2 Answers

Patients are prioritized by triage nurse on entering the department..Patients are taken to Majors/Minors and the waiting room depending on the severity of their conditions.Patients often don`t see the patients being treated in Majors or Resus...on a busy night we can be treating serious emergencies in vast numbers..(One shift I covered we has 4 cardiac arrest patients in the dept in one hour..plus other majors..plus their relatives to look after)...Some 12/18 hr shifts the Dr`s and Nurses can`t take a break and reception staff make coffee/tea for us to have on the go and go on sandwich runs to keep us going!...Patients are all seen and treated at the first opportunity..We get just as frustrated as the patients waiting and we are often dealing with aggressive /abusive minor patients who have longstanding problems..sore toes/tennis elbow and other conditions which require a visit to their G,P.(often weeks/months ago)...We do our best!

pythonlover

Spot on Millie!

When you presented at the ER you would have been assesed with a Triage nurse .There is a  process of determining the priority of patients treatments based on the severity of their condition.There may be sicker people than you, just be patient and wait your turn.