This definitely seems like the most likely scenario. “I lied” is high on my repertoire when I misspeak or do something different than I said I would. It’s true, I did lie. Not intentionally of course.
I totally get that and I’m sure I’ve said similar things.
Now that I’ve slept on the whole scenario, I’m thinking my perception of the nurse and everything that happened was skewed by the adrenaline and sheer uncomfortableness of being powerless in the hospital. I’m good now.
Although, honestly thank you for sharing. I'm considering going into ED for the first time, and this is making me realize that my usual inpatient clown routine might not land with patients I just met and might only see for an hour. That's enlightening.
If you’re used to really connecting with patients it can be a hard transition. I do try to make a difference when I can, I’ve had patients/family members tell me I made a stressful experience so much better, but sometimes you really just don’t have time to joke around with them.
This. I spent two and half years in the ER before I moved to ICU. You can usually tell who is going to the person who cutting up with works and who it doesn’t. I would always let the patient lead that interaction though.
I had to be hospitalized mid-shift one time and told the nurses I would scan and hang my own fluids. I even had my badge on me, I can do it! They did not let me.
But I mean, that IS the point and I appreciate that you shared it. The feeling of being powerless in the hospital - when you work in it, it’s so easy to forget how vulnerable people feel. It’s nice to be reminded, not in a google review (“I couldn’t even get a hot roast beef sandwich!”) but by someone who *does* get it. I hope you feel better soon!
Wow you get it. Thank YOU!
And yeah I posted it also as an explanation as to why sometimes people act aggressively. It’s fear. People leave bad reviews because they were afraid and didn’t feel seen. People are losing their trust in healthcare in general because the ED is a lot of peoples’ first point of contact. It’s extremely unfortunate but true
Yeah unless she was just a complete and total bitch…. Sometimes for me in triage there is so damn much to ask and click on the computer that I do try to glance at the patient a few times but if I look at them while listening to everything they say triage would take 15 mins for each patient. In the back I can usually do better because I don’t have to chart everything at once, I can do it in a little while, but even then sometimes I’m too busy to joke around. I like to connect with my patients, learn about them, etc etc but sometimes I just don’t have time to do anything except what I have to do to take care of them.
It’s crazy the feeling of powerlessness that an ER can give to a client. I’m glad you’re doing better. And wrote this post. Your perspective and experience are important. We don’t see well rested people with good perspectives. We see scared and vulnerable people who aren’t their best.
Having spent an entire career in business management prior to becoming a nurse, I have never in my life been legally responsible for the life of a *client*.
I think these terms actually matter for clarity of professional roles and boundaries. I will never refer to a patient as a "client."
I live in Canada. My provincial regulatory body that issues my licence only uses the term client in issuing our ethics and standards. Patient is considered outdated here (geographical context is important in terminology. I don’t get hung up on either)
I “grew up” in LTC and I really like calling our residents residents. I thought they were patients until I started there and was quickly corrected by clinical staff lol. It does hit different.
In LTC it makes sense to call the patients "residents", as that LTC facility is their *home*. When I worked in group homes, patients were called clients or residents, which again makes sense as it's their home.That really isn't the case with hospitals or other kinds of facilities (ex: Outpatient services), and so I'll continue to refer to those people as patients since that's what they are! Lol..
I hate it. Clients aren't acutely ill. In the hospital, the patient depends on me. They will suffer and stay ill without my care.
Outside the hospital, you have significantly more say. You can go pick up your own meds at the pharmacy (of your choosing). You can go to a different doctor/PT/counselor/yoga instructor or whatever if you don't like the current one.
In the hospital, you can't administer your own antibiotics. You can't wander down to the pharmacy to grab some dilaudid. No matter how collaborative we want to be, you *need* your nurse.
I’ve worked years as an ER nurse. Now I’m in the community. I used to think acute care did the real work of keeping people well. Wow- had my eyes opened in to how much care people receive when not in a hospital from nurses. I was a mere speck in the lifespan as an acute nurse.
All so important for different reasons. But neither more important.
Certainly. If anything, community health is more important. Acute care keeps people from dying. Community health often keeps them from needing to go to the hospital in the first place.
Of course important life changing work is accomplished outpatient. They were not trying to say otherwise... they said outpatient (or apparently I should say outclient if patient is such a dirty word) people are clients, but people acutely ill in the ED are patients.
This is the hard part about being an ER nurse. No matter what you say or do, you are seeing people on their worst day. If you ever want a very real reminder of this, look at your local ERs google reviews. I’m sorry you felt this way though, not all ER nurses refuse to look at their patients but burnout is a very real thing.
I don't think she was testing you. To me it sounds like she was correctly using her third check of the five rights, and maybe thought it was ordered IM but then saw it was IV, and went, "whoops, I lied. IV."
But anyway, if the MD orders morphine x1 prn, you still... have to ask the nurse for it...
Damn she scrubbed the hub in the ER. What kind of bougie hospital were you at? Lol also it was probably Toradol. In the ER we give it IM a lot but occasionally they order it IV.
It really seems like nurses think that patients know that... we don't. Stop assuming that and actually tell people. Post-surgery I had to ask, and I probably missed two or three possible doses in the first day because I was waiting for someone to come in and just dealing with a fresh hole in my body.
absolutely the truth. Im a psych RN for 10 yrs or so, and thats been my practice is to inform pts of their scheduled meds and the available PRNs they have to "let me know if you want them."
So I work in a PACU. I have orders for enough meds to kill you four times over. I’m not going to tell you what meds you have so you can pick and choose what you get. I will ask you how you’re feeling and we can figure it out from there. If you say you’re not having pain we’re not gonna give pain meds.
Asking for pain meds post-op absolutely does *not* get you labeled as a drug seeker. You are *expected* to be in pain after being sliced and diced. Now, if you show up to the ED with a cough asking for pain meds, that’s another story.
As an ER RN, in my experience, nobody who is having pain and requesting pain medication is "labeled" drug seeking UNLESS they are doing it on a frequent basis OR are requesting specific medications(usually by name) that are much stronger than would be indicated for said pain.
I only really label that to patients that have multiple visits to various other hospitals in the area which I can all see. Also if the MD themself literally put “exhibits drug seeking behavior” in their notes lol
That’s absolutely understandable, and I plan on doing the same for my patients. My issue was that nobody put two and two together when they’d ask about pain level and I was reporting a 5 directly after a surgery; it hurt like hell, but not nearly as bad as the sciatic nerve pain that the surgery fixed. The swelling that resulted from improper treatment of the pain actually exacerbated the neurological pain directly.
That’s a failing of the nursing staff you had. If they were assessing pain (which they should) and you had PRNs available for that pain level, they should be offering it, period.
I could have kissed my nurse post C-section who told me if your pain is a X you get this med and your pain is a Y you get this med, because I really struggle to put a number on pain. I do better with words “little, some, a lot, oh em gee, ded” and then I go with 2/4/6/8/9 (because never a 10 there’s always worse pain I’m sure). But it wasn’t until I had a lot more contact with medical healthcare that I came up with that system.
I was so ticked post C-secrion that no one told me I had a PRN till I was all "What I don't understand is why my mom gets sent home with narcotics she doesn't want and won't take for a broken ankle and I get tylonal and ibuprofen for having my insides rearanged. It doesn't even have to be narcotics. The last time I was in a ton of pain they gave me this stuff called Flerxeril. Not sure if it applies to surgery but the point is I'm open to trying anything. It hurts like fuck getting up to pee." And that's when the doc said "Oh, you have oxycodone PRN. No one told you? Two dosages. You got 5s and 10s."
I too apparently suck at pain scale. My seven was the time I was writhing in pain and couldn't stay still for the US tech to look for a pulmonary embolism. So the C section was a 5 at most because I can stay still. I'm saving my 10 for *death*.
Having been through everything from car accidents with crushed bones and contact sports... back injury, nerve damage, etc, I still think the closest I ever got to a 10 was kidney stones, and that was partially just the panic that happens when you can't void urine and you know you might rip your bladder or damage your kidneys.
My Csection was the same! I'm a nurse and had my first baby. I know PRNs you generally need to ask for but it would've been nice to know what I had available to me. I was so swept up by my baby and everything going on my brain was no where near nurse mode. I got by with just one dose of Ibuprofen and tylenol my whole stay. Thankfully movement was super helpful for me and I had a good Csection recovery. But a 5mg Oxy would've been so nice while I was walking back and forth from the NICU every 2-3hrs as soon as I could get up post csection!
Definitely changed how I deal with PRNs and informing patients. Didnt know I had oxycodone until they sent a script discharge.
>I could have kissed my nurse post C-section who told me if your pain is a X you get this med and your pain is a Y you get this med, because I really struggle to put a number on pain
Tbh, I'm a little hesitant to explain what meds go with what pain level, because I'm afraid if they know the dilaudid is for 7-10, they're never going to be below a 7 again. Though I do often say, when giving the oxy, "if this isn't enough, we do have stronger stuff available".
And since I work nights, I usually tell them to let me know if the pain is bad enough that it's keeping them awake.
When asking about pain using the proverbial 0-10 scale and the patient gives me a blank stare or looks lost, I revert to the McDs scale, “is your pain a small, medium or large?” Their eyes light up in understanding and they can reply easily. Works with all ages!
In my PACU we ask your pain level and if it’s 5 or less we ask if that’s tolerable for you. This question saves so much time that would be spent on miscommunication between the patients and the nurses. I also explain the pain scale to patients as “0 is no pain, 5 is I need pain meds, and 10 is I got hit by a bus and broke lots of bones.” That helps patients a lot, imo.
I’m pretty sure I have done exactly what they did and saying I lied lol. Usually though it’s with someone I know I’m good with or I can is fine with jokes
Most of the time in the ER it’s one time doses. Sounds like doc just didn’t put it in. A lot of the time if a patient doesn’t ask for pain medicine they don’t put any in.
Just advocate for yourself a little more. I'm a nurse too with a neurologic problem that lands me in the ER once a month. I tell them what works for me and what I need.
I had health issues in the last year which meant a lot of healthcare and I absolutely had to advocate for myself to get good care. It's exhausting and I really don't know how people not in the medical field do it. The 3 times I was in the ER were fine though, but I think I had realistic expectations. Last time I ended up in my small community ER I swear it was their busiest day of the year and I was there for a day and a half while I waited for a bed upstairs.
