Forums » Smalltalk » ER workers, opinion? General public, fyi

I lowkey need a moment to bitch after the night I had. I feel like this is one of the few places I can go and rant without worrying about my employer seeing the post. That being said, if this isn't supposed to be here y'all let me know and I'll close it.

So, to put some context into this before I begin: I have been working in my town's hospital since July 2017, specifically in the ER. I do not have any kind of medical training, so I just work on admissions - making sure that patient's charts are updated, verifying insurance, answering phones, etc. Essentially, just a desk jockey. It isn't overly complicated of a job per se, it just gets frustrating when it gets busy because people get so... insistent? I generally work night shifts, and after 11p or 12a am left to do my shift alone for another 6 hours. Again not too bad, but there are nights when it does get busy because people seem to think that the hospital will be deserted at night time.

I just want to know why it is that people think going to a hospital will be like a TV show? They walk in with what they assume is a life threatening emergency and expect to be seen within .002 seconds after they arrive. Mind you, about 90% of the "life threatening emergencies" people seem to think they have are "cough", "vomiting", "abdominal pain", "low grade fever". Being the first thing people generally see when they walk in to be seen in the ER, they often take their anger out at us very quickly when they aren't seen fast enough. I personally am a person that doesn't deal with confrontation easily. It makes me severely uncomfortable.

Around 3(ish) AM a woman came in with her 4 year old son, as well as a guy that seemed like he literally had no idea what was going on. The two adults were Spanish speaking but the guy knew more English than mom, and I don't know but a couple words of Spanish myself. The guy came up to my window and said something along the lines of "I don't know what's going on but this kid needs to be seen". Okay... I ask for his name and DOB to double check if he'd been seen in the ER or one of our sister facilities (if we create a whole other account for a patient that has been there before you essentially lose all the corresponding previous medical information, so as you can imagine, hell breaks loose when that happens). After a bit of searching (the guy didn't give me the correct info first hand but he had been seen in the ER before) I was able to get the kid in. Ask the guy what he's being seen for, he says he doesn't know again. "So is he having trouble breathing or?"

"Yeah? I guess so? I don't know." The kid is really just coughing at this point and sounds a bit too congested. Mom is sitting down holding him but screaming at me to hurry up and get him back essentially. I get the kid in the system and go ahead and double check the info just because the guy that brought him in essentially refused to fill out the registration sheets Medical Records insists on people filling out. The guy is on and off saying "can the info just wait and can you please get a doctor out here?" just over and over again. I tell them the nurses should be on their way and go to our back printer so that I can get the medical labels and other paper work that prints out. While I'm in the back and not directly in front the of the people I call the nurses desk in the back and let em know that the family said this kid might be having trouble breathing, but I do kinda add in "he's doing a lot of coughing and sounds really congested". "Okay, thanks!" a general, semi passive aggressive response from the nurses, not directly targeted at me only because majority of these cough/congestions have been either the flu or an upper respiratory.

I give them their patient rights (required to give each visit) and start to go over the info on their face sheet to make sure it's all right and that nothing gets changed. As a general rule of thumb, we try to get what we can before they're taken back so that they're just not stuck staring at us, and it also helps to make sure that it's the right patient, provided they've been at the facility or a neighboring one before. Mom and the guy continue to yell at me, so I step out of my little office so I can go hide back at the nurses desk and let them know what's going on and all. Nurse comes as soon as I step out of the room and pulls them to the back. This whole ordeal took all but maybe a minute and a half as I'm generally a very quick worker.

Fast forward maybe ten minutes or so and a RN comes out to talk to me (she was from ICU I believe but was called in to translate since she was fluent in Spanish and only a few people know it on some of these charges). She sits down and we talk for a few minutes - apparently the woman is saying that her kid kept falling over while they were waiting for someone to come get him (he never did, I did watch), and that I was just ignoring her (I made eye contact with her several times while this guy that was with her continued to yell at me), and that everyone was just "walking slowly"/taking their time. (as soon as I got this kid in the computer I was getting his paperwork dealt with). All in all, she was just very upset, and I told the RN that I kept trying to explain to them that we obviously can't just let them back into the ER without a nurse calling them first (causes a lot of issues when people are shouting for help and running around trying to go into rooms, obviously this would be some sort of HIPPA violation I'm sure) and in order for these people to be brought into the back they have to be put in the computer first. The RN chic understood and just said she wanted to clear things up.

