Florida nurse calls ER ‘a cesspool of funky flu’ in viral video rant

Katherine Smith Lockler posted her frustrated flu-rant to Facebook after coming off a 12-hour shift at the hospital. (Facebook)

A frustrated nurse coming off a long shift in the emergency room shared a bit of unsolicited advice in a Facebook video over the weekend, warning people not to come to the “cesspool of funky flu at the ER” unless they really have to.

Katherine Smith Lockler, of Milton, Florida, decided to air her frustration Saturday after finishing a 12-hour shift at the hospital, the Miami Herald reported. In the video, titled “After Work Thoughts,” she highlights the heightened risk of catching the flu this season and shares some sassy-toned tips to avoid getting yourself, and other people, sick.

To start, she chastised those who bring extra people to the hospital saying it’s “a cesspool of funky flu at the ER right now.” Don’t bring your kid’s sports team, don’t bring your "healthy children" and definitely don’t bring your newborn babies, Lockler said.

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And also, maybe don’t come if you’re not really experiencing "a true emergency," she added. You could be putting yourself at risk of catching the flu.

“Right now, we have up to 25 to 30 patients sitting for hours in the emergency room waiting room,” Lockler said in the video. “Some of them are not true emergencies but they’re waiting along with the flu right next to them so guess what? Five flus came in, 15 flus walk out. It’s great! And guess what? Half of them don’t realize that they have the flu yet. They’ll be back!”

But in case you’ve already caught the disease, Lockler had some ideas of how you can treat yourself at home.

To start: “Wash your stinkin’ hands so you don’t get all your babies sick,” she said.

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And definitely don’t go to the ER with a fever if you haven’t tried lowering it with the proper amount of Tylenol or Motrin.

“Please don’t come in and say ‘I have a fever and I had one Tylenol and it didn’t do nothing.’” she said. “Well, of course it didn’t!”

Four hundred to 600 milligrams is an okay dosage for adults, she said. “And if you’re a big dude in pain,” you can probably take a bit more.

And in dramatic effect, Lockler showed viewers the best way to contain your germs when you sneeze.

“Watch this,” she said as she pulled the camera back to fully show the demonstration. “I’m gonna teach y’all a magic trick, it’s amazing.”

While pretending to sneeze, Lockler showed how she sneezes into the crook of her arm, covering both her nose and mouth at the same time, she noted.

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“My sleeve got the germs,” she said. “My hands didn’t because it’s amazing to watch how many people come through the emergency room, sneeze in their hand and I watch, no one grabs the hand sanitizer that’s only every three feet in the ER.”

To close, Lockler said she gets “yelled at and cussed at” a lot because people are upset with how long they have to wait. But if someone comes “in who’s bleeding to death, or they’re not breathing, you’re going to have to wait a little longer,” she said, adding that hospital staff do an “eye ball assessment” and can tell that “you ain’t dying currently.”

So if you see a doctor or nurse, thank them for the work they’re doing, Lockler asked. “We’re putting ourselves into the thick of some nasty germs to help.”