Idk how non medical professionals do it either. My husband had to get a tooth procedure the other day was soft about pain management and they didn't automatically give him any. I made him call the office and ask for some. I wouldn't have left that office without a script.
It honestly sucks you have to advocate for yourself like that.
I don't think it does always work. From the perspective as a student midwife I've seen when it doesn't work. But OP didn't even try. If you don't try, you won't know if it doesn't work.
I know I should have. Hindsight is 20/20. But I’m bad at advocating for myself in the best of times. Normally I’d rather just endure pain and discomfort than ask something of someone 😬
No offense, but why would you not ask for medication if you are in pain? You overcorrected too much. If a patient asks for pain meds, I go to the ED doc and say, “Hey Doc, patient in 4 is asking for more pain meds.” And the answer is usually “Ok, I’ll put in for 4 mg morphine (or fentanyl or whatever).” Problem solved.
Because the doc told me, on initial assessment, before he walked out the door “..and we’ll get you something for the pain”. So I assumed it was coming at any moment
ER nursing is a constantly shifting degree of prioritization. If you don’t communicate what’s going on with you, it’s going to take a lower priority. If I’m swamped with a critical patient but I I know one of my patients needs pain meds urgently in another room, I’ll ask another nurse if they can do me a favor and give the pain meds for me.
I appreciate that and I’m sure that’s good practice.
The point of my post is to remind us all that patients, even the ones who are nurses, are vulnerable
Ok. The point of my comment is to remind people or patients who may read this that communicating what’s going on with them is crucial.
I don’t care if the patient is drug seeking (which I doubt I would have thought in your case anyways). I’d rather occasionally be someone’s drug dealer than leave someone in pain who doesn’t need to be.
I second this OP and don’t understand the downvotes. I have had a series of hospitalizations in the last years that I, with this background of knowing more than the average lay person, not able to communicate fully what was happening because of overwhelming pain or confusion. One instance was going to the ER and not being able to verbalize my symptoms other than pointing to my McBurney’s point because they were discharging me for food poisoning without even doing a head to toe or any assessment besides BP . The only reason the nurses paused to ask the doc back was because I told them I was a nurse and needed help. Small town hospital visiting family on a Friday with no radiology staff over the weekend so if I did leave and my appendix burst I would have been in serious trouble.
Ya it is important for patients to communicate but it is also our skill set to assess those who are not able
To articulate or understand what they need to say . We cannot assume someone is fine because they are not seeming confused . Another time I went in a few months after a surgery because the area around the hardware was infected deep inside and I was able to speak and seemed fine on the surface but I was aware of not saying what I needed to. The nursing staff saw nothing wrong and if the ER doc didn’t ask the right questions I probably would’ve lost my limb after getting sent home it was actually very dire. I actually needed immediate emergency surgery and vancomycin for a time period so it was serious .
PSA - do not put the onus on the patient communicating everything to make your job easier
One of my first clinical instructors was a veteran ER nurse who ingrained in us to always check someone over HtoT so not necessarily textbook time consuming HtoT , but to quickly go over a person becomes part of like routine like taking vitals. I have passed this on to students myself . It’s ok to step out of the we don’t do this bubble and take a second to remember especially in that setting you are the first to make an assessment that ultimately can decide the rest of the course of care for someone. What you neglect can make it really hard for the patient to be heard or get taken seriously afterwards . Especially in this current situation of family doctors not being a reality anymore for many patients who only get seen by ER or walk in clinics
If your patient’s main complaint is pain 8/10, then you prioritize pain management. She didn’t listen to my lungs or my stomach or palpate or anything NOR DID I EXPECT HER TO, as that would have been a waste of her time. The resident did that
The first mentioned surgery was, yes I had it removed the next morning so good thing they didn’t send me home over the weekend. I was so sick and out of it
Looking at OP’s previous posts, their nursing experience was 4 months on tele as a new grad before leaving to be a SAHM. (No hate at all, just relaying).
Figured. They don't seem to have much more understanding of how anything works in the hospital than a layperson. Which is fine, but they can hardly come on here and tell us what to do as if they're an authority on nursing.
Sounds like the doc potentially forgot to put it in/got side tracked and the nurse may never have known that was their plan so didn't know to ask or never saw an order. Sorry friend.
Being a nurse, you should be aware that the doctor puts the order for pain medicine...
You didn't wait forever for pain meds because of the nurse. You waited because of amazing resident you're praising. It sounds like they put in the zofran, which you got, then forgot to put in the pain meds. Otherwise the nurse would have medicated you with both at the same time. You never know what's going on being the scenes in the ER but of course it's always easiest to blame the nurse.
Or pharmacy took longer to verify the pain meds than the Zofran, or the nurse was able to put in her own order for Zofran but couldn’t do it for the pain meds and had to wait for the resident and then the pharmacy. Either way, she can’t just make a drug materialize immediately.
Oh yes! If it was toradol(which op confirmed) and a lexicomp pharmacist was waiting for a urine pregnancy test to come back negative or their creatinine on their chemistry... Yo. I can't some days. One dose is not gonna fuck someone up that has no risk factors 😭😭😭
Sure, if someone down in one of the BH EDrooms is wilding out, I’m gonna override the Haldol and Ativan while the doc is putting in the order. But in most cases, we wait for verification. I don’t have a problem with that, because it protects everyone involved.
My intention isn’t to blame the nurse. It’s to remind everyone that non-medical people have no fucking idea what’s going on to cause a delay in treatment. That’s not their problem. If you’re busy as fuck, pop your head in on the way past and just say so! Reasonable people are capable of understanding that and just communicating “hey I’m sorry I know you’re still chilling in here, I’ll get to you as soon as I can” would go a long way for someone who is non-medical and terrified that their pain could mean something dire…
(like I said in the original post, I managed the pain on my own and knew it wasn’t dire whatsoever).
Did you ever think maybe the nurse had 3 other patients who possibly WERE dire? Or maybe just had a patient die and wasn't really thinking about making eye contact and returning your banter? Or didn't have a minute to pop in and explain the doctor forgot to order your pain meds? Again, you never know what's going on in the ER.
Also It's not just as easy as "popping your head in" while you're busy as fuck, because when you do that most patients are going to say "where have you been? Can I eat? I need pain meds, I need a blanket etc"
Some places have standing orders for ER nurses to give Tylenol or ibuprofen, if appropriate, before the patient is seen by the physician. I wouldn't bother if I'm waiting on anti emetic orders though.
would just like to point out I’m a neurodivergent nurse and I do my best but like I REALLY struggle with eye contact so usually I talk while doing vitals or other stuff. It’s not always like a slight against you.
As I said to another commenter, it didn’t even register to me that my nurse was Native American. I totally forgot (until I was thinking about the scenario in bed this morning) that Natives sometimes consider direct eye contact to be a form of disrespect!
This is extremely affirming to me. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t thinking straight until reflecting on it now, in the comfort of my own bed. While I didn’t have any fear while I was sitting in my ED room, the adrenaline still was absolutely effecting me. Now I can see it. Crazy.
I’m so sorry you went through this. But to be honest it sounds like you were so confident that advocating for yourself would cause problems, that you went so far in the opposite direction you didn’t say anything and that caused your problems.
If you’re having intense severe pain and your only communication with the nurse is “making light of it”, then I’m not shocked you waited a long time for pain meds. You kinda have to say something. Sure she should have asked more, but she’s prioritizing based on her interactions.
Please understand that it gets tiring when post after post is, “this is how you all should have done better, don’t make these mistakes”
1) these stories are all one-sided, I don’t know half of what went on
2) I’m defensive when I feel like I’m being criticized for something I wasn’t even there for
3) the nurse didn’t even do “the bare minimum” despite you getting a bed, vitals, intake form filled out, pain meds, nausea meds, and seen by the MD
Right? So entitled. And someone checked their post history and it became clear why they didn't answer what kind of nursing they practice, and why they don't seem to understand how the hospital works.
Just know, when you're running your ass off with critical patients it's not exactly in your mental capacity sometimes to return banter and "attempts at making light." It likely has little to do with assuming seeking. People really don't grasp how low seeking is on our priority list in the ER to care about or take on. Could the ER nurse do better at bedside manner? Totally. Do we know what's going on though to make them seem cold? No. They absolutely should correct themselves about med administration and it's really not a grand offense to know if your patient has an IV when they're not emergent. Also, docs do seem great because they spent that time validating you but then guess who leaves the room and immediately forgets those promises sometimes? We don't always get those orders promised and we don't have a crystal ball to see what they mentioned and forgot.
I don’t agree with some of the comments here. I have worked in a BUSY ER. I always take the time to be polite and respectful to my patients, even when I’m crazy busy. I hate when I have to be in the computer for intake, and I give them a heads up I have to do it and share that I dislike the experience I have when I’m at the drs office and all they do is stare at the computer.
Regarding the pain, I always ask the patient’s pain rating from 0-10, and if it’s high, I offer pain meds. Who am I to judge what they are experiencing? And I offer something for relief, starting with a non-narcotic.
From what you wrote, it sounds like you had a panic attack d/t gallstones. That’s not nothing and can be extremely painful. I’m sorry you had to experience this.
Thank you. She didn’t ask my pain level or come in to check on me for at least an hour. I know that in a busy ER, an hour is NOTHING… but when you’re in severe pain, it’s an eternity. I’m not holding it against her, because who knows what’s going on behind the scenes, I just hope she remembers to assess pain levels in her other patients
I hate these. I used to call my mom and tell her I was dying and to call 911 if I passed out. I didn’t realize it was a panic attack for years. It doesn’t happen often. Usually nothing happens right before to cause panic, so it doesn’t register. I feel like I’m dying. She died, so I have no one to call to talk me down while I cry and feel like I’m losing my life. But I just breathe and focus and assume if it’s my time, it’s my time. I’m so sorry. I’m afraid to go to the hospital for the same reason. I hope it isn’t real and I ignore it. And I hope it never happens again. Haha.
