Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My daughter is an RN and CARES very much for her patients. As does all the other RNs. Go after the new laws. After 12 hour shifts being a charge nurse she is there filling out paperwork going to the new ACA for another hour. Doctors are retiring because of all the junk coming down.My doctor said he has to come in on his day off to get his paper work done.
My father has blood transfusions every other Tuesday and I agree finding a doctor is not easy to talk to. I got his a case worker which helps but the truth is the doctors do not come to the hospital until they leave their practice go home have dinner and arrive at the hospital quite late. I know, I've slept in my fathers room waiting for the doctor.
Our system was broke and now it is worst.
Last edited by in_newengland; 04-09-2016 at 02:59 PM..
Yes, it's an absolute: always have someone with you if you stay in the hospital.
Alley
Well, no, it's definitely not an absolute. Just because you had a bad experience, and I'm sure we are all sorry you did, does not make it into an absolute. You are one single case.
Personally, if I were in the hospital it would irritate the hell out of me if some friend or relative presumed to speak on my behalf. I have spoken on my own behalf for a long lifetime and will continue to do so. If a friend or relative is there to keep me company, now that would be welcome, provided they didn't overstay their welcome.
....Stanford is building a new hospital tower that is to be all private rooms. They'd better vet their staff for the new wing, because the Mark Zuckerbergs and Larry Ellisons of the world are not going to write big donation checks if they get treated like rowdy schoolchildren.
When I had surgery in NYC, the doctor told me to make sure I had someone to bring me food and to look out for me. He also said the hospital had a very good reputation for surgery but there were other problems.
Well, one problem was the staff. There were workers from some other country who didn't speak English and instead of helping people, they just stood around the room talking and in their language, laughing, and looking at the tv. One was so pre-occupied that she tripped over my IV cord and almost pulled it out.
The room was NEVER cleaned. Not in the three days I was there. The window wouldn't open either and it was sweltering. I looked at a dirty wadded up piece of paper on the floor for three days.
The surgeon only kept his patients for three days and then discharged them to a motel with a nurse coming in. He said the hospital conditions were so bad he wouldn't allow his patients to stay longer.
The woman doctor who worked with him told me she had her baby there but discharged herself and walked out with the baby. She said it was not only the way you are treated there but the place is filthy and infections are rampant.
And nursing homes are just as bad, from what I've seen. If I hadn't been around to advocate for my mother, it would have been awful. Night workers would swear at her (she was dying) and tell her to just wet the bed rather than bring her a bed pan.
I had to bring blankets for her because they refused and my husband had to help her to sit in a chair because the workers wouldn't help. I had to go every day to help her eat because no one would help her cut the meat or eat the food.
My aunt woke up in a nursing home room and a night worker was pulling a diamond ring off her finger. She wasn't fully asleep so she was able to scream and he ran off. Never wear jewelry and make sure you always have an advocate.
For those of us who have no advocate, heaven help us!
I had an exemplary surgeon. I assumed that the "boutique" hospital he worked out of would also be excellent. Or at least: good.
Keeping it short: the nurses and their helpers were scary, snippy, not friendly. Awful about sums it up.
I'm in a giant city and this is a famed hospital with a name known around the world.
Three nights and four days in the hospital with my husband visiting here and there (we have kids at home) meant I didn't have a care advocate. Not smart.
In a nutshell:
Occupational therapist and physical therapist: Just fine.
Food people: A
Xray folks: A
Check in person: the one thing she was supposed to do -- explain how to order food -- she didn't do.
Nurses and their helpers: Mean to each other and irritable w/ me. (And I was trying very hard to be agreeable and easy. I'm not a princess. I must have sounded like an idiot saying thank you 100 times, but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't really move after surgery.)
Takeaway: don't go to any hospital without a caring, yet assertive family member, friend or medical doula with you. Don't do the hospital alone. Trust me on this one.
And don't let your friends and family go alone either. Spread the word.
Alley
It sounds like you're saying that hospital employees are human beings, and they all have different attitudes and personalities. They make mistakes and are fallible, just like the rest of us. What a mindblowing concept
I had an exemplary surgeon. I assumed that the "boutique" hospital he worked out of would also be excellent. Or at least: good.
Keeping it short: the nurses and their helpers were scary, snippy, not friendly. Awful about sums it up.
I'm in a giant city and this is a famed hospital with a name known around the world.
Three nights and four days in the hospital with my husband visiting here and there (we have kids at home) meant I didn't have a care advocate. Not smart.
In a nutshell:
Occupational therapist and physical therapist: Just fine.
Food people: A
Xray folks: A
Check in person: the one thing she was supposed to do -- explain how to order food -- she didn't do.
Nurses and their helpers: Mean to each other and irritable w/ me. (And I was trying very hard to be agreeable and easy. I'm not a princess. I must have sounded like an idiot saying thank you 100 times, but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't really move after surgery.)
Takeaway: don't go to any hospital without a caring, yet assertive family member, friend or medical doula with you. Don't do the hospital alone. Trust me on this one.
And don't let your friends and family go alone either. Spread the word.
Alley
But you HAD an advocate: your husband. There won't be anyone who is able to stay at a hospital all the time with someone, usually.
As for me, I am not married and don't have kids. I do all medical things alone. I have no choice. So far, so good. But I've been lucky in that they've been nice and professional. I'm also used to doing things alone, so that may make a difference. It would bother me that someone was taking time out of his/her life to stay at a hospital with me.
Whether having an advocate is a good thing or a not so good thing depends on the advocate.
They are not so good if they're bossy and shrill, for this has the opposite effect a patient would desire, as staff will try to avoid dealing with anyone who is angry or threatens to "sue." Than means, less direct observation. Or if "advocate" refers to having a half-dozen demanding family members with kids running underfoot when the nursing staff is trying to give medication and is barraged with questions, the answers to some of which may violate confidentiality or cause the patient embarrassment. Or when an advocate "helpfully" removes oxygen, rearranges positioning, or tries to help a patient to get up or walk without seeking guidance from the nursing staff.
Well, one problem was the staff. There were workers from some other country who didn't speak English and instead of helping people, they just stood around the room talking and in their language, laughing, and looking at the tv. One was so pre-occupied that she tripped over my IV cord and almost pulled it out.
The room was NEVER cleaned. Not in the three days I was there. The window wouldn't open either and it was sweltering. I looked at a dirty wadded up piece of paper on the floor for three days.
Was the language T _ _ _ _ _ G?
It would be around here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
