Alright; I’ll add this to the pile. It’s been a hell of a day, and Nobody expects these people to be perfect, but there’s a lot to be said for a little professionalism and compassion. Bare with me.
It starts out like this: after a prompt response from 911 to the medical emergency in question, we arrive at the hospital in fine shape. We wait approximately 45 minutes for a bed (which I was told was quick) and we go in. This is where things go haywire. It is determined that X-rays are required to investigate the issue at hand, which understandably does not happen instantaneously. It takes 2 hours and three saline bags later to get an X-ray. Okay, I’m not a doctor, so I really can’t say if it was busy or not. So I accept it. X-ray happens and it is determined that surgery is required. By this time, my wife and I are starving and we have to leave to eat, so we do, after discussing with the surgeon we are told that there is plenty of time to grab a bite.
We return, only to find the room locked. Okay, maybe it’s locked to let the patient rest. I break down and ask a nurse who was happened to pass by to see if they had been transferred to surgery. The nurse proceeds to tell me that it’s not her side of the emergency room, but she’ll find someone that’ll come out and give us an update (which is the medical equivalent of “it’s not my department/job, so fuck off”). 40 minutes later the surgeon comes down and has to actually go around to the other side of the room to unlock the door, only to find out that the nurses had locked it during an exam and the forgot to unlock it. It’s now approximately 4 PM and I’m told that start to finish, the surgery should only take about 3 hours. We head up to the 5th floor at the request of the surgeon, so that we can get updates, etc, which I’m told would happen every hour.
We wait until about 6 PM, and after no updates, I wander down the hallway to find the nurses escaping the ward like a bunch of scared roaches, and the door to the OR locked. So, it looks like no updates for me. Down I go to the 4th floor to the inpatient wards for post recovery. Maybe, I thought, I’d get an answer from the nurses down there. I thought wrong.
After being told that she had not been transferred to the ward yet, I’m led to believe that she’s not out of the OR yet. So, back to waiting. It’s now 8PM and I find that she’s being transferred to another ward. We got there and after waiting about an hour, we’re told that she’s being transferred to the ICU. Now this shit is getting serious, yet we still have not received a smidgen of information on what was really going on. The only thing we know is that she was transferred to ICU. Up to the 5th floor again.
I pick up the phone to the nurses station and I’m met with the most acerbic nurse on the planet: “5-2 ICU, good evening”, I say hello and request to see if she’s been transferred yet and I’m told matter-of-factly: “we don’t have a person by that name here” and that I should “go check with the OR” Wait, the OR that closed 5 hours ago?
Finally, I decide to leave. It’s about 11PM, and I’m exhausted. I’m angry, to top it all off, because a simple surgery turned into a life-and-death situation and I’ve been met with nothing but roadblocks, in terms of information. I expect a similar response tomorrow. Thanks a lot Capital Health, you’re a bunch of fucking morons.
—Frustrated Next-of-Kin
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.
friend, you are lucky that you got through there so quickly. it ususally takes 24 hours as a non emergency look see.a friend was there for over 12 hours,and got fed up and left.good thing it wasn’t life threatening hey. but long times are expected,and as such, we are all captive audiences in this together.good luck next time,you might have to pull an all nighter.
Holy! I’ve never heard of anything like this. You should come to Boston for surgery and pay a few extra bucks for airfare (I don’t know how the insurance thing works out) But we have some of the best hospitals in the world here with excellent service.
Was the diagnosis right? Was the surgery successful? If yes, then be happy. Not knowing what was going on sucks but the important thing is you friend or family member is ok.
You do realize that you are not the only family member in the whole hospital right? Did you think to go to the information kiosk on the 4th floor or the 1st floor? The hospital is understaffed and over worked. Instead of being a giant wedgie, maybe you could have a little compassion for the people who worked very hard to keep your loved one alive. It sounds to me like the situation deteriorated rapidly and steps had to be taken to make sure your loved one got the best care they needed. Walk a mile in their shoes. When you talk to the surgeon, avail them of a cell phone number they can reach you , or go home and wait by a phone for your updates. Just be thankful for the care your loved one got and realize that lifes too short to be a crank bag about this stuff. Do you think the nurses and doctors dont deal with people like you all day? I’m sure they’d be lining up to bitch about you too.
We all know about the cracks in the health care system, the waits, the overburdened staff … and not to diminish your very personal situation, but reading that all I could think was ‘wow, get a grip’.
No family members are ever allowed in the OR, nor are they allowed in Recovery, which is where the patient would have gone after surgery. Depending on the length of the surgery, they would stay in Recovery for minimum 2 hours. It’s hard to say from the start where they will end up after Recovery, because if everything is normal, they’ll be transferred to the appropriate floor/service. They might need an IMCU, or to go to ICU.
The thing is that there is no one person who will know everything about the patient. The doctor will know the most, but even he won’t know if there is suddenly a bed shortage and the patient has to be moved off service until it happens. The nurses only know about the patients they have, or are immediately getting.
There are too many cogs, in too big of a wheel for you to get definite answers. The best plan, as suggested by NtotheAdine, is to give the residents your phone number, and then go home. There’s nothing you can do for the next 5-7 hours anyway.
Hmmm … there was certainly a degree of incompetence going on, but you can’t just walk up to/call random floors/nurses and expect them to know what’s going on with your situation. I highly doubt the nurse you spoke to in the ER knew anything about the other nurses patients and was not just trying to shirk her duties. That being said it sounds unbelievabely disorganzied and you should definitely write a letter; how are things going to get better if patients don’t provide feedback!
Sounds like a pretty frustrating situation, but….calling nurses “scared roaches”? Really? Do you enjoy it when someone comes in your place of work and thinks of you as a roach?
Try working there OP, try working there.
Is it really that difficult to get a straight answer, though? Honestly, if the person was told that they would receive updates, they should get said updates. There needs to be responsibility on the hospital staff to provide that. I’d be frustrated too, especially if I was told that I would receive regular updates and then had not heard a word up to 11 PM. It’s not too much to ask is it? It’s not a goddamn restaurant or a customer service desk, it’s a hospital. There’s a much higher level that they should be held to.
Depending on the drugs your loved one was given before their surgery their stay in recovery could’ve been quite longer than expected. My mom had surgery a few weeks ago and the oxy condone they gave her before the surgery (either condone or oxycontin — one of the other) knocked her out for an extra 3 hours after surgery.
In order to receive updates I called the information kiosk, explained where she was originally taken and I was able to get solid info on her in under 10 minutes from the comfort of my own cell.
Just be thankful your loved one got a bed and surgery right away. My aunt died waiting for a quad by pass, and my mom was sent home after having a rash of seizures which took her memory away because there were no beds. They wanted to keep her in but said there were no beds available. If someone with brain issues can’t get a bed….be thankful your loved one got treated relatively quickly with inpatient care.
Exactly how were updates going to happen? Did they say? Did you ask? Were you supposed to get them at a certain place or were they going to call you? Sounds like it may have been miscommunication by BOTH parties.
Verbal Diarrhea . . . if you can’t keep your ‘bitch’ to a paragraph or two, go start a blog somewhere else.
Mmm…Verbal Diarrhea indeed. Tasty.
oh do you mean the “overworked and underpaid unionized nurses”?!? These are the same morons who will be pleading for public sympathy when they decide to hold us hostage and go on strike again. Idiots.