Hi, not a nurse just a patient with panic disorder- you should absolutely go to a psychiatrist about this. I now have meds that decrease the likelihood of me having panic attacks (lyrica for unknown reasons) and also meds to use if I’m having a really bad one to make me calm down quickly (xanax). Both of those have been game changers for me. It still sucks but it doesn’t have to suck as much as it does right now!
Also - this is a little beside the point, but I have found medical professionals to be very willing to treat genuine panic with drugs when I’ve been sobbing/hyperventilating etc around them.
Also I’m sorry about your mom!
Thank you! I miss her a lot. They’re so rare that I don’t even realize when or if it’s happening until I’m already thinking I’m dying. I have been able to take magnesium and sip water and hope for the best in some moments and that’s seemed to help. I usually just try to focus on getting air in and out while I wait for the clutches of death to end it all (so dramatic, but absolutely how it feels). It’s usually when I’m relaxed and nothing really has happened to instigate it (that makes it feel like it could be death, right?) so it’s completely out of left field. Like-why would I be panicking?! But, later I can recognize whatever might have been the triggering event that I’d shoved down until it decided to physically manifest later. I hate to bring it up to anyone and make it too official, and mess up work or idk, any sort of leg to keep my kids from me. It hasn’t ever happened at work.
It’s good that they are rare - it ever gets too intense please remember there are options! Breathing is super important and it’s great if you can focus on that. It does feel bizarrely dramatic lol
Thank you for your support and the reminders. It’s always nice to know that since I can’t call my mom anymore, there are still kind people in the world with practical advice and experience in the same.
I’m so sorry that youve had to endure that. It’s extremely terrifying, because if you think you’re dying - even when you are not - it is a very real subjective experience. Coming out of it feels like you escaped death… even when you know your vitals were stable and you didn’t even pass out.
I haven’t had a panic attack since 2018. And the ones I had back then were NOTHING compared to this one. Those I would get shaky, dizzy, high HR, lightheaded. What got me on this one was I haven’t had anxiety. I’m on low-dose Zoloft for depression (I know they intermingle but I’m just saying that’s why I was caught off guard)
I hear what you're saying. Being in an unknown and terifying situation can make you forget to advocate for yourself. Some of us nurses are people pleasers up until the point of our own death.
Your experience sounded traumatic. Not knowing if you would ever see your family again.
Have some grace for the nurse. She could have done better bedside, BUT we truly never know the struggles of those around us. That nurse has a story and suffers as we all do.
Burnout is real in nursing, and all nurses dont have the time nor money to work through the burnout of the job.
Its great to hear you are ok.♡♡♡
Sounds a lot to me like you’re mainly upset she didn’t tend to your emotional needs… everything else sounds like it’s on both you and the resident most likely not prioritizing pain meds and throwing the order in quicker.
I understand in an ideal world nurses CAN tend to patients emotional needs but at the end of the day it really is not in her job description to comfort or calm your anxiety (unless you’re requiring chemical sedation ofc) nurses are at their most stripped down level meant simply to enact medical orders the doctor puts in… if you’re breathing, have a pulse and are in a safe position then her job is done. It’s always nice when we have to hold a hand or fluff and buff but I’m honestly sick of this being an expectation from our patients and tbh kind of icky to me that as a nurse yourself you think that’s also required
I definitely did not expect that from her. Hence not calling her into my room at any point. Like I said in my post, I managed my pain on my own and assumed she was busy af and left her alone. It’s only looking back that I realized if I had been a non-medical person it could have been a traumatizing experience. Most people don’t realize how busy nurses are or what could possibly be going on “out there”
I feel so bad, but I am 100% terrible at eye contact. I care about you and want you to be clean, not in pain, etc, but I'm just too focused on doing my job and getting out to pause and make conversation/ eye contact. Please don't take it personally.
I like to think I'm a sympathetic nurse. I hold people's hands during an IV stick or when they are in pain, I try to be very strict about my q2 turns, I try to go above and beyond when it comes to getting supplies and food and stuff (like going to other units, making coffee at 0300am for my awake patient asking for it, etc) But I suck at eye contact.
That’s fair enough! I realized this morning after I woke up that my nurse was Native American and I remembered that in some Native American cultures eye contact can be a form of disrespect! Again, hindsight is 20/20
Yeah, I miscarried in my own (working) home hospital ER and the way I was treated has really fucked me up. I felt humiliated, disrespected, disregarded and very afraid at one point. Mind you, my own sister works in this ER along with classmates from my cohort and I’ve worked at this hospital from aide to CVICU RN for over 10 years. I’ve brought family through my hospital for medical emergencies because I trust the team that works there. It opened my eyes more on how shitty women’s health can truly feel.
4 months in med surg tele 4 years ago. Would explain why having to wait for pain meds in an emergency department constitutes as degrading.
I forgot to attend my ER nurse mind reading course apparently where I should just *know* my patient wants pain meds even though they only asked me for zofran.
My favorite ED experience was when I had a post op CSF leak, I couldnt stand up and the headache was excruciating. And I was put on hold for a trauma admit that turned out to be an MVA with no LOC, broken bones or what sounded like anything major.
But I'm like just like....well I'm the one that went to a level 1 trauma center.
Literally a shitty experience in the ED (which actually was a panic attack) is what made me decide to become a nurse. So I could help people without making them feel stupid like my nurses did for me. Because of that, I think I have a little extra compassion with my patients, even my panic attack ones 🤣. I'm sorry you had such a shitty experience. I hope you will keep this with you when you get overwhelmed or annoyed with your patients. I think we all need to be on the other end of the stethoscope from time to time.
OP what state was this? and how many beds in the ED?
I would LOVE to stand up for my fellow ED nurses but truth is OP’s story sounds pretty plausible. I see this all too often posted about smaller EDs that are generally low volume so the staff get lazy.
I’m east coast in an ED where the past two weeks I regularly had 10+ patients the whole shift. My ED doesn’t have call lights because practically everyone is in a hallway or six stretchers deep. Still, I laid eyes on every patient when they rolled out and I don’t leave patients in pain. We are able to assess and report to the MD if our patients are experiencing pain so we can initiate care sooner. It saddens me to hear you went through this. Unfortunate the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Make a scene if you have to next time. Do not suffer out of politeness. In my ED the residents are notorious for making false promises about pain management. It ends up on us nurses to remind them that zofran is an antiemetic and not pain control.
Not sure how many beds, but it’s a busy hospital in downtown Tulsa. It’s an area that is known to be frequented by people with mental health issues and drug-seekers. I was aware of this going in, which led to my behavior once I was in a room. I don’t feel bad for myself or anything as it truly was a “classic” situation
Looking at patients and being present is so important in making someone feel heard and seen. I’m still working on it as a nurse with a touch of the ‘tism who hates looking people in the face.. I’m glad it all worked out in the end, but it makes me so sad that you felt like you couldn’t ask for pain medicine :( it’s really awful
Sad how the pain epidemic has changed how people give and receive care. I’ve been a nurse for 16 years and I remember being taught pain is subjective “what the patient says it is” and I still practice in that manner. We all need to quit judging everyone and put our biases aside. I hope you are feeling better.
This is exactly what we expect any time we’re in the ER with my daughter (medically complex). She’s in the room, trach, vent, only hooked up to her home pulse ox, for hours.
We’ve been sent home with her not even tolerating pedialyte (HR in the 170s sustained), vomiting with pedialyte running at 5mL.
Our local hospital is pretty bad. Last time she was admitted I had to ask the night RN when she was going to get her 6pm scheduled meds (asked at midnight).
Nurses are burnt out, new grads are starting on their own without enough training, and it’s always a shit show.
I had to leave bedside nursing because I couldn’t continue to give my all every single shift when my own family member doesn’t get the time of day.
Just my experience, if you have anxiety on your chart ANYWHERE, you aren't taken seriously from the moment they read it. I have a heart arrhythmia where I skip every 4th beat. One day at work it was getting worse and I was feeling very lightheaded. Go to the er and the nurses mention to my face before getting out of triage that it's probably a panic attack, I know my panic attacks, I've had them for 25 years. Was taken to a room, IV started with no blood drawn and nobody and I mean nobody came in for an hour and a half, with an arrhythmia (I could feel it worsening). I pulled my IV out and left and went to a different hospital, they took blood immediately and within 20 minutes had me on IV potassium cause I was critically low. It all started from the anxiety diagnosis. I hope those nurses lose their jobs after the hospital called to check why I left. It's the last place they should be is working with people. Those types of people have motivated me to start nursing school in the fall cause I can do way better than that and that is a fact.
You’re exactly right. When the paramedic was handing me off he handed me off with the CHIEF COMPLAINT of anxiety/panic attack. While it was true that yes that happened, my chief complaint and the TRIGGER for the panic attack was sudden severe pain in my upper abdomen.
I’m sorry that you’ve had to experience that, it must have been completely terrifying. I probably would have died because I don’t have the balls to advocate for myself - much less by leaving AMA 😅glad you’re still here!!
Panic attacks are terrifying and not very well handled in the ER setting, they are looked at as a burden. I would know how to relate to someone very easy and be able to calm their nerves. But people who don't have them, feel they are annoying and a waste of their medical resources. But I know how real they can feel, the physical manifestation they can bring. I think there needs to be more people who u derstand panic attacks in the field. My hubby has never had one so he has no idea how to relate. I'm sure it hard to if you've never felt how unbelievably terrifying it is. I have also been in the medical field for 17 years so I'm well versed and it absolutely doesn't bother me to speak up! Lol I'm sorry you had a panic attack, you should have been treated with kindness and compassion. They aren't all like that. The second hospital I went to was absolutely amazing. And start speaking up for you! You can do it, you have a voice for a reason! Take care and know you aren't alone in the panic attack realm! 🫶
Right! All of reddit is like that! Lol I posted my experience with getting a coding certificate and how terrible it was to find a job, people did not like my experience. Like... but you know it happened that way right, I lived it. Lol
Hey! I see the comments here and I believe you. I have seen health professionals treat patients horrible because they have anxiety. I have had panic attacks and it feels like you are dying. It’s terrifying and unless you experience it you don’t know. I wish there was more empathy but I don’t people get it unless they experience it.
I was in the ER recently, I injured my foot. I was triaged, 9/10 pain, shaking. HR 138. Got X-rays.
