ER Waiting Rooms

[BabyBeauty]

<br>We had to go to the ER last night for a chest xray. Our daughter is almost 4 years old and our peds asked for us to get a chest xray so she could rule out pneumonia. We have limited experience with ER's with our daughter and were shocked by what we found. Our dr called ahead and told the ER we were coming in and to put us immediately back bc our daughter has CF. We went and told the receptionist/nurse we were there and we had called ahead. In the meantime my husband waited outside with our daughter so we didn't go into the waiting room. The waiting room was crowded with a lot of children coughing and walking around. I waited at the window while she checked on room availability. Then another woman came to the window and told me it was going to be awhile. And that just because we call ahead doesn't mean we get to skip ahead. I told her my daughter has CF and infection control guidelines state they do not want CF patients left to wait in the waiting room as they could catch additional bugs. She said she couldn't do anything. I told her I was not going to bring my daughter in until we got a room to back into. She said unless she was in distress she wasn't going to do anything. I had to argue with her in front of the whole waiting room! FINALLY another woman came up and said we could wait in "consult room." We went into the room to see dirty linens on the bed! We waited for a while and then decided to leave. They stopped me and finally got a nurse to take care of us. Then a dr came in immediately to triage our daughter. From there our short stay was much better. She had no pneumonia and we got to go home last night....YAY! Anyways, my shock is that shouldn't all hospitals have infection control guidelines for immune compromised patients? I mean we didn't want to go to the ER, but our dr needed the chest xray after hours. This will be our life due to CF. Here is my question: Shouldn't hospitals make it safe for our children to get the care they need? Isn't that their job?

 

[BabyBeauty]

<br>We had to go to the ER last night for a chest xray. Our daughter is almost 4 years old and our peds asked for us to get a chest xray so she could rule out pneumonia. We have limited experience with ER's with our daughter and were shocked by what we found. Our dr called ahead and told the ER we were coming in and to put us immediately back bc our daughter has CF. We went and told the receptionist/nurse we were there and we had called ahead. In the meantime my husband waited outside with our daughter so we didn't go into the waiting room. The waiting room was crowded with a lot of children coughing and walking around. I waited at the window while she checked on room availability. Then another woman came to the window and told me it was going to be awhile. And that just because we call ahead doesn't mean we get to skip ahead. I told her my daughter has CF and infection control guidelines state they do not want CF patients left to wait in the waiting room as they could catch additional bugs. She said she couldn't do anything. I told her I was not going to bring my daughter in until we got a room to back into. She said unless she was in distress she wasn't going to do anything. I had to argue with her in front of the whole waiting room! FINALLY another woman came up and said we could wait in "consult room." We went into the room to see dirty linens on the bed! We waited for a while and then decided to leave. They stopped me and finally got a nurse to take care of us. Then a dr came in immediately to triage our daughter. From there our short stay was much better. She had no pneumonia and we got to go home last night....YAY! Anyways, my shock is that shouldn't all hospitals have infection control guidelines for immune compromised patients? I mean we didn't want to go to the ER, but our dr needed the chest xray after hours. This will be our life due to CF. Here is my question: Shouldn't hospitals make it safe for our children to get the care they need? Isn't that their job?

 

[BabyBeauty]

