Hospitals Scare Me

Beekers — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:47:32 +0000

I have spent the last two days at the hospital with my mother. I am so glad I came down to Richmond. I had to pull a Terms of Endearment moment during my mother’s care. I can understand that nurses are busy and that there is potential for confusion when you transfer a patient from recovery to a room. My mother came out of surgery at 11:30. At 2:15 she was moved into a room and left in my care. She was complaining of pain, which I attributed to waking up from surgery. At 2:45 a nurse from the floor finally comes into the room and then tells me that my mother has had no pain medicine and that recovery had failed to administer pain medicine. Knowing my mother has not had pain medication, she then starts asking my mother to roll over and pushing her. I told her to back off and take her hands off my mother. My mother is crying and asks the nurse for pain medicine or at least ice chips because recovery had given her ice. The nurse told my mother that they were swamped and they didn’t have time to get ice chips. She then tells me that it is not her fault my mother is in pain and that they can’t help my mother because recovery also failed to put my mother in their pharmacy or care system. I told her this was unacceptable. I told her that I could care less who in their system failed, because her attitude and unwillingness to help was continuing to hurt my mother and that she better find a way to provide care because the moment she left I was calling the hospital administration, the surgeon’s office, and my mom’s lawyer. I give the hospital credit because within 15 minutes of making three calls I had a new nurse, a hospital administrator and a medical assistant caring for my mother. It still took them until 4:00 to get pain medication for my mother. I can only imagine how awful it must be for people admitted with no family. A hospital is not about caring for people. It is about making money as a business. Everyone had an excuse for why my mother’s lack of care was not their fault. It frightens me to think how long my mother would have laid their with no nursing care or medication if noone was their to advocate for her care. Having great insurance is no guarantee of great care.

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Hospitals Scare Me