General
gomer
What does gomer mean?
Hospital acronym for 'Get Out of My Emergency Room.' Aimed at the elderly, demented, often non-communicative patient who keeps rolling through the doors with a pile of chronic conditions nothing can really fix. Cruel, weary, deeply gallows. Popularised by Samuel Shem's 1978 novel 'The House of God', though Shem said it was already kicking around Boston wards by the early 70s.
"ER's full of GOMERs again — three nursing home transfers before lunch."
Origin
American hospital slang, in use by early 1970s. Burned into the medical vocabulary by Samuel Shem's 'The House of God' (1978). Female form: GOMERE.
Frequently asked questions
What does GOMER stand for in medical slang?
GOMER stands for "Get Out of My Emergency Room" — the old, chronic, hopeless patient ER docs dread.
How do you use GOMER in a sentence?
"We've had that GOMER back in the ER three times this month."
Where does the term GOMER come from?
It was popularised by Samuel Shem's 1978 novel The House of God, which satirised hospital culture.
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