Emergency Rooms Are Not for Fast Care
Especially if you do not have a life threatening emergency
“What is taking so long, I just need a cast,” “I have a doctor’s appointment next week but didn’t want to wait anymore,” “Why am I not seen yet?”
I suspect that a lot of people come into the emergency room because they think it will be faster, or more convenient than going to a doctor’s appointment or urgent care. I always try to be patient, because I know most people generally come to the ER because they are in pain in some way. HOWEVER, it is incredibly frustrating having someone complain that they have to wait too long for care because they just need xyz…. If you think your issue is as simple as JUST needing something, maybe an urgent care would be more appropriate.
If you have an issue that JUST needs something simple, it will come after someone that needs to be stabilized. If you JUST need a cast, that will come after someone that is having a stroke. If you JUST need stitches, that will come after someone who is having a heart attack. If you JUST need something simple, that will come after more complex issues. Once patients that need to be stabilized are initially treated, then the revolving door of other issues will be addressed.
If you JUST need something small, why complain that your care is taking too long in the emergency room? Small issues are not a priority.
I know being in the emergency room is unpleasant, and I do agree that at times patients are in a frustrating situation trying to get their care. I also know that it is hard sitting in an uncomfortable emergency room for four, ten, twenty plus hours trying to get treated. Please remember, if you are there for hours and hours, either there are sicker patients than you, or there were other patients there longer than you. Once the sickest people are taken care of, the patients there the longest get seen next.
I wish emergency rooms could provide care that meets patient’s customer service expectations, but as long as they are overcrowded, misused, or even intentionally abused, there will not be enough room to meet demand.
I had an interaction that made me realize just how different healthcare workers vs non-healthcare workers look at the ER. Months ago, my mother in law took a hard fall and went to the ER for a CT scan. I asked her to ask for one, and met her there. She told me that when she checked in, she told the triage nurse that she “just needs a CT scan.”
Unfortunately, the provider has a professional duty to do a thorough assessment, that may or may not involve “just a CT scan” based on their professional expertise. Even if they decide to JUST order a CT scan, they may want to run it with contrast, which means she would also need an order for an IV, which someone will then have to start. They will need labs drawn to make sure their kidneys can appropriately filter out the contrast, which means the lab needs to run their blood work along with everyone else who needs blood analyzed. Then someone needs to be able to perform the CT scan, then someone needs to interpret the results. See how things are not JUST simple?
While a patient is waiting for CT results, they shouldn’t eat or drink anything, but that can often be a long wait, which adds to a patient’s crankiness.
She waited a long time, and I felt terrible for her. I wanted her to be seen right away, but I also knew that things take time. She was hurting, and said “I guess a head injury isn’t an emergency,” which was so frustrating to hear because of course it is. Her not being seen didn’t mean she didn’t have an emergency; it meant they probably didn’t have space or personnel to care for her yet. I could see her point of view, but a hospital cannot make rooms and staff appear out of nowhere.
We saw someone walking out on crutches, and she made a comment about customer service because no one was wheeling that patient out. Honestly, if they can walk, even with crutches, they should walk. Letting someone be independent when they are physically capable is 100% appropriate. If they are leaving using crutches, they will be walking on crutches just fine outside of the hospital as well.
To expect a hospital worker to wheel someone out who can walk is to ask a hospital worker to leave their patients who currently need care, to wheel someone out of their area. Depending on the hospital, this may be a long walk out, especially if they need to hunt down a wheelchair first. That is time away from administering medication, helping someone to the restroom, picking up a patient from the roof that was helicoptered in, cleaning an empty room, or any number of other tasks that need to be performed.
Being in the emergency room is hard on everyone, especially for patients that are in pain and don’t understand all the moving parts that go into caring for everyone. Just remember, coming in with an issue that JUST needs something simple will be compared to the need of everyone else that is there and severity will get priority.
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