Sounds I Hate

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docB

docB

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“Chunk!” A new chart hitting the rack.

EMS calling in with sirens in the background.

Diesel engines (ambulances pulling up).

Helicopters.

That retching sound.

Babies crying in triage.

Shrieking from the psych room.

Sleep apnic snoring.

The triage nurse’s pager going off (“Four to triage!”)

The fire alarm (which seems to go off once or twice a day for some reason).
 
docB said:
The fire alarm (which seems to go off once or twice a day for some reason).
Click to expand...

For some reason my hospital finds it necessary to at least once or twice per week have a fire alarm drill at 2 am. We really need to concentrate on helping patients rest much better than they currently do with all the noise in the hallway, overhead announcements, and now, fire drills.

Back to the subject...

I hate the sound of:

My pager going off when I'm on off-service rotation,

The admitting hospitalist attending whine about yet another admission,

Someone being suctioned,

The charge nurse asking me "who can come out?" to free up a critical care bed for another patient in dire condition.

On another note, the sounds I love:

The monitor alarms going bezerk in the background as I'm treating someone circlin' the drain,

The sound of a BK-117 on final approach,

The sound of the printers firing off discharge paperwork.
 
Sounds I hate:

"Chunk" as the chart goes into my bin.

"Doc, the patient in 4 is in bigeminy!" (I still can't figure out why nurses get so worked up about that.)

The sound of any pager

Sounds I love:

"Chunk" as the chart goes into someone else's bin. The nurses, the discharge rack etc.

"Thank you doctor, we really appreciate the care you gave my mother today."
 
I hate the sound of...
The house officer pager going off
(DrQuinn knows what I mean...)

The alarm clock

I love the sound of...

A bone popping back into place during my reduction (I'm on ortho now)

:luck: MJ
 
Patients screaming to me "I told you - I'm allergic to Charcoal!"
 
Sounds I hate:

the high pitched, piercing scream of the medic phone,

droning of a medic giving (insignificant) past social history about a 90ish year old gomer coming in from a nursing home with altered mental status, (no offense to our beloved medics.. you rock!)

the gurgling of vomit in the airway,

silence, when your suction fails you (see above),

high pitched scream of air blowing out of an unsealed BiPAP mask,

screams from family members after they find out their loved one died in the trauma.
 
docB said:
"Chunk!" A new chart hitting the rack.

EMS calling in with sirens in the background.

Diesel engines (ambulances pulling up).

Helicopters.

That retching sound.

Babies crying in triage.

Shrieking from the psych room.

Sleep apnic snoring.

The triage nurse's pager going off ("Four to triage!")

The fire alarm (which seems to go off once or twice a day for some reason).
Click to expand...

Some of those bother me way more than others. I'd put babies crying in triage, the triage nurse being called out to triage, and the sound of some one coughing up tenacious phlegm at the top.

EMS calling with sirens bothers me way less than EMS calling without sirens. Without sirens probably means a boring pointless encounter with someone who only thinks they are sick. With sirens at least means someone sick and interesting. We don't get helicopters where I'm at and I can't hear the ambulances pulling up

Shreiking from the psych room is easy to fix.

I still have nightmares from residency with the overhead pager saying "New patient room 1"
 
I agree with they crying baby in triage. It is usually after midnight.

The sound of any pager going off.
 
"Ayyyyyeeeeee, me duele" on every spot that you palpate...

Borborygme sounds after your intern SWORE (s)he saw the tube go through the cords.

The anpnea/asystole/v-tach alarm going off constantly while you are sitting there talking to the patient.

The old person with the death rattle that sounds like all he needs to do is clear his throat, but he won't.
 
spyderdoc said:
"Ayyyyyeeeeee, me duele" on every spot that you palpate...

.
Click to expand...

Ahh..the infamous status hispanicus...generally seen in a 40 year old female who came in on a backboard with a C-collar after a 10 mile per hour rear-ending.

By the end of my residency I adopted the principle that if it all hurt, nothing was hurt and quit X-raying these unless they still hurt on the repeat exam (1 hour status post 800 of motrin and 2 Vicodin.)
 
