I wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard, "You have my records" (sorry, I don't, and I'm not interested enough to go look for it), "I take that little blue pill for my high blood pressure, don't you know what it is?" (nope, it's one of thousands) "My doctor knows what I take"(yes, but your doctor pawned you off on the ER, now, didn't he?). I bet the average ER nurse spends at least 1/3 of a shift doing what patient's should be responsible for. I feel bad for the pharmacists who have to take calls from us to verify a patient's meds because they were too lazy to write them down. Come on, people, it takes 30 seconds. And if you don't know what you are taking and what it's for, you probably shouldn't be taking it.
Don't get me started on the drug seekers. Tonight we had an impressive attendance of the "Better Living Through Chemistry" Club. Everyone got a shot of Toradol. I admonished the doc that we only had a limited supply even though IT IS A MIRACLE CURE. The woman who came in cradling her shoulder with 10/10 pain had no trouble lifting it to give an obscene gesture on the way out. And that guy with the hip pain who limped in had such a spring in his step as he slammed out that door (probably on the way to the other hospitalin town. Guess they didn't get the memo that Dr. Nonarcs was on duty.
