So darn slow

I think someone needs to explain the term Emergency to some of our doctors. In my job, we see just enough patients that we should be busy most of the time but no one should really be waiting in the waiting room. The majority of the patients are non-acute and really could be in and out pretty quick. Even the acute patients are not that difficult and are usually consulted on pretty quick so the ED docs can move on. We don't have many med students or residents so we don't have to wait for that entire process to play out either.

Bottomline: Patients should not feel like they have to leave without being seen by a doctor after sitting in a room in the ED for 4 hours. That is not 4 hours in the waiting room, that is 4 hours inside the ED because there are plenty of rooms for the patients to go to - we are rarely full for very long.