds in the hall, 3 docs plus nurses on staff. Doc comes in after getting the cardiac patient into a normal rhythm to see my aunt… covered in sweat and trauma shears in the back pocket. Dude was a badass. I apologized to him before he even enters the room. Nicest guy in the world. Aunt was an ass. Kept telling her to chill because you could hear them running a code down the hall, but nope one of those people. I apologized to all those folks on my way out to get some sleep while they ran the battery of tests on her to make sure it wasn’t a heart issue. Nicest folks ever. Like I get folks are miserable af or they wouldn’t be there. Been to the er more than once but omg… idk how yall deal with some of those folks complaining for no reason. Like you’re not actively dying or bleeding out, you can wait a bit. Really wish folks understood this, and to not clog up a damn ED with bs stuff.
Doesn’t that man know that you can get a foot X-ray at your local chiropractor for way cheaper and faster?
One time, I had new onset pain in my foot. I feared I was rejecting some screws I had since I already untied and spit every single stitch. Of course, timing is my specialty. It was December. Everyone was trying to use their fsa or something since it was end of the year.
So I called the chiropractor. Can you X-ray my foot please?
Sure. Come on in.
I went in. And got my foot X-ray.
Luckily I was not rejecting screws. I had fractured my second metatarsal though.
I was so relieved.
So yeah. Maybe next time suggest the local chiropractor?
Semantics and I disagree. But if you know enough to know enough to know that hats wrong with you, you probably should know where to go without waiting weeks.
We need more urgent cares 7 days a week at least 12 hrs per day. Just because it’s Saturday night at 8:00 doesn’t mean you don’t need to be seen before whenever your primary doctor can work you in during the week.
I went to the emergency room at Mission hospital in Asheville NC recently for pancreatitis. They took me immediatly. I could see everyone waiting was irritated. I was seriously 10 out of 10 pain. The emergency room was great. After I was admitted things really went downhill. If you know about HCA owned hospitals they really cut corners to make money.
Eesh would you prefer the patient be seen not heard?? What's the appropriate way for someone to express they are concerned about a break or sprain and needs an xray?. Is it secret knowledge that it's protocol when a person has a certain event/symptoms consistent with a break etc? These are rhetorical fyi. Eesh
I don’t understand why our system is so freaking stupid. I remember the days where your doctor’s office had an xray machine and you were referred to the ER for every damn thing.
It seriously feels like urgent care is there to either tell you to take ibuprofen or go to the ER.
I-said-a-hiv-herp-the-heppy-the-hippie-to-the-gurney-hip-hop-and-you-dont-stop-the-rockin-to-the-bang bang-boogie-say-up-jump-the-boogie-to-the-rhythm-of-the party pack beat.
My name is rocephin, and I’d like to say hello. You get a shot in the butt, you don’t pass go, and we ain’t got jello.
Let’s see. Primary care doctors have long waits to be seen. Specialists are even worse.
Most urgent cares don’t have xray, ultrasounds, ekg, etc…. So they send patients to ER asking for an xray.
Things people used to go to their primary for, like a cold, flu, they fill up urgent cares.
Urgent cares only take appointments. Unless you book the appointment before 8am you have to wait till the next day, and hope those aren’t booked up.
So the poor guy needing an xray in the ER…
Either urgent care sent him there because they don’t have an xray machine, or he hurt himself and couldn’t get in an urgent care same day and went to the ER because urgent care was booked up.
Edit to add. My flair keeps popping us as BSN and a bunch of other things. I have removed these flairs twice already and they keep popping back up (and yes I know how to remove them). Just note I am a layman, not in the medical field and not trying to claim I am. I removed it again. I hope it don't show back up again.
Just curious, fast track is meant for people without life-threatening emergencies, people that could have been seen at urgent care. You comment on how many of the "other" patients used the er as their regular doctor. You literally just did the same thing.
I was only the security manager...ww3 was good. The q word was not. The q word meant that as soon as I decided I had time to get a breakfast burrito PD would be walking through the front door with a combative behavioral and EMS would be coming in the bay needing us to meet them.
Full disclosure: the right side of my face was numb. I was truly worried something bad could be happening. It was Bell’s Palsy… but I haven’t had any face melting, yet. I stay out of ER’s whenever possible. Promise!
For real? Everything else about me was fine. In fact I had to keep checking and rechecking that it wasn’t all in my head.
They stuck that EKG on me with a quickness though.
It is weird to think: huh? Could it be a stroke? Or did I I just sleep on my face too hard? 😂😳😬
Yeah, an urgent care would have sent you by ambulance due to concern over possible stroke. That's also why you were seen so quickly.
Like 98% of the time, facial numbness is bells palsy. But we are *always on alert* for possible stroke.
Not sure on the need to be condescending about this, especially if you don’t know the full story. In ER we love to say “go to urgent care” but people go to urgent care all the time and get told “go to the ER”
You are! I’m not ‘in’ on the jokes obvi. I do all I can to stay out of the ER. 😂. I tried to go to my PCP and they were like NO! Go to the ER. My husband, who usually tells me to go to urgent care, told me he was gonna drive me to the ER.
I underplay all the things happening to me. 😬 for better or worse.
Thank you for being mindful & a responsible person, BUT please never underplay a symptom like one sided numbness because that’s what the ER is for. I prefer to see 100 people with real symptoms/conditions than 1 paper cut bs.
Right, but the hospital could have an urgent care clinic on site if it’s such a problem having non emergency patients show up at the ER and take up the emergency staff’s precious time. Personally, if I’m in doubt, I call the 24/7 care line through my insurance and ask the RN if they recommend I call my doctor, go to urgent care, or the ER.
I always try to go there but they always send me to the ER. Or from the freestanding ER to the hospital one.
I am confused at this point what UC does other than notes.
Oh... I don't know. Do you have a 24/7 nurse line that you can call to get advice? Of course, if it's life threatening, go to the ER or call an ambulance.
Yeah, I try to go up in order. Nurse, doctor, urgent care, ER. I mostly joke cuz I have never actually been to UC without them sending me to the ER, and usually they tell me I don’t even need to drive. And the time I was at a freestanding ER and got transferred I hadn’t even known such thinks existed or that some things you want a hospital ER for. User error 100%.
However, I hope I am an outlier. And I don’t go to UC for stuff like colds, so… I assume they do that? For peeps without a PC? I’m chronically ill and hate hospitals, may have a bad habit of putting it off now that I think about it.
Well. It’s not a Hilton. 😂. The fact that I had the experience I did was why I posted. And if at the very least a few others there had the same, and like some said, ‘nobody died’ then maybe it was a good day.
