Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Open Letter to the Emergency Room Staff

To the Admitting Nurse: Now is not the time to tell me that my deductable for emergency services is the highest you have ever seen.

To the Triage Nurse: He is only five, and a child of the new millenium. He has never seen a thermometer that is meant to be held under his tongue. Please be patient.

To the Doctor who said, "I'll be right back." after examining Thing Two without sharing any thoughts about his condition or what the next step may be: "I'll be right back" does not mean the same thing as, "forty five minutes from now a nurse you have never seen will poke her head in and casually mention that the x-ray tech should be here any minute to take him down for a CAT scan."

To the X-Ray Tech: If you want him to stay completely still during the scan, perhaps you should warn him that the machine is going to make a godawful noise while he is in there.

To the Nurse Ginger and second doctor we saw (Dr. I'll Be Right Back, never came back.) you both rock! Thank you.


Thing Two went home with a huge bump on his head, a beautiful brain scan, a refillable ice pack and a great story about taking a ride on a bed with wheels.

5 comments:

Christina J. said...

Oh no! Sounds like it was a frustrating experience. Glad to hear he's okay.

We went to the ER early this year and the nurse walked into our room with a shot ready to go and all our son saw was the long needle. He got hysterical. She got called away for 30 minutes during which time we could not calm him down. Then she came back with two shots and another nurse. You can imagine the hysteria that ensued. :)

msbelle said...

Sounds like you didn't have a great experience. They get paid whether they're nice or not, and competent or not. Unfortunately, most of the time it's 'not'.

I hope all is well and that the bump goes away with no ill effects. Poor 'Thing'.

Beck said...

Good grief! I'm glad he's okay.

Amy Esther said...

Yeeouch! Glad he's okay!

maryeb said...

Great post on your experience.

As an ex-pediatric ER nurse I appreciate your comments very much. In the midst of our very busy day, we (nurses and doctors) need to remember our patients' and families' points of view!!!