Bad ER experience...what went wrong?

[luv2yoga]

Help me figure this out. I am a pre-nursing student and need to help understand a bad experience we had with my husband as a patient last night. He got hit hard on the forehead with a softball, had a headache so bad so that he was doubled over, nauseated and looked like that eye was sensitive (twitching). We went to an ER in a hospital close to our house, but this is a hospital that is struggling financially and honestly, I don't see how they stay in business. We were hoping that it being a Sat. night, we could be seen quickly at this place vs. the large, busy hospitals.

Anyway, they triaged him quickly and saw the Dr. in about an hour. Dr. acted like it could be serious, said we need a cat scan right away to make sure there wasn't a bleed in there. My kids were having a hard time behaving late on Sat. night so I went home. An hour and a half later, my husband had heard nothing so he just left and came home. He was angry because of a couple of things: 1. Dr. acted like it was serious and that he needed the cat scan right away but then nothing happened. 2. his room was next to the nursing station and there were 4 people there visiting and he could hear them. He kept thinking that one of them should be taking him for the cat scan.

So, I'm wondering if my husband's expectations were too high and there were things going on he couldn't see. Maybe the cat scan was backed up or maybe the transport person was very busy (couldn't someone else transport?). Or is this an indication that this hospital is not a good choice? My husband manages a large group of people in engineering at a corporation, so he's very aware of customer service etc. and he said that he can't think of any other industry that would get away with this. If someone had just explained what was going on, that's all it would've took. I can see his viewpoint but I realize that I don't know enough about healthcare yet to truly evaluate this.

Can you offer an opinion? BTW, he's still alive...guess didn't need the cat scan after all.

[RNin92]

Just to add my two cents worth...

I would agree with all of the posters...

You never really know what is going on unless you ask!

But being that your husband is male...that's proabaly too hopeful!

:chuckle

All the rest of the great info you've been given I only wanted to weigh in on the really important part of all this...

TAKE YOUR MAN IN FOR THAT CT SCAN!!!!!

If he really does have a small bleed...by the time he knows it is too damn late!

Good luck!

[zudy]

Many good answers here so far,,just wanted to add that in a hospital that I used to work in,even tho we had 2 CT's, a lot of time one of them was "down" for repairs. Also, many times our pts were "bumped" by pts from ICU. It takes longer to transport a pt on a vent, IV's, multiple meds going,etc than it does to transport a pt like your husband(a pt who is awake,alert,oriented who can move and breathe on thier own)so many times critically ill pts take a lot longer in CT than someone that is stable.

Again, sorry your husband had a bad ED experience,but there are so many variables here. Hope he is doing well.

[colleen10]

I just wanted to add my experience with a small hospital ER.

Once on vacation my mother came down with severe abd. pain, nausea, some vomitting. We went to the closest hospital which was very small. The ER had 5 beds. After 2 hours of waiting in the waiting room she was given a bed in the ER. It took another 12 hours before the doctor admitted her to the hospital and all during this time she had to transported from the ER to various testing locations for various tests and then back to the ER. Everytime the doctor ordered a test (sonogram, upper GI, etc.) the technician had to be called in because none were on staff on a Saturday night. It took time for the Tech. to drive in, set everything up, prep my mom and then run the test.

Because the ER was so small and one large open area just seperated by curtains it was easy to see the other types of more urgent cases that came in after my mother, the guy who cut his finger off with a power tool, the older gentlemen with SOB and chest pain.

I agree that your husband should have been more informed about his care but I also think that he should have asked somebody what was going on. If he could see and hear people out front talking then he surely could have gone up to them and asked on the status of his CT, etc. Also, the people at the desk may not have been nurses. They could have been Aides, phlebotomists, Paramedics, etc.

During my experience with my mother there was one doctor and one nurse on staff in the ER. Between triaging pts., answering phone calls, ordering and receiving tests results, etc. they often didn't have time to come talk to me or my mother and even though we were only 12 feet away from them we would go hours without speaking with them. But, when we had a question and could grab them as they went by they were really good about answering our questions and concerns.

[Rena RN 2003, RN]

an emergency room isn't drive through meicine nor is it a primary care office visit that is scheduled in 15 min incriments. amazingly enough, most ERs see more than 1 person at a time and with so many different things going on at once, priorities can and do change at the drop of a hat (often quicker).

be involved in your care. ask questions. but don't assume that if you have waited for 30 min, 1,2, or 3 hours that you should be getting the most immediate attention.

your husband's condition would have warranted a ct in my facility also. his condition would have gone before many of the more trivial things that i see come through. the only thing i can think is that i feel sorry for the other individuals in that ER that night that their cases took priority over a potential head bleed.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

Just to add my two cents worth...

I would agree with all of the posters...

You never really know what is going on unless you ask!

QUOTE]Exactly!!!! People b*tch and moan about their horrible experiences in health care constantly but absolutely REFUSE to take any responsibility for them selves....Why would anyone sit around "for hours" without question? I love the " My father waited 4 hours for pain medicine" complaint...aAd you sat there at his bedside and watched him suffer? Why? Or ..."No-one came in to feed my mother for 3 hours"...And you sat at her bedside and did what? Why? .....Or' The doc never called me" and-how many times did you attempt to call the doc? I am NOT his answering service nor am I your secretary-and don't get pizzed at me because you don't like the doc Come on-we are not sheep.....The public has such a passive aggressive thing going on with healthcare people

[colleen10]

I am just a nursing student but I tell just about all of my patients in clinical that

it is your health, if you have questions or don't understand something just ask, if you are not happy with the the treatment, tests, plan of care that you have, say something. You know your body and are the one that has to live with it. If you don't understand how to take care of it or don't like the way the medical staff is treating it with meds and therapies you have to say something.

[stretch thin]

I work at 557bed hospital and we have to call in our CT person and the results are faxed to Austrilia. So yes it does take along time. Granted someone should have explained to your husband what exactly was going on, but I know sometimes we do get caught up with other pt. Please don't think the ER staff doesn't care. We're just like everyone-short staff:rolleyes:

[Brickman]

So after a whole hour and a half your husband just got up and left? I think a note of apology to the staff might be in order.

[veetach]

I work at 557bed hospital and we have to call in our CT person and the results are faxed to Austrilia. So yes it does take along time. Granted someone should have explained to your husband what exactly was going on, but I know sometimes we do get caught up with other pt. Please don't think the ER staff doesn't care. We're just like everyone-short staff:rolleyes:

Stretch, I think you and I must work in the same hospital, only 2000 mi apart!! We also have to call in our CT tech, and we fax our results to Australia too!! only 300 beds in our hospital though. LOL

[RNin92]

Stretch, I think you and I must work in the same hospital, only 2000 mi apart!! We also have to call in our CT tech, and we fax our results to Australia too!! only 300 beds in our hospital though. LOL

What's with the whole Australia thing??

Now, I have nothing against anyone from "down under"...but this seems a little crazy to me!!!

We, too have to call in our CT techs at noc...but the films are on the computer...the radiologist reads them at home on his/her computer and calls back with the result.

Wow.

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

Meredith-

Just wanted to add that head injuries can be ree-ally sneaky so don't assume your hub is out of the woods yet. There could be a slow bleed going on for hours or days that won't become symptomatic until a certain amount of pressure has built up inside the skull so keep watching him! BTW, for that reason, it might have been useful to have had that CT done early on so that any change over time could be assessed.