Chief Complaint: Won't Listen
On friday, I had an 11 year old patient whose chart said the above. When I saw him, the child was inside one of the few rooms that actually has a door inside the ER, most are just curtained off. The door was closed with his mother standing outside holding the doorknob so that the child could not pull it open. This door had a window in it so that while the child was standing inside, pulling at the doorknob, he was watching his mother shut him in, and screeching. All of the attending doctors and PAs alike were staring at the mother and she thought we were staring at her kid, give him our disapproving glances. She motioned through the window for him to sit down and mouthed the words "Shut up." We continued to glare, she opened the door a crack and screamed at him "if you don't sit down and shut up this minute I'll get them to pump you full of needles! Then I'll leave you here like last time, do you want that?" The screeching worsened and tried to form words I couldn't comprehend.
In the end, the kid calmed down when the mother checked herself in to the ER for a "headache." Then we sent him to a different hospital that had a pediatric psych ward. Such a frustrating day.
In the end, the kid calmed down when the mother checked herself in to the ER for a "headache." Then we sent him to a different hospital that had a pediatric psych ward. Such a frustrating day.