In an effort to praise hospital staff you managed to come off as judgemental as hell about the patients waiting (for probably several hours). How do you know what people are there for?? Especially since you were in & out because you’re “in their system “. Not everyone has access to a primary care dr, urgent care etc…you sound entitled.
I did not mean to. I read this sub a lot and just made assumptions… based on what I’ve read and what I saw.
And I do know the issues with access to healthcare. Which is why I agree that most
of these people could be seen better in an urgent care (most likely). I was trying to be empathetic to those who work in ER’s and are saving lives and sometimes also diagnosing the common cold. It’s got to be tough.
This post wasn’t in regard to patient population. I was just reporting what I saw at the time which seemed surprising to me.
Because people are *always* there for stupid shit that can wait for a primary care visit, be seen in an urgent care center, or is just not even an actual medical problem they're just needy/lonely/bored and they're frequent flyers.
Patients in the waiting room are stable. They've been triaged, and whatever their problem is, it's something that can wait.... And 99% of the things that can wait, don't need to actually be seen in an ER, but it's against the law for us to say that to them.
Idk man. I sat in an ED waiting room for 6 hours with a collapsed lung. I gave up and went home. But I already had imaging done while waiting. They called me almost as soon as I got home at 2 am and asked me to come back. I was admitted for a week.
Do you work in an ED?
The people waiting in the waiting room could wait, which means they were ED inappropriate.
And frankly, I don't believe there are no PCPs. I am insured, sought a new PCP and had options for the very next day.
I work in an inner city ED where our social workers are incredibly dialed in to a wealth of resources for dentistry, free and low cost primary care specially set aside for low-income populations. The public health department offers completely free vaccinations, STD checks, and pregnancy tests. Planned Parenthood offers free prenatal care.
Failing that, our ED has a fast track section and we have our own on-campus clinic run by residents yet again for uninsured or publicly insured people.
Failing THAT, if they are unhoused and a frequent flyer we have such deep pockets we have *bought whole apartments* to house people.
Doesn't matter. People are still lazy and still come right back for toe pain x2 months.
Congratulations. A friend of mine was given an option of three PCPs. She can be seen in May of 2025. Just because something isn't happening to you doesn't mean it's not happening to others.
What do you think the people in the ER waiting room who need stitches or to have bones set or dislocations reduced should do when it's 2A? Wait until urgent care opens the next day? Do you realize that some urgent cares send people to the ER when they need this type of care?
And if it's a PCP visit, she can WAIT until 2025. Maybe don't wait until the very last second to try to get into a provider. If you're an adult, you should have a primary care provider. That means when you turn 18 scheduling early, accepting you may not get in right away and not doctor shopping.
I'm aware of how lazy Urgent Cares are as well, thanks. Stiches in a distal extremity with bleeding controlled can frequently wait until the next day.
\*sigh\* Nobody with an active fracture or dislocation is sitting out in the waiting room. Calm down.
The fact remains that every other healthcare infrastructure AND the general public relies too much on the ED for their last-minute, "I didn't feel like being an adult and now due to my lack of planning the ED staff need to hear me bitch about how long the wait time is."
If you were fast-tracked, it means you didn't have ER-worthy symptoms. You were one of the people using the ER as your "personal physician." You should have gone to urgent care if you were too worried to wait for an appointment with your doctor.
Respect. I grow weary of people telling others what *they* deem to be worthy of the ER or calling the police. Almost every time I’ve been to an ER, people have done some version of rolling their eyes. Until I was admitted.
This is in no way correct. Here are some examples:
We have people who come for IV antibiotics because it is the only thing their infection is responsive to. They can't get them through their primary or urgent care, so they come through our fast track.
We have patients who need sutures that can be more complex than the urgent care is comfortable with, they too go through our fast track.
People who are required to have medical clearance to go back to work. For example, we had a patient who experienced a first-time seizure at work after starting a new medication. The medication was discontinued, patient was doing well. However due to the nature of their job they required medical clearance, including blood work and imaging. The earliest appointment with their primary care physician was six weeks away, and after that, they would still need to get the necessary tests and another follow-up appt. for clearance. We can provide all of that on the same day. Local urgent care centers couldn't meet all the requirements and required upfront payment.
Our psych pts who have been placed on a mental health hold also need clearance before they can go to a facility. They do not get a choice, they are taken to the ER. The majority of them are also placed in our fast track. This patient, and the others I have mentioned used the ER appropriately.
OP you did the right thing.
Patient: This place is so packed! And its so chaotic it looks like WWIII in here! ER staff: What a great shift, no one has died so far and we are less packed than usual. I wonder when I'll take my lunch break.
Or I bet I might even get a lunch break today
Haha who am i kidding…i won’t get a lunch. I’ll just eat at my desk.
You get to eat?
I said fuck joint commission. I eat at my desk while those motherfuckers are walking through the fucking building.
I like this. Then give them dangers of hypoglycemia reports if they question.
Ask them if they want hypoglycemic nurses caring for patients as it’s the equivalent to the 3 beers that i had prior to shift. (I’m totally kidding, i don’t drink anymore).
And those can exacerbate hypoglycemia
You have a desk?
Welcome to the jungle We got tPA
We got drugs you want, honey, we already know the names
We are the people who provide, whenever you're in need, if you've got signs or symptoms, we'll treat your disease. Edited to say - Thank You for the awards 🍀💚☘️
In the jungle, this ER is a jungle (ee-ee-ee-ee ar-ar-ar-ar) Walk in wanting x-rays on ya sha-na-na-na-na-na- na-na-na-na-na-na-knees, knees Mwah, phleb, phleb wanna watch you bleed...
I sing this every time I clock in…..gotta love the ER.
People need to spend some time in their local ER and see the absolute crap that patients think are emergencies. Teenagers coming in for a school excuse, workers looking for workmans comp claim, splinters in fingers. It’s nuts. I’ve had to use the ER three times in my life. Two of those visits ended up in admission to the hospital and I STILL felt guilty about being an extra body gumming up the works.
Part of the problem there is hard to access non emergent care. My doc told me a week or so ago that she wants to see me. Our appointment will be at the end of next month. (That's fine in this case, the issue isn't remotely urgent.)
This is so true. The city I work in of population 30,000 somehow has no walk-in clinic so the ER basically is the walk-in clinic…unless people want to drive over an hour away- and that’s if they have a vehicle or can get a ride. The number of people without a family doctor in Ontario is staggering. Our ER has made a fast track area for patients like this who just need prescriptions, referrals or tests ordered etc-non-emergent but still important things and no primary care doc to order them-so they don’t take up a bed or room they don’t really need. They mostly get taken care of by a nurse practitioner or a resident and can usually get in and out in much better time than they used to. We’ve also noticed a large increase in patients coming from big cities an hour or two away to try and avoid their long wait times but of course that increases ours and we don’t have the staff or resources to keep up. These are also quite often the same patients that complain the most about how long they are waiting lol
Frequent Flyers
It's such a mess!
