Amanamongmommies

When you have to be hospitalized you need to feel comfortable relying on others. Being brought into the hospital can be a nervous, scary and sometimes even lonely experience that can create discomfort and even confusion. We rely on the health care professionals to put our health and best interest first, but what happens when they don’t? I would love to say that it is rare that a health care professional or facility causes a problem or makes mistakes, but the fact is it happens all too often. During my recent hospitalization when I was at my most vulnerable the hospital staff failed me causing emotional and physical distress.

Going To The Hospital

I was admitted to the hospital late Tuesday night after seeing my Doctor and being sent to the emergency room. The hospital had been rather crowded so when I was finally admitted I ended up in the cardiac ward in a private room for the night. While in the ER I was given an IV with Antibiotics as well as the medication Dilaudid for the pain. I am ultra sensitive to narcotic pain medication so once given to me I am dazed and confused beyond what the average person feels. Everything seemed to be going well and more tests were planned for the following day. Early Wednesday morning I was seen by my Doctor as well as a surgeon about my hernia since much of the pain I felt was in the area of my recently diagnosed hernia. The Doctors eliminated the hernia as the cause for the other symptoms and further tests were ordered for the day.

Being Lost, Confused and Forgotten

At this point things began to go in a bad direction eventually leading to an unfortunate confrontation. My wife and family were unable to be with me too much during the day Wednesday so I was under the care of the hospital while under the influence of the Dilaudid. Around 1:00 I was medicated again and told I was going to be moved to a different room in the regular ward of the hospital. I had not eaten in more then 24 hours and the Dilaudid hit me hard causing me to struggle to breath as well as have naseua and dizzyness. Moments later a person (Later I figured out she was a Reverend from the hospital) walked in and noticed my distress and contacted the nurses. In what seemed to me a blur of activity a group of people were around me putting stuff into my IV and giving me oxygen. Dazed, confused and feeling ill I was moved to a room in the regular ward with a room mate. Once in the room I did not see nurses for hours as well as never given a straight answer to any of my questions, and was in the dark about my treatment and health. I was told by the nurses that I was going to have a colonoscopy and that the Dr was going to see me soon about the procedure. Hours rolled by without a Dr visit or a straight answer to my questions so I REFUSED the pain medication in order to clear my head and focus on what was going on. In the early evening my wife arrived to find me still a bit confused trying to ignore my very troubled room mate. After talking to me as well as the current nurse that had been ignoring me my wife realized something was not right. She demanded the nurse contact my Doctor as well as the Doctor that apparently was going to do the colonoscopy. After we both spoke to them we got straight answers and knew what the next steps were supposed to be. The nurses had been saying the GI Dr was going to visit me all day, however he never indicated this and even told them he was on rounds at a different hospital some 50 miles away.

