Organized Chaos

At Triage...
EMS#1: "My patient inhaled cockroach spray. You have to triage me first."
EMS#2: "I was here first. My patient was found sleeping in the subway station and the police couldn't wake him up."
Patient: "Nurse, you can't keep me against my will. I know my rights. I'll call my lawyers."
Clerk: "Triage nurse, you have a call from the clinic on line three."
Tech: "Did you order these bloods? I need your signature."
Family: "Miss, did you see my father? He's the one with the rash."
Police: "When will the doctor see this perp? She's got to sew him up before I can take him back to Central Booking."
Visitor: "How do I get to the clinic?"
Clerk: :The head nurse is in a meeting. Can you answer this call?"
EMS#3: Nurse, your patient is getting out of his restraints."
Triage nurse (martyr and victim): "Help!"
(Published Journal of Emergency Nursing, Volume 24, No 4)





Complaints
The physicians meet and complain about the nurses.
The PAs meet and carry on about the nurses.
The administrators meet and want to cut the nurses.
The nurses meet and complain about each other.
Just going with the flow.
(Published Journal of Emergency Nursing Volume 24, No.4)





Cacophony
The phones ring incessantly. The patients groan, moan, wheeze, and curse. The stretchers squeak by. The doctors yell orders and the nurses yell back. The intercoms blare. The monitors beep. The sirens wail. The ventilators hum. The inmates's handcuffs clang against the side rails. The families complain. The escort aides giggle. The babies cry.
And I try to listen to my patient's lungs.
(Published Journal of Emergency Nursing, December 1999)