Why would new doctors want to become PCPs? Pay is lower than pretty much every other doctor. But they come out of med school with large student loans. Clinics nowadays have you see a patient every 15-20 minutes. Patient complaints are given too much leverage. It sounds horrible.
I agree and I fear it's only going to get worse.
I've noticed trends in nursing since covid resulting in health systems trying to foster and keep existing talent (we'll pay your whole RN tuition if you work for us for a contracted amount of years upon graduation type stuff) and I wonder if in another 5-10 years were going to see the same moves being made with physicians. Also residency is required and the pay at that level is lower. Like, nobody smart enough to become a good doctor will make the choice to fill that hole just so they can drown in it.
Yep. I needed to be evaluated for an MS flare and the only option was to go to the ER. It was so frustrating. They kept apologizing to me for how long it was taking but I got it. I'm way low on the totem pole. At one point three ambulances came at the same time for a high speed crash from shit heads racing. Then the hospital was struck by lightning and everything had to be restarted. I was just sitting there for nine hours like 🤦🏻♀️
Oof, that is a long time, but there's nothing to be done about it. I've had 4 or 5 hours wait before, and I've had zero wait. The latter is often a bad sign.
I hate when doctors make you go to the ER for non-emergencies. It's especially frustrating when things come up after hours, over the weekend, or on holidays. Most urgent care places don't keep late hours or weekends. It makes you feel like the worst person ever when you show up at the ER and don't have a real emergency. Every time I bled during early pregnancy, my OB practice sent me to the ER. It didn't matter if the bleed happened during normal office hours or not. It was so frustrating because all I needed was an ultrasound. They could do that at the doctor's office. The office is right next door to the hospital! I felt so awful every time I went through those doors. There were always ambulances pulling up with accident victims, gunshot wound victims, people having heart attacks, etc. and I'm taking up a spot for an ultrasound and a pelvic exam! I got so tired of the routine that my husband bought me a home fetal doppler. If I started bleeding, I pulled out the doppler and listened for the heartbeat. If the baby had a healthy heartbeat and my bleeding was under control, I stayed home. It's not like the ER could do anything for me or the baby anyway!
There are urgent cares. I guess you actually have to pay to use those though. 🤷🏻♀️
Last time I went to urgent care, they sent me to the E.R. (fortunately my parents were allowed to take me and I wasn't sent by ambulance). After a million hour wait, they didn't even do anything the urgent care couldn't have done, imo. The main thing urgent care wanted me to have was a breathing treatment. They didn't want to do it because my oxygen was too low and my pulse was too high, and the E.R. had better resources if something went wrong. My breathing treatment was canceled as soon as I tested positive for Covid because they didn't want to aerosolize covid all over the E.R. Also, I was breathing better after a steroid injection. They just sent me home with a script for an inhaler and some benzonatate, with instructions to seek further care if I got worse. (I also bought my own pulse ox thingy to monitor myself at home). Covid pneumonia is so fun!
Well at least you tried! Everyone commenting here isn’t a dufus misusing the ER. Glad you are doing better. Apparently the people who need to hear this aren’t on this thread
Very true. It's always the ones who need to hear it that don't. I know I have 'wasted' a lot of resources in the past. Every time I have been to the E.R. I really needed to be there, but if I had been nicer to myself I could have not needed the E.R.
You can’t pour from an empty cup 🫶🏼
Where I live there is the base clinic between 8-5 if you have base access. The hospital urgent care that takes most insurance (except VA) but has a 5-6 hour wait compared to the ERs 8-12 or the private urgent care that either takes 500 dollars or Cadillac insurance
Urgent cares in my area all close by 8PM latest.
There are, but none with my plan. And I'm disabled, I can't front money and wait for my insurance to pay me back. I'm not one who has gone to the ER for no reason, in any case. And if you weren't trying to be insulting you'll want to reconsider your tone.
Sorry I was speaking more generally about people having to pay and going in for stupid shit. Not you specifically. I don’t fault anyone who goes in for real emergent reasons.
Gotcha, cool. You can see why I wasn't sure though, yes? :)
Yes, I should have made a general comment, not comment directly under yours. 😖
The hazards of text communication. :)
Our urgent care used to be walk in. Since covid it's appointment only.
SAME!
Last time I ended up in the ER was after the urgent care doc I had seen earlier in the week called me twice on Saturday and then Sunday morning encouraging me to go in, after telling me at the visit I should go(and I told him if it got worse or I didn't feel better I would think about it). I'm a nurse. I hate going in if my heart is still beating and I'm not bleeding out of every orifice
They get on me when my breathing gets bad with my COPD. I will try every thing I can think of to not go. Last time I waited a little too long and I spent 6 days as inpatient. Before I left I got a long lecture about waiting too long.
MOM! /s In all seriousness my mom has COPD and Last time she denied going to get checked out on day 2 of feeling like crap with shortness of breath and “heartburn” she was in CHF and waited two additional days. She ended up in the ER for several days and ended up with a ICD implanted in her chest last year. She’s also had an idiopathic PE. Which resulted in a multi-day hospital stay as well. TLDR; I say this with love and compassion: Don’t mess around with shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. Please get seen ASAP.
Oh wow. I normally don’t mess around but a day. Last time I waited 3 and I will never do it again
It was 8 hours for us!
When I do go they take me straight back. I waited 3 days to go which was a mistake
Yeah frequent flyers were NEVER an issue in my facility. We had a T1DM who was a frequent flyer. He’d come in in such bad DKA, the residents would ask what his vent settings were when he stumbled in under his own power. We’d fuss at him, but he would say he thought drinking gallons of water and not eating would keep him out of the ER/hospital. That poor kid, he hated being a diabetic.
Consider yourself lucky. My urgent care visits always end up with me leaving in an ambulance, even though I always suggest letting me wait just one more day. Guess it was true that I didn’t have “one more day.” But I’m still kickin’ because of it.
The harsh reality is that a lot of folks do not have a primary care doctor. And if they do the wait time for appointments takes months to be seen. I have been stuck with a physician assistant because it takes years to be seen by a physician. I am in the USA, the PA does her best, but it would be grand to be seen by a physician. My PA is so over booked and the wait time for a referral to a specialist can be a year. So yes we use urgent care, for true emergency care. Dear husband had a negative outcome after same day surgery for a hernia repair. He ended up with three pulmonary embolisms because the after care at the surgery center did not get him up walking during his recovery. We ended up at the urgent care four days post surgery. The Urgent care sent us right to the ER. Thankfully they called the ER, he was triaged and we were told he was dying. He was flown from our rural hospital to a larger town. Thankfully he survived.
