Retail Hell To Hospital Hell

From Slagathor:

So as most of you Facebook group users know, Slagathor no longer works at Fred's. I have accepted a job as ER registration at the hospital. I am really stoked because the hospital offers tuition reimbursement and has awesome benefits. Anyway, I've been in hospital hell for 3 weeks now and it has been fascinating! The attitude people get when they're having an "emergency" is almost laughable. 

We had a lady getting ridiculously upset because she had to wait in the waiting room for her cough. The reason why she had to wait? The nurses and doctor were busy running a code on a guy having a heart attack. Of course, we can't tell her that. All we can tell her is "The nurses are tending to patients with more serious conditions at the moment, please have a seat in the waiting room. The nurse will get you when they're ready." Luckily we have a plexiglass window and a speakerphone to talk to these irate people. 

Another thing that bothers me is the pain scale. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?" It's always the people in severe pain that give it a 5 or 6 and the people with minor pain give it a 9 or 10. Before you peg me as the judgmental type, I will tell you now, 1. I am and 2. I know what a fucking 10 feels like. I have an extensive medical history and it's why I'm so happy I got into the medical field and into a hospital that supports higher education. Anywho...You'll get these patients, sitting calmly in the triage chair, legs crossed, arms folded, sitting back. "Oh...I'd say my back pain is  definitely 10." And then you get the legit pain patients who can hardly sit, back straight, wincing in pain. "Oh...I don't know? 6 maybe?" 

I've discovered the ER consists of 90% elderly folks falling, 5% kids getting injured being kids, 3% frequent flyers, and 2% everything else. If there was a special place for elder people to go when they fall, we'd be out of business. I'm glad to be out of retail hell, but this isn't much different. There's still the customer service side of it, but there's no selling or credit card offers!

Stay sane, RHU!

Cheers,

--Slagathor

Comments

[WMDKitty]

Probably because most of us who deal with pain on a day-in-day-out basis have learned to live with a certain amount of pain and discomfort. I'm one of those "can't sit up, but brushing it off as a six or maybe seven, I'll be fine, really" patients, and I am really not a fan of the opiate/opiod painkillers (they mess with my digestion). I'm there because the pain has been severe enough to greatly restrict my functioning, or, in the case of severe abdominal pain, to be sure nothing has ruptured.

[Language nerd]

I would have trouble answering the "on a scale" question. I mean I have puked from pain, but does that mean it can't get any worse? A 10 is the top, at 10 the pain can't get any worse, so I will probably (hopefully) never reach a 10. I mean, even though I feel that it can't get any worse, logically I would know that it probably could, so then I would feel that it's never justified to answer 10 on that question... What is a 10, anyway? Passing out from pain? Childbirth? Broken bones? It's really very subjective...

[The Last Archimedean]

As someone who has broken an arm and not realized it, I have a high tolerance for pain and would never say it's highr than about a 6. Unless I had final-stage peripheral neuralgia. That would be a 10 plus.

[The Last Archimedean]

Dumb typo. Peripheral neuropathy. My dad's best frinnd died from it.

[Slagathor]

The scale is a terrible was to assess pain, but it's the only way. Most nurses will give an example; "one being no pain and 10 being as if you're on fire and you're burning." Yet people sitting comfortably in the chair say it's a 10.

I also have a high tolerance for pain. When I had my bout with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, it got involved in the lymph tissue of my spine, it would swell and put pressure on my nerves, causing horrible back pain. I've also had chest tubes and very invasive surgeries and of all that crap, I never rated my pain over a 6. I always thought it could get worse as I was sitting in the hot shower, crying and hoping the ibuprofen would work this time.

I look back now...it was probably a 10! lol!

[Slagathor]

http://livewithchronicpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/painmeasurementscale.jpg

[photoslave]

I hate when people who with minor pain (a bee sting without a reaction, a stubbed toe, a sprained ankle, which I have had) describe their pain as high on the scale. I had to have 12 operations for different things before the age of 20 and most likely have to have several more. Pain, to me, is nothing. I live with it on a daily basis. So when I go to the ER for something severe, but describe my pain as a 5 or 6 and I get pushed back because some crotch nugget has a sprained ankle, I get pissed. I hope that someday, they will be able to develop a quick test that allows the nurses to see what someone's true pain level is.

