Emergency department staffing varies from night to night, so you might want to keep this in mind when you decide you have to head to the ER.

Who You Might Meet in the ER

Though you might be hoping for George Clooney in the emergency room, that’s probably not going to be the case. Instead, you may meet these folks:

  • ER doctors
  • Surgeons
  • Radiologists and techs
  • Nurses
  • Medical assistants
  • Registration staff
  • X-ray technicians
  • Phlebotomists
  • Interns, medical students, etc.

Morning ER Visits

If you have a minor injury that might not be urgent-urgent and you want to have it looked at by a doctor, then heading to the emergency room in the morning will be the best time to go. Normally, the morning is when the new shift of doctors and nurses arrives and the pace tends to be more relaxed than it is during the rest of the day. You will also find that the lines aren’t as long since people can generally see their primary care doctor during the day if they have an issue to address.

Afternoon and Evening Staffing

When the afternoon shift comes on around mid-afternoon to dinnertime, this is when the staffing can begin to diminish, as lower seniority medical employees are the ones who will be ’stuck’ in these roles. That said, some of the best physicians and nurses will work during the week on these shifts to avoid weekend shifts, so that’s something to keep in mind when you are thinking about the best time to head to the ER.

Weekends and Holidays

Let’s face it – no one wants to work weekends and holidays, and neither do medical professionals. These are the times when the ER is at its busiest and it’s often when lower level medical staff is on call or they’re scheduled to work the worst shifts. This doesn’t mean the medical team isn’t competent, but they might not be as experienced as the staff during the week. The weekends are also when the ER can be understaffed, causing delays in treatment and missed diagnoses. It’s also been said that going to the ER or any part of the hospital during the summer is a bad idea – and the research supports this. The staff in the hospital during these months tends to be new – the new batch of interns arrives in July. And while mistakes can happen at any time, they seem to be more prevalent during these times.

How the ER Works

Emergency department staffing is a complicated issue, even if it doesn’t look like it on TV. Here’s the general cycle of what you’ll do and who you’ll meet along the way:

  • Meet with registration clerk for insurance information, basic information.
  • Meet with triage nurse.
  • Sit back in the waiting room.
  • Get called back by an intern or nurse.
  • Have vitals taken.
  • Wait a long time.
  • A doctor or tech comes to gather more information.
  • More tests.
  • Treatment – prescription, procedure, or admission to hospital.

The great thing about emergency room medicine is that most ER physicians are members of ACEP.