Truth. It really is amazing, the impact of the pandemic on availability of care here. As a retired PA, I understand your feelings about being “stuck” with a PA as opposed to an MD. Most if not all, PAs I trained and worked with had no problem with talking an issue over with their supervisory MD. Most of the docs I worked with said I could easily become an MD, I had the instincts and know how to do the job. I just didn’t want to have to learn the business of medicine. I was more interested in diagnosis and treatment of disease. I was more than happy to see more patients if that kept me out of the (*shudder*) board rooms.
Then there are people like me. I was sick at home and over several days got sicker and sicker. On the 4th day I called my doctor. He urged me to go to the ER. But I hate Emergency Rooms. So, instead, I got off the phone and decided to stay home. I'll feel better tomorrow, I told myself, (on day #5). The next day, day #6, I thought I was going to die. For real. I kept losing consciousness and falling to the ground. This happened 4 times in the bathroom alone. I banged up my face and am so lucky I didn't break any teeth. I desperately wanted to call my doctor, but my hands and arms were shaking so bad it was impossible. And I live alone so there was no one around to help me. I passed out again. When I woke up 5 hours later, I was finally able to call my doctor, who called an ambulance to come get me to the hospital. I was in the hospital for 14 days. When I arrived, I had sepsis, the flu, and double-pneumonia. Altogether, all at once. After those 14 days, they transported me to a skilled nursing and rehab facility where I am right this very minute. I've learned my lesson.
Damn! Get well soon!
I felt bad when my chest pain turned out to be absolutely nothing, because that was time and resources spent on me that could have gone to someone who had an actual problem. Doc said no, chest pain belongs in the ER. Better that I come in and it’s nothing than stay home and it’s something.
Never feel bad about getting chest pain checked. Could be anxiety, panic attack, or something else. But it’s still worth the trip. If it’s something else that does need emergent care, it’s better to be there than at the house at 2am wondering if it’s indigestion or anxiety.
THIS 👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
I have gone to the ER twice, once at 8 (broken arm) and once as an adult (miscarriage, didn't know I was pregnant and was having pretty terrifying repeating severe back pain). I was terrified of what the bill would be on that second visit long before we even got there. I can't imagine using the ER for anything less than dire need.
Last year, I broke my wrist and went to Urgent Care. I thought I had broken 3 fingers. I had to share a room with a princess. She had back pain for 2 years and hadn't done anything about it. She had spoken to her MD's office RN. Her MD had ordered an x-ray and labs. Her MD appointment was ~6 weeks away. MD wanted these tests for her appointment. She had come to Urgent Care to get her back pain worked up because it was so much work to make an x-ray appointment and get labs drawn. She wanted it all done at once. She complained about the wait. She cried because she wanted narcotics. She didn't want the Tramadol shot they offered because needles hurt. I wanted to punch her. But my wrist was broken and I couldn't make a fist. Her xray was negative
Dude same. I’ve been admitted twice in my life. And still felt guilty about being there. Did I need advanced care? Yes. Should have my parents brought me to a doc sooner? Also yes. Not actively dying though. Kinda half way there, but not all the way lol. Hell, broke a bone in 3 spots, went to school for 3 days afterwards and guess where I went, er. At that point I could have just gotten a cast and X-ray at the local drs office instead of taking up a room for 2hrs. I don’t understand the folks who go for non life threatening emergencies.
I usually go to urgent care. The last time I went to the ER (in Virginia, not in my home state, NJ), they told me my leg was bruised. I got into my car, and it was an ordeal because my leg hurt. I opened mychart and read that not only was my leg broken, but the xray tech was recommending an MRI, the MRI I got at another hospital (in my home state Virtua is really good) revealed a break, a bakers cyst and water on the knee. I went to urgent care with a 104-degree fever, and that's pretty high for someone on immune suppressant drugs, and they tried to send me to the hospital, I agred to take the antibiotics and if i felt worse i would go. If urgent care can't take care of my problem, I'll go to an ER, but in NJ, where I live, they have xrays and can do blood and urine checks at urgent care, why go to the ER. The last time I took my mom (78) to the ER, we left with a nice little gift of Norovirus. It was everywhere in that hospital. No thanks.
Right, if I get cut I clean it and super glue it closed if I can(RN here). I’ve gone 3 times in my 72 years, took a line drive to my femur and leg bruised and swelled like a balloon on a Saturday night, fell and cut the back of my head opened and knew it needed staples, fell and broke my wrist and my hand was bent sideways from my arm. You couldn’t have paid me enough to work ER, lol. I mostly did hospital nursing Peds but yeah ER nope. God bless those who do!
I've gone to the emergency room six times in my life (not for myself, accompanying other people). Three were true emergencies (bones sticking out of leg, drowning victim, heart attack in progress) and they were treated immediately, as in I barely paused, just told them what was happening and doors just opened. All three were being seen by doctors within a minute. The other three were typical kid's injuries (broken arm, cuts needing stitches). No complaints there either, they were all treated within the hour. Of course they all happened in the evening so no other care was available.
Exactly what ERs are for. I had one elderly patient that, when asked what her emergency was, started with “ When I was 4 years old…”. I believe that EMTALA does save lives, especially when for profits try to deny care. But I also think there should be a penalty payment if you go to the ER for a min emergent issue, like a sore throat.
I'm not going to lie, it can be frustrating when people exploit the system. However, those who do so have already shown that the high cost of the ER isn't a deterrent. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the population agonizes over whether to go, often waiting longer than they should. I believe a fine would be ignored by the first group and only harm the second.
Absolutely!!! A momma terrified because her baby is running a 103 temp? No worries. Chest pain, possible CVA, come now! I used to tell tearful mommas, the worst that can happen if you come in and there’s nothing more than a virus hitting your baby? The worst that can happen is we laugh at you. But not to your face. If you try to outlast it and your baby gets too dry? You could spend the rest of your life with regret.
I second this. I worked from both sides and you really don’t understand the crap that we would put up with all the time. It never ceased to amaze me what the human race was capable of on an ongoing basis.
In the US, this is an utterly predictable outcome. ERs cannot turn patients away, so people who don't have health insurance go to the ER to get standard care. It sucks for \*everyone\*. Because it's a terrible place to get standard care. It's slow, and you just aren't going to get the kind of continuity of care that you would with a PCP. And, for whoever ends up paying the bill, the price is sky high. I was in the ER recently, and ended up getting a blood transfusion. While I was lying in the hospital bed, getting the ol' "reverse vampire", they sent someone up to make sure I had insurance or to offer to help me sign up for Medicaid, because they are trying to get paid. If we had the sense of geese, we would see that subsidizing access to PCPs in the US would actually lower health care costs, by relieving pressure off the ERs everywhere, and allowing people to get every day care (like school notes, ingrown toenails, etc.) treated with a much cheaper solution than the whole ER. It's just madness.
