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Registered Nurse

Have you ever gone to the Emergency Department, been waiting in the waiting room, and realized that a patient who checked in after you was seen before you? This event is very common as in the ED, patients are not seen first-come-first-serve. Rather we see patients based on what we call "acuity levels." Triaging and acuity levels can be complicated, but what you need to know is that the higher your acuity level, the faster you will be seen. An acuity level of one, for example, is the most urgent, and a level of five is the least urgent. So if you come to the ED and are assigned an acuity level of four, all the patients there with an acuity level of two, for example, are probably going to be seen before you. Although this process might be frustrating, it is important to remember that the main goal of the ED is to save lives. We are always going to take care of the patients who are dying before we take care of those who are not. If you are skipping the line, that's not a good sign! I sympathize with every patient who has to wait an extended period to be treated. However, it may be a blessing in disguise if it means you are stable enough to wait until the more critical patients are seen before you. Please be patient with your ED staff as we seek to give the best care to all our patients, and save lives! Read more in the article below: https://lnkd.in/dRqpGuEb

In Case of an Emergency: ER Wait Times Explained and More | Jefferson Health

In Case of an Emergency: ER Wait Times Explained and More | Jefferson Health

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