A good ten minutes or so later the dad walks in (very nice guy, gives me all the info, etc). I let him back and the guy that was with the lady leaves (he's apparently the neighbor). I wait a good half hour or so to go get insurance and eventually signatures from them (consent forms. way too much paperwork if you ask me). The dad, who was very kind at first, looks at me and says essentially "my wife told me that it you guys forever to get him to in"(no obviously pissed off). I give him a bit of an apologetic smile and say, "Well sir, I called to the back as soon as he got into the computer. We have to make sure all of our info is right so that we don't register the wrong patient. If we register the wrong patient it creates a lot of issues for the nurses". His response? "Well it creates a lot of issues when there's already an issue going on and you're not doing anything to help." or something along those lines. I keep sitting here apologizing when in reality there really wasn't much more that I could do. I registered the kid, called to the back and let them know what was going on, and that was it.

I don't know. I'm spazzing because I'm paranoid I'll get in trouble with my supervisor, yet I know that "I" technically never did anything wrong. I did my job.

I leave this place so beyond exhausted and mentally fried. I've never hated being somewhere as much as I hate this place.
My anxiety isn't nearly as bad as when I started but the place makes it so hard for me to not hate myself. Which sucks, because I try so hard to walk in with a good attitude during the day and it goes from 100 to 0 so quickly. People are constantly getting up in my face for things I cannot control and I know it's not something that needs to be taken personally... but god, I hate it. I'd be somewhere else job hunting but unfortunately I don't have anything more than a high school diploma and a little over 2 1/2 years job experience. It doesn't help that I really don't know what I want to do with my life just yet other than the Navy and I'm physically not at the level where I can do that. The jobs around here are terrible as well, mainly fast food jobs making $2-3 less than what I make now. I already have financial issues as it is as I give my mom a portion of my pay each pay period to help with groceries and bills (mainly mine but I'm always willing to help more if possible).

I'm at a loss, y'all. Any other ER workers have similar experiences/feelings? I want to know that I'm not alone in this I guess.

Also, as a PSA to those who don't work in high stress environments - and really, you'd think this was a given - but please don't walk in and shout at people trying to work just because there is a minor inconvenience. It gets scary sometimes, and really doesn't make you look good at all.

And please bear in mind, when you're visiting an ER to be seen, chances are the reason that it's "taking too long" to get you back in triaged isn't because of the registration clerk. A lot of the times, an EMS will come in or the nurse is preoccupied with another patient and can't get to you right that second unless it's a legitimate emergency. Don't get angry at the clerks when you can't go back in to visit a family member, normally this is facilitated by the nurses and doctors. Being at a small town hospital doesn't help, either - generally they are very understaffed and a lot of our nurses will be responsible for a good third of the patients in the ER.

If you made it this far, kudos to you. I'm sorry it's so jumbled y'all. I'm tired and have to stay up all day so I can sleep tonight for a 2p-10p shift tomorrow. I don't know what to do.

Sounds like the mom is a drama queen.

Lying and making shit up to get sympathy, probably looking for some sort of compo or something.

Don't worry, I doubt your supervisor will call you on it. They know the procedure and they also should have time stamps of when the data went into the computer and when the kid was called right?

What'd they think? they'd just stroll into ER and be seen immediately? You ALWAYS have to wait, be it a few minutes to HOURS.

Was the kid actually struggling to breathe? Doesn't sound like he was in any danger so in terms of triage, he doesn't go to the top of the list. Sorry lady, but that's how ER works. If the kid ain't turning blue, he's probably fine. Harsh I know, but triage IS harsh.

as for her lies about the kid falling over? Surely CCTV will, if it got that far, confirm she's full of it?

Seriously, sounds like she just wants drama and attention. Just likes a good moan.
Some people are like that. They don't care how hard medical staff work, they're entitled and want it all now now now becuase they're special and need preferential treatment rather than being like everyone else.

If she wanted the paperwork done right, maybe she should have filled it OUT rather than made her moron neighbour who didn't seem to know anything give useless answers.

I think you were a bit too polite to the husband. I'd have told him quite frankly "I followed procedure, they were seen promptly. " which by the sounds of it, is exactly what happens.

Woman should count herself lucky. When my eldest sliced his face open we waited nearly an hour for them to see him and stitch his face back together! and when I was literally bleeding all over my chair we waited THREE hours to be seen!
so I mean sheesh, could be far worse.

I'm sorry that you were treated that way.

She was a very upset and worried mother, who likely struggles with the fact that she doesn't know much English, and her husband was unavailable at the time to come and help her.

