Sometimes...

Sometimes, you just have to wonder where people go to become nurses.  A patient today had an "episode" while in the gym.  The group comes back to the unit and the orderly comes yelling in the nursing office that so'n so is not doing well.  I let the other nurse go and look as it is her patient.  All of a sudden, they are yelling and screaming that we need 911 and this patient needs to go out to the acute care hospital.  We are a psych hospital so we are not very good at this whole chest pain thing.  I go in with the blood pressure cuff and I look at him and there is no way that this is a heart attack.  But "better to be safe".  The three other nurses are running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  I decided that I would wait at the door and let the paramedics in.  All of our patients need police escort if they leave the unit, but the paramedics don't need the cops there to come in.  I get to the door and the ambulance is sitting there.  I go see what the hold-up is and they are refusing to come in until the cops arrive. 

By then, I'm in a wonderful mood.  This is just not on.  I go get the doctor who comes out and tears a strip off of them, but by then the cops are there so the show continues.  I walk them down to the patient's room and there are 3 nurses and 20 patients all standing in the hall.  So I clear out the riftraff and send everyone that doesn't need to be there, away. 

Patient returns a couple of hours later with a Diagnosis of "anxiety attack".  Now the thing that is annoying me the most is that this whole hoopla could have been avoided if someone just took a good look at this patient and stopped to think.  He was sweaty, but he had been in the gym.  He was complaining of chest pain, but his BP and HR were ok.  He has court in a couple of days and has been stating that he is anxious for the last couple of days.  Pt  can talk, Pt can drink fluids, and Pt even took a pill.  Complexion OK- not blue, pale or red, no shortness of breath.

The problem is that these nurses have been away from acute care too long.  Everything is a big freaking deal and it sets off a panic attack in the nurses.  And gives me a headache.