OUTRAGED

[tomstopper]

Last night at ten' my daughter was still complaining about a bad hurting arm where she fell on it after dinner so I took her to the emergency room. When we got there it was busy so I knew there would be a wait. There was a man who was sitting across from me and the nurses came out into the waiting area and addressed him by name and asked him what was wrong today. He complained of lower back pain and was taken a room to be checked out. The nurse was not all that happy about taking him to a room. One of the nurses there was friends with my wife told me that he was a drug seeker.
The day before he was there 3 different times looking for pain meds and he is on medical assistance (go figure). The part that upsets me the most is that we did not leave the ER until 1:30 am, my 5yr old daughter had to wait to be seen while this piece of garbage was pampered and it turns out that she had a hairlined fractured elbow. So basically my daughter had to wait while "we" paid for this guy to get his fix. I hope I see him someday out in town because I will not hesitate to tell him how I feel about him. Today my wife is going to call the ER and file a complaint. This whole system we have here is so screwed up and I am tired of it....

[Tail Feathers]

Drug seeking behavior is rampant in all areas, but ER's a very hard hit by these useless folks.  It's a huge waste of resources but the evidently don't have the ability to tell them no.

Hope your daughter gets better real soon.

[Eric Gregg]

Early in my career as a ministerial intern I heard the testimony of a man who never had an addiction in his life and one day his back went out. Physician prescribes him oxycotn and before long the man had an addiction to it. It took some time to get that stuff out of his system but with prayer, support, and a strong determination not to be bound by anything this guy overcame that addiction.

There are some that took the stuff not knowing how addictive it was and got hooked. The fastest growing addiction in America is pain meds, and the highest number of deaths to overdose are to pain meds.

[Hooksfan]

I agree with every word you posted, but your wife could call in that complaint to every ER in America.
My best friend is a nurse.  He has lost count of how many of his co-workers have lost their jobs for sneaking pain meds out of the hospital.  His own mother, a good ole Baptist that wouldn't dare take a sip of alcohol,  is on a dosage of pain meds higher than any he has administered to hardened drug addicts in the hospital.
Doctors have become the biggest drug dealers in America, and a lot of them are doing it intentionally.
Another hunting buddy had a wife that was put on probation the FIRST time she got caught sneaking drugs out of the hospital--She was a surgical nurse.  Apparently the problem is so bad, you get multiple chances.  She lost her job and her marriage when she got busted the second time.
So.....if the problem is so bad that Deacons wives and nurses are hooked on it, and the hospitals can't address that, I doubt they are gonna worry much about the medicaid addicts coming in off the streets--at least the hospitals are getting paid for that and that is the bottom line, sad to say.

[lightsoutcalls]

Having worked in medical based facilities for the past 11 years, I have seen a good number of folks that work the system.  I feel for your situation of having to wait in an ER waiting room for so long, which is not uncommon in the area where I live.  I hope your daughter is feeling better soon.

Something you mentioned about a nurse sharing information concerns me.  What she did would possibly be considered a HIPPA (no relation to hippo) violation.  Information related to patients, medical records, medical conditions and treatment are considered confidential and are to be protected.  Violating HIPPA standards can result in a 5 figure fine and generally results in loss of employment. 

I know the wait is frustrating and it seems that the hard working guy who pays his taxes and his own medical bills sometimes doesn't get a fair shake.  You might think about reminding your nurse friend about disclosing any information about patients and the risk involved. 

[tomstopper]

Thank you to all who have responded. Your advice will not go unheard. The thing that upsets me most is that they took the guy who they knew was just there for drugs over a little 5 yr old girl who was in pain and had an ice pack on her arm. Maybe I am just blinded because she is my daughter' but I just dont see how he took priority. I expect to wait a while when I go to the ER but I didn't expect to have an experience where an addict takes priority over a child. If I was in his shoes and knew that I wasn't in as much pain as her I would have asked for her to move ahead of me in line. Times have changed in America where caring is becoming obsolete and morality of man is declining rapidly. It is just sad..

[Eric Gregg]

Thank you to all who have responded. Your advice will not go unheard. The thing that upsets me most is that they took the guy who they knew was just there for drugs over a little 5 yr old girl who was in pain and had an ice pack on her arm. Maybe I am just blinded because she is my daughter' but I just dont see how he took priority. I expect to wait a while when I go to the ER but I didn't expect to have an experience where an addict takes priority over a child. If I was in his shoes and knew that I wasn't in as much pain as her I would have asked for her to move ahead of me in line. Times have changed in America where caring is becoming obsolete and morality of man is declining rapidly. It is just sad..

