CALLER has diarrhea and I am trying to determine the amount of blood present:
ME: How much blood is in your stool?
CALLER: “A lot”
ME: is it ALL blood?
CALLER: I don’t know
ME: partly blood?
CALLER: I don’t know.
ME: streaks of blood?
CALLER: I don’t know.
ME: More than a Tablespoon?
CALLER: I don’t know.
ME: Less than a Tablespoon?
CALLER: I don’t know.
ME: Did you see clots?
CALLER: There was one clot.
ME: How big was it?
CALLER: I don’t know
ME: Larger than a plum?
CALLER : I don’t know….
(At that point I threw in the towel………..and had to send him in….)
Oy, taking pt calls is the worst part of the job. There is no way I could be an ER triage tele nurse.
primarily because I hate talking on the phone, and I hate stupid people.
Big kudos to you!
not so bad. If they vomit….it doesn’t go on me. No odors…no bad stuff, plus I can hang up if they get obnoxious!