Nursing Lecture

I went to one of my sister's nursing lectures today at SJSU. It was a little bit weird being on campus again since it has been quite a while.

The lecture was on geriatrics and was pretty decent; it mainly consisted of stats, some depressing thoughts, and dissing the Emergency Department, which I did not enjoy very much. It brought up the word GOMER, which I have never heard spoken or used in my entire life. GOMER was explained to mean "Get Out Of My ER" and that ER personnel always wanted to get rid of the elderly because they are infirm and are a burden. Supposedly a doctor came up with that phrase about what she witnessed going on in her ER.

First off I take offense to the thought that ER personnel are not caring of elderly and want them out of the ER just because they are incontinence and "boring" to care for. I love my geriatric patients and always try to chat them up when we are not swamped, but the reality is the only Level II Trauma Center that serves the whole Central Coast of California is not going to have a lot of downtime. Also, the doctor who criticizes ER staff of GOMER can't possibly say this is targeting geriatric patients; it's the freakin ED! We have that general mentality towards ALL patients! Be you young, old, psych, lacerated, broken bone, head trauma, stroke, AMI, STEMI, or even a hottie (which doesn't happen very often) I want you out of the ED ASAP, so yes GET OUT OF MY ER- GOMER!

The fact is the ED is not much different from EMS and prehospital care: we stabilize, package, and ship. The faster we do it, the better- of course without sacrificing quality care. We are not the med/surg, onco/hema, peds, OB/Gyn, SICU, MICU etc. floor where longer term care is provided. I have not seen anyone stay in the ED longer than 8 hours unless they were an undomiciled patient sheltering from the environment and we happen to have room. GOMER is a true statement, but not targeted towards any population. The reason the ED needs to be kept clear is because as nice as it would be to have people stay and chat, those precious rooms are needed just in case two buses collide or a plane decides to fall out of the sky. An empty ED is a good thing.

So the next time you hear the word GOMER, please don't think we are being rude or targeting a specific population. That doctor who invented the word should know better or get a clue by working in the ED. It is a fast paced environment which has a tendency to present itself as more callous than your "slower" floors.

Regards,

Your friendly (former) ER tech.