[lamer]

I have zero pain tolerance. Food poisoning is a four, unless I'm being forced to walk, then it's a seven and I'm about to pass out. When I was dying (they saved me), I was a two. Why? Because I was half unconscious. They were putting in my spinal block and I was almost purring because (although I'm not attracted to women) my face was buried in a woman's bosom and she was stroking my hair. I defy anyone to say boobs and head rubs aren't awesome.

But after the surgery, when they were sonogramming my kidneys, I was about a nine. I couldn't walk, I hadn't eaten in a week, I wasn't sleeping, and then they asked me to twist on the table pulling on my staples.

Just pray you never get me as a patient, when I'm in pain, I'm mean. I can't help it. But as soon as I'm out of pain, I'm awesome and sweet again. My hubs says it's like night and day.

[Geer]

Every time I hear about pain scales, and I get asked that question a lot, I can't help think of this:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/02/boyfriend-doesnt-have-ebola-probably.html

or this:

http://xkcd.com/883/

[Hellbound Alleee]

The two times I've been in the emergency walkin, I've had no pain. Although I was dying from having no hemo. I didn't have the energy to commit to even having an emergency. Luckily, the good people at the front desk knew a pale face and a weak demeanor when they saw it, and I got wheeled back immediately.

[ScanGunMonkey]

@Lamer, boobs are indeed awesome. :D

[BookBitch]

Awww, Geer beat me to it - that is THE BEST pain scale ever. I dare you to post it and see if their answers change. :-D (And for the record, I have multiple chronic pain disorders and I've never said anything higher than a 7, not even when I got hit by a car {the second time (don't ask)}).

[FormerRetailServant]

As someone who works as an EMT and in school for Paramedics I can't agree with this more. We've transported patients for minor cat scratches on the toes to full on codes and severed limbs. I love that they think that an ambulance is a fast pass to be seen. Look if you're a smoker and complain of shortness of breath, but just walked down 6 fights of stairs with no problems, you can sit your behind in the waiting room.

[candieaddict]

I hate the scale. I had an boil on backside once, so bad I couldn't sit. We told them 10 and they still didn't care. Yet they took someone with less than 5 who was there before us. I hate the scale a lot.

Though I agree with formerretailservant, ambulances don't get you in fast at all lol I've been in faster going to the hospital on my own than getting ambulance when I had a seizure. They had us waiting in the hall and I had no idea what was going on, at all.

[melchar]

I've never had a '10' in pain, but I'll rank the throbbing tooth abscess pain I've had twice [last year and then 30 years before that] as a '9'.

I've mis-stepped and stood on my ankle [no break, but lots of tendon damage] that rated as a '4'; had migraines that climbed up to a brief '6' - and I always thought I was a pain wimp.

Then I got Shingles. Averaged about a '7' during the 2 months I had active blisters [constant 3-part pain the whole time: a combination of worst sunburn ever plus deep nagging ache plus an awful chewing sensation all at once]. Made it horribly difficult to sleep. Described it to 2 guy chums who had had it more briefly and they freaked: one was incoherant during his, the other had supressed the memory of what he went thru.

I still have post herpetic neuropathy [PHN] - as in the pain lessened once the blisters healed, but hasn't gone away. It averages a '3' now. During this time I have had a boiling water burn that raised a blister that ranked a '3' and a bad cat scratch that I only noted because it bled that ranked a '2' ... in comparison to the PHN.

The only times I have gone in - hoping vainly for some help with the pain was for the abscesses and then shingles. So I am in full sympathy with anyone in massive pain who gets stuck behind someone with a stubbed toe [even if it is a broken stubbed toe].