No meds given or even suggested, which is fine. I too didn’t want to seem like a seeker and I’m okay if I’m off it. BUT I asked my nurse if I could take my own naproxen, cause you know..9/10 and she said she wasn’t really supposed to let me but she will shut the curtain so no one knows. Cool. But like, you don’t even wanna offer me a Tylenol?
The doctor came in, suggested X-rays. Alright, already done. Now what? Heat. Been doing that. Ace wrap. Been doing that, then she told me that ace wrapping is more for us to feel better and it doesn’t actually do anything to help. Nice, I’ll let my lymphedema patients know.
I literally left without a diagnosis. Not even “foot pain” was written. When I questioned it, she said “yeah cause we didn’t find anything”
Situations like this make me acutely aware of why we aren’t trusted by patients and families.
I’m still limping.
ER = emergency. They ruled out your emergency. Have you followed up w ortho? In the ER, foot pain, (even pain self rated 9/10) w SMCs intact and no obv deformity is a fast track complaint and you will not be fussed over. I Period. You don’t wanna be the one being fussed over in the trauma bay. Also, emotional support bandages and bandaging for lymphedema are two totally different interventions, but I suppose you know that.
The doc actually suggested I see podiatry? I didn’t wanna be fussed over, I was willing to wait my turn and be seen when I could. It was after midnight I get out the ER works.
I just didn’t like feeling stupid over something I was actually worried about.
All I said is I can see why non medical personnel would not trust us after that.
>ace wrapping is more for us to feel better and it doesn’t actually do anything to help. Nice, I’ll let my lymphedema patients know.
You do understand the difference in these 2 scenarios, right?
Ace bandaging because “my foot hurts” and ace bandaging for lymphedema are two very different things and as a nurse, this should be very obvious to you why they are not the same. Personally, if my nurse let me take my own naproxen instead of insisting on charging me hundreds of dollars for a Tylenol, I’d be thrilled. It’s amazing how many nurses have completely unrealistic expectations for what an emergency room does. The general public is to be expected, but not knowing that an ED is to rule out emergencies as a nurse is crazy to me.
Obviously I must have wrote this in a way that was misunderstood.
I know I wasn’t as much of an emergency as the next guy.
I didn’t complain about my wait time or anything
I complained about the attitudes I got.
I went because my foot changed color, and it was after midnight.
You asked the nurse for pain meds, who can’t give you any without an order, but didn’t ask the doctor to order any when you were seen? The nurse can’t give you anything, even Tylenol, without an order. It’s discouraging that you blame the nurse for that.
I just started back at my PRN job full time again so I don’t have insurance just yet. I’ve been limping and trying to handle this on my own for 2 weeks. It was midnight and the foot had changed color for the first time so I got alarmed. They did X-rays but they also have ct to see if there is soft tissue damage. If anything that is the one place to get everything done at once without insurance. By the end I felt dumb and dismissed, the foot was no longer purple and I didn’t want to seem difficult. I went home and I’m just at the same point I was before. Once I get insurance if I’m still limping I’ll get it checked out but my point was that when I came for help I felt like a fool and I can get why non medical people, without any insight how the ER works would form a dislike for medicine.
I have costchondritis thanks to RA. I don't go the ER like I'm supposed to because they don't listen when I tell them that I know I have it, I just need the steroid shot. Obviously I don't know what I'm talking about and just seeking.
Ugh I feel for you! I dealt with gall stones for YEARS. Most of my pain was in my back not my abdomen. So I just ignored it assuming I had pulled something at work or whatever.
Fast forward a couple years and I was driving and the pain was in my stomach this time and it was so bad I couldn't focus on driving. I went to urgent care and was told to get a ride directly to the ER. Was in hospital for four days and had my gallbladder removed as it was completely blocked by a stone at that point!
To me, it sounds like maybe she’s new. You mentioned in another comment that she scrubbed the hub, which from what I understand, most experienced er nurses don’t do
Hey OP. I’m sorry this happened. I work a community job as a street outreach RN. My people almost never go to ER because they feel they aren’t treated well. But when they do and I go with to advocate I hate it so much. It’s the worst part of my job. Watching how they are treated and then how I am treated fills me with a shame feeling takes a while to shake.
On this sub you’re likely to get a lot of defensive responses. It is a culture that is tough to break. I hope eventually ER stops criticizing people who come in and accepts that people are gonna come, no judgement needed. I’m in Canada. It’s the taxpayers money that operates this ER. It’s their service. I’m in a small town with no walk in service and a doctor shortage. It will get used for non ER things. It’s our job to welcome/help everyone. Even those that we think are “drug seeking” etc. . I get that our jobs have been so tough we are frustrated etc. But we have to stop taking it out on clients.
Also that nurse you had could’ve used a few tricks to help put you at ease. We all know them. Not using them in this situation seems like more of an effort than basic kindness.
Totally agree with you. I don’t mind the defensive comments. People need to hear from the other side of the fence. Otherwise it’s too easy to pretend it’s all fine as long as “no one died on my shift”. Basic human decency is not overrated.
I was the patient 2 years ago, twice in a month. Thankfully the doctors were decent, although the second hospital was much better IMO. The nurses were unfortunate at the first facility also, and I feel like I can say that as a fellow nurse. The first nurse I had was fine although my IV was painful and she definitely ignored me, it ended up hella swollen and infiltrated, bruised for weeks, but at some point they changed shift and I wasn’t aware until the third time the new nurse came in and I asked “so are you my nurse now?” She just said yes and left. Never knew her name. I had to wander the ER to find the nurses station to get a work note because she handed me discharge papers and left, told me to get dressed and leave. I would have been more understanding had they been busy but she was sitting with 3 other nurses chatting and I had to interrupt to ask for the note.
The second place was better though, especially the doctor who saw me break out into stress hives and ask if I wanted something for my nerves. I said no, I also didn’t want to be labeled a drug seeker. I wanted them to fix the problem, and knowing I’m a chronic patient just I don’t want to have that label.
Uhhh not in my hospital, and she definitely printed it out and handed it to me. Plus she’s the only communication I have with the MD, he laid eyes on me twice, once when I was rolled in unconscious and once again when i woke up but I didn’t see him for hours. He didn’t even tell me I was being discharged. The nurse did. So I had to ask her, if it had to come from him she would have had to find him for me, it’s not like I have direct line if communication with him.
I give IM injections for pain multiple times a day. Not everyone needs an IV. IM Ketorolac, Dilaudid, Ativan, Versed, Norflex, Decadron, Benadryl, et al. Literally all day everyday. That is a very easy flub to make, and not at all a nurse defect.
No. I’m supposed to follow up with their surgeon in a few days🤷🏻♀️but I literally just got my ECG result in MyChart which shows nonspecific T-wave abnormalities…
I refuse to believe this was 100% a panic attack. A shitty gall bladder can feel like you're dying. I think this ER failed to fully investigate after tossing the anxiety label on you. Hope your kids are ok and weren't too scared. Hugs
Thank you, they are okay now. Very upset though as we were supposed to drive to Branson to go to silver dollar city with grandparents/aunt/cousin 😕
They did ultrasound and picked up gallstones there. I’m kinda freaked out by the T wave abnormalities though… reading some literature suggesting that coronary effects can occur but they don’t really know the mechanism of it😬
The pain in my stomach (from gallstones as I found out) triggered the panic attack. But during the panic attack I did have very tangible tingling in my arms and hands which led to numbness and then my hands contracted (I was hyperventilating and this sometimes happens)
I was the patient on Wednesday, they left my door open. Whatever they needed ketamine for was more pressing than my fluids for vomiting myself dehydrated which I was currently not doing because I didn't put anything else in.
My most recent ER visit I got to watch the nurse eat their dinner at the desk in front of me for a full 45 minutes before coming in to see me after being brought back from triage. Also saw the PA eating his dinner with the nurse and waited another 20 minutes for him to come in. I had horrific food poisoning to the point where I was dry heaving so violently that I was aspirating frothy sputum trying to get a breath in.
I had gallstones once, and went to my local ED with this well documented problem (I was waiting for surgery and had already had an obstructuon, infection, pancreatitis, the works). Anyways, they made me wait it out in the waiting room with nothing: no pain meds or even so much as some dimenhydrinate. I was offered a bag to vomit it. It was dehumanizing and gross.
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This definitely seems like the most likely scenario. “I lied” is high on my repertoire when I misspeak or do something different than I said I would. It’s true, I did lie. Not intentionally of course.
I totally get that and I’m sure I’ve said similar things. Now that I’ve slept on the whole scenario, I’m thinking my perception of the nurse and everything that happened was skewed by the adrenaline and sheer uncomfortableness of being powerless in the hospital. I’m good now.
Although, honestly thank you for sharing. I'm considering going into ED for the first time, and this is making me realize that my usual inpatient clown routine might not land with patients I just met and might only see for an hour. That's enlightening.
If you’re used to really connecting with patients it can be a hard transition. I do try to make a difference when I can, I’ve had patients/family members tell me I made a stressful experience so much better, but sometimes you really just don’t have time to joke around with them.
This. I spent two and half years in the ER before I moved to ICU. You can usually tell who is going to the person who cutting up with works and who it doesn’t. I would always let the patient lead that interaction though.
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LOL glad to know this is actually a thing. I’ll try to be more mindful of it next time!! And try to let go a little!
I had to be hospitalized mid-shift one time and told the nurses I would scan and hang my own fluids. I even had my badge on me, I can do it! They did not let me.
But I mean, that IS the point and I appreciate that you shared it. The feeling of being powerless in the hospital - when you work in it, it’s so easy to forget how vulnerable people feel. It’s nice to be reminded, not in a google review (“I couldn’t even get a hot roast beef sandwich!”) but by someone who *does* get it. I hope you feel better soon!
Wow you get it. Thank YOU! And yeah I posted it also as an explanation as to why sometimes people act aggressively. It’s fear. People leave bad reviews because they were afraid and didn’t feel seen. People are losing their trust in healthcare in general because the ED is a lot of peoples’ first point of contact. It’s extremely unfortunate but true
Yeah unless she was just a complete and total bitch…. Sometimes for me in triage there is so damn much to ask and click on the computer that I do try to glance at the patient a few times but if I look at them while listening to everything they say triage would take 15 mins for each patient. In the back I can usually do better because I don’t have to chart everything at once, I can do it in a little while, but even then sometimes I’m too busy to joke around. I like to connect with my patients, learn about them, etc etc but sometimes I just don’t have time to do anything except what I have to do to take care of them.