The Confrontation

Before my wife left for the night she expressed concern to me about my room mate. He was a nice older man, however he seemed to be suffering from some kind of dementia as well as a number of other issues. He would start to yell, scream and demand help at the drop of the hat about everything. At 10:00 I tried to sleep, but he was having some issues which required the help of multiple techs and nurses so I went down to the computer room and Blogged the previous post. As I wondered to the computer areas I mentioned to the nurses that the troubles my room mate was having would probably be an issue. They supposedly made an attempt to find a different room for me, but in the end said I would have to stay there. They offered me head phones and advice to understand sometimes room mates can be noisy. I agreed, but said that he seems to be having more issues. The nurses said as soon as they got him settled for bed it would be quiet and I would have no more problems. 12:00 he is up yelling for the nurses, but no one comes. In his confused state he was unable to use the call button. I called for the nurses and they came and tried to settle him down. Over the next two hours he yelled for the nurses, yelled at me and made it impossible for me to even attempt to sleep. At about 2:00 after his most recent screaming session I told the nurses I could not do this, they needed to find me a new room so I could actually sleep. My nurse did a few things and came back to me with what appeared to be new bed linens and asked me to follower her. I asked her about my stuff and she said not to worry about it that was still my room. A little confused I asked where we were going. Her response still echoes in my head… “Oh we are going to have you sleep down here on a couch” I stared at her for a second and she said there was a couch I could sleep on for the next few hours while they tried to find a room and bed for me. Understand it is 2:00 in the morning, I have not slept at all and I have prep for a test at 6:00 a.m. She looked at me like I was crazy for not jumping at the opportunity to sleep on a couch that was going to be way too small for my nearly 6′3″ body. I told her and I quote “I AM NOT SLEEPING ON A F*CKING COUCH!” She said well that is all I can do for you. After having the hours of being in the dark about my own medical care I had had enough. I told her if she could not find me a BED to sleep in I was going to leave. She said she had no other options all the while my room mate was still yelling about something. I told her fine, remove the IV check me out and I am going home. She refused to do that and so I began to get angry. I DEMANDED my IV removed or I would do it and called my father to come get me. They complied with my demands as not 1, not 2, but 4 security guards arrived on floor. While the IV was removed the nurse contacted my Doctor and told her I was upset about my room mate and not about the offer of the couch. After the nurse spoke to my doctor my doctor wanted to speak to me. She told me that leaving was against her recommendations and it would not be a good idea. At this point I told her the ENTIRE story and that the nurse wanted me to sleep on the couch basically for the rest of the night. At this point my Doctor paused and said they told you what? I said they wanted me to sleep on the couch for the rest of the night… At this she wanted to speak to the nurse again… Within seconds she was transferred to the hospital administrator. Moments later the administrator was in the nurses station with us. She repeated the line of the nurse that there were no BEDS available so I repeated my line of fine I will go home and sleep in my bed. She said that if I left the insurance would not cover my stay and I would be left with a bill. I said that’s fine because if I left my first call would be to my LAWYER! With this she got on the phone and what do you know found a few beds!!! While she was on the phone I told the “Donut Patrol” the security guards that was as wide as tall that I was not going to do something crazy. They said they just wanted me to be a little quieter. I said I would try, but when a nurses’ solution to the sleeping arrangements is for me to sleep on a couch I think I have a right to be unhappy. I ended up staying in a ROOM in the ER overflow area. She made the comment that there were no private bathrooms and I said I did not care. She was worried about me having a bathroom, but was fine with me sleeping on a couch. With this my father arrived and we went with the administrator to the ER while my father ripped her a new one about offering to put me on a couch. Once in the ER overflow area which by the way was 200 times nicer then the regular rooms I was set up and the administrator kissed up for a little while. They had to put a new IV in, but I did not care, honestly I was so mad that I did not even feel it. Once set up the nurse contacted my Doctor for instructions and then my Doctor spoke with me. I told her I was sorry she was woken for this, but the situation was just plain ridiculous. She said she was sorry this happened and let me know about her conversation with the administrator. She apparently said this was a problem and that if it was not resolved it would not end with just me. She would no longer refer anyone to the hospital as well as make sure every doctor she knows would have the details of the situation. Again in the end my Doctor was looking after me. Through this whole ordeal she was the only health care professional looking out for me. From my visit to her office, the time in the ER and seeing me at the hospital she was 100 percent behind me. She has a patient for life.

The Aftermath

After the whole ordeal the ER nurse was extremely nice and made sure I was comfortable and not disturbed. I had tests and thing to be done at 5:00 and 6:00, but she had them move them to 7:00 in order to allow me to get some rest. I ended up having a colonoscopy scheduled for sometime before 10:00 and I had an entire entourage with me for the morning. There were 3 nurses, the GI Dr and the HEAD anesthesiologist. The head anesthesiologist said he normally is not involved, but that apparently there was a problem last night and this is a special case. Now I did not ask for the special treatment, only respectful treatment. If the night before the Nurses had be more helpful this would never have been an issue. If they had recognized my room mates issues a head of time they would not have allowed anyone to be in the same room.

In the end I had the worst experience at the hospital with about a 12 hour period when I felt the nurses were ignoring me, mistreating me and basically caring more about what they did the day before then the people under their care and supervision. At this point I am still really upset and am trying to figure out where to go from here…

I am just happy to be HOME!

Advocate Good Shepard Hospital, shame on you and your “4 East” wing…

It is nice to see an At Home Dad treated so wonderfully the week before Fathers Day… I see a nice human interest piece here…