“I Need Nurses In Here, NOW!”

The patient came in to the ER talking…barely. Their speech was garbled. Her entire mouth was filled up by her tongue. “My throat is swollen…Seafood” are the only words that I could make out. My own throat started to swell. By myself I was helpless. The patient was dying. I ran to the doorway. “I need nurses in here, NOW!”

Every year I personally see about 4000 patients in the emergency department. Only a handful of them make me truly nervous. This patient was one.

The Backbone of Health Care

Nurses are the backbone of health care. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing states there are 3.8 million nurses in the USA. That is a little over 1% of the population of the country. There are 1 million doctors in the USA by comparison.

I have found that the majority of nurses are competent, compassionate, and caring. It is a noble and heroic profession, one that deserves ultimate praise.

Doctors on TV- Reality Check

I’ve found that the doctors that people see glamorized TV are mostly doing things that the nurses would do. In general doctors don’t put in IVs, doctors don’t put in catheters, doctors don’t even perform CPR the majority of the time. We just watch and direct.

In a effort to look more like McDreamy then Doogie Howser I grew out my beard a few weeks ago. Unfortunately the itching got to me. I shaved my beard and went back to being fameless.

Not all that we do is glamorous. Actually very little of it is. The unfortunate majority of my time at work is spent in front of a computer. I read patient’s charts to try and understand their condition. I type and dictate. Orders for medications and x-rays need to be put in the computer. This is the unfortunate reality of modern medicine where the majority of patient care performed by physicians is done away from the bedside.

People ask what type of patients I see on a daily basis. I see patients with chest pain, abdominal pain, fevers, shortness of breath, falls. I do rectal disimpactions frequently. The smells of my job can literally be breathtaking. Only a very small minority of cases are the blood and guts trauma you see on TV. There are definitely shifts filled with that, but it is not the norm. For the most part I have a computer job like the rest of you.

Nurses spend a much higher quantity of time actually at the bedside, although their jobs are becoming overly computerized as well.

Anaphylaxis

While the nurses ran to the room I gathered my supplies. A scalpel, a Bougie, an ET tube, Betadine. A cricothyrotomy is a procedure I had only performed a handful of times…on pigs. It is something you prepare for but rarely have to perform. For most ER docs the surgical “cric” will be their first and the last they have to perform during their career. I was praying for the patient that tonight wouldn’t be my first…and last.

Nurses came running to the room. Seemingly within seconds one started an IV, the other started oxygen. The charge nurse ran into the room, Epinephrine in hand. They looked at me, I nodded. Seconds later the patient could breathe. Their tongue, which once consumed their whole mouth, was back to normal size.

Grateful again for modern medicine, helping hands, and quick action, a communal sigh of relief filled the room.

“I thought I was going to die”, the patient told me. “I did too”, I responded, “but the nurses saved your life.”

About the Author

I’m a husband, dad, golfer, and doctor navigating his way through life. At times I think I’m a great golfer. Sometimes I don’t. My handicap is 2.2, but trending on the rise. I‘ve tried to make millions with GolferMD.com but spent thousands instead.