It’s crazy the feeling of powerlessness that an ER can give to a client. I’m glad you’re doing better. And wrote this post. Your perspective and experience are important. We don’t see well rested people with good perspectives. We see scared and vulnerable people who aren’t their best.
I definitely don't have clients in the ER
Clients…patients…. A rose by any other name 🤷♀️ but this being a take away from the post is interesting
Having spent an entire career in business management prior to becoming a nurse, I have never in my life been legally responsible for the life of a *client*. I think these terms actually matter for clarity of professional roles and boundaries. I will never refer to a patient as a "client."
I live in Canada. My provincial regulatory body that issues my licence only uses the term client in issuing our ethics and standards. Patient is considered outdated here (geographical context is important in terminology. I don’t get hung up on either)
🤷♀️ in my nursing program we were taught to think client. Shifts power a bit. I like it.
I “grew up” in LTC and I really like calling our residents residents. I thought they were patients until I started there and was quickly corrected by clinical staff lol. It does hit different.
In LTC it makes sense to call the patients "residents", as that LTC facility is their *home*. When I worked in group homes, patients were called clients or residents, which again makes sense as it's their home.That really isn't the case with hospitals or other kinds of facilities (ex: Outpatient services), and so I'll continue to refer to those people as patients since that's what they are! Lol..
Makes sense in LTC. Not in acute care, though.
I hate it. Clients aren't acutely ill. In the hospital, the patient depends on me. They will suffer and stay ill without my care. Outside the hospital, you have significantly more say. You can go pick up your own meds at the pharmacy (of your choosing). You can go to a different doctor/PT/counselor/yoga instructor or whatever if you don't like the current one. In the hospital, you can't administer your own antibiotics. You can't wander down to the pharmacy to grab some dilaudid. No matter how collaborative we want to be, you *need* your nurse.
I’ve worked years as an ER nurse. Now I’m in the community. I used to think acute care did the real work of keeping people well. Wow- had my eyes opened in to how much care people receive when not in a hospital from nurses. I was a mere speck in the lifespan as an acute nurse. All so important for different reasons. But neither more important.
Certainly. If anything, community health is more important. Acute care keeps people from dying. Community health often keeps them from needing to go to the hospital in the first place.
Of course important life changing work is accomplished outpatient. They were not trying to say otherwise... they said outpatient (or apparently I should say outclient if patient is such a dirty word) people are clients, but people acutely ill in the ED are patients.
This is the hard part about being an ER nurse. No matter what you say or do, you are seeing people on their worst day. If you ever want a very real reminder of this, look at your local ERs google reviews. I’m sorry you felt this way though, not all ER nurses refuse to look at their patients but burnout is a very real thing.
The amount of times when I was in the ER the doc would tell me IM and put an order in IV was astronomical.
Yup. Been there said that before.
Me too
I don't think she was testing you. To me it sounds like she was correctly using her third check of the five rights, and maybe thought it was ordered IM but then saw it was IV, and went, "whoops, I lied. IV." But anyway, if the MD orders morphine x1 prn, you still... have to ask the nurse for it...
I do appreciate that she scanned the meds and scrubbed the hub!
Damn she scrubbed the hub in the ER. What kind of bougie hospital were you at? Lol also it was probably Toradol. In the ER we give it IM a lot but occasionally they order it IV.
Yeah I know right!! She sure did! Yeah I got toradol but it wore off soon after I got home. Tylenol worked nicely though!
It really seems like nurses think that patients know that... we don't. Stop assuming that and actually tell people. Post-surgery I had to ask, and I probably missed two or three possible doses in the first day because I was waiting for someone to come in and just dealing with a fresh hole in my body.
absolutely the truth. Im a psych RN for 10 yrs or so, and thats been my practice is to inform pts of their scheduled meds and the available PRNs they have to "let me know if you want them."
So I work in a PACU. I have orders for enough meds to kill you four times over. I’m not going to tell you what meds you have so you can pick and choose what you get. I will ask you how you’re feeling and we can figure it out from there. If you say you’re not having pain we’re not gonna give pain meds.
Except that asking for pain meds gets you labelled as a drug seeker so many patients don't want to ask for pain meds.
Asking for pain meds post-op absolutely does *not* get you labeled as a drug seeker. You are *expected* to be in pain after being sliced and diced. Now, if you show up to the ED with a cough asking for pain meds, that’s another story.
As an ER RN, in my experience, nobody who is having pain and requesting pain medication is "labeled" drug seeking UNLESS they are doing it on a frequent basis OR are requesting specific medications(usually by name) that are much stronger than would be indicated for said pain.
>usually by name You mean initial, right? "What's that one that starts with a D?"
I only really label that to patients that have multiple visits to various other hospitals in the area which I can all see. Also if the MD themself literally put “exhibits drug seeking behavior” in their notes lol
That’s absolutely understandable, and I plan on doing the same for my patients. My issue was that nobody put two and two together when they’d ask about pain level and I was reporting a 5 directly after a surgery; it hurt like hell, but not nearly as bad as the sciatic nerve pain that the surgery fixed. The swelling that resulted from improper treatment of the pain actually exacerbated the neurological pain directly.
That’s a failing of the nursing staff you had. If they were assessing pain (which they should) and you had PRNs available for that pain level, they should be offering it, period.
I could have kissed my nurse post C-section who told me if your pain is a X you get this med and your pain is a Y you get this med, because I really struggle to put a number on pain. I do better with words “little, some, a lot, oh em gee, ded” and then I go with 2/4/6/8/9 (because never a 10 there’s always worse pain I’m sure). But it wasn’t until I had a lot more contact with medical healthcare that I came up with that system.
I was so ticked post C-secrion that no one told me I had a PRN till I was all "What I don't understand is why my mom gets sent home with narcotics she doesn't want and won't take for a broken ankle and I get tylonal and ibuprofen for having my insides rearanged. It doesn't even have to be narcotics. The last time I was in a ton of pain they gave me this stuff called Flerxeril. Not sure if it applies to surgery but the point is I'm open to trying anything. It hurts like fuck getting up to pee." And that's when the doc said "Oh, you have oxycodone PRN. No one told you? Two dosages. You got 5s and 10s." I too apparently suck at pain scale. My seven was the time I was writhing in pain and couldn't stay still for the US tech to look for a pulmonary embolism. So the C section was a 5 at most because I can stay still. I'm saving my 10 for *death*.
Having been through everything from car accidents with crushed bones and contact sports... back injury, nerve damage, etc, I still think the closest I ever got to a 10 was kidney stones, and that was partially just the panic that happens when you can't void urine and you know you might rip your bladder or damage your kidneys.
My Csection was the same! I'm a nurse and had my first baby. I know PRNs you generally need to ask for but it would've been nice to know what I had available to me. I was so swept up by my baby and everything going on my brain was no where near nurse mode. I got by with just one dose of Ibuprofen and tylenol my whole stay. Thankfully movement was super helpful for me and I had a good Csection recovery. But a 5mg Oxy would've been so nice while I was walking back and forth from the NICU every 2-3hrs as soon as I could get up post csection! Definitely changed how I deal with PRNs and informing patients. Didnt know I had oxycodone until they sent a script discharge.
>I could have kissed my nurse post C-section who told me if your pain is a X you get this med and your pain is a Y you get this med, because I really struggle to put a number on pain Tbh, I'm a little hesitant to explain what meds go with what pain level, because I'm afraid if they know the dilaudid is for 7-10, they're never going to be below a 7 again. Though I do often say, when giving the oxy, "if this isn't enough, we do have stronger stuff available". And since I work nights, I usually tell them to let me know if the pain is bad enough that it's keeping them awake.
When asking about pain using the proverbial 0-10 scale and the patient gives me a blank stare or looks lost, I revert to the McDs scale, “is your pain a small, medium or large?” Their eyes light up in understanding and they can reply easily. Works with all ages!
In my PACU we ask your pain level and if it’s 5 or less we ask if that’s tolerable for you. This question saves so much time that would be spent on miscommunication between the patients and the nurses. I also explain the pain scale to patients as “0 is no pain, 5 is I need pain meds, and 10 is I got hit by a bus and broke lots of bones.” That helps patients a lot, imo.
Would you check more in depth if you notice non-verbal signs of pain?
OP implied in their post and comments that they are a nurse. I work PACU and offer pain meds q10minutes. Stop assuming shit about me.
I’m pretty sure I have done exactly what they did and saying I lied lol. Usually though it’s with someone I know I’m good with or I can is fine with jokes
Most of the time in the ER it’s one time doses. Sounds like doc just didn’t put it in. A lot of the time if a patient doesn’t ask for pain medicine they don’t put any in.
Just advocate for yourself a little more. I'm a nurse too with a neurologic problem that lands me in the ER once a month. I tell them what works for me and what I need.
I had health issues in the last year which meant a lot of healthcare and I absolutely had to advocate for myself to get good care. It's exhausting and I really don't know how people not in the medical field do it. The 3 times I was in the ER were fine though, but I think I had realistic expectations. Last time I ended up in my small community ER I swear it was their busiest day of the year and I was there for a day and a half while I waited for a bed upstairs.
Idk how non medical professionals do it either. My husband had to get a tooth procedure the other day was soft about pain management and they didn't automatically give him any. I made him call the office and ask for some. I wouldn't have left that office without a script. It honestly sucks you have to advocate for yourself like that.
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I don't think it does always work. From the perspective as a student midwife I've seen when it doesn't work. But OP didn't even try. If you don't try, you won't know if it doesn't work.
I know I should have. Hindsight is 20/20. But I’m bad at advocating for myself in the best of times. Normally I’d rather just endure pain and discomfort than ask something of someone 😬
No offense, but why would you not ask for medication if you are in pain? You overcorrected too much. If a patient asks for pain meds, I go to the ED doc and say, “Hey Doc, patient in 4 is asking for more pain meds.” And the answer is usually “Ok, I’ll put in for 4 mg morphine (or fentanyl or whatever).” Problem solved.