[abscess #1 there was a med called 'zomax' - it stopped pain, no side fx, then was taken off the market] Sadly, opioid-based pain meds do -nothing- to help. They have no effect: no pain relief, no drowsiness. Nothing. Nsaids? They help with swelling - no pain relief. I've had spasm meds, epileptic meds and anti-psychotics tried on me to see if their 'side effects' vs pain would kick in. Nope. So pain sucks and I hope someone develops something new that works.

[TechChewToy]

Most severe migraine ever (so bad it made my entire left side numb & tingly) was an 8.

I think that was my highest... I'm one of those that would really rather die at home than go to emergency, so if I'm there -at all- it's because something neurological is going on (like the migraine) or the pain in whatever area has gotten so bad that I can't sleep/am literally forced into tears because of it.

[Karebear]

The pain scale is so annoying. I have no idea what is considered a 10, and I have given birth twice. First time I was induced and drugged up before anything even happened. Second time I walked in basically ready to push. Nurses looked at me like I was crazy. Sure, it hurt like hell, but...I wasn't crying while I walked in. Was basically skipping and singing cause the eviction date had arrived.

One time I had to rush my son to the ER for a head injury. People in front of us in check out where saying their lower back pain was "off the charts" on the pain scale. Yet she was sitting perfectly still, straight, and later got up and walked on her very own. I was sitting there holding my kid's head trying not to let him bleed all over their floor screaming "Can I get a freaking doctor, NOW?!" Watched the lady walk out later with a smug look holding a piece of paper. My only guess is she got her Vicodin fix. My poor baby walked out with 5 stitches in his head, thanking the lucky stars there was no brain damage or anything. (I over react, I know.)

[Julia]

I am a self-professed giant baby when it comes to pain, but somehow I tend to think nearly everyone else is worse off than I am. I don't think I've ever been asked to rate anything on the scale, but I've only ever felt anything that would rank between 8-10 (e.g. during my first eye surgery when the anesthetic temporarily wore off). I have a minor autoimmune disorder that has been described as having pain comparable to end stage cancer or renal failure (I really have a hard time believing it's that bad, since I can still function). I also have pain attacks associated with MS, and I've learned to predict when they're going to subside, so you'll never see me in an ER for that. Admittedly, when they peak, I have thought "Switzerland is lovely this time of year..."

Everything I've read in the comments is much worse than what I deal with. Some things you just can't tough it out!

[Nocturnesthesia]

I always assumed 9 or 10 was pretty much "passing out and/or vomiting due to pain"... Funny thing about the pain scale is that a lot of the most serious ailments aren't actually that painful. An infected kidney stone was probably the worst pain I remember, but it's not like it was going to get any worse in 3 hours. Whereas my heart rate dropping to 20 bpm and being in and out of consciousness only made me sleepy and somewhat nauseous.

[RocketBoots]

Yeah... I went into the hospital in 2009 with a slice from a boxcutter accident on my right leg just above the knee. I'd closed it up with a big bandaid [those ones the size of your palm] and wrapped a bandage around it, drove to the hospital, and walked in under my own power. It hurt, yeah, but it didn't approach anything close to a six until he went fishing with that needle they use to flush out the wound.

I think the people who claim to be in a 10's worth of pain think they'll get treated sooner is the problem there.

@Nocturnesthesia
That sounds terrifying in it's own right @_@ *offers a hug*

I also agree that I think 9 or 10 is passing out, vomiting, or crying/crying out from the pain.

[kimi2321]

Ya the pain scale isn't accurate. I had a kidney stone 6 years ago and that was a pain that I had never experienced before. So intense that I threw up several times. I don't know that I would call it a 10 though. If I had passed out due to the pain, I would say 10. But we all feel pain differently.

[WorkedAtCinema]

I wouldn't say I have a high tolerance to pain, but I've certainly lived with it and never said it was a ten. I tend to down play. Once I had horrible tooth pain and didn't sleep all night, but just had to wait for morning. I've been burnt and that was probably the worst and during the ride to the hospital I just wanted to scream. But even that I had to wait around the emergency room, just walking around in t-shirt and towel.. Couldn't sit.