Here is a copy of a nurses triage note from the other night.
"Patient presents to triage complaining of tooth pain. He has obvious tooth decay and was already seen at an outside facility last night for the same complaint. He has prescriptions in his hand from that visit which he has not filled. He is asking for utensils to eat his 3 large pieces of cake that he has with him, a place to do his laundry, and also requesting to be allowed to sleep and shower in an inpatient bed. Explained to the patient that the hospital cannot provide laundry or residential facilities and offered the patient information about local area shelters. Patient declined and responded by shoving a piece of cake in his mouth and wiping hands on his soiled shirt. Nurse X"
Needless to say...I don't think we got good patient satisfaction scores on this one. If we only had a shelter and plastic forks in the emergency department...
-ER Doc
7 comments:
Guess he wanted his cake and eat it, too?
That is so random. Where the heck did that cake came from.
what flavor was the cake? maybe if he had a napkin he wouldn't wipe his hands on his shirt.
hello. wow! what an experience. Do you work with your local continuum of care body for persons seeking shelter? Just wondering because as a provider of services such as shelter for homeless persons, I have had no luck in establishing relationships with our local hospitals and I am doubtful that the cake guy (minus the cake perhaps) is a rarity. If the continuum of care knew more about the needs of persons coming to your facility, they are likely better able to develop plans to meet the needs.
Havent heard of continuum of care body. We have a social worker in the ER that helps place them in shelters.
Well, you could have had the dental residents pull all his teeth and fit him for dentures. Then he's got no excuse for pain!
At least he was honest about what he was there for.
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