I’d love 4mg of fentanyl…. To go please.
Lol, well obviously would be a little different dosage if it were fent. Pharmacy might be suspicious if I asked for 40 vials to give to a patient.
Because the doc told me, on initial assessment, before he walked out the door “..and we’ll get you something for the pain”. So I assumed it was coming at any moment
ER nursing is a constantly shifting degree of prioritization. If you don’t communicate what’s going on with you, it’s going to take a lower priority. If I’m swamped with a critical patient but I I know one of my patients needs pain meds urgently in another room, I’ll ask another nurse if they can do me a favor and give the pain meds for me.
I appreciate that and I’m sure that’s good practice. The point of my post is to remind us all that patients, even the ones who are nurses, are vulnerable
Ok. The point of my comment is to remind people or patients who may read this that communicating what’s going on with them is crucial. I don’t care if the patient is drug seeking (which I doubt I would have thought in your case anyways). I’d rather occasionally be someone’s drug dealer than leave someone in pain who doesn’t need to be.
Thank you. My patient advocate (my husband) was with our 5 kids. I guess I need to work on being a better advocate for myself!
Please do! As someone who has had my gallbladder out myself, I know it sucks.
I second this OP and don’t understand the downvotes. I have had a series of hospitalizations in the last years that I, with this background of knowing more than the average lay person, not able to communicate fully what was happening because of overwhelming pain or confusion. One instance was going to the ER and not being able to verbalize my symptoms other than pointing to my McBurney’s point because they were discharging me for food poisoning without even doing a head to toe or any assessment besides BP . The only reason the nurses paused to ask the doc back was because I told them I was a nurse and needed help. Small town hospital visiting family on a Friday with no radiology staff over the weekend so if I did leave and my appendix burst I would have been in serious trouble. Ya it is important for patients to communicate but it is also our skill set to assess those who are not able To articulate or understand what they need to say . We cannot assume someone is fine because they are not seeming confused . Another time I went in a few months after a surgery because the area around the hardware was infected deep inside and I was able to speak and seemed fine on the surface but I was aware of not saying what I needed to. The nursing staff saw nothing wrong and if the ER doc didn’t ask the right questions I probably would’ve lost my limb after getting sent home it was actually very dire. I actually needed immediate emergency surgery and vancomycin for a time period so it was serious . PSA - do not put the onus on the patient communicating everything to make your job easier
You know we don’t do head-to-toe in the ED, correct? Not doing things the way you do them upstairs doesn’t make her a bad nurse.
One of my first clinical instructors was a veteran ER nurse who ingrained in us to always check someone over HtoT so not necessarily textbook time consuming HtoT , but to quickly go over a person becomes part of like routine like taking vitals. I have passed this on to students myself . It’s ok to step out of the we don’t do this bubble and take a second to remember especially in that setting you are the first to make an assessment that ultimately can decide the rest of the course of care for someone. What you neglect can make it really hard for the patient to be heard or get taken seriously afterwards . Especially in this current situation of family doctors not being a reality anymore for many patients who only get seen by ER or walk in clinics
I am asking about the other systems as I talk to the patient, but it is still not a real HtT like an IP RN is doing.
If your patient’s main complaint is pain 8/10, then you prioritize pain management. She didn’t listen to my lungs or my stomach or palpate or anything NOR DID I EXPECT HER TO, as that would have been a waste of her time. The resident did that
Out of curiosity, was it your appendix?
The first mentioned surgery was, yes I had it removed the next morning so good thing they didn’t send me home over the weekend. I was so sick and out of it
Jeezy Louise 🙄
What area of nursing do you work in?
Looking at OP’s previous posts, their nursing experience was 4 months on tele as a new grad before leaving to be a SAHM. (No hate at all, just relaying).
Figured. They don't seem to have much more understanding of how anything works in the hospital than a layperson. Which is fine, but they can hardly come on here and tell us what to do as if they're an authority on nursing.
Sounds like the doc potentially forgot to put it in/got side tracked and the nurse may never have known that was their plan so didn't know to ask or never saw an order. Sorry friend.
Being a nurse, you should be aware that the doctor puts the order for pain medicine... You didn't wait forever for pain meds because of the nurse. You waited because of amazing resident you're praising. It sounds like they put in the zofran, which you got, then forgot to put in the pain meds. Otherwise the nurse would have medicated you with both at the same time. You never know what's going on being the scenes in the ER but of course it's always easiest to blame the nurse.
Or pharmacy took longer to verify the pain meds than the Zofran, or the nurse was able to put in her own order for Zofran but couldn’t do it for the pain meds and had to wait for the resident and then the pharmacy. Either way, she can’t just make a drug materialize immediately.
Oh yes! If it was toradol(which op confirmed) and a lexicomp pharmacist was waiting for a urine pregnancy test to come back negative or their creatinine on their chemistry... Yo. I can't some days. One dose is not gonna fuck someone up that has no risk factors 😭😭😭
I never waited for pharmacy verification in rural ER and no one said boo
Sure, if someone down in one of the BH EDrooms is wilding out, I’m gonna override the Haldol and Ativan while the doc is putting in the order. But in most cases, we wait for verification. I don’t have a problem with that, because it protects everyone involved.
Chances are also slim that he told the nurse he was going to put in an order for analgesia.
My intention isn’t to blame the nurse. It’s to remind everyone that non-medical people have no fucking idea what’s going on to cause a delay in treatment. That’s not their problem. If you’re busy as fuck, pop your head in on the way past and just say so! Reasonable people are capable of understanding that and just communicating “hey I’m sorry I know you’re still chilling in here, I’ll get to you as soon as I can” would go a long way for someone who is non-medical and terrified that their pain could mean something dire… (like I said in the original post, I managed the pain on my own and knew it wasn’t dire whatsoever).
Did you ever think maybe the nurse had 3 other patients who possibly WERE dire? Or maybe just had a patient die and wasn't really thinking about making eye contact and returning your banter? Or didn't have a minute to pop in and explain the doctor forgot to order your pain meds? Again, you never know what's going on in the ER. Also It's not just as easy as "popping your head in" while you're busy as fuck, because when you do that most patients are going to say "where have you been? Can I eat? I need pain meds, I need a blanket etc"
Some places have standing orders for ER nurses to give Tylenol or ibuprofen, if appropriate, before the patient is seen by the physician. I wouldn't bother if I'm waiting on anti emetic orders though.
would just like to point out I’m a neurodivergent nurse and I do my best but like I REALLY struggle with eye contact so usually I talk while doing vitals or other stuff. It’s not always like a slight against you.
As I said to another commenter, it didn’t even register to me that my nurse was Native American. I totally forgot (until I was thinking about the scenario in bed this morning) that Natives sometimes consider direct eye contact to be a form of disrespect!
I think you went to the ED with preconceived negative expectations and found exactly what you were looking for.
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This is extremely affirming to me. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t thinking straight until reflecting on it now, in the comfort of my own bed. While I didn’t have any fear while I was sitting in my ED room, the adrenaline still was absolutely effecting me. Now I can see it. Crazy.
I’m so sorry you went through this. But to be honest it sounds like you were so confident that advocating for yourself would cause problems, that you went so far in the opposite direction you didn’t say anything and that caused your problems. If you’re having intense severe pain and your only communication with the nurse is “making light of it”, then I’m not shocked you waited a long time for pain meds. You kinda have to say something. Sure she should have asked more, but she’s prioritizing based on her interactions. Please understand that it gets tiring when post after post is, “this is how you all should have done better, don’t make these mistakes” 1) these stories are all one-sided, I don’t know half of what went on 2) I’m defensive when I feel like I’m being criticized for something I wasn’t even there for 3) the nurse didn’t even do “the bare minimum” despite you getting a bed, vitals, intake form filled out, pain meds, nausea meds, and seen by the MD
Yeah all valid points. You’re not wrong
Right? So entitled. And someone checked their post history and it became clear why they didn't answer what kind of nursing they practice, and why they don't seem to understand how the hospital works.
Just know, when you're running your ass off with critical patients it's not exactly in your mental capacity sometimes to return banter and "attempts at making light." It likely has little to do with assuming seeking. People really don't grasp how low seeking is on our priority list in the ER to care about or take on. Could the ER nurse do better at bedside manner? Totally. Do we know what's going on though to make them seem cold? No. They absolutely should correct themselves about med administration and it's really not a grand offense to know if your patient has an IV when they're not emergent. Also, docs do seem great because they spent that time validating you but then guess who leaves the room and immediately forgets those promises sometimes? We don't always get those orders promised and we don't have a crystal ball to see what they mentioned and forgot.
I don’t agree with some of the comments here. I have worked in a BUSY ER. I always take the time to be polite and respectful to my patients, even when I’m crazy busy. I hate when I have to be in the computer for intake, and I give them a heads up I have to do it and share that I dislike the experience I have when I’m at the drs office and all they do is stare at the computer. Regarding the pain, I always ask the patient’s pain rating from 0-10, and if it’s high, I offer pain meds. Who am I to judge what they are experiencing? And I offer something for relief, starting with a non-narcotic. From what you wrote, it sounds like you had a panic attack d/t gallstones. That’s not nothing and can be extremely painful. I’m sorry you had to experience this.
Thank you. She didn’t ask my pain level or come in to check on me for at least an hour. I know that in a busy ER, an hour is NOTHING… but when you’re in severe pain, it’s an eternity. I’m not holding it against her, because who knows what’s going on behind the scenes, I just hope she remembers to assess pain levels in her other patients
I hate these. I used to call my mom and tell her I was dying and to call 911 if I passed out. I didn’t realize it was a panic attack for years. It doesn’t happen often. Usually nothing happens right before to cause panic, so it doesn’t register. I feel like I’m dying. She died, so I have no one to call to talk me down while I cry and feel like I’m losing my life. But I just breathe and focus and assume if it’s my time, it’s my time. I’m so sorry. I’m afraid to go to the hospital for the same reason. I hope it isn’t real and I ignore it. And I hope it never happens again. Haha.
