Ear

nose

Tongue!!!! (sp?)

Correct, 85.

Leg

pancreas.

appendix

is*

"Having vision problems" is stable condition. The OP is overreacting and is very likely a drama queen in all aspects of your life. You're correct, had it been urgent none of that would have happened.

"Having vision problems" is not stable condition. If someone is "going blind" as the OP states, it is probable the problem is insufficient blood flow to the retina or a neurological issue, both of which are medical emergencies when it's acute onset. This was not an appropriate A&E. I'm not an ER doc, but if a patient presented to me as their PCP with this problem, I'd send them straight there and hope they'd be seen (no pun intended) promptly

Haha, it's an ER, plan to sit there for HOURS! That kids mom probably had enough time to slang that insurance to everyone there.

Cheez is right. If you suddenly start loosing your vision for no apparent reason it's not good. If you've not had an injury to your eye it could be something horrendously serious.

I agree. Our nurses get haggled all the time because someone with a cut finger isn't getting enough attention. I guess people don't understand that some situations may require immediate action, however the majority do not.

Exactly. It's obviously a scary situation, but you are immediately assessed to determine the level of emergency. If she wasn't worried (and sounds like the mom wasn't either) I am assuming they weren't thinking you were a level one situation. Also, nurses sometimes stall if the rooms are full of severe cases and there is going to be a long wait.

Yep! I've yet to witness an actual critical case be ignored. Then again so many people think if it is an emergency to them, then it must be to everyone else.

I love my job and you're making up random numbers based on your experience with your mother, who is either very ill or a hypochondriac. I'm guessing the latter if all of the nurses dread seeing her :p Of not, go to a different hospital!

Some ER staff just suck at life in general. I had to take my fiance to the ER for an asthma attack in the middle of the night once (this was how we found out he had asthma in the first place). He could hardly get any air and couldn't get a full breath. We sat in a waiting room with one other person for 15 minutes before we got to go back to the room where they take your temperature and ask you what's wrong. I had to do all the talking for him and by the time they got him back to a room and hooked up to oxygen and whatnot, the doctor said he was getting less than 20% of the oxygen he should be because of how closed off his throat was. I was absolutely furious. If not being able to breathe isn't a life threatening emergency, then I don't know what is. If he were to ever have that happen again, he told me to stab him so that he'd get in quicker. Some hospitals just suck.

If I've learned anything through my own and my family's disabilities, it's this: There are a lot of incompetent shitheads in healthcare, and sometimes it really pays to be aggressive. It's very important to know how to be a good patient too (and yes, you can be both aggressive and a good patient), but emergencies tend to limit that ability.

I'm sorry your mom is sick, and I'm sorry that the people that have been caring for her have all been incompetent (though loving), but it's just silly to throw out a massive percent based on personal experience. Like I said, fo somewhere else. And not to be rude, but your boyfriend could not have been alive a pulse ox reading of 20%... are you sure he wasn't missing 20% and actually at 80? that's still very serious and requires intervention most of the time.

Also I should have pointed out that I do know nurses and doctors that I wouldn't let neat my sick dog, and if anyone knows, it's the people that work with them. That's been two doctors and five nurses out of six years in healthcare, which is a very low percentage considering I work in a level one trauma center!

If you worked in the financial part of a hospital you would hate it too. I work closely with and around the ER but I never said I was a nurse.

83, a lot of the people that call an ambulance or go to an emergency room over react to their actual situation. I worked dispatch for a sheriff's department that took over 3000 911 calls a day... the things people call for are ridiculous. I sent my husband on a few of the ambulance calls and the "mom having a major bleed" is nothing that a band-aid can't repair. I've dealt with a 60 year old man with a bit of pain in his chest but his wife wanted him to come in.. He went straight back to a room and coded after we had a 5 minute conversation waiting for his room to be cleaned after a packed ER. The BS patients account for a significantly higher amount of ER traffic than actual emergencies. Ambulances are normally taxis for people that think waiting 15 minutes will kill you, and most (seasoned) nurses know enough to triage you fairly quickly and determine how urgent your situation could be.

but the nurse actually flushes the eye or whatever the dr prescribed. nurses dont do nothing....

You probably don't either. Take an English class.

I think 59 meant nurses do stuff, I think it was an intentional double negative. As in nurses don't sit around doing nothing. Most people know drs look at charts and make a diagnosis but the nurses do most of the actual patient related work.