FEELING CONFLICTED: ER Volunteer
Be nice, or else…
On my ER shift, a Little Kid’s freaking out about having to get stitches, so I ask him if he can keep a secret? Uh-huh.
Wanna know our SECRET CODE WORD ?
Yeah!…
…so I whisper: “Owww!”
Minutes later when Dr. A dabs numbing cream on his wound, the kid yells, “Owww!” So I SHUSH! him about giving away the CODE WORD and he actually giggles — PLUS I get a “trying-not-to-smile-but-I-can’t-help-it” from Dr. A! So it’s a win/WIN of epic proportions! (My Mom would be so proud!)
Then in Triage, ANTHONY shouts at me for taking too many visitors back to see their Mom (c’mon Chan!) which is sooo frustrating! As I’ve said before — working in the ER is a LOVE|HATE situation!
ER Ambivalence —
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WHATEVER!
LOVE
De-Stressing the stressed (Helps de-stress me too.)
FINDING THE FUNNY + earning a SMILE (Comic timing must be right, otherwise it’s all wrong!)
Appreciation (The “air” volunteers breathe!)
Patient Patients (So rare, I really appreciate them.)
Happy Endings (NOT the kind you’re thinking of.)
HATE
Walkie Talkies (Talk about “impersonal!”)
Go To Registration FIRST (It says: “Our money is more important than your chest pains!)
Too many cooks (So many experts – So many opinions!)
Too many rules (And they change every week, truth!)
The odors (Code Brown, need I say more?)
Suffering (Can’t think about it…)
Death (No words…)
TOLERATE
Bossy Pants (Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re just being a Buttinsky!)
Frequent Flyers (Gotta give it to ‘em, addicts can be pretty creative.)
Pushy Family Members (They’re just scared and feel helpless.)
Impatient Patients (We all feel that way, right?)
(What do you love|hate|tolerate in the ER?)
5 responses to “FEELING CONFLICTED: ER Volunteer”
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[…] “woulda thunk it” till I was forced to volunteer in the ER, but the best way to get out of your own head is to do something for someone else. It takes the […]
I should seriously consider writing a funny-ish retelling of my one time having to be in the ER. I have one more thing to add to the hate list and that’s the bill. I’m still struggling to pay off the thousands of dollars in medical debt and it’s been 2 and a half years.
Definitely write about your experience and send me a link to your post!
Re: your bill — have you tried to re-negotiate it? I’ve heard that sometimes the result is a reduction in the amount. It might be that yours is from too long ago and you’ve already shown an ability to pay, but if you convince that it’s really a hardship (or that your circumstances have changed), it might work. Good luck.
I Love……
Hot nurses and ER volunteers
Being able to actually tell jokes while being treated for a head injury
Extremely beautiful female doctors
I tolerate……
Other patients
I hate…..
The wait time
Having to pay money up front before I even get any type of treatment
The drunk guy that tried to fight me in the ER.
I Love…
That you took the time to write such a thoughtful comment!
Clearly you’ve been there! Watching Registration drill patients for contact + insurance info before the Triage Nurse treats them, makes me C R A Z Y! The Hospital Higher-ups keep preaching to Volunteers that we need to show compassion and make the Patients feel like we care, but the procedures the “experts” put into place have the opposite effect. I don’t know if this is true or not, but someone in the hospital told me that in the not too distant future, Medicare will be tying their ER payments to customer satisfaction, so if the customer is 60% satisfied, that’s the percentage the hospital will be reimbursed. (I wonder if the patient will get stuck for the remainder of the bill?) Medicine has become all about business.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to comment.