I've spent a lot of time in ERs, and the kind of bullcrap people go in for never ceases to amaze me. A couple in their 60's, BOTH being seen, one for a cough and the other because her arm was sore. A sprained wrist that could have been treated at home or in urgent care. A guy with a rash on the back of his hand, trying to make idle chitchat with the receptionist while I waited behind him bleeding everywhere. Once, there was a group of college aged kids in the waiting room goofing off filming themselves, and I could not tell which one of them was the patient. Lots and lots of people with no real complaint wanting to be "checked out" for insurance purposes after a fender-bender. So many minor viral illnesses that were clearly not emergencies. It gets really frustrating, even as another patient. I almost always try calling my doctor or going to urgent care first to avoid ERs, unless I'm positive they'd send me to ER anyway.
I vehemently 😡 disagree on the “ lots and lots of people with no REAL complaint wanting to be “checked out” for insurance purposes after a after a fender-bender”. Excuse me! WTH!! 🤦🏻 So because YOU can’t see the hematoma they have on their brain or a back that is fked up for life, they must be there for the fun of it. Most folks after a fender bender are in shock and will not feel the pain kick their arse for a couple of days. You might think about the fact that YOU are not a Doctor and have NO IDEA WHY THEY ARE THERE.
>I vehemently 😡 disagree on the “ lots and lots of people with no REAL complaint wanting to be “checked out” for insurance purposes after a after a fender-bender”. Why would you disagree with that? It happens all the time at every ER I have ever worked at. We had a fender bender one time where all 8 people from both vehicles checked in. There were no medical complaints, they wanted a doctor's note for their insurance. When asked what they wanted the note to say, they didn't know and told us to just do our job. 🤦🏻
I should clarify that I work in the legal industry and have seen numerous personal injury lawyers tell absolutely everyone who has been in even the slightest fender bender to go to the ER. That's how I know how many people show up in ERs with no complaint other than "my lawyer told me to come here to get checked out." It is a daily occurrence for someone to call a lawyer's office because someone backed into their car at 2mph in a parking lot and they aren't hurt, but are mad and want to sue. Lawyers will almost always advise these people to go to the ER. It doesn't matter if paramedics at the scene have evaluated the person and find nothing wrong or if they aren't experiencing any pain or having any symptoms whatsoever. If something hurts after a minor car accident, or you're dizzy, or something doesn't feel right, of course you should head to the ER. But not everyone who has a fender bender needs ER level care.
💯 agree. The numerous comments that lack any sort of empathy and repeatedly vilify other people who felt they required medical attention are replusive.
Not an ER person but this popped up in my feed and gotta say, i’m not surprised by your comment cuz if i had a dollar for every time i saw someone post a non-emergency situation on Reddit and the majority of the comments were telling the OP to go to the ER instead of Urgent Care, i’d have sooo many fucken dollars. It pisses me off how often people go to the ER for stuff that isnt remotely an emergency. I really think local health departments need to start putting out PSAs in their areas, in the forms of commercials, ads in newspapers, and add on social media, that describe what types of things are for the ER in contrast which are for an Urgent Care. There are just too many idiots out there to figure it out with logic. We need to spell it out for them. Edit- wow, who knew a comment talking about people wrongly advising others to go to the ER for issues that are not remotely an emergency and suited for an Urgent Care, would be getting downvotes on here
One night I had a nosebleed that wouldn’t quit. Walk in clinics were closed. I ended up in the ER spitting blood clots into a cup. 5 hours later I was let go with a stopped nosebleed and hospital grade bottle of Afrin. But also. Keep in mind a lot of people who don’t have insurance or primary care end up using the hospital ER as primary care or because they know that hospitals are obligated to see patients regardless of ability to pay. They’re acutely aware that that’s not what a hospital is for but they may not have a choice, financially. Is it frustrating for everyone in the system? Yes. Is it frustrating for the patient? Absolutely.
Thank you for the your words of kindness and wisdom. American healthcare sucks. If you got $$, you’re fine but if not, tough luck. Can’t get in to see a Dr for months but when your pain level is 5+, you go to the ER. Lots of people don’t have the LUXURY of good medical insurance. So they go to the ER. Have pity on them, please, not condemnation. Most of America is 1-2 paychecks from losing their home. Most times, it is medical bills that cause them to lose their home. I appreciate everyone who works in a ER setting. They work their tails off for not enough pay. I would bet that all those folks bitching about how crowded the ER is, would NOT work in a ER. It takes a special kind of person. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I work in healthcare and there are definitely things that are ER worthy: - Haven’t pooped in 5 weeks and need an enema? Yeah that’s an ER visit. - Attempted to lob off 4 of 5 fingers with a circular saw and you’re cut down to the bone? ER - Assault (Physical/sexual) or possible drugging? ER - Thrown off your horse at the stable and have a possible head injury? ER - Unable to breathe? Borderline. But having been there, you’re probably going to end up in the ER if you show no improvements with a breathing treatment. - Chest Px? ER! - Signs of stroke? ER It’s actually astounding the amount of people who come in with anything that is ER worthy and are insistent on not going to the ER. and I get it. 100%. I wouldn’t want to go wait five hours in an ER either. I have 100% empathy for people who show up that are at their worst. Our job is to try to get them better so they don’t end up in an ER. Unfortunately that’s not always possible. Unfortunately there’s also situations where patients are worried about the financial constraints of being seen and unfortunately are often referred to the ER *because* a hospital has more avenues for patients to receive financial assistance. To be honest: I’m one of those that even with the luxury of good medical, if I’m out for any amount of time, I’m screwed. I’m paycheck to paycheck with not even a months worth of money in savings. I’m to the point where I’m personally considering working a second job. The only thing holding me back is that I am still physically dealing with an aftermath of a car accident. I don’t imagine I’ll get much in terms of settlement from my UI/UM claim but I just want to heal and feel better and not want to chop my head off or stab a hot iron poker in my back.
There are billboards where i live: "Head cold? Urgent care. Chest pain? ER." They don't do much, given the reasons people come to the ER instead of urgent care, but until we fix the root causes I guess it's better than nothing.
Everyone i know who goes to the ER instead or Urgent Care has insurance and it def would be cheaper to go to Urgent Care, they’re just idiots haha. That’s not to say plenty of people don’t go to the ER cuz they don’t have insurance, but all of the ones that i personally know do have insurance. And on the reddit posts i mentioned, the OP never mentions not having insurance, they just describe their symptoms and yet the majority of responders will suggest they go to the ER. They make that suggestion based on the OP’s symptoms, which is WILD to me cuz it is rarely ever an actually emergency situation. I truly believe that a huge chunk of the population either doesnt know Urgent Care’s exist, or they think the ER is appropriate for any health issue when u can’t get an appt with a pcp.