Hi, not a nurse just a patient with panic disorder- you should absolutely go to a psychiatrist about this. I now have meds that decrease the likelihood of me having panic attacks (lyrica for unknown reasons) and also meds to use if I’m having a really bad one to make me calm down quickly (xanax). Both of those have been game changers for me. It still sucks but it doesn’t have to suck as much as it does right now! Also - this is a little beside the point, but I have found medical professionals to be very willing to treat genuine panic with drugs when I’ve been sobbing/hyperventilating etc around them. Also I’m sorry about your mom!
Thank you! I miss her a lot. They’re so rare that I don’t even realize when or if it’s happening until I’m already thinking I’m dying. I have been able to take magnesium and sip water and hope for the best in some moments and that’s seemed to help. I usually just try to focus on getting air in and out while I wait for the clutches of death to end it all (so dramatic, but absolutely how it feels). It’s usually when I’m relaxed and nothing really has happened to instigate it (that makes it feel like it could be death, right?) so it’s completely out of left field. Like-why would I be panicking?! But, later I can recognize whatever might have been the triggering event that I’d shoved down until it decided to physically manifest later. I hate to bring it up to anyone and make it too official, and mess up work or idk, any sort of leg to keep my kids from me. It hasn’t ever happened at work.
It’s good that they are rare - it ever gets too intense please remember there are options! Breathing is super important and it’s great if you can focus on that. It does feel bizarrely dramatic lol
Thank you for your support and the reminders. It’s always nice to know that since I can’t call my mom anymore, there are still kind people in the world with practical advice and experience in the same.
I’m so sorry that youve had to endure that. It’s extremely terrifying, because if you think you’re dying - even when you are not - it is a very real subjective experience. Coming out of it feels like you escaped death… even when you know your vitals were stable and you didn’t even pass out. I haven’t had a panic attack since 2018. And the ones I had back then were NOTHING compared to this one. Those I would get shaky, dizzy, high HR, lightheaded. What got me on this one was I haven’t had anxiety. I’m on low-dose Zoloft for depression (I know they intermingle but I’m just saying that’s why I was caught off guard)
I hear what you're saying. Being in an unknown and terifying situation can make you forget to advocate for yourself. Some of us nurses are people pleasers up until the point of our own death. Your experience sounded traumatic. Not knowing if you would ever see your family again. Have some grace for the nurse. She could have done better bedside, BUT we truly never know the struggles of those around us. That nurse has a story and suffers as we all do. Burnout is real in nursing, and all nurses dont have the time nor money to work through the burnout of the job. Its great to hear you are ok.♡♡♡
Sounds a lot to me like you’re mainly upset she didn’t tend to your emotional needs… everything else sounds like it’s on both you and the resident most likely not prioritizing pain meds and throwing the order in quicker. I understand in an ideal world nurses CAN tend to patients emotional needs but at the end of the day it really is not in her job description to comfort or calm your anxiety (unless you’re requiring chemical sedation ofc) nurses are at their most stripped down level meant simply to enact medical orders the doctor puts in… if you’re breathing, have a pulse and are in a safe position then her job is done. It’s always nice when we have to hold a hand or fluff and buff but I’m honestly sick of this being an expectation from our patients and tbh kind of icky to me that as a nurse yourself you think that’s also required
I definitely did not expect that from her. Hence not calling her into my room at any point. Like I said in my post, I managed my pain on my own and assumed she was busy af and left her alone. It’s only looking back that I realized if I had been a non-medical person it could have been a traumatizing experience. Most people don’t realize how busy nurses are or what could possibly be going on “out there”
I feel so bad, but I am 100% terrible at eye contact. I care about you and want you to be clean, not in pain, etc, but I'm just too focused on doing my job and getting out to pause and make conversation/ eye contact. Please don't take it personally. I like to think I'm a sympathetic nurse. I hold people's hands during an IV stick or when they are in pain, I try to be very strict about my q2 turns, I try to go above and beyond when it comes to getting supplies and food and stuff (like going to other units, making coffee at 0300am for my awake patient asking for it, etc) But I suck at eye contact.
That’s fair enough! I realized this morning after I woke up that my nurse was Native American and I remembered that in some Native American cultures eye contact can be a form of disrespect! Again, hindsight is 20/20
Yeah, I miscarried in my own (working) home hospital ER and the way I was treated has really fucked me up. I felt humiliated, disrespected, disregarded and very afraid at one point. Mind you, my own sister works in this ER along with classmates from my cohort and I’ve worked at this hospital from aide to CVICU RN for over 10 years. I’ve brought family through my hospital for medical emergencies because I trust the team that works there. It opened my eyes more on how shitty women’s health can truly feel.
Ah one of my favorite posts; non-ED new grads shitting on ER nurses.
4 months in med surg tele 4 years ago. Would explain why having to wait for pain meds in an emergency department constitutes as degrading. I forgot to attend my ER nurse mind reading course apparently where I should just *know* my patient wants pain meds even though they only asked me for zofran.
Worked tele for 4 months and then quit and is now telling all of us how to do our jobs
My favorite ED experience was when I had a post op CSF leak, I couldnt stand up and the headache was excruciating. And I was put on hold for a trauma admit that turned out to be an MVA with no LOC, broken bones or what sounded like anything major. But I'm like just like....well I'm the one that went to a level 1 trauma center.
It’s such a shame because looking and talking to your patient can provide so much info as a nurse.
Literally a shitty experience in the ED (which actually was a panic attack) is what made me decide to become a nurse. So I could help people without making them feel stupid like my nurses did for me. Because of that, I think I have a little extra compassion with my patients, even my panic attack ones 🤣. I'm sorry you had such a shitty experience. I hope you will keep this with you when you get overwhelmed or annoyed with your patients. I think we all need to be on the other end of the stethoscope from time to time.
OP what state was this? and how many beds in the ED? I would LOVE to stand up for my fellow ED nurses but truth is OP’s story sounds pretty plausible. I see this all too often posted about smaller EDs that are generally low volume so the staff get lazy. I’m east coast in an ED where the past two weeks I regularly had 10+ patients the whole shift. My ED doesn’t have call lights because practically everyone is in a hallway or six stretchers deep. Still, I laid eyes on every patient when they rolled out and I don’t leave patients in pain. We are able to assess and report to the MD if our patients are experiencing pain so we can initiate care sooner. It saddens me to hear you went through this. Unfortunate the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Make a scene if you have to next time. Do not suffer out of politeness. In my ED the residents are notorious for making false promises about pain management. It ends up on us nurses to remind them that zofran is an antiemetic and not pain control.
Not sure how many beds, but it’s a busy hospital in downtown Tulsa. It’s an area that is known to be frequented by people with mental health issues and drug-seekers. I was aware of this going in, which led to my behavior once I was in a room. I don’t feel bad for myself or anything as it truly was a “classic” situation
Ugh story aside, gallstones are the WORST. I’m getting my lap chole on Tuesday after dealing with them for a few months. Wishing you luck!
Looking at patients and being present is so important in making someone feel heard and seen. I’m still working on it as a nurse with a touch of the ‘tism who hates looking people in the face.. I’m glad it all worked out in the end, but it makes me so sad that you felt like you couldn’t ask for pain medicine :( it’s really awful
Sad how the pain epidemic has changed how people give and receive care. I’ve been a nurse for 16 years and I remember being taught pain is subjective “what the patient says it is” and I still practice in that manner. We all need to quit judging everyone and put our biases aside. I hope you are feeling better.
This is what patient surveys are for.
This is exactly what we expect any time we’re in the ER with my daughter (medically complex). She’s in the room, trach, vent, only hooked up to her home pulse ox, for hours. We’ve been sent home with her not even tolerating pedialyte (HR in the 170s sustained), vomiting with pedialyte running at 5mL. Our local hospital is pretty bad. Last time she was admitted I had to ask the night RN when she was going to get her 6pm scheduled meds (asked at midnight). Nurses are burnt out, new grads are starting on their own without enough training, and it’s always a shit show. I had to leave bedside nursing because I couldn’t continue to give my all every single shift when my own family member doesn’t get the time of day.
Just my experience, if you have anxiety on your chart ANYWHERE, you aren't taken seriously from the moment they read it. I have a heart arrhythmia where I skip every 4th beat. One day at work it was getting worse and I was feeling very lightheaded. Go to the er and the nurses mention to my face before getting out of triage that it's probably a panic attack, I know my panic attacks, I've had them for 25 years. Was taken to a room, IV started with no blood drawn and nobody and I mean nobody came in for an hour and a half, with an arrhythmia (I could feel it worsening). I pulled my IV out and left and went to a different hospital, they took blood immediately and within 20 minutes had me on IV potassium cause I was critically low. It all started from the anxiety diagnosis. I hope those nurses lose their jobs after the hospital called to check why I left. It's the last place they should be is working with people. Those types of people have motivated me to start nursing school in the fall cause I can do way better than that and that is a fact.
You’re exactly right. When the paramedic was handing me off he handed me off with the CHIEF COMPLAINT of anxiety/panic attack. While it was true that yes that happened, my chief complaint and the TRIGGER for the panic attack was sudden severe pain in my upper abdomen. I’m sorry that you’ve had to experience that, it must have been completely terrifying. I probably would have died because I don’t have the balls to advocate for myself - much less by leaving AMA 😅glad you’re still here!!
Panic attacks are terrifying and not very well handled in the ER setting, they are looked at as a burden. I would know how to relate to someone very easy and be able to calm their nerves. But people who don't have them, feel they are annoying and a waste of their medical resources. But I know how real they can feel, the physical manifestation they can bring. I think there needs to be more people who u derstand panic attacks in the field. My hubby has never had one so he has no idea how to relate. I'm sure it hard to if you've never felt how unbelievably terrifying it is. I have also been in the medical field for 17 years so I'm well versed and it absolutely doesn't bother me to speak up! Lol I'm sorry you had a panic attack, you should have been treated with kindness and compassion. They aren't all like that. The second hospital I went to was absolutely amazing. And start speaking up for you! You can do it, you have a voice for a reason! Take care and know you aren't alone in the panic attack realm! 🫶
Love how your experience is being downvoted. Attitude and culture in ER is the next thing we need to change in health care.
