I'm wondering if anybody else has noticed the horrible trend of the ER staff completely disrespecting all most of the people that come in writing all of them off as drug and alcohol addicted persons before they do their mandated duty of making sure i

First, we're not disrespecting anyone. In a world where we see a large percentage of people who are in the ED due to substance use and abuse and the fact that people lie to us all day long, we are also mindful that we have lives and licenses to protect. Overdoses happen. Drug abuse happens, and providers have to be mindful about what they are prescribing because if that patient goes home and overdoses on it, they're liable.

On House, MD, he famously says, "everybody lies", which is completely accurate. If I had a dollar for every patient that said they had sickle cell anemia and were in crisis and they didn't even have the disease, I'd be pretty rich. Thankfully, doctors are ordering differentials on patients who claim sickle cell pain, pulling PMPs on people coming in for toothaches, etc to see how many ERs they've been to and what pain medication they've been prescribed. Had one just last night.
3 ER visits and 3 narcotics prescriptions in less than 48 hours!

Many factors and not enough space to answer. Nurses are just as liable as MD's for dereliction of duty. Just not enough litigation. Yet!

If you truly believe a patient has been labeled as an addict but their health seems to be in jeopardy, seek insight by requesting to take care of them. Most have likely been a frequent flyer to the ER seeking narcotics. You'll QUICKLY learn a lot about addicts' behaviors by trying to help them.

I'm an RN with a masters who happens to have a daughter who is a heroin addict. It was sadly "normal" for me to find bags of heroin and needles scattered all over our home. Although I took her to rehab centers and had her hospitalized several times, (she just suffered a heart attack at age 33 because of her addiction). I had kicked her out when she turned 21 and she never came back home because she knew if I found drugs, they'd get flushed down the toilet!!!

While I feared for my addicted daughter's life, I was also fearful as a single parent to three other kids, that I'd lose my job as a school nurse if the staff knew there were illicit drugs in our home.

My daughter, like most addicts, knew every trick in the book on how to get drugs from an ER! When they were NOT prescribed for her she'd flee and show up at a different ER.

I can' t tell you how many times I sat in an ER sobbing because she had again fled the hospital with a temp of 103!!!! I could probably write a book of all the heartbreak and pain her addiction has affected those who love her. ....but the worse for me was watching her throw her life away to drugs!

Big hint to you...never trust the words of ANY addict!! Check their extremities for needle marks.......smell their breath for alcohol. It doesn't take rocket science to recognize a drug or alcohol addict by their needle marks , slurring words or reeking of alcohol!!

I also don't believe it's disrespect you're seeing in your fellow staff ...it's more likely frustration because too many addicts truly don't want our medical help, nor want to help themselves. THAT fact may take time and experience for you to truly, clinically understand.

Unfortunately this happens quite a bit. I used to be an RN at a local hospital in the ER and saw this quite a bit. Its actually part of the reason I got out of the field. As someone new in nursing you work your butt off while other nurses cherry pick the patients in the waiting room and we wonder why the waiting rooms get backed up. Sometimes but not alway your ED doctors can be slow. I found it very frustrating for multiple reasons. Yes I took a pay cut to get out of nursing but it was the best decision for me and my family. Money doesn't buy happiness.

Yes thats what I see also.