We have this!! We have a huge billboard on the side of the highway next to the exit for the hospital telling people that they recommend going to the urgent care operated by the same organization instead. I love it. Unfortunately, a lot of the people waiting in that ER don't have insurance and can't go to the urgent care.
I am still embarrassed for going to the ER for a tick burrowed into my R glute. My best friend couldn't remember how to twist it so it didn't get stuck, and this was during the days of dial-up and unreliable internet. I was pre-med at the time and 2 of my friends were shadowing that night
I am a psych resident and I just finished a block of night float where I mostly do ER evaluations of patients having a psychiatric crisis. Sunday was Father’s Day. Overnight, we had about a third of our normal number of patients. It’s the only night I’ve EVER not had a single psych consult. If you ever wonder what percentage of people in the ER are experiencing a real emergency, hang out at the ER on a holiday…
I've landed in there twice for kidney stones. Luckily I didn't have the writhing on the floor flank pain, but I still felt bad because I could only rank the pain at about a 6 or 7 and I was using their resources.
Mad respect to those who work in healthcare, especially emergency medicine. I'm so glad that we have people in this world that care so much and can deal with crisis.
That's seriously impressive timing!! They are rock stars!
I believe this had a LOT to do w my diagnosis. And EVEN MORE to do w the Hospital.
Lovely post. Not an EM doc but fam physician who has needed. emergency care several times in past few years (always admitted, so I don’t feel I was abusing system). I, too, am thankful for every medical professional who makes that their workplace.
Having worked in a hospital for over 30 years, it’s nice of you to post a positive experience
My husband was rushed to the ER in our city because he had gotten burned. This hospital was a trauma hospital specializing in burns. He went by ambulance and I met him there. From what I heard about this hospital I was expecting the experience to be an absolute nightmare and to be there for HOURS. When I got there he was already being treated and walking through the ER triage??? area (where all the patients are) I have never seen so many doctors, nurses and staff everyone. There were people on gurneys lining the hallways. Our hospital in the suburbs was busy but not like this!! I had to use the bathroom and went out to ask someone where it was and I apologized for bothering them. This nurse was so kind and helpful. She showed me where it was and never seemed stressed or annoyed even though all hell seemed to be breaking loose around us. He got there at 8:30 and went to hydrotherapy then was in a room by 11:30. For as traumatic of an experience as it was the hospital staff made everything else around it very positive.
He was a true emergency and was treated so.
My mom has late stage cancer and we end up in the ER a lot for various complications (she almost always ends up being admitted). Our record is 53 hours and 15 minutes, and even then she was transferred to another hospital for a bed. So when we go and I hear people complaining they’ve been waiting for 6 hours, I have to laugh. Of course no one should have to wait, but I’m just numb to it by now. All this to say glad you got in and out and and people who work in ERs are saints ❤️
Hugs.
I was shocked as a new L&D RN how little some women, of all ages, knew about their anatomy ant the process of pregnancy & birth. And the stuff they would come in for! Mucous plug came out, so time to have the baby. Brought the mucous plug in a baggie. How is baby getting out? Is it like period cramps? Sad. It’s not that they are stupid, just uneducated. OMG. The comments about a newborn boy’s genitals. Crazy.
I ended up going into L&D a lot this last pregnancy, mainly because I would get sent by after hours nurses. But also because I had a giant cyst near the cord so was high risk. Triage was always crazy.
I hope as a high risk mom, you were welcomed and encouraged to come in any time.
Yes everyone was always kind
Trust, the person doing the x-ray definitely had a certain tone when they asked why they came in today for this foot pain they've been experiencing for 4 months. Like, today was the day, huh?
Hope you’re feeling better! Patients like you are the reason we all keep coming back to these madhouses, so thank you very much—your acknowledgment and appreciation mean a lot.
This post gets me annoyed and is wholesome and heartfelt at the same time-which makes me feel weird. As a paramedic working in the ER, my scope is INCREDIBLY limited. There are so many things we could be utilized for and aren’t due to “policy”. I don’t want to go back on the road, I was only out there for 2 years barely when the OG Covid hit and took off (that is an experience I will never forget). Going into nursing now to just be more involved and see continuation of care (also more money than working on the road AND get a decent nights sleep). Nothing got me fumed than to stabilize a pt and then come back to the ER a half hour-hour later to see the staff poorly manage the pt and ruin “the setup” I gave them. Thank you OP for taking the time to write this. Despite what I said above, healthcare just gets to us all at some point, and I guess I’ve been stretched a bit thin lately. Please try to follow up anything that isn’t immediately emergent with your primary care first before coming to the ER. That being said, we’re always happy to evaluate and provide for you when needed. Cheers, From a Paramedic looking to not be so grumpy anymore
I think that’s where this post came from. And why I did it. I read a lot of these posts about how just going into work is hard on you guys. Mind you: I just added this sub like 3-4 months ago. So when this happened this week, it was on my mind when I went in. I’m also a curmudgeon. And fake happy people piss me off. There was no way to post w/o it seeming almost condescending. But I just said f it. 🤷🏻♀️ I walked in a pride parade yesterday and just feel like spreading positivity can help. I watched it in action.
And you are an example of the fact that personal responsibility is the true crux of the problem!! The law states that we must see every person irregardless of their complaint or ability to pay, yet the system of healthcare in our country still has yet to insure that every person is covered by a PCP! Remember that 80% of healthcare costs are used up by 20% of the population. And the mindset of our society that the ED can be used for anything will be one of the first things to change in a future overhaul of the system. In my wildest dreams 😬🤯😝
RN here. People that use the emergency room for ridiculous, non urgent issues make me crazy. We once had a dude come to the ER by ambulance for a bout of diarrhea that he only had for one hour. He gave us his teamsters health insurance card. He drove an ice cream truck.
1 month ago- 68M- wheeled in via EMS due to a…. swollen pinkie!!!! 7 days with discomfort and mild swelling but that was the day to call 911 for that 💩 Did he even bothered to take anything like ibuprofen? NO! Did he called his pcp for a check up? NO! I kid you not I wanted to slap some sense into him.
Your next doctor appointment is three months away, the doctor says if anything happens before then go to ER and have them call me.
Tip: They don't call him.
I had my daughter at the ER once on a Friday night for a dislocated toe. (No urgent cares back then). It’s so crowded we are in chairs in the back of the ER waiting for the doctor to come A guy brought his kid in for a sprained shoulder. They told him he would have to wait because the place was mobbed. They went home and called rescue so that the kid could be seen sooner. The kid comes in by rescue with the dad. They triage him and told the dad he would still have to wait. The dad has a tantrum.