They should have moved on your situation as a priority over the person they knew was abusing meds.

[870FaceLift]

The folks that are mentioned here that have been caught with pain meds may not be junkies at all.  Most of the seekers and/or smugglers in our facilities would cleanly pass a narcotics screening.  It is the street value that entices these folks to get more pills.  A nurse can substantially increase his/her income by smuggling just a few pills/day...

I work with a lot of physicians who have to drug test patients every month just make sure that the prescription is in their system.

[ghillie]

I do understand your frustration, however, 3 1/2 hours for your entire visit is actually pretty darn good.  In the Level 1 Trauma Center that I work in for the last 20+ years....it is not uncommon for the wait to get back to a room to be more than 4 hours...just to get back to a room to be seen.  Then the work up begins that can take several more hours.  It is common across the US.  People are using the ER's as a PRIMARY care facilty...which it is not.  usually things get backed up by the constant flow of incomming ambulances and the multiple aircraft that arrive hourly with truly life threatening emergencies.  I'm not saying that your daughters arm injury wasn't important, that is what we are here for....but people that come in for their primary care problems is what buggers everthing up.  Also the 'medical assistance' that he is on may only allow him to go the the ER..not many primary care physicans accept that kind of insurance due to the lack of reimbursement.  If they show up at the DR office...by law they only have to stabilize the life threats then they get 'sent' to the ER for further care and disposition.  It's called EMTALA...a FED law.  So actually...you can thank the insurance industry for your frustration...medical care decisions based on what insurance will pay for.

Speaking about Fed laws...Wendell is correct about the info sharing...or HIPPA laws...they could be in a very BAD position for talking about his info in front of everyone...a very bad pratice indeed.

I'm a little concerned about all of the talk about nurses and Doc's being drug addicts...I take a little bit of offense to that....not all of us are dopers...however, if you showed up in the ER in extreme pain...i don't think you would be complaining about the narcs you received by me....

Keep it classy folks....

[ghillie]

Thank you to all who have responded. Your advice will not go unheard. The thing that upsets me most is that they took the guy who they knew was just there for drugs over a little 5 yr old girl who was in pain and had an ice pack on her arm. Maybe I am just blinded because she is my daughter' but I just dont see how he took priority. I expect to wait a while when I go to the ER but I didn't expect to have an experience where an addict takes priority over a child. If I was in his shoes and knew that I wasn't in as much pain as her I would have asked for her to move ahead of me in line. Times have changed in America where caring is becoming obsolete and morality of man is declining rapidly. It is just sad..

Not saying that your child wasn't important...but how long had he been waiting for a room??  He very well could have a a valid reason for being there...he might not have just been there to get meds...even if he was...we still have the ethical and moral duty to treat him just like everyone else...a human being...to rule out any life threats then treat his issues that we find  accordingly....seriously...is this gonna turn ito a nurse and doc bashing thread???

like I said not all of us are dopers and steal narcs to make a buck as some of you are insinuating....pathetic

[tomstopper]

Thank you to all who have responded. Your advice will not go unheard. The thing that upsets me most is that they took the guy who they knew was just there for drugs over a little 5 yr old girl who was in pain and had an ice pack on her arm. Maybe I am just blinded because she is my daughter' but I just dont see how he took priority. I expect to wait a while when I go to the ER but I didn't expect to have an experience where an addict takes priority over a child. If I was in his shoes and knew that I wasn't in as much pain as her I would have asked for her to move ahead of me in line. Times have changed in America where caring is becoming obsolete and morality of man is declining rapidly. It is just sad..

Not saying that your child wasn't important...but how long had he been waiting for a room??  He very well could have a a valid reason for being there...he might not have just been there to get meds...even if he was...we still have the ethical and moral duty to treat him just like everyone else...a human being...to rule out any life threats then treat his issues that we find  accordingly....seriously...is this gonna turn ito a nurse and doc bashing thread???

like I said not all of us are dopers and steal narcs to make a buck as some of you are insinuating....pathetic

I appreciate what you have said ghillie and I dont think all nurses and docs are doppers and I am asking for everyone here not to turn it into a medical bashing post. My wife is an ER nurse at a different hosp an hour away but was out of town when this all happened. She is one of the most caring people I know and is just upset that this man appeared to be in no pain at all while my daughter was in clear pain and was taken before her. I understand that our wait doesnt seem to terribly long but for a young child in pain  it was. I don't expect to be rushed ahead of the line every time but to watch a grown man in no pain be taken first when she is whimpering in my arms is pathetic. As for the nurse, yes she shouldn't have told me anything but like I said' she is real good friends with my wife and knows my daughter very well so she could feel my pain. I am sure that she doesn't just go around telling everyone but we all know that nurses do talk amongst each other about patients. I am not saying it was right but a little compassion goes along way and that was all she was trying to do.