<br>We had to go to the ER last night for a chest xray. Our daughter is almost 4 years old and our peds asked for us to get a chest xray so she could rule out pneumonia. We have limited experience with ER's with our daughter and were shocked by what we found. Our dr called ahead and told the ER we were coming in and to put us immediately back bc our daughter has CF. We went and told the receptionist/nurse we were there and we had called ahead. In the meantime my husband waited outside with our daughter so we didn't go into the waiting room. The waiting room was crowded with a lot of children coughing and walking around. I waited at the window while she checked on room availability. Then another woman came to the window and told me it was going to be awhile. And that just because we call ahead doesn't mean we get to skip ahead. I told her my daughter has CF and infection control guidelines state they do not want CF patients left to wait in the waiting room as they could catch additional bugs. She said she couldn't do anything. I told her I was not going to bring my daughter in until we got a room to back into. She said unless she was in distress she wasn't going to do anything. I had to argue with her in front of the whole waiting room! FINALLY another woman came up and said we could wait in "consult room." We went into the room to see dirty linens on the bed! We waited for a while and then decided to leave. They stopped me and finally got a nurse to take care of us. Then a dr came in immediately to triage our daughter. From there our short stay was much better. She had no pneumonia and we got to go home last night....YAY! Anyways, my shock is that shouldn't all hospitals have infection control guidelines for immune compromised patients? I mean we didn't want to go to the ER, but our dr needed the chest xray after hours. This will be our life due to CF. Here is my question: Shouldn't hospitals make it safe for our children to get the care they need? Isn't that their job?

 

[Printer]

WOW! I don't mean to sound harsh but two things. First the majority of people (including Doctors) who work in ERs dont have a clue about CF. Some may have heard the words but your lucky if you get that much. Second, untill we have some sort of universal health care in effect, ERs are being used as primary care offices. If this changes more people will get preventative care and not need to wait for emergency care.

Bill

 

[Printer]

WOW! I don't mean to sound harsh but two things. First the majority of people (including Doctors) who work in ERs dont have a clue about CF. Some may have heard the words but your lucky if you get that much. Second, untill we have some sort of universal health care in effect, ERs are being used as primary care offices. If this changes more people will get preventative care and not need to wait for emergency care.

Bill

 

[Printer]

WOW! I don't mean to sound harsh but two things. First the majority of people (including Doctors) who work in ERs dont have a clue about CF. Some may have heard the words but your lucky if you get that much. Second, untill we have some sort of universal health care in effect, ERs are being used as primary care offices. If this changes more people will get preventative care and not need to wait for emergency care.

Bill

 

[carmick]

Yeah, that's just the way it is. The call ahead doesn't mean much except that instead of the ED docs deciding what to do with you (x-rays, admit, etc), the decision has been made and generally they'll follow it. Wait in the waiting room because if you aren't there they will skip over you and you will go to the back of the line. They should have masks available if you feel that uncomfortable.

 

[carmick]

Yeah, that's just the way it is. The call ahead doesn't mean much except that instead of the ED docs deciding what to do with you (x-rays, admit, etc), the decision has been made and generally they'll follow it. Wait in the waiting room because if you aren't there they will skip over you and you will go to the back of the line. They should have masks available if you feel that uncomfortable.

 

[carmick]

Yeah, that's just the way it is. The call ahead doesn't mean much except that instead of the ED docs deciding what to do with you (x-rays, admit, etc), the decision has been made and generally they'll follow it. Wait in the waiting room because if you aren't there they will skip over you and you will go to the back of the line. They should have masks available if you feel that uncomfortable.

 

[JustDucky]

Yes, ER's are like that unfortunately. I try to avoid them whenever possible, but the times I have gone in are usually handled well. There have been times when it is crazy busy with many ambulances coming in where I have had to wait, but that usually isn't the case. They should at least offer a mask for her. It is also true that most ER staff has limited knowledge about CF, sometimes you get lucky, but most times you find yourself explaining what CF is. The meds are also unfamiliar to them, so make sure you have a list of them handy at all times along with the doses.
I'm sorry you had to go through this, it is very frustrating. Glad her stay was short though <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Jenn 39 w/CF

 

[JustDucky]

Yes, ER's are like that unfortunately. I try to avoid them whenever possible, but the times I have gone in are usually handled well. There have been times when it is crazy busy with many ambulances coming in where I have had to wait, but that usually isn't the case. They should at least offer a mask for her. It is also true that most ER staff has limited knowledge about CF, sometimes you get lucky, but most times you find yourself explaining what CF is. The meds are also unfamiliar to them, so make sure you have a list of them handy at all times along with the doses.
I'm sorry you had to go through this, it is very frustrating. Glad her stay was short though <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Jenn 39 w/CF

