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I was discharged two days ago after a 3 day in- hospital stay. I have been admitted to hospitals for my many various ailments and surgeries now, since 2000. So I have quite a bit of experience on the topic.
And I will say this morning and IMO, that todays care being tendered to the patient in todays hospitals, is a LOT different than it was 19 years ago. And from my hospital experience this week, the patient care has not changed for the better.
If a person is hospitalized today, they REALLY need to be sure they have a loved one be with them in their patient room a LOT. Just to be sure their loved ones (patient) needs are tended to, as they need them. And to not have the patient, to rely SOLEY on the hospital care workers for their care or needs. All JMO
A lot has changed in hospital care and a lot of it has to do with insurance. Years ago if you were having surgery you were admitted to the hospital the night before. Now you have to get up at 4:15 a.m. to drive to the hospital, wait for your surgery, spend an hour or two in recovery and depending on what was done, go home the same day. This is what happened to my son this past week when he had a complicated fracture of his clavicle repaired. It required pins, plates, etc. and he was sent home a few hours after surgery, still groggy.
I've been hospitalized for almost two weeks over the last few years and I felt I received good care from the nursing staff, not so much from the on call physicians, who half the time, came in the room, didn't identify themselves, spent 15 seconds with me and then billed my insurance $1300!
Recently had a family member in the Methodist system for a couple days after a stroke (nuero ICU). Very impressed with the on-floor staff individually… very impressed with every doc involved individually… but the communications process is nothing short of a hot mess. Despite the nursing staff spending what seemed to be a LOT of time at the computer documenting, no one seemed to know what the hell anyone else was doing/had done. And this was even worse once the home care coordinators got involved at discharge.
yes and this is why I hope I can avoid surgery for anything these days . Yes it is a hot mess . I was hospitalized 5 yrs ago for pneumonia and the nurses were lovely and very attentive but the drs yeah not so great and they don't identify themselves anymore do they . I had to remind one to use the hand sanitizer before he came near me . Unacceptable in my opinion . When I was discharged I reported not only to my insurance company what shoddy care I received from the on call docs but also the one who did not use the most important hand sanitizer the lady on the other end seemed genuinely shocked . I also wrote a scathing email and letter to the hospital administrators office . If no one says anything , nothing will change. I believe all of us are responsible if we want better care of ourselves and our medical issues and hospitalizations .
Recently had a family member in the Methodist system for a couple days after a stroke (nuero ICU). Very impressed with the on-floor staff individually… very impressed with every doc involved individually… but the communications process is nothing short of a hot mess. Despite the nursing staff spending what seemed to be a LOT of time at the computer documenting, no one seemed to know what the hell anyone else was doing/had done. And this was even worse once the home care coordinators got involved at discharge.
The blue is EXACTLY part of what I experienced.
The new technology today of the healthcare providers while using their handheld PC's and computers on their portable carts, IMO is creating more mistakes today, than the old hand written documents the RN's and Docs carried on clipboards....ever could have.
Because these electronic data/records if typed incorrectly can be missed, or edited or erased. Once a handwritten document is written, and then signed by the person administering the care, it is a good solid record.
If it had any info written on it that was wrong, and was then altered, it can be detected fairly readily on that piece of paper. But electronic records ? Hmmmm...
And I think knowing this, may have something to do with what I saw for the last 3 days of my hospital stay. Where so many hospital workers coming in to my room 20 - 60 minutes apart.... and each person kept asking me the same questions. The same questions the previous RN, CNA, hospital worker had asked me. The same questions that I had answered with the same reply.
This new way of hospital care is not very conducive to the patient's peace of mind, I know this for a fact. And the info/data swapping mess is the smallest infraction, that I experienced during my hospital stay this week. JMO
The new technology today of the healthcare providers while using their handheld PC's and computers on their portable carts, IMO is creating more mistakes today, than the old hand written documents the RN's and Docs carried on clipboards....ever could have.
Because these electronic data/records if typed incorrectly can be missed, or edited or erased. Once a handwritten document is written, and then signed by the person administering the care, it is a good solid record.
If it had any info written on it that was wrong, and was then altered, it can be detected fairly readily on that piece of paper. But electronic records ? Hmmmm...
And I think knowing this, may have something to do with what I saw for the last 3 days of my hospital stay. Where so many hospital workers coming in to my room 20 - 60 minutes apart.... and each person kept asking me the same questions. The same questions the previous RN, CNA, hospital worker had asked me. The same questions that I had answered with the same reply.
This new way of hospital care is not very conducive to the patient's peace of mind, I know this for a fact. And the info/data swapping mess is the smallest infraction, that I experienced during my hospital stay this week. JMO
Electronic data cannot be changed without leaving a trail of the changes.
You are asked the same questions repeatedly to confirm who you are and to see if the answers do change.
Electronic records can and will contain errors. Every record can. However, removing them from an electronic record after they propagate into the records in other places can be difficult to correct.
That's funny. I was hospitalized for surgery last fall...the first time in about 20 years. Having heard the horror stories like everyone else I was wondering how different the stay would be. My impression was that the hospital carried out everything just as expected. Instructions and orders were meticulously checked/re-checked. No complications, miscommunications or mistakes, no information was lost or confused. Nursing staff was attentive, efficient, and frankly very kind, just as they were the time before. A relative arranged to come from out of state just in case, but there wasn't any need for her to advocate on my behalf for anything.
Of course things can happen in such a massively-complex system any hospital is. But then most people only pay attention to the negatives...the majority of patients go home and peacefully recover without incident.
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-17-2019 at 04:51 PM..
"Once a handwritten document is written, and then signed by the person administering the care, it is a good solid record. "
seriously? you just remove a paper progress note or two or some orders on paper and toss them. not to mention, entire medical records can be lost.
It is a moot point really to discuss electronic documentation vs. paper regarding any hospital today. The healthcare industry today is so overloaded with policies, rules and regulations now, that for any hospital to go back to paper documentation would be financial suicide for them.
Hospitals today have to get the patient admitted and discharged in the minimum amount of time and electronic documentation affords them this needed time faster. The insurance companies demand this fast patient turnaround from the hospitals, all while not announcing of such...publicly.
I worked in a large hospital for 12 years. My wife worked in a large hospital for 25 years. So neither of us are "newbies" to the way the wheels turn in a hospital. My wife and I both, have had very good experiences in all the many hospital stays that we have had over the passed 27 years.
But with my hospital stay this week for a Ileus, we both noticed the face of direct patient healthcare is changing fast and not for the betterment of the patient. I had some very "uncomfortable" experiences during my hospital treatment this week, and they really should never have happened.
But thank goodness, I had my wife with me in my patient room almost every hour day and night, to help me through my troubling experiences.
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