Florida Hospital South #1? I think not...

[latwee]

I have always been a firm believer in the quality of healthcare that was given at Florida Hospital - South. My father was just hospitalized there for over 10 days for diagnosis and treatment. During the complete stay I had to pull teeth to get any type of answer from his physician regarding his tests results. Guess what? Only a nurse gave me the results and then while I was asking the physician about the condition he never wondered where I gained the knowledge.

He was admitted due to not being able to swallow, stomach pain, extreme weight loss of over 40 pounds and declining rapidly.

As I walked into his room one evening I found his door closed along with every door in the hallway that evening. He was sitting in the dark watching TV sitting on one leg, crying and repeatingly telling me that something hurt. He suffers with Alzheimer's and dementia and is incontinent and after I checked him out I was furious. I found him completely raw and bleeding from a sore bottom from being exposed to his own feces and urine in a chair that had no pad on it. When I approached the door to his room it was closed and so were the other doors in the hallway. There were no diapers, washcloths, perinatal cream or wash in sight. I went out to the nurses station and told the nurse I needed a tech immediately to my father's room. After a total of two visits to the nurses station and one push of the call button there was still no tech in sight. You would think the nurse would offer to lend a hand but no way possible. After 1 hour and 20 minutes the nurse approached the room and stated the tech was on her way.

I was getting furious with the physician due to not performing a EDG at the beginning of his stay. I work in the medical field and saw strong signs of the possibility of cancer and mentioned that to several people that saw my father. Only after mentioning I was having my father checked by an oncologist a couple of days after his release did the physicians ever take me seriously. Today he had his EDG performed and they found polyps in his stomach and throat.

Physicians need to think outside the box a bit and realize that when the family speaks regarding a family member with major complaints they need to listen. Especially when the person never complains with pain of any sort with the exception of a headcahe from time to time. And now suffers with extreme pain in the abdominal area after eating and not having the ability of eating without hurling or choking on the food in his mouth. The weight loss alone should have been a major indicator of something major going on.

Top Ten Commandments on Being an Informed Patient

Lesson # 1 - Always listen to your intuition first.
Lesson # 2 - Don't always take the physician's word as gospel.
Lesson # 3 - Remember they are human and are capable of mistakes.
Lesson # 4 - Get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th opinion elsewhere!
Lesson # 5 - Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Lesson # 6 - Never leave the patient alone in the hospital. Always have
an advocate with the patient during their stay taking names
and notes.
Lesson # 7 - Always retain copies of lab reports, medical notes and
radiology reports.
Lesson # 8 - Keep a journal on daily activities that take place.
Lesson # 9 - Keep an eye on the medications being given and always ask
what they are and what for prior to swallowing them.
Lesson # 10- Stay healthy!

Good luck! We'll be looking at ORMC if we have needs in the future.

[lolabonita00]

I understand this is an old thread... but I was researching jobs through the Florida Hospital system today (8 hospitals, if I read correctly?). Is this the same hospital you guys are referring to??

[idr591]

Originally Posted by lolabonita00

I understand this is an old thread... but I was researching jobs through the Florida Hospital system today (8 hospitals, if I read correctly?). Is this the same hospital you guys are referring to??

Any major healthcare system is going to have a number of unsatisfied patients. Florida Hospital overall has a very good reputation and is a good employer.

I don't mean to belittle the unfortunate experiences above, and I have no financial interest in Florida Hospital.

[Pete C]

Take everything you read on a public forum with a grain of salt. Many times, people come here to vent. That is not to say they did not have a horrible experience, but I can guarantee you that people that have good experiences do not seek out forums like this to sing their praises...it is just expected to get good care at a hospital. When something goes wrong, they feel the need to warn others.

[lolabonita00]

That's true, idr591 and Pete C. I didn't even think of that. Makes sense to me!

Thanks

[JCarolink]

Originally Posted by SteveJT

I heard from someone recently that Florida Hospital South was #1 in the country for heart surgery.

Let me tell you how they almost killed me....

I was in there for heart surgery. They cancelled my surgery and when I asked why they began to verbally and psychologically abuse me.