I've found that "status hispanicus" is a major admitting diagnosis here in the Midwest.
 
Desperado said:
Ahh..the infamous status hispanicus...generally seen in a 40 year old female who came in on a backboard with a C-collar after a 10 mile per hour rear-ending.

By the end of my residency I adopted the principle that if it all hurt, nothing was hurt and quit X-raying these unless they still hurt on the repeat exam (1 hour status post 800 of motrin and 2 Vicodin.)
Click to expand...

We adopted a S-M (two last names) for me, another chief that developed spine clearance rules.

If greater than 10 vertebrae hurt, there can be no fracture (if the patient didn't fall out of an airplane [in the air])

If >20 hurt, you should put them in a Miami J, cancel all xrays, and transport them immediately to fibromyalgia clinic.

Acute traumatic fibromyalgia... fighting it everyday.

mike
 
The sound of an admitting resident asking me why I haven't done a CT scan on a syncope patient with a normal neuro exam.
 
I'm getting to the point of hating the sound of pounding hammers, drills, and construction workers yelling in spanish while our department is getting renovated. This also means I hate hearing myself ask, "What?" and also, "Sorry, I couldn't hear you" or "Pardon?"
 
The "houuah" sound of a pt about to vomit. The uncertainty of where the enivitable might end up is what gets me. Will it be the floor? On my shoes? Or projectile right in my face? The anticipation kills me.
 
JaySin said:
The "houuah" sound of a pt about to vomit. The uncertainty of where the enivitable might end up is what gets me. Will it be the floor? On my shoes? Or projectile right in my face? The anticipation kills me.
Click to expand...

:laugh: "Pin the vomit on the doctor"
 
Sounds I hate:

The irritating sound that those huge trash bins make as they roll over tiled floor while being pushed by the janitor -- this makes any and all meaningful conversation difficult for 10-20 seconds.
 
The sound of urine hittting the floor.
 
dkpwalker said:
patient's voices
Click to expand...
saying "weeeellll...is that really necessary, because I am on a budget and your prices are outrageous" and then they drive away in some $100K Mercedes SUV and "I know that you're wrong and it's really XYZ wrong with Fluffy, because I read it on the internet...
 
things i hate
-Monitors readin v tach or v fib when the patient is obviously fine
residents asking for an ekg on a patient who i can see is in asystole😱

Patients saying any of the following things:
-"I don't need all those fancy tests"
-"I'm fine I wanna go home" chronic chf 10 minutes before he goes into respitory arrest (good adreniline rush though)
-"I had a stent put in not a bypass" when it says bypass on the chart and in the surgical record
-"I'm allergic to codine, vicodin, and morphine all that works is demerol"
-"You have to use a butterfly to draw my blood" (no i dont)
-"You looke too young to do this." (once i already have a needle in their vein

Things I love:
-empty triage
-only one emergent patient
-dark, empty exam rooms
-quik discharge like finger lack
-bedside ultrasounds during codes
-thoracotomy when blood does not get on my shoes

-and of course little girl who even after getting a shot says thank you
 
I don't mind the cries in peds..
u know what sound I reaaaally hate there? That half second ABSOLUTE SILENCE after you give them an injection... u know, the time it takes for them to analyze the new pain stimulus..
u just know a whole new caliber of crying/screaming is about to explode !
 
Wackie said:
I'm getting to the point of hating the sound of pounding hammers, drills, and construction workers yelling in spanish while our department is getting renovated. This also means I hate hearing myself ask, "What?" and also, "Sorry, I couldn't hear you" or "Pardon?"
Click to expand...
So they're working on the wing of Zock where you are?
 
docB said:
So they're working on the wing of Zock where you are?
Click to expand...


loop1.jpg


I'm going to have to search, aren't I. 😡


GeneralVeers said:
Sounds I hate:

The irritating sound that those huge trash bins make as they roll over tiled floor while being pushed by the janitor -- this makes any and all meaningful conversation difficult for 10-20 seconds.
Click to expand...


^winnar.
 
