Ways To Tell You’ve Spent Too Much Time In The ED

[tonem]

When you here a code blue called in the unit and rejoice that a bed might become available.

or worse....you hear it called on the floor and think, "darn it just lost a unit bed"

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[EMDoc0411]

When you are sick with a terrible gastroenteritis and you don't see anything wrong with running a code while on the toilet.

 

[leorl]

BTW is referring to an intoxicated unconscious hispanic patient in the hallway with no ID as "Juan Doe" considered racist?

 

[EMS5]

*necrobump*

Anyone that works/has worked in a rural ED knows where I'm coming from...

When the only doc in the house is running a code, and EMS rolls in with a code and has to work it with only one nurse for the better side of 15 minutes

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

After a long string of nights in residency, I woke to answer my ringing cell phone as "Emergency Department this is Dr X"....

 

[med2UCC]

When you here a code blue called in the unit and rejoice that a bed might become available.

Oh God, I did that last night! And then joked with the FP taking care of the patient about it the next morning (hey, she thought it was hilarious!). It might be time for my vacation,
M

 

[EM2BE]

When your patients start remarking that you look worse than them and do you want a place to sit for a minute.

 

[deleted109597]

When your patients start remarking that you look worse than them and do you want a place to sit for a minute.

God I wish my patients offered me a chair. Usually their clothes are in one, their bag is in another, the stool has grandma on it.....


I sit on the stretcher now unless they're covered in something moist.

 

[EM2BE]

God I wish my patients offered me a chair. Usually their clothes are in one, their bag is in another, the stool has grandma on it.....


I sit on the stretcher now unless they're covered in something moist.

That is only on rare occasion they offer. And only when I'm pretty much coughing in their faces. I can't help it if their remnants of cigarette smoke set me off. I think the last time I was offered was almost a year ago. You are right about the rest of the belongings/visitors taking over chairs.

 

[CajunMedic]

BTW is referring to an intoxicated unconscious hispanic patient in the hallway with no ID as "Juan Doe" considered racist?

Nope, Wrote that on a run report. Didn't get in trouble with the QA/QI department.

 

[monkeybutt]

It's one thing to see colleagues more than your family during residency, but when you start seeing your regular patients more than your own kids then you know you've been spending too much time in the ED.

 

[sanityonleave]

Nope, Wrote that on a run report. Didn't get in trouble with the QA/QI department.

Never was brave enough to try that one... I'm guessing I would have ended up in some mandatory sensitivity training. That said, I definitely transferred care to the ER one day by (quietly) telling the triage RN that the patient's c/c was "status hispanicus."

I'll add one from my time in EMS -- you've spent too much time in the ED when you consider it acceptable to respond to a coworker's request about how your night is going by threatening to destroy your workplace:

me, calling in a patient from the ambulance: Hey, ***, how are things going over there?
Charge RN ***: Awful. Terrible. I'm going to firebomb this place and start over.

^ favorite of one of the charge nurses I used to work with. Every time I called and she answered it was some variation on this theme, ha.