Tuesday, June 24, 2008

ER Nurses Taking Abuse

An opinion piece about the abuse the ER nurses face due to long wait times. Funny how the story usually changes once they see they have to talk to the doctor.

3 comments:

everdream said...

I read the editorial, but I don't quite understand your comment about "talking to the doctor". What do you mean?

BTW, Thanks for the blog. I'm a regular subscriber.

Ian Furst said...

hey everdream. sorry - i should have expanded on it. patients usually scream at the nurses then are as sweet as honey when they see the doctor. i've always thought it's hypocritical of them to take it out on the nurses only. sometimes i'll walk in when i know they've been rude to the nurses and start off by asking if we've done something to offend them -- make them defend the abuse they just dished out. almost no-one does.

everdream said...

Ah yes - now I understand. Thanks for the clarification. I'm not an ER Nurse, but I am part of the support staff (IT Educator / Help Desk Manager). ER "folks" have a very unique and challenging job - not that any other healthcare job is less challenging. I just think that the frame of mind of patients and family in the ER is certainly different from those in, say, OB or Radiology or Oncology.

I had never thought about the extent of the abuse, though, until your blog post pointing to the other article. Thanks for provoking my thoughts!