Irritating Dental Visit

[Asiel]

I think 5-10 minutes is a reasonable wait time. I would have left, just as you did.

J was in the ER lately. 1.5 hours later, and I approached the nurses station, and said, 'Children's across the street has no waiting right now, I want to have him discharged'. Guess what? A doc was in 5 minutes later. Turns out, they couldn't treat him anyhow...nice bit of triage there, nurses! The doc did apologize, and I was gracious towards him...BUT, 1.5 hours, with a 6 year old? To find out they needed to send him elsewhere?

I hate to say this but if we had to wait only 1.5 hours in ER we would be dancing a jig. Our waiting times in ER out here is anywhere from 8-20 hrs, sometimes longer and that's every day 24/7. Most people who are too sick to wait that long just stay home and try to go to a clinic if they don't need x-rays or anything real serious. Priority isn't even an issue anymore. You can be having major chest pains but if the kid with the runny nose is ahead of you he's in before you. Our problem is that people use the ER for stupid issues like a cold, a bump on the leg or they're just plain bored and decide to go snack and watch tv in the ER with some feeble excuse of having a cold.

[pomtzu]

Priority isn't even an issue anymore. You can be having major chest pains but if the kid with the runny nose is ahead of you he's in before you.

WOW - do they get sued much????
When I went in with a badly fractured wrist several years ago, several patients complained that I was taken in ahead of them, and they had been waiting a good long time. Of course one was there for a headache, another with a kid with a snotty nose - you get the picture. Thank goodness triage works here!

[happylabs]

No you were not wrong at all. Time is money for me. If I have to wait an hour for a medical appointment, I have just lost money. I don't understand why she is so late. I'd switch. It's only teeth cleaning. If the office has the proper equipment another hygienist can clean your teeth. I think it is disrespectful to a patient to make them wait like this. I am sensitive to this because I had a physician that thinks nothing of making someone wait for him for 2 hours on a regularly scheduled appointment.

[Freedom]

Jean was 'only' 15 minutes late this morning; and me as her second appt!

On the way out, I booked my next 6 month cleaning w/ another hygenist.