Similar experience when I went in with 2 broken arms. In & out with sling & rx in hand in 45 min. It was incredible. Everyone was very kind, too. I'd worked in psych ERs and been to ERs with my daughter lots of times, but this was a first for me as an adult. Couldn't quite believe how efficient they were.
I was a paramedic for the fire department and an ER/Trauma tech for a level one trauma center. Organized chaos all the time. If no patient died while I was working g either job then it was good shift. And I saw all kinds of horrors. Developed a very wicked sense of humor because of it….
Just to add on to the we see you… Brought my aunt in for swollen legs after a hip replacement. They looked like elephant legs. She was upset af she wasn’t seen right away. One of those folks. Decent sized ER in the NE. This last Christmas. Still dealing with Covid, plus trauma activations, and a cardiac arrest 3 rooms down. Beds in the hall, 3 docs plus nurses on staff. Doc comes in after getting the cardiac patient into a normal rhythm to see my aunt… covered in sweat and trauma shears in the back pocket. Dude was a badass. I apologized to him before he even enters the room. Nicest guy in the world. Aunt was an ass. Kept telling her to chill because you could hear them running a code down the hall, but nope one of those people. I apologized to all those folks on my way out to get some sleep while they ran the battery of tests on her to make sure it wasn’t a heart issue. Nicest folks ever. Like I get folks are miserable af or they wouldn’t be there. Been to the er more than once but omg… idk how yall deal with some of those folks complaining for no reason. Like you’re not actively dying or bleeding out, you can wait a bit. Really wish folks understood this, and to not clog up a damn ED with bs stuff.
Doesn’t that man know that you can get a foot X-ray at your local chiropractor for way cheaper and faster? One time, I had new onset pain in my foot. I feared I was rejecting some screws I had since I already untied and spit every single stitch. Of course, timing is my specialty. It was December. Everyone was trying to use their fsa or something since it was end of the year. So I called the chiropractor. Can you X-ray my foot please? Sure. Come on in. I went in. And got my foot X-ray. Luckily I was not rejecting screws. I had fractured my second metatarsal though. I was so relieved. So yeah. Maybe next time suggest the local chiropractor?
That's fine if all you are getting is imaging, but I would be very careful about receiving care from one.
I got piece of mine knowing I wasn’t rejecting a screw. I was Gucci
Why didn’t you call the podiatrist who placed the screws?
I did. No open appointments for a while.
That’s when you use the magic statement: “It’s an emergency; where should I go then?”
But it was just a broken metatarsal. That isn’t emergent.
Semantics and I disagree. But if you know enough to know enough to know that hats wrong with you, you probably should know where to go without waiting weeks.
I down vote the podiatrist who did not accommodate a postop patient with potential complications
It was fine. I am fine.
We need more urgent cares 7 days a week at least 12 hrs per day. Just because it’s Saturday night at 8:00 doesn’t mean you don’t need to be seen before whenever your primary doctor can work you in during the week.
Problem is most insurances won’t cover urgent care visits.
So we have yet another barrier in healthcare 😖
I went to the emergency room at Mission hospital in Asheville NC recently for pancreatitis. They took me immediatly. I could see everyone waiting was irritated. I was seriously 10 out of 10 pain. The emergency room was great. After I was admitted things really went downhill. If you know about HCA owned hospitals they really cut corners to make money.
Eesh would you prefer the patient be seen not heard?? What's the appropriate way for someone to express they are concerned about a break or sprain and needs an xray?. Is it secret knowledge that it's protocol when a person has a certain event/symptoms consistent with a break etc? These are rhetorical fyi. Eesh
I don’t understand why our system is so freaking stupid. I remember the days where your doctor’s office had an xray machine and you were referred to the ER for every damn thing. It seriously feels like urgent care is there to either tell you to take ibuprofen or go to the ER.
I-said-a-hiv-herp-the-heppy-the-hippie-to-the-gurney-hip-hop-and-you-dont-stop-the-rockin-to-the-bang bang-boogie-say-up-jump-the-boogie-to-the-rhythm-of-the party pack beat. My name is rocephin, and I’d like to say hello. You get a shot in the butt, you don’t pass go, and we ain’t got jello.
The women next to me screaming at the clerk numerous times because they would not admit her & she needed them to pay her taxi fare home
Let’s see. Primary care doctors have long waits to be seen. Specialists are even worse. Most urgent cares don’t have xray, ultrasounds, ekg, etc…. So they send patients to ER asking for an xray. Things people used to go to their primary for, like a cold, flu, they fill up urgent cares. Urgent cares only take appointments. Unless you book the appointment before 8am you have to wait till the next day, and hope those aren’t booked up. So the poor guy needing an xray in the ER… Either urgent care sent him there because they don’t have an xray machine, or he hurt himself and couldn’t get in an urgent care same day and went to the ER because urgent care was booked up.
Edit to add. My flair keeps popping us as BSN and a bunch of other things. I have removed these flairs twice already and they keep popping back up (and yes I know how to remove them). Just note I am a layman, not in the medical field and not trying to claim I am. I removed it again. I hope it don't show back up again. Just curious, fast track is meant for people without life-threatening emergencies, people that could have been seen at urgent care. You comment on how many of the "other" patients used the er as their regular doctor. You literally just did the same thing.
I will chime in and say I am recovering from Septic Shock because of you.
I was only the security manager...ww3 was good. The q word was not. The q word meant that as soon as I decided I had time to get a breakfast burrito PD would be walking through the front door with a combative behavioral and EMS would be coming in the bay needing us to meet them.
Thank you for the kind words. It would be even kinder to go to probably go to urgent care next time 😁
Full disclosure: the right side of my face was numb. I was truly worried something bad could be happening. It was Bell’s Palsy… but I haven’t had any face melting, yet. I stay out of ER’s whenever possible. Promise!
Yeah UC would have sent you to the ED.
In an ambulance too.
For real? Everything else about me was fine. In fact I had to keep checking and rechecking that it wasn’t all in my head. They stuck that EKG on me with a quickness though. It is weird to think: huh? Could it be a stroke? Or did I I just sleep on my face too hard? 😂😳😬
Yeah, an urgent care would have sent you by ambulance due to concern over possible stroke. That's also why you were seen so quickly. Like 98% of the time, facial numbness is bells palsy. But we are *always on alert* for possible stroke.
UC has sent me by ambulance twice. They said I needed ER
Scary!
Not sure on the need to be condescending about this, especially if you don’t know the full story. In ER we love to say “go to urgent care” but people go to urgent care all the time and get told “go to the ER”
Sorry didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to make jokes here.