I asked to be transferred to ORMC and they refused.

I talked to my doctor and she said I could leave against medical advice, she wrote discharge orders. I then told my nurse and called a cab.

As I was waiting outside the front door a cardiac nurse and two Security guards confronted me and refused to let me leave even though I had been discharged.

I got up and walked away and they tackled me from behind.

I tried to run but they pushed me into the pavement and choked me. I recieved 7 large skin tears.

I was forcibly dragged into the Emergency room where a guard was placed with me, and I was help prisoner for 3 hours.

A psychiatrist interviewed me.

Finally I was let go, my skin tears were not treated and I did not receive any treatment for my angina even though I had chest pain.

I finally reached ORMC ( another hospital ) by taking a bus there, where I was given good medical care and heart surgery the next day.

Today I recieved a bill for $450 from Florida Hospital Emergency Room for being kidnapped and held prisoner against my will.

Be careful before entering Florida Hospital South, they have a strange idea about health care, it is very similar to treatment you might receive from members of any organized crime outfit!

P.S. I field a complaint against Florida Hospital South with the state of Florida, and they sent me a letter saying Florida Hospital was within its medical correct procedures and they would not be cited!




~

They killed my mother as well ... After the quad heart surgery they got knife happy and decided to take out Mom's gall bladder within two days which shouldn't have taken place as she was too weak then the kidney
Dr gave her a RAPID dialysis only to hear the Renal Dr that he shouldn't have given it to her so quickly that he should have done a SLOW dialysis.
Leaving now a daughter who had to sign papers to take the woman who gave me life I had no choice but to let her go. I'm so mad that the Dr's
were so unattentive not even being there when I had to pull the plug so
to speak. My heart goes out to you at least you were able to get the hell
out of there in time. I have another family member who is there now and
I have to walk back in to the same darn hospital to say my good byes as
he is in ICU with Advanced stages of liver disease.

[hady]

Your story seems sooooo out of order, I worker @ FH AND NO one place their hands on a pt only if that pt is Baker-acted and want to leave then security take the pt back in side if they are outside. It seems to me that you are like the others that visit hiospitals trying to look for ways to gain money by making claims, but we have policies and procedures we work with to protect pts and workers

[JCarolink]

Originally Posted by hady

Your story seems sooooo out of order, I worker @ FH AND NO one place their hands on a pt only if that pt is Baker-acted and want to leave then security take the pt back in side if they are outside. It seems to me that you are like the others that visit hiospitals trying to look for ways to gain money by making claims, but we have policies and procedures we work with to protect pts and workers

Well if you work for the FH you should brush up on your spelling and your English. The hospitals have power house attorneys to cover up their mistakes at the FH!! They have now misdiagnosed my uncle so why don't you ...

Get a life Moron!

[honest nurse]

I can believe it and i sympathize with you.I too have heard of patients being exposed to such treatment.First of all i don't think the general public knows that new graduate nurses are being placed in the ER and ICU.The one thing you can't teach is experience,so why put someone with the least amount of experience (NONE) in an area caring for the sickest patients in the whole hospital? Obviosly the answer is revenue.The hospitals will tell you that they have charge nurses and more experienced nurses watching or "Precepting" these wide eyed newcomers. The truth is, these other nurses often have patients of their own,get very busy helping someone else or responding to another emergency and the novice is left to make decisions affecting a critically ill patient.This should never happen in an American hospital.We supposedly are not a third world country,but many times i felt like it was, being in such close proximetry to these situations. I've heard from more than one collegue about how concerned they were or afraid for a patient they were. Go to someone above you? You are told that is the way things are done now and to basically "get used to it".Stay with your loved ones when they are in the hospital.Watch everything,especially medication administration,ask questions,don't be afraid or intimidated ,our loved ones life may be at risk.And never assume that just because you have never heard of "near misses" or deaths related to incompetence or inexperience that they don't happen in hospitals.They happen.But with the reporting systems in place.it may never be on the local news or come to light.Don't be fooled by marble floors,nice art on the walls and pleasant furnishings,these things won't contribute anything to a loved ones care.