 

[JustDucky]

Yes, ER's are like that unfortunately. I try to avoid them whenever possible, but the times I have gone in are usually handled well. There have been times when it is crazy busy with many ambulances coming in where I have had to wait, but that usually isn't the case. They should at least offer a mask for her. It is also true that most ER staff has limited knowledge about CF, sometimes you get lucky, but most times you find yourself explaining what CF is. The meds are also unfamiliar to them, so make sure you have a list of them handy at all times along with the doses.
I'm sorry you had to go through this, it is very frustrating. Glad her stay was short though <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Jenn 39 w/CF

 

[BabyBeauty]

<br>Should we just be complacent and deal with it or should we do something to change it? <strong><u>I say change it.</u></strong> When we lived in AZ, Phoenix Childrens IMMEDIATELY put us in a triage room. The ER was packed and they still put us through. That is how it should be everywhere!! This is notjust for CF patients, itshould belike that for anyimmune compromised patient.

 

[BabyBeauty]

<br>Should we just be complacent and deal with it or should we do something to change it? <strong><u>I say change it.</u></strong> When we lived in AZ, Phoenix Childrens IMMEDIATELY put us in a triage room. The ER was packed and they still put us through. That is how it should be everywhere!! This is notjust for CF patients, itshould belike that for anyimmune compromised patient.

 

[BabyBeauty]

<br>Should we just be complacent and deal with it or should we do something to change it? <strong><u>I say change it.</u></strong> When we lived in AZ, Phoenix Childrens IMMEDIATELY put us in a triage room. The ER was packed and they still put us through. That is how it should be everywhere!! This is notjust for CF patients, itshould belike that for anyimmune compromised patient.

 

[just1more]

On this one I would never tolerate an ER that left a CF'r in the general waiting room for any extended period of time during flu season.

A few minutes yes, beyond that they need to find a safe place for your child to hang out. Do you have another ER option in the area? Even a non-Children's ER should be able to handle most things.

To those faulting ER staff: triage nurses are RN's and SHOULD know enough about CF to do their job. As for the docs, even if they don't see CF everyday they know what it is. And more importantly, if you point out that contact isolation precautions are standard for CF they will write the order in a second 99/100 times.

 

[just1more]

On this one I would never tolerate an ER that left a CF'r in the general waiting room for any extended period of time during flu season.

A few minutes yes, beyond that they need to find a safe place for your child to hang out. Do you have another ER option in the area? Even a non-Children's ER should be able to handle most things.

To those faulting ER staff: triage nurses are RN's and SHOULD know enough about CF to do their job. As for the docs, even if they don't see CF everyday they know what it is. And more importantly, if you point out that contact isolation precautions are standard for CF they will write the order in a second 99/100 times.

 

[just1more]

On this one I would never tolerate an ER that left a CF'r in the general waiting room for any extended period of time during flu season.

A few minutes yes, beyond that they need to find a safe place for your child to hang out. Do you have another ER option in the area? Even a non-Children's ER should be able to handle most things.

To those faulting ER staff: triage nurses are RN's and SHOULD know enough about CF to do their job. As for the docs, even if they don't see CF everyday they know what it is. And more importantly, if you point out that contact isolation precautions are standard for CF they will write the order in a second 99/100 times.

 

[Mommafirst]

Our ER can't always get us right in to a patient exam room, but they ALWAYS have a seperate triage room where we can stay so we don't have to sit in the waiting room. It sounds like you did everything right and they messed up. Keep advocating like this, it may have to be every time, but don't give up, your daughter's health is too important.

 

[Mommafirst]

Our ER can't always get us right in to a patient exam room, but they ALWAYS have a seperate triage room where we can stay so we don't have to sit in the waiting room. It sounds like you did everything right and they messed up. Keep advocating like this, it may have to be every time, but don't give up, your daughter's health is too important.