Sometimes, they do say "Thank you"

[Sessamoid]

Most of us are used to not getting much, if any, thanks for the work we do. Once in a while, somebody does and makes it that much more appreciated.

The family of a patient I treated yesterday brought us a big plate of home-made sugar cookies. It was the tastiest dinner I've had on a night shift in a long time!

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[margaritaboy]

Awwwwe, that makes ya feel all gushy inside.

In a similar, but slightly different expereince, a patient of mine set a personal record by calling me 'mother f***er' the most times in a single sentence. Oh, the glory of it all...

 

[southerndoc]

I treated the husband of one of our nurses about 2 weeks ago. The other day she brought me a box of chocolates... awww, those things were oh so good!

Mmmmm, chocolate...

(Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.)

 

[tonem]

Its sad that we get so used to being yelled at by rude and obnoxious people that we don't even bat an eye anymore and when we happen to meet a nice patient in the ED its a shocking enough event that we have to share it with everyone.

 

[Katee80]

I brought my fiancees grandmother in one night for a fever and sore throat. She ended up passing away due to AML 2 days later. We brought a thank you card to the ER staff with a huge platter of assorted bagel sandwiches a few days later to express our gratitude.

We were never too sure if all the actual people who worked on our grandma were actually working that night.

 

[fuegorama]

Most of us are used to not getting much, if any, thanks for the work we do. Once in a while, somebody does and makes it that much more appreciated.

The family of a patient I treated yesterday brought us a big plate of home-made sugar cookies. It was the tastiest dinner I've had on a night shift in a long time!

Touching tale of the warm-fuzzy, but for the upwardly paranoid-

Ya know all the security enhancements of the past decade; more andy taylor uniform dudes, mandatory locking doors, and maybe a metal detector-they really do nothing for the truly wisened/ticked off pt.
A plate of pissed in/shat in/poison-of-choice brownies would be much more effective at "offing" a department.

Gotta run-that granny from Tuesday just showed up with a pie!
F

 

[Homunculus]

peds ED > adult ED for getting thanked

of course peds ED $$$ < adult ED $$$, so i guess it evens out

--your friendly neighborhood spinal tapping kiddos this month caveman

 

[Scrubbs]

One of our hospitals is near the Tasty-Kake factory, so whenever one of their employees comes in... so does a big-ole-box of goodies! So-oo very yummy!

 

[docB]

I sometimes get asked if I have a "regular" practice that they can come to. The public doesn't really understand how EM works (I still have friends and family that ask me when I'll be done with ER and open a "real" practice). That's a pretty good compliment though when someone wants you to be their primary doctor.

 

[Ace5813]

I'm not an ER doc, but I can understand how you guys must sometimes feel unappreciated. Just so you know, my dad was in an ER at two different times in the same month, and had it not beed for his doctors and the staff of the ER, my dad might not have made it. He suffers from bi-polar disorder, and attempted suicide. That was one of the reasons I am very interested in Emergency Medicine. I want to have a job where I know that I am somehow making a difference in people's lives, even if they don't tell me. So, you guys really are appreciated, even if your patients don't tell you enough!

 

[docB]

I had a really refreshing pt last night. 45 yo F with acute appy. It was great to call the surgeon with a pleasent, insured patient with real, acute, non-selfinflicted disease.

 

[47534]

I'm only an EMT, but hopefully will be joining the ranks of EM docs one day...Anyway, I had this little story to add:

Last week, a patient I had taken to the hospital for AMI last year came up to me in a grocery store and thanked me. He told me what a relief it was to hear our sirens blasting as we were approaching his house. When we first arrived on scene, he had been in so much pain that he couldn't even open his eyes, but he told us he remembered thinking we sounded like angels as we were treating him. All it took was a little oxygen from us and he felt much better. He's doing great now--no tissue damage from the heart attack, thanks to swift treatment with thrombolytics in the ED.

It really does leave a warm and fuzzy feeling inside...