Ask an ER Nurse!

In the emergency room we frequently get “nurse calls” which are local residents calling the ER with a medical question they would like an answer to. The ER secretary will either send the question to the charge nurse, the triage nurse, or will overhead page “Nurse call on line 431”.  What are these folks calling to ask about? You name it, all kinds of things. 

Many calls involve a prior visit to the ER and the patient now has questions or worsening symptoms. The nurse taking the call can usually answer a general question or may have to go into the computer to look up the record to see what the ER physician had in mind for treatment. If the patient is not improving or wants a different medication, they mistakenly think we can fix that for them over the phone. When we tell them they would have to come in for a new visit, they must think we are just out for more business. There is no way that we can change prescriptions over the phone or even verify who is calling. Often times, the doctor who treated the patient is not on duty. If the patient comes in to the ER with a legitimate problem, like a reaction to an antibiotic, I have seen a physician write a new prescription without making the individual sign back in. 

Some calls to the ER are to give a list of symptoms and get the opinion of the nurse as to whether an ER visit is necessary. I try to stop myself from saying, “hold the arm with the rash up to the phone and I’ll let you know”! Seriously, we try to listen for warning signs like swollen tongues, trouble breathing, lips that are turning blue, or someone who isn’t responding appropriately. We will advise the caller to dial 911 if we think it sound serious enough and we don’t want the patient driven here. I actually had a lady call and tell me that her mother was slumped over in the chair, non-responsive and drooling and wondered what to do. I calmly told her to hang up and dial 911. I hope she did.

I have 20 years of nursing experience and I thought it would be interesting to see if I could get blog traffic to pose questions for me to answer and share. Questions regarding medications, aggravating symptoms, what type of doctor to go to, why we do what we do in the ER, that kind of thing. Please post a comment to this blog with a question and I will answer it within a day! 

Let me state the necessary disclaimer that I am giving nursing advice, not medical opinion, and I am in no way bound or responsible for what the individual posing the question does with that information. If you post to my blog, you are consenting to this disclaimer. Thank you very much!!!