ER and I.

Okay, let me talk about work this time. Eversince I came back from London last Feb., I got transferred to the Emergency Department and had training there for a month. At first, I really felt so disappointed that I got transferred---I will miss 5A-OBGYNE so much!! I got to admit that I despise to be transferred there based on the comments of incident-prone and chaos. Even if most people told me to take it as a career step.. it might be a step to hell. >;l

Though moving on, I officially started my duty there last March at the pediatric ER (thank goodness!).These past months has been my adjustment periods. And indeed, I've been welcomed by a lot of criticism and incidents. There's always that time of me wanting to quit already--but apparently, I can't. I have to face such hardships unless I'm a failure (and I don't want to be like that). So I gave it another try and lately, I've been coping up with my frustrations. I've learned a lot of things in the pediatric area very much. Thus, I will share it to y'all of what we and the patients should understand.These are actually some of my experiences when I was a triage nurse. Firstly, let us define what emergency means:

"EMERGENCY (/əˈmərjənsē/)-a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action."

*Basically, not all health conditions are considered as immediate. Like when a patient says s/he has fever but doesn't have one upon assessment---that's NOT an ER case. There's a place called a clinic where you could seek consult no matter how many days you feel ill. Have a check-up with your attending physician.Be mindful that an ER only consists of residential doctors and ER consultants; they only order and prescribe medicines for immediate relief.

*Another concern would be the use of healthcards/HMO's.Some cases are subject for approval as per their protocol so we're not the ones to blame when a procedure is not covered. Not everything is free of charge!

*BE PATIENT the way that we are patient to YOU.We don't cater in a 'first come,first server' basis. Although our service can be compared to as a fast food chain,well don't panic.'Cause everyone will be served especially at time of influx.Relief takes time and so as laboratory results which take 1-2 hrs.

*And lastly,THINK FIRST before you seek consult.A lot of parents just blabbers on triage saying "my child has fever/cough&colds/abdominal pain with vomiting,etc" while the child is playing happily. How is that believable? When we recommend these kinds of people to go to the clinic instead,don't feel like we're putting you away. You should even be grateful that  we did that 'cause we saved you from paying an ER fee or telling you that your child doesn't need immediate intervention.

Pretty much,these are all the common situations that I could think of for now.People really come in different streaks.But at the end of the day, we,nurses just have to think that we have a very noble job. Maybe next time, I'll write about the different craziest cases I've encountered (believe me, there are tons of it for the past 5 months). ;)

'til then!