I'm certain if she was able to fill out the forms herself and speak to you she wouldn't have had to bring her neighbor. The reason her neighbor didn't know much is likely because he obviously doesn't speak Spanish himself, but went through the trouble to get her son to the hospital with her before her husband could make it in time. She clearly was worried for him if she brought him in knowing that she was going to have a hard time being understood, yet trusted that her son would be able to get help anyway.

I know that it's a frustrating experience, and her husband shouldn't have been rude to you, but

1. it was clearly a hectic situation and you could not have had your eyes on her son 100% of the time, and you also don't know what the mother considers to be 'falling over' you also don't know what this child is usually like when they aren't in distress.

2. Right now is a very difficult time for people of color and people from other countries, some are so afraid of what might happen to them that they don't go to the hospital at all - this post just seems in poor taste.

I get that you are upset about it, and you're allowed to vent, being mistreated is wrong, but I feel like this post is going to draw very aggressive and insulting posts directed at the mother, as it already has.

The woman is not a cow, and we don't know what was going on from her side.

I can sympathize with this...worked in pharmacy a lot, and the environment you describe in S. Tx. reminds me of my hometown, San Antonio, Tx (holla!). I don't have much to say but just this...do you guys have a translator line, you know, where you can call a number and tell them what language and someone on the other end of the phone translates for you? The only reason I ask is because when I worked at Walmart Pharmacy, we had a Language Line, and it worked really well. I would be surprised if a hospital didn't have one. At the pharmacy it was considering a big thing, like they wouldn't even let our cashier, who knew Spanish, talk to the patients about their medications, because she wasn't a pharmacy tech yet...they made us call the language line.

So that might be something to look into, in case you run into a similar situation again with the same demographic of people.

And on the subject of what to do to get a different job...well, you could become a pharmacy tech... similar problems sometimes tho...

You should get yourself a Pell Grant and go to community college and get a certificate of some kind or an Associates degree. If you qualify for it (fill out a FAFSA application to find out) it'll pay your way through your first two years of school, with a little bit left over each semester That's what I did. San Antonio College.

Good luck!

CCTV I'm sure would have caught it. As far as I know HR and obviously security/maintenance is the only people allowed to access it. My supervisor can supposedly go and request the footage from HR if she feels a need be, so I've been told by the other few girls in our unit. The kid was glancing around like he was trying to figure out why everyone was yelling, coughed a couple of times, and that was about it. We also only have on nurse to be able to triage at one time majority of the time (at least on nights, I'm not on days enough to be able to speak for them except they take forever to get people back).

The gentleman that came with her was primarily Spanish speaking as well, as mentioned above. I don't think she knew but a little English. Not necessarily the point though, I know he's the good guy here bringing the kid in when she likely didn't have the access.

Maybe not, but working in the ER nearly two years now, I've seen the difference between a person having a little bit of a problem that makes them...uncomfortable? to someone legitimately gasping for air, turning purple, etc.

Post was not created with the intentions to throw anyone under the bus directly, I just don't really have a network to talk about these things with. Majority of the people in our unit talk and some things I can trust ranting to them about and some things not. But the bottom line is, there are people that walk in with a minor inconvenience (i.e, finger fracture, headache, etc) that don't seem to understand that these less critical complaints are not the top of the problem list as opposed to a, say, severed limb, chest pain in an older individual or a person that has a severe cardiac history, etc. I just think there's way too many people that seem to think they'll get taken care of right away when it doesn't always work like that.

San Antonio is a nice area. I'm only a few hours away from there As far as I know we have some sort of language line but it's generally only used for like Mandarian/Chinese/Hindi/Nigerian around here since we don't have many employees familiar with the language. A good portion of our staff is Spanish speaking, or at least bilingual, so it's not hard to be able to find someone to translate. I know if we have someone in the ER trying to sign in that's spanish speaking we have a registration sheet written out in Spanish specifically. I honestly don't even think that we personally have access to the language line. It sucks too, because I live in a place where we have a big international plant, and that brings in people from like... everywhere and it gets hard to be able to deal with people like that because of a language barrier.

I've considered being a Life Flight pilot, I like aviation but am not particularly the best when it comes to math/physics/calculus/etc. There's no way I'd be able to directly stick with any kind of medical field, but as of right now I have to keep working. We don't particularly have a whole lot of money coming in as my mom is having some job issues herself. Just a big mess. Can't afford to lose out on money being brought in though. I agree though, there is a certain....ambiance about south Texas citizens.

Again, post was not created to throw people directly under the bus, just to point out the consistent issues that seem to pop up. Hopefully my quotes all worked fine, lmao.

Edit: I checked yesterday when I got in to work to see if the kid had been transferred out or admitted into the hospital. Turns out he was only discharged with Croup.