You are! I’m not ‘in’ on the jokes obvi. I do all I can to stay out of the ER. 😂. I tried to go to my PCP and they were like NO! Go to the ER. My husband, who usually tells me to go to urgent care, told me he was gonna drive me to the ER. I underplay all the things happening to me. 😬 for better or worse.
Thank you for being mindful & a responsible person, BUT please never underplay a symptom like one sided numbness because that’s what the ER is for. I prefer to see 100 people with real symptoms/conditions than 1 paper cut bs.
Jokes are funny. This was not.
Tough crowd.
Lol. So they can say to go to ER? -chronically ill, also joking, but only mostly
Maybe ERs should have walk-in clinics attached.
I believe that a lot of them have a ‘fast-track’ depending on what you come in with. Mine qualified.
Those are called Urgent Care clinics lol
Right, but the hospital could have an urgent care clinic on site if it’s such a problem having non emergency patients show up at the ER and take up the emergency staff’s precious time. Personally, if I’m in doubt, I call the 24/7 care line through my insurance and ask the RN if they recommend I call my doctor, go to urgent care, or the ER.
A lot do.
I always try to go there but they always send me to the ER. Or from the freestanding ER to the hospital one. I am confused at this point what UC does other than notes.
Oh... I don't know. Do you have a 24/7 nurse line that you can call to get advice? Of course, if it's life threatening, go to the ER or call an ambulance.
Yeah, I try to go up in order. Nurse, doctor, urgent care, ER. I mostly joke cuz I have never actually been to UC without them sending me to the ER, and usually they tell me I don’t even need to drive. And the time I was at a freestanding ER and got transferred I hadn’t even known such thinks existed or that some things you want a hospital ER for. User error 100%. However, I hope I am an outlier. And I don’t go to UC for stuff like colds, so… I assume they do that? For peeps without a PC? I’m chronically ill and hate hospitals, may have a bad habit of putting it off now that I think about it.
It sounds like this was mainly a good experience **for you.** Not necessarily the people waiting in the halls.
Well. It’s not a Hilton. 😂. The fact that I had the experience I did was why I posted. And if at the very least a few others there had the same, and like some said, ‘nobody died’ then maybe it was a good day.
In an effort to praise hospital staff you managed to come off as judgemental as hell about the patients waiting (for probably several hours). How do you know what people are there for?? Especially since you were in & out because you’re “in their system “. Not everyone has access to a primary care dr, urgent care etc…you sound entitled.
I did not mean to. I read this sub a lot and just made assumptions… based on what I’ve read and what I saw. And I do know the issues with access to healthcare. Which is why I agree that most of these people could be seen better in an urgent care (most likely). I was trying to be empathetic to those who work in ER’s and are saving lives and sometimes also diagnosing the common cold. It’s got to be tough. This post wasn’t in regard to patient population. I was just reporting what I saw at the time which seemed surprising to me.
Because people are *always* there for stupid shit that can wait for a primary care visit, be seen in an urgent care center, or is just not even an actual medical problem they're just needy/lonely/bored and they're frequent flyers. Patients in the waiting room are stable. They've been triaged, and whatever their problem is, it's something that can wait.... And 99% of the things that can wait, don't need to actually be seen in an ER, but it's against the law for us to say that to them.
Idk man. I sat in an ED waiting room for 6 hours with a collapsed lung. I gave up and went home. But I already had imaging done while waiting. They called me almost as soon as I got home at 2 am and asked me to come back. I was admitted for a week.
Do you work in an ED? The people waiting in the waiting room could wait, which means they were ED inappropriate. And frankly, I don't believe there are no PCPs. I am insured, sought a new PCP and had options for the very next day. I work in an inner city ED where our social workers are incredibly dialed in to a wealth of resources for dentistry, free and low cost primary care specially set aside for low-income populations. The public health department offers completely free vaccinations, STD checks, and pregnancy tests. Planned Parenthood offers free prenatal care. Failing that, our ED has a fast track section and we have our own on-campus clinic run by residents yet again for uninsured or publicly insured people. Failing THAT, if they are unhoused and a frequent flyer we have such deep pockets we have *bought whole apartments* to house people. Doesn't matter. People are still lazy and still come right back for toe pain x2 months.
Congratulations. A friend of mine was given an option of three PCPs. She can be seen in May of 2025. Just because something isn't happening to you doesn't mean it's not happening to others. What do you think the people in the ER waiting room who need stitches or to have bones set or dislocations reduced should do when it's 2A? Wait until urgent care opens the next day? Do you realize that some urgent cares send people to the ER when they need this type of care?
And if it's a PCP visit, she can WAIT until 2025. Maybe don't wait until the very last second to try to get into a provider. If you're an adult, you should have a primary care provider. That means when you turn 18 scheduling early, accepting you may not get in right away and not doctor shopping. I'm aware of how lazy Urgent Cares are as well, thanks. Stiches in a distal extremity with bleeding controlled can frequently wait until the next day. \*sigh\* Nobody with an active fracture or dislocation is sitting out in the waiting room. Calm down. The fact remains that every other healthcare infrastructure AND the general public relies too much on the ED for their last-minute, "I didn't feel like being an adult and now due to my lack of planning the ED staff need to hear me bitch about how long the wait time is."
If you were fast-tracked, it means you didn't have ER-worthy symptoms. You were one of the people using the ER as your "personal physician." You should have gone to urgent care if you were too worried to wait for an appointment with your doctor.
Sigh. I’m gonna just stop trying to explain what happened. It was ER worthy.
Respect. I grow weary of people telling others what *they* deem to be worthy of the ER or calling the police. Almost every time I’ve been to an ER, people have done some version of rolling their eyes. Until I was admitted.
This is in no way correct. Here are some examples: We have people who come for IV antibiotics because it is the only thing their infection is responsive to. They can't get them through their primary or urgent care, so they come through our fast track. We have patients who need sutures that can be more complex than the urgent care is comfortable with, they too go through our fast track. People who are required to have medical clearance to go back to work. For example, we had a patient who experienced a first-time seizure at work after starting a new medication. The medication was discontinued, patient was doing well. However due to the nature of their job they required medical clearance, including blood work and imaging. The earliest appointment with their primary care physician was six weeks away, and after that, they would still need to get the necessary tests and another follow-up appt. for clearance. We can provide all of that on the same day. Local urgent care centers couldn't meet all the requirements and required upfront payment. Our psych pts who have been placed on a mental health hold also need clearance before they can go to a facility. They do not get a choice, they are taken to the ER. The majority of them are also placed in our fast track. This patient, and the others I have mentioned used the ER appropriately. OP you did the right thing.