Friday, July 15, 2011

Emergency departments

Part 2....
Ahhh the pain of the emergency department visit. I've done a few over the years. Private hospitals have fairly civilized ones, with shorter waiting times and nicer surroundings than public hospitals. I went years ago when miss 23 dropped a concrete block on her foot (shod) and detipped her toe, complete with toenail. We were going regularly for the dressings until she dobbed me in. "my mummy wears one of those watches....and uniforms. There was a significant silence and then she asked if I was a nurse. (doh, sprung by a 3 year old), they didn't accept my protests that I was still training and I subsequently got a garbage bag full of dressings dumped at my feet and a "you'll be right". Grrr. Mister 20 has necessitated a few trips to ED (emergency department) over the years. A funny one involved him writhing around in pain after he had a reaction to some aloe Vera over sunburn. Miss 7 split the bridge of her nose this year, requiring suturing. Mr 20 drove us and started going white when he saw the sutures being done. I got accepted into a training course in ED, but it started at the same time as the midwifery course, so I picked that, fortunately. I'm cynical enough already.
As anyone who read my post would know my husband had his gall bladder out and subsequently went yellow, at which stage I took him back to the hospital at which he got operated on.

Prsonally, I think he's a lousy historian, we waited for nearly 4 hours to get in. He dozed fitfully (so did I for that matter). People coughed, I cringed. Babies cried, I felt like shouting at them to take them home. Fortunately for all of us I didn't. We got in as I was on the verge of going up to triage (nearly 4 hours later) and "chatting" to her.

The first thing they said inside ED was "ooh, you're yellow aren't you!" no shit Sherlock! The end result was he was admitted.
The downside:
We waited for hours (they were very busy)
The baby next to us and the girl also next to us weren't that sick (grr, go to the GP people). The registrar told him off for not disclosing his full medical history when he had (which I pointed out), although she was flustered.
One of the senior nurses told off a junior nurse in front of us (very unprofessional).
I had no dinner (was there from 4-11pm).
The upside:
It was free
Once inside he got seen promptly and one of the surgical registrars was called quickly.
The care was good and what I'd expect from a developed country.

In the end, my hubby stayed in hospital for a week, passed a gall stone which had obstructed his common bile duct and is now back to normal, or close to it. It's hard to know when to go to an ED. Even as a nurse, I would hesitate to give a few vague instructions. Most states do have an information line 24 hours a day, staffed by experienced nurses who will ask the appropriate questions and then advise you. The only thing I'd advise is if it can wait til the morning, let it, oh and give your history (of the illness/injury and your medical issues) properly. It can save a lot of time and may greatly help.
Some humour. Let's face it, we're a sadistic lot and sometimes the stress our jobs place on us leads to so called gallows humour. The Internet is alive with gallows humour. Hers a couple of my favorites.
You look at strangers and think 'nice veins'
Discussing dismemberment over dinner seems perfectly normal
You think 'too stupid to live' should be a recognized diagnosis
There are many more such gems, but you'll hve to find em yourself.

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