[ghillie]

Thank you to all who have responded. Your advice will not go unheard. The thing that upsets me most is that they took the guy who they knew was just there for drugs over a little 5 yr old girl who was in pain and had an ice pack on her arm. Maybe I am just blinded because she is my daughter' but I just dont see how he took priority. I expect to wait a while when I go to the ER but I didn't expect to have an experience where an addict takes priority over a child. If I was in his shoes and knew that I wasn't in as much pain as her I would have asked for her to move ahead of me in line. Times have changed in America where caring is becoming obsolete and morality of man is declining rapidly. It is just sad..

Not saying that your child wasn't important...but how long had he been waiting for a room??  He very well could have a a valid reason for being there...he might not have just been there to get meds...even if he was...we still have the ethical and moral duty to treat him just like everyone else...a human being...to rule out any life threats then treat his issues that we find  accordingly....seriously...is this gonna turn ito a nurse and doc bashing thread???

like I said not all of us are dopers and steal narcs to make a buck as some of you are insinuating....pathetic

I appreciate what you have said ghillie and I dont think all nurses and docs are doppers and I am asking for everyone here not to turn it into a medical bashing post. My wife is an ER nurse at a different hosp an hour away but was out of town when this all happened. She is one of the most caring people I know and is just upset that this man appeared to be in no pain at all while my daughter was in clear pain and was taken before her. I understand that our wait doesnt seem to terribly long but for a young child in pain  it was. I don't expect to be rushed ahead of the line every time but to watch a grown man in no pain be taken first when she is whimpering in my arms is pathetic. As for the nurse, yes she shouldn't have told me anything but like I said' she is real good friends with my wife and knows my daughter very well so she could feel my pain. I am sure that she doesn't just go around telling everyone but we all know that nurses do talk amongst each other about patients. I am not saying it was right but a little compassion goes along way and that was all she was trying to do.

I do understand your frustration and it sucks that your child was hurt, in pain and had to wait.  That is very difficult as a parent.  All ER's have their frequent flyers and it is a huge problem and a very large financial problem for all of the tax payers...but non the less...we a have a legal obligation to see them as well.  I agree that he probably could have waited until after your child went back to a room.  Perhaps they could revamp their triage process and sorting of pt's??  It might be worth a shot to try to convince them to maybe change that ...  At our facility, anyone with extreme pain is a high priority and here your child would have come back first...

I hope she is OK and her arm is not injured to bad...

I apoligise if i got all defensive...but I love what I do and I hate it when a couple of bad apples sour the bushel for all of us...trust me...we are not all dopers and we really do care about your family that you have intrusted us to take care of...hope she recovers well!!   

[870FaceLift]

Easy, ghillie.  If my comments offended your profession, that wasn't my intent.  I'm a hospital director and my wife is a doc.  I work with flat-out awesome providers every day - much respect for what you do.  Unfortunately, though, these problems do exist.  I was simply referring to what I have seen in my career.

[ghillie]

Easy, ghillie.  If my comments offended your profession, that wasn't my intent.  I'm a hospital director and my wife is a doc.  I work with flat-out awesome providers every day - much respect for what you do.  Unfortunately, though, these problems do exist.  I was simply referring to what I have seen in my career.

It's all good....no offense taken with what you wrote...just frustration with what does go on...you have seen it...I have seen it...it is there and is a problem.  It makes us all look bad.  Unfortunate for sure...I'll never understand what drives people to do such things that end up destroying their carrer.   

[barry]

First of all, hope your daughter is feeling better tomstopper.

Here's my gripe about having to wait in ER's for so long, and I've waited as much as 5 hrs to be seen. The majority of the people waiting (patients) are there because they are uninsured and would get turned away at a Doctors office. If it's a legitimate emergency fine, but don't sit there with a case of the damn sniffles while your 3 rugrats run around irritating the hell out of everyone else in the room and expect me to have sympathy for you.