Wackie said:
I'm going to have to search, aren't I. 😡
Click to expand...

No, you won't.

The "Wing of Zock" is a reference from the book The House of God by Samuel Shem. Whether you enjoy the book or not, I think it's a must read in medicine just so you won't be out of the loop.
 
OK, sounds I hate:

A patients cell phone ringing while trying to get a history. Even more annoying is when they actually answer the call.

A nurse saying, "You've got a consult in..."

The rustling of paper when a patient has written down a million questions.

The rustling of paper when a patient says, "I found this on the internet"

Sounds I love:

The dictation tape popping out of the recorder (signifying the end of a brutal clinic day). Did I mention I hate clinic, PERIOD.

A bullet clinking into the bottom of a metal basin. When I was a scrub we had a surgeon who had to have that metal basin for any GSW, just to hear that clink.

-Mike
 
Nurse: "Doctor, are you sure you want to give that medication?"
Me: ...!

Neurologist: "Can you order an MRI?"
Me: "Can you see a patient in less than 3 hours?"

Consult: "What are his vital signs right now?"
Me: "Not dead. I'm pretty sure about that."

Consult: "You can send him home."
Me: "No, you can send him home. If I didn't need you to see the patient, I wouldn't have called."

Patient: "I forget the names of my medications. You have them all on record. Why don't you just look them up?"
Me, smoke pouring from my ears.

Patient: "I don't want you doing anything until you talk to my doctor."
Me: "Why didn't you go see your doctor then?"

Stomach: Gurgling
Me: "Shut up down there. I'm busy!"
 
3 in the morning: I have ---- symptoms for 4 months...No nothing has changed regarding my symptoms. I just decided to finally get this checked out.


Oh, my doctor who is not associated with your hospital told me to come to the hospital because something with my lab work is low. Oh, I forgot his name & number.


I hate the sound of rain: Because the ER fills up with homeless pts with B.S. complaints.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
It is so annoying when about 20 old women (aged 85+) roll in via ambulance ALL AT ONCE complaining of N/V/D, and yelping: "my doctor said he would meet me here."
 
"no speaka english", and i hate it even worse when they say it in perfect english

the chest pain patient angrily saying "i told you it's not a pain, it's pressure"...

the belly pain pt "it's just pain"...okay, is it sharp, dull, crampy, how would you describe it..."its sharp"...oh, so it feels like a needle..."no...uhh, it's just pain"...
 
Me: "What meds do you take?"
Them: "It's a little white pill."
 
spyderdoc said:
The anpnea/asystole/v-tach alarm going off constantly while you are sitting there talking to the patient.
Click to expand...

Yep, that one drives me crazy.

Even worse is the telemetry monitor with 28 asystole/VF alarms going off at once (for 28 patients in NSR, of course).

Take care,
Jeff
 
Jeff698 said:
Yep, that one drives me crazy.

Even worse is the telemetry monitor with 28 asystole/VF alarms going off at once (for 28 patients in NSR, of course).

Take care,
Jeff
Click to expand...

Sometimes it seems like I'm the only one in the whole ED who can hear those damn alarms. Why don't the nurses respond to them??
 
the sound of the pager waking me up when im the scut monkey on an off service rotation. (like right now)
 
GeneralVeers said:
Sometimes it seems like I'm the only one in the whole ED who can hear those damn alarms. Why don't the nurses respond to them??
Click to expand...

Because they're assuming the techs are.
 
Sounds I hate:
Alarms of any sort (IV Pump, Bed, ECG)
Patient's insisting they're a hard stick and you must use a butterfly.
The death wail aka status hispanicus/africanus
Nurses babbling about **** that doesn't matter
Trauma Pager going off
My alarm clock


Sounds I Love:
Fenestrated Tail Rotors
The oncoming shift
 
oh my pager going off 5 mins prior to the end of me carrying the pager.
 
EctopicFetus said:
oh my pager going off 5 mins prior to the end of me carrying the pager.
Click to expand...

good one.

And along the same line:

"I know you're not supposed to be on call tonight but...
 
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