1. You have never heard or seen it all!
A teminal patient had a sign taped to his chest, "Do NOT resuscitate". He was afraid someone would try to save him. By the way, he was in for an asthma attack, not complications of his cancer!
2. Many people have no common sense.
Doing dangerous things and then being shocked when they are injured.
3. Patience really is a virtue.
Human nature often wants you to ask a parent why a child who has had a fever of 103, that started on Monday, was ignored until Saturday night. Especially when the parent is upset over having to wait for the child to be seen because we are dealing with a gunshot wound and a multi-vehicle car accident.
4. Age has nothing to do with how things turn out.
As devastating as it is, the young can die. Death is not fair and has no compassion for the young.
5. Illegal drugs are not harmless no matter what the society wants you to think.
Illegal drugs kill, cause fatal accidents and cause hallucinations (wonder if that guy still is freaking over the spiders crawling all over him...spiders only he could see).
6. Death is not always peaceful and never pretty.
Case in point: a 14 year old who committed suicide. He hung himself with a very decorative belt with fancy cutouts. He was purple from belt up and the belt design was imprinted on his neck. His parents were devasted and we all cried over such an unnecessary loss.
7. You meet some of the nicest people during the most stressful times of their lives.
There are some people who, even in adversity, remain polite despite their fear and anxiety. Some even come back after recovery to let you know that you made them feel less frightened and want to thank you for caring and for your compassion.
8. "Professional patients" are often lonely; they are not all hypochondriacs.
It is always great, when you have time, to talk to a patient who is always coming to the ER. Often during the conversations, you get to the root of the real issue that brings them back. Watch to see if there is a pattern. If they always pick the same shift, they might be coming in the hopes of seeing a particular doctor or nurse who have always been very kind and compassionate to them. I had a patient with self induced asthma... who always showed up on my shift. Turns out she was lonely and I was the only one who took the time to talk to her during her visits.
9. People can survive some unbelievable events of trauma...the will to survive is very powerful.
You can see a patient who has almost no chance of surviving but they will survive! Never underestimate determination or hope. Looking forward to an event, a wedding, birth of a grandchild, etc can be enough for a person to make a miraculous recovery.
10. That the well "hung" male patient may have a salami or stuffed sock taped to his leg!
LOL...had a guy brought in who had fainted on the dance floor. When we removed his clothes for the doctor to examine him, we found a salami taped to his leg. Of course, he was wearing snug pants.
Most of all, the E.R. is the type of nursing you either love or hate. There really is no in-between. I loved it! (Loved...though I have been and always will be an R.N., I retired a few years ago.) You have to be up to the challenge of being able to handle whatever comes through the door without panicking or taking the time to think what to do. What to do has to come natural; has to be second nature to you since minutes can make a major difference in how things turn out. But, most of all, a good E.R nurse has to be able to relate to the patient, to calm the patient and family members, to make the patient comfortable, to let the patient know that they are in good hands and will be taken care of...confidence, knowledge and compassion is so important!
Leave a Comment
pepmod at 5:53am on Mar. 26, 2008
9 months ago
funny Reply...
Lin at 12:33pm on Jan. 3, 2008
about 1 year ago
Wow that was great, thanks for sharing. Reply...
Hunter N. Fisher at 3:18pm on Dec. 30, 2007
about 1 year ago
Funny stuff. Reply...
Jason at 12:32am on Dec. 17, 2007
about 1 year ago
Good stuff. LMAO at number 10 Reply...
Rebecca at 9:14pm on Oct. 2, 2007
about 1 year ago
really great insight! Reply...
ilse72 at 11:52am on Oct. 4, 2007
Thank you! I really loved it. Each day was something new and you meet some of the most wonderful people. Unfortunately, you are meeting them due to injury or illness instead of a happy occasion. Reply...
ilse72 at 5:28pm on Oct. 2, 2007
about 1 year ago
Yes, there are some really interesting stories to tell. I know that the staff really appreciates your mom! Sometimes, a translator is the only way to find out what a patient is trying to tell you when there is a language barrier. Your mom saves the staff lots of valuable time since she knows what the patient is saying and can pass it on to the staff. Reply...
Jimmy Ruska at 6:12pm on Oct. 2, 2007
It stinks because the hospital (parkland) was actually thinking about replacing the translators. Basically there's a company that wants to install tvs in most of the rooms and whenever they need a translator the doctor can just press a few buttons and connect to one. They don't have to wait for translators to get there. Outsourced translators lol. Reply...
Jimmy Ruska at 5:28pm on Oct. 2, 2007
about 1 year ago
btw, the hallucinations part I think you're talking about meth. It's not really hallucinating though, meth makes their skin start to feel extremely itchy so they start getting paranoid about things being on their skin or under their skin. Meth is the worst. Reply...
ilse72 at 5:32pm on Oct. 2, 2007
No, wasn't meth...he was on LSD which is a particularly nasty hallucinogen. We had to give him Haldol and admit him to the psych ward for close observation to prevent him from harming himself or others which is a common thing with LSD. This was quite a few years ago when LSD was very, very popular and meth wasn't. Reply...
Jimmy Ruska at 6:09pm on Oct. 2, 2007
A ok. Sorry for assuming. I saw a pbs frontline documentary and the guy talked about how he felt things were crawling all over his skin. These are cool documentaries about it if you're ever bored http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4694182483714623833&hl=en Reply...
Jimmy Ruska at 5:21pm on Oct. 2, 2007
about 1 year ago
My mom works as a translator in the ER. It's always good to have family working in the hospital. They usually have awesome stories to tell. Great list. Reply...