You know those moments in an ER, when you are waiting for your name to be called, waiting for a doctor, waiting to be taken to radiology, waiting for blood results or treatment or an update or a nurse to start an IV.
Sometimes it feels like you are always waiting.
Sometimes you start to wonder if you've been forgotten. And then you wonder if your sense of time is just skewed ... or if there is a much bigger emergency... so you wait longer hoping you haven't been forgotten.
If you're anything like me, then you try to be as little of an inconvenience as you can control, while also making sure you receive the treatment you need. (Another delicate medical balance that takes practice).
But every once in a while, when you feel like you have been forgotten, you actually have been forgotten. Always on accident of course, but sometimes patients are forgotten due to extenuating circumstances.
Some of the moments I remember include:
- sitting in a room after being called from the main waiting room in an emergency room setting. They told me the nurse would be in to see me right away. This time, when they meant right away they meant immediately. I got the gown on and sat on the bed. About 10 minutes go by when I hear the triage nurse come to the back and ask how things were going. Then I heard her say "Oh God you didn't forget about that patient did you? They put her in a different spot and it's tough to see because she looks totally healthy."
I knew right then and there that they were talking about me. I kind of snickered as the nurse stepped into my room about 5 seconds later.
- again sitting in a 'private' room in the emergency department. Private as in closed off by curtains. Just waiting for results, which always take a long time. Then at the desk I hear "Who's in bed 2?" Yep. Me again. They had to come in asking what I was waiting for and the nurse had forgotten to give me my results...
I mean these things happen all the time. A nurse offers to get you a blanket and forgets because a trauma patient comes in. A porter drops you off at radiology but forgets to tell the radiologist who you are and puts the chart in the incorrect basket. A doctor forgets to sign the discharge papers or sign the bottom of a prescription slip.
In the medical system it is almost a guarantee that you and your situation will be forgotten at some point. It is rarely done on purpose or with malice, and even though it feels personal, it hardly ever is. Nurses and doctors and porters and phlebotomists are all juggling more patients than you can fathom. There are times you need to relax and wait, and times when they may need a simple reminder. Like if you just ask a nurse in passing if you can use the washroom - it brings their attention to who you are without seeming demanding. Or step outside your room to 'stretch'. Open the curtains. There are ways you can remind them of your presence without being dramatic.
If it is an emergency, of course those instances require extra effort, but if you think you have truly been forgotten (no emergencies, it doesn't seem too busy or frantic, no technical issues or other scary scenarios, no huge lineups), then figure out a way to check on the status of your care.
It happens. :)