Complaints department
I'm going to complain today...be prepared, this should be good!
I've come to the realization that a lot of people are stupid and I'm amazed that they actually get through life. My shift last night was crazy-busy. For some reason, there was a lot of people that actually required emergent care...and we were just waiting for beds on the wards so we could make room for them. So patients who were really sick or in a lot of pain had to wait. I feel for them.
Other patients, on the other hand, call the ambulance for a nosebleed that wouldn't stop after 15 minutes. Patient was "manually wetting" her nostrils i.e. picking her nose. It started bleeding. Spotted one tissue. Patient on no blood thinners. Then patient complained 3 times that she had waited for 3 hours to be seen. Nose bleed had stopped 2 hours ago.
Another patient: bit by his new puppy on the nose. Nurse: Where did it bite you? Patient: Right here on my nose...it's right there. Nurse: Where...I can't see it. Patient: Right here. Nurse: It didn't even break skin...where it is? That patient left after 2.5 hours having not been seen by a doc yet.
Another reason I'm going to hate peds...the parents. Mother brings her child into emergency (and complains about having to wait for so long...what is this, a restaurant?). Fever for one day. Goes away with Tylenol. Comes back when Tylenol wears off. Mom concerned that fever won't go away. Doc- trying to convince this mom that the fever in fact goes away with medication and it's nothing to worry about and that she should continue to give her child Tylenol regularly until kiddo is better. Anxious moms like this give my friends who have kids and are reasonable thinkers a bad rap.
Patient complains in hallway every time I walk by that she has been waiting for over an hour in the exam room. "Sorry. Someone will be with you when we can". Indoor voice: Ya, when we've taken care of the people who are actually sick. Another hour later, I finally arrive to take her history. Her chief complaint is a 'deformity' on her face and she would like a referral to a dermatologist. She never has had problems with pimples before and she's determined not to start now. Her 'deformity' is a single small pimple on her cheek, not even infected. Just a pimple. What exactly is the emergency that you had to wait over 2 hours for? Oh...you have a date next week. Go home. See your GP for a referral.
Here's my two cents worth: If you're able to pace the hallways impatiently and count the minutes go by and complain to the nurses about how long you've been waiting, you are not sick enough. Go home.
One more complaint. Obviously, most of my pet peeves that come into emergency can be dealt with in a GPs office. But there aren't enough of them!!! So many patients don't have GPs or who hate theirs so they use a walk in clinic. Or can't get in to see them fast enough. Or aren't open during the off-business hours. It's not the patients fault for having to use the emergency department to get services they need. Another reason for me to go into family medicine.
Phew. All better now.
I've come to the realization that a lot of people are stupid and I'm amazed that they actually get through life. My shift last night was crazy-busy. For some reason, there was a lot of people that actually required emergent care...and we were just waiting for beds on the wards so we could make room for them. So patients who were really sick or in a lot of pain had to wait. I feel for them.
Other patients, on the other hand, call the ambulance for a nosebleed that wouldn't stop after 15 minutes. Patient was "manually wetting" her nostrils i.e. picking her nose. It started bleeding. Spotted one tissue. Patient on no blood thinners. Then patient complained 3 times that she had waited for 3 hours to be seen. Nose bleed had stopped 2 hours ago.
Another patient: bit by his new puppy on the nose. Nurse: Where did it bite you? Patient: Right here on my nose...it's right there. Nurse: Where...I can't see it. Patient: Right here. Nurse: It didn't even break skin...where it is? That patient left after 2.5 hours having not been seen by a doc yet.
Another reason I'm going to hate peds...the parents. Mother brings her child into emergency (and complains about having to wait for so long...what is this, a restaurant?). Fever for one day. Goes away with Tylenol. Comes back when Tylenol wears off. Mom concerned that fever won't go away. Doc- trying to convince this mom that the fever in fact goes away with medication and it's nothing to worry about and that she should continue to give her child Tylenol regularly until kiddo is better. Anxious moms like this give my friends who have kids and are reasonable thinkers a bad rap.
Patient complains in hallway every time I walk by that she has been waiting for over an hour in the exam room. "Sorry. Someone will be with you when we can". Indoor voice: Ya, when we've taken care of the people who are actually sick. Another hour later, I finally arrive to take her history. Her chief complaint is a 'deformity' on her face and she would like a referral to a dermatologist. She never has had problems with pimples before and she's determined not to start now. Her 'deformity' is a single small pimple on her cheek, not even infected. Just a pimple. What exactly is the emergency that you had to wait over 2 hours for? Oh...you have a date next week. Go home. See your GP for a referral.
Here's my two cents worth: If you're able to pace the hallways impatiently and count the minutes go by and complain to the nurses about how long you've been waiting, you are not sick enough. Go home.
One more complaint. Obviously, most of my pet peeves that come into emergency can be dealt with in a GPs office. But there aren't enough of them!!! So many patients don't have GPs or who hate theirs so they use a walk in clinic. Or can't get in to see them fast enough. Or aren't open during the off-business hours. It's not the patients fault for having to use the emergency department to get services they need. Another reason for me to go into family medicine.
Phew. All better now.
posted by MSI (Med Student Intern) @ 10:47 AM
1 Comments:
At 8:21 PM,
Anonymous said…
Dude, it is not that there are not enough GPs, but it sounds like the lady with a puppy should not put her nose into the dog's mouth, like pimple girl should get over herself, like fever mother should be given nurses hot line. All these are not GP cases either... These are non-medical social/personal... oh... wait a minute... let me think... sounds a lot like psych consult cases. Psych is medicine, right?
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