I'm having a difficult time right now understanding why some healthcare workers remain in a hospital setting when they are no longer (or never were to begin with) compassionate. On Sunday evening my grandmother fell down 5 stairs and fractured 3 cervical vertebrae, one of them causing extensive spinal cord damage. I was out of town when this happened and was at the hospital for the first time yesterday. Now this is a pretty well-known hospital located 10 miles west of downtown Chicago, it's the hospital I was born in.
A little background on my grandmother: she is an extremely healthy 96 year old, on no medications, and has been suffering from dementia for the last few years. She still knows who everyone is, and is still able to tell stories from her youth in Russia. She just gets confused at times, and forgets some things. Before this incident her only other ailment was blindness in one eye. She didn't wear diapers, and was able to get up and move around on her own and prepare some of her own meals. She fell while going to lock the main door of her 3 flat that she has lived in and owned for 60+ years. Thankfully my father and stepmother live in the second floor apt. and were home when this happened.
I was alarmed upon arrival at the hospital yesterday. The first thing I witnessed was an old man (clearly suffering from severe dementia) in the room next to her was being escorted out by his "caretaker" for a walk. He immediately fell over on his side , making a very lound noise, once in the hallway. There were several residents at their computers about 10 feet away that just sat there while his barely 5 ft. tall "caretaker" struggled to get him back up. After about 1 min she called for help and a resident came over and gave assistance getting him back into bed. There was no examination given to make sure he didn't injure anything, even though he landed right on his hip.
I had to wait about 20 min. in the hall because they were trying to insert an NG tube in my grandmother because she has been either refusing, or not responding when they are asking her to open her mouth or swallow (she has always been extremely stubborn). This was the only way of getting the contrast in her to do a CT scan of her abdomen because it had started to swell. One of the nurses came out, not her nurse by the way, and asked what happened to her. Her response was "my mother is 88 and I tell her no stairs, they just don't listen." Thanks for your input nurse on how my grandmother just "doesn't listen." This is where the frustration begins, and I am realizing that the staff probably thinks she's just some old lady who was trying to do something she wasn't supposed to do. A few minutes later some surgical residents come by to check her abdomen. She was being somewhat responsive for them and performing some of the tasks they were asking her to do. They said they were still waiting to hear from the neurosurgeon and would go from there. My father informed them we had already talked to him and he informed us surgery was not an option and how she is now is the way she will be for good, and that we need to start thinking about long term care. The response from the surg resident was "well, she is ONLY 96," meaning she's old why bother trying to prolong her happiness/life. I was amazed by this response, considering she's breathing on her own, able to move her arms, hands, legs, and feet and all bloodwork/vitals look good. About an hour later her nurse comes in to give the first dose of contrast solution through the NG tube. She's already in severe discomfort from the tube, and the nurse comes in chomping on her chewing gum making it pop and crackle in my grandmother's face. She starts crying from the discomfort of the solution in the tube, and the nurse is just chomping away on her gum. My grandmother has been blind since arrival because her good eye is swollen shut and has no idea what's going on because of the morphine/dementia, and this woman is just rudely making startling/annoying sounds with her gum. I had to leave the room before I said something.
Is this common for elderly patients to be treated in this way? I would expect this reaction from a veterinarian if my old dog was hit by a car, but not for a woman whose injuries don't seem to be life threatening at this point. My grandmother's good eye finally opened a few hours later and she was talking away once she could see who was there and was moving her arms and legs freely. It seems that the staff is treating her like she's an old dog that's not worth their time or energy. Also the lack of compassion from the nurses I encountered was upsetting, considering they are the ones that are supposed to be promoting her well being when we have to go home. It sickens me to think what might be going on when visiting hours are over. I am starting my journey into nursing this fall and I vow to always have this in mind: Every patient means the world to someone, and you should care for them and interact with them in the same manner their loved ones would.
