Letter to ER nurses

Dear ER Nurse,

Your job is hard. I hear about it all the time.  I read the blogs; I see the news reports on pts being admitted to coffee shop’s because there is no space anywhere.  If you expect me to take pts as quick as possible, then you need to respect my job as much as I respect you and your role in health care. And I do have utmost respect for ER nurses. You guys rock, and often make the difference between dying and dead. You save lives. You fix people and then send them off to the wards. But let’s get one thing straight. These people are not fixed, they are broken. You have only placed a band aid on a haemorrhage. 
I do not appreciate being told that a pt has no isolation requirements only to find that they have MRSA. When I call down to ask to hold the pt while I make a private (note-not saying the pt can’t come up, just saying I need to make a private), saying “that’s your problem, not mine” and then hanging up is not going to work in your favour. It is also going to make me LESS likely to accept pts from you.
If your patient has a hip fracture, do the ward a favour and put a catheter in. It is VERY hard to try to it quietly at 0300 in a ward room.  
Stable in the ER does not translate to stable in the ward. You have everything you need at your fingertips.  Often in the ward, we have...nothing. The doctor is over the phone, grumpy and possibly not answering my pages.  A nurse with two years experience might be the most experienced nurse on the ward. We have no care aide, no unit clerk, possibly one lab tech for 4-5 floors.
Be honest. If the pt is a train wreck, give me a heads up.  It’s not your fault.  If the pt’s family needs more care than the pt, tell me. I will be glad you did.  If the “slightly confused” 90 year old will bite me/punch me/donkey kick me, TELL ME. I need to know these things. It will not change how fast I take the pt from ER, I promise.
It all comes down to that rule we learned in kindergarten “treat others how you want to be treated”
I'm sorry you've had to deal with shitty ward nurses in the past, but let's not take it out on every ward nurse you meet, okay?

Sincerely,
A ward nurse