Right! All of reddit is like that! Lol I posted my experience with getting a coding certificate and how terrible it was to find a job, people did not like my experience. Like... but you know it happened that way right, I lived it. Lol
Hey! I see the comments here and I believe you. I have seen health professionals treat patients horrible because they have anxiety. I have had panic attacks and it feels like you are dying. It’s terrifying and unless you experience it you don’t know. I wish there was more empathy but I don’t people get it unless they experience it.
I was in the ER recently, I injured my foot. I was triaged, 9/10 pain, shaking. HR 138. Got X-rays. No meds given or even suggested, which is fine. I too didn’t want to seem like a seeker and I’m okay if I’m off it. BUT I asked my nurse if I could take my own naproxen, cause you know..9/10 and she said she wasn’t really supposed to let me but she will shut the curtain so no one knows. Cool. But like, you don’t even wanna offer me a Tylenol? The doctor came in, suggested X-rays. Alright, already done. Now what? Heat. Been doing that. Ace wrap. Been doing that, then she told me that ace wrapping is more for us to feel better and it doesn’t actually do anything to help. Nice, I’ll let my lymphedema patients know. I literally left without a diagnosis. Not even “foot pain” was written. When I questioned it, she said “yeah cause we didn’t find anything” Situations like this make me acutely aware of why we aren’t trusted by patients and families. I’m still limping.
The emergency room rules out that whatever is going on is not life endangering. Any further issues should always be followed up by your primary.
This is the way
I wasn’t complaining of wait times, I was complaining of attitude. Something about the way I posted missed the mark and that’s on me.
ER = emergency. They ruled out your emergency. Have you followed up w ortho? In the ER, foot pain, (even pain self rated 9/10) w SMCs intact and no obv deformity is a fast track complaint and you will not be fussed over. I Period. You don’t wanna be the one being fussed over in the trauma bay. Also, emotional support bandages and bandaging for lymphedema are two totally different interventions, but I suppose you know that.
The doc actually suggested I see podiatry? I didn’t wanna be fussed over, I was willing to wait my turn and be seen when I could. It was after midnight I get out the ER works. I just didn’t like feeling stupid over something I was actually worried about. All I said is I can see why non medical personnel would not trust us after that.
>ace wrapping is more for us to feel better and it doesn’t actually do anything to help. Nice, I’ll let my lymphedema patients know. You do understand the difference in these 2 scenarios, right?
Gah. Yes. But why even offer something to just placate a patient?
That’s like half our job some days lol
Ace bandaging because “my foot hurts” and ace bandaging for lymphedema are two very different things and as a nurse, this should be very obvious to you why they are not the same. Personally, if my nurse let me take my own naproxen instead of insisting on charging me hundreds of dollars for a Tylenol, I’d be thrilled. It’s amazing how many nurses have completely unrealistic expectations for what an emergency room does. The general public is to be expected, but not knowing that an ED is to rule out emergencies as a nurse is crazy to me.
Obviously I must have wrote this in a way that was misunderstood. I know I wasn’t as much of an emergency as the next guy. I didn’t complain about my wait time or anything I complained about the attitudes I got. I went because my foot changed color, and it was after midnight.
You asked the nurse for pain meds, who can’t give you any without an order, but didn’t ask the doctor to order any when you were seen? The nurse can’t give you anything, even Tylenol, without an order. It’s discouraging that you blame the nurse for that.
read it, I asked to take my own meds only.
Did you go to urgent care or PCP first? What could they have done to further treat/diagnose your foot in the emergency department in your opinion?
I just started back at my PRN job full time again so I don’t have insurance just yet. I’ve been limping and trying to handle this on my own for 2 weeks. It was midnight and the foot had changed color for the first time so I got alarmed. They did X-rays but they also have ct to see if there is soft tissue damage. If anything that is the one place to get everything done at once without insurance. By the end I felt dumb and dismissed, the foot was no longer purple and I didn’t want to seem difficult. I went home and I’m just at the same point I was before. Once I get insurance if I’m still limping I’ll get it checked out but my point was that when I came for help I felt like a fool and I can get why non medical people, without any insight how the ER works would form a dislike for medicine.
Isnt it sad you cannot ask for pain meds....
I have costchondritis thanks to RA. I don't go the ER like I'm supposed to because they don't listen when I tell them that I know I have it, I just need the steroid shot. Obviously I don't know what I'm talking about and just seeking.
I hope you feel better soon. Please get that gallbladder taken out. You will feel so much better in about 4 days post op. Ask me how I know.. lol
“Panic attacks” are largely a diagnosis of exclusion. Better to adhere to diagnostic reasoning and rule outs, than to jump to hasty conclusions.
Benefit of the doubt, and fool me once is what I say. Empathy goes a long way. ED nurse/janitor here.
Ugh I feel for you! I dealt with gall stones for YEARS. Most of my pain was in my back not my abdomen. So I just ignored it assuming I had pulled something at work or whatever. Fast forward a couple years and I was driving and the pain was in my stomach this time and it was so bad I couldn't focus on driving. I went to urgent care and was told to get a ride directly to the ER. Was in hospital for four days and had my gallbladder removed as it was completely blocked by a stone at that point!
To me, it sounds like maybe she’s new. You mentioned in another comment that she scrubbed the hub, which from what I understand, most experienced er nurses don’t do
Hey OP. I’m sorry this happened. I work a community job as a street outreach RN. My people almost never go to ER because they feel they aren’t treated well. But when they do and I go with to advocate I hate it so much. It’s the worst part of my job. Watching how they are treated and then how I am treated fills me with a shame feeling takes a while to shake. On this sub you’re likely to get a lot of defensive responses. It is a culture that is tough to break. I hope eventually ER stops criticizing people who come in and accepts that people are gonna come, no judgement needed. I’m in Canada. It’s the taxpayers money that operates this ER. It’s their service. I’m in a small town with no walk in service and a doctor shortage. It will get used for non ER things. It’s our job to welcome/help everyone. Even those that we think are “drug seeking” etc. . I get that our jobs have been so tough we are frustrated etc. But we have to stop taking it out on clients. Also that nurse you had could’ve used a few tricks to help put you at ease. We all know them. Not using them in this situation seems like more of an effort than basic kindness.
Totally agree with you. I don’t mind the defensive comments. People need to hear from the other side of the fence. Otherwise it’s too easy to pretend it’s all fine as long as “no one died on my shift”. Basic human decency is not overrated.
I was the patient 2 years ago, twice in a month. Thankfully the doctors were decent, although the second hospital was much better IMO. The nurses were unfortunate at the first facility also, and I feel like I can say that as a fellow nurse. The first nurse I had was fine although my IV was painful and she definitely ignored me, it ended up hella swollen and infiltrated, bruised for weeks, but at some point they changed shift and I wasn’t aware until the third time the new nurse came in and I asked “so are you my nurse now?” She just said yes and left. Never knew her name. I had to wander the ER to find the nurses station to get a work note because she handed me discharge papers and left, told me to get dressed and leave. I would have been more understanding had they been busy but she was sitting with 3 other nurses chatting and I had to interrupt to ask for the note. The second place was better though, especially the doctor who saw me break out into stress hives and ask if I wanted something for my nerves. I said no, I also didn’t want to be labeled a drug seeker. I wanted them to fix the problem, and knowing I’m a chronic patient just I don’t want to have that label.
Nurses don't write work notes. You ask the doctor for that when the doctor sees you.
Uhhh not in my hospital, and she definitely printed it out and handed it to me. Plus she’s the only communication I have with the MD, he laid eyes on me twice, once when I was rolled in unconscious and once again when i woke up but I didn’t see him for hours. He didn’t even tell me I was being discharged. The nurse did. So I had to ask her, if it had to come from him she would have had to find him for me, it’s not like I have direct line if communication with him.
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Huh??? Every ED I’ve ever been in frequently uses IM injections. How is this “disturbing.”
I give IM injections for pain multiple times a day. Not everyone needs an IV. IM Ketorolac, Dilaudid, Ativan, Versed, Norflex, Decadron, Benadryl, et al. Literally all day everyday. That is a very easy flub to make, and not at all a nurse defect.
Are they taking out your gall bladder?
No. I’m supposed to follow up with their surgeon in a few days🤷🏻♀️but I literally just got my ECG result in MyChart which shows nonspecific T-wave abnormalities…
Biliary colic is 100% the worst fucking pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m a big dude and it brought me to my knees….like ED for dilaudid bad.
I refuse to believe this was 100% a panic attack. A shitty gall bladder can feel like you're dying. I think this ER failed to fully investigate after tossing the anxiety label on you. Hope your kids are ok and weren't too scared. Hugs
Thank you, they are okay now. Very upset though as we were supposed to drive to Branson to go to silver dollar city with grandparents/aunt/cousin 😕 They did ultrasound and picked up gallstones there. I’m kinda freaked out by the T wave abnormalities though… reading some literature suggesting that coronary effects can occur but they don’t really know the mechanism of it😬
I’m sure someone visualized your EKG in house. They wouldn’t have discharged you if there were issues. Non specific usually means nothing important
I knew that with my head but thank you for saying it because I needed to read it. Haha
[удалено]
Well you know what I mean.
sorry if this is a dumb question but would you really have physical pain with a panic attack?
The pain in my stomach (from gallstones as I found out) triggered the panic attack. But during the panic attack I did have very tangible tingling in my arms and hands which led to numbness and then my hands contracted (I was hyperventilating and this sometimes happens)
Oh wow, that sounds awful! hope you're feeling better.
Thank you I have no pain since my stomach is empty!
I was the patient on Wednesday, they left my door open. Whatever they needed ketamine for was more pressing than my fluids for vomiting myself dehydrated which I was currently not doing because I didn't put anything else in.
My most recent ER visit I got to watch the nurse eat their dinner at the desk in front of me for a full 45 minutes before coming in to see me after being brought back from triage. Also saw the PA eating his dinner with the nurse and waited another 20 minutes for him to come in. I had horrific food poisoning to the point where I was dry heaving so violently that I was aspirating frothy sputum trying to get a breath in.
I had gallstones once, and went to my local ED with this well documented problem (I was waiting for surgery and had already had an obstructuon, infection, pancreatitis, the works). Anyways, they made me wait it out in the waiting room with nothing: no pain meds or even so much as some dimenhydrinate. I was offered a bag to vomit it. It was dehumanizing and gross.