I just am not sure what to do. I'm sure if i call the hospital tomorrow to complain i'll get transferred here and there and finally to an answering machine or get hung up on or no one will return my call. My mom is going through the change and her hormones are messed up causing dramatic lady partsl bleeding. she often wears 3-4 pads at a time, underwear ruined, our chairs have towels on them, it's bad. she had a d/c and removal of polyps, cancer ruled out. no health coverage and medicaid won't help. she's weak, looks pale, gets horrible leg cramps etc. today was no exception and our bathroom looked like an operating room. she's had the problem for almost 2 years and apparently little can be done. she's falling asleep and uncomfortable in the waiting room like she might pass out. after 3 hours of waiting i finally told them she had better get examined right quick. got in there the nurse drew blood, and then helped her clean up and changed her bed. so far good, that nurse was an angel. the doctor comes though and basically says they can't do anything for her today, she has to make an appointment with her gynecologist which of course is ALWAYS SO BUSY, might not see her for a couple months. meanwhile she was told if she had problems to go to the ER. then they draw more blood. her count was ok so no transfusion or anything. another guy comes in to start an iv and mom asked for what and he didn't know! so she wouldn't let him so he takes his cart and leaves. another nurse comes in says here's your paper you can leave. she had to go to the bathroom and told them that but they wouldn't even give her anything to cover with to go out in the hall. i won't say what my loving mother did next but well a mess was made. her pants were soaked from blood so she had to leave in a hospital gown, no scrub pants were offered to walk out in the cold. and they didn't even really offer a wheelchair since she is weak and gets light headed. i pulled my car up had the heater going and luckily had a blanket in the car. i realize it's christmas but god last christmas i worked 3 days later i was terminated from my job because they wouldn't hold my position for recovery and 2 days after that i was in the operating room having surgery. medicaide won't help me either. i'm soon to be a nurse, helping people, and no one cares when you or a loved one is sick. what is this world coming to?
Unfortunately, health care is a commodity in America. Health care is not an individual right.
Those with money and/or superb health insurance are treated the best when receiving care in health care facilities. If you flip the coin, those with less money and no health insurance must resort to treatment in overcrowded urban hospitals or low-cost clinics where patients are not treated well.
I'd hate to admit this, but your mother might have had a better experience in the ER if she was an 'economically viable' patient. Economically viable patients have the means to pay for good health care via health insurance, cash, and other assets. Many health care facilities do not wish to deal with patients who have no way to pay for the services rendered.
I am sorry for what is happening to your mother. She deserves to be treated as a living, breathing, dignified person.
I know what you are saying is true, but looks can also be deceiving. My sister is married to a multi-millionaire (won't say just how many times over, but will say he retired and sold his company for the millions in the $$$ digits). Anyway, she has a young child (the people at the peds office thought she was the grandma :uhoh21: ) and when they found out she didn't have health insurance they have treated her differently, suggesting she go get on some medicaid program called "Children First" or something like that. All she told them is that she didn't think they would "qualify." I know they look at her differently than insured patients, they just don't realize she is so wealthy she can afford to be self insured. And when they don't think you have a means to pay the options they offer you decrease greatly.
I have health insurance but it's so crummy I still can't afford to go to the doctor. But in my pre-work years I learned health care is a privledge and not a right when I went to the ER with a severe gallstone attack and as soon as the doctor found out I was uninsured he said it wasn't an emergency and sent me home. I mean, he didn't even make an attempt to conceal the reason he was ditching me. But when we hear someone doesn't have helath insurance we shouldn't be so quick to assume they are indigent. I'll bet my sister isn't the only case of someone who has so much money it isn't worth it to buy healthcare insurance.
Waiting for 2 years to fix the same problem seems like too much time to me. Chronic problems need to be properly addressed by a regular doctor. The ED is for rescue situations, to stablize patients. I'm very sorry about your mother's situation & I hope when you finish your nursing degree, you will see things from the other side of the fence as well. Seeing a loved one suffer is truly difficult. ... Also, the ED doesn't have extra scrub pants or other articles of clothing for your mother to wear home. We are lucky to find a pillow! Hope is all works out & my best thoughts to you.
:yeahthat: I feel badly for your mom's situation, it's a terrible thing to go through. But this is the difficult thing about patients who present to the ER with a chronic problem ... it's not something that can be fixed now, today, which is what we do in the ER. Honestly, if your mom's gyne has been putting her off for 2+ years, that is the problem, not your experience in the ER yesterday.
I'm sorry that scrubs and a wheelchair were not available, but I can tell you that is common as well ... in my ER we sometimes have paper scrub tops & bottoms, which I will gladly provide if they are available. Wheelchairs are put to use almost as fast as escort staff & volunteers can try to accumulate them in the hallway, so if you need a wheelchair to get to your car upon discharge, I will be happy to try to provide one, but it may well take 20-30 minutes while I round up some available escort staff (if it isn't during night shift) to make another sweep of the hospital to find one for you.
I had a really horrific experience in the ER several years ago and wrote a detailed letter to the CEO of the hospital and actually recieved a return phone call by the CEO himself, profusley apologising, etc.Of course I did mention the SUE word in the letter.
Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
i'm soon to be a nurse, helping people, and no one cares when you or a loved one is sick. what is this world coming to?
Do a search on "ombudsman" and your state (ie ombudsman Maine) and see if there is a patient advocate. Or you can go to the patient care representative of the hospital. At least you will get answers as to why this happened, if not some help.
Definitely in the meantime get to her GYN and if she gets nowhere, find another one!
Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
...Tests came back that I had stage 2 uterine cancer, and was scheduled for a hysterectomy that same week. Went to my regular gyn and asked for my medical records and told him about this. Needless to say, he was silent and had me lead out of his office.
One week later, went septic, had to be hospitilized and reopened. 10 months later, had to have a third surgery. A tumor the size of a pop can had grown on the ovary that I had chosen to leave in for hormonal reasons.
II am wonderful now, cancer free for 8 years, but the bottom line is,,,listen to your bady, pursue all aspects. If you feel you are being treated based on your financial background, contact the hospital financial and social office.
Unreal. Did you report this guy to the Med. board? I mean, I understand dismissing it the first time you called, but come on... You are so blessed to be alive!!
write to the hospital, keep a copy, stress the fact that the reason that you went to er was because of the amount of blood that she had passed and the concerns that you had for her welfare
it is NOT uncooperative to refuse the iv if you don't know what it is to be used for..once i was in the hospital and the nurse can with a souffle cup with pills i did not recognize, when i asked her what they were she replied
'these are meds that the doctor ordered, i don't have time to explain all the pills to you, if you don't want them i will simply put REFUSED
i certainly put refused and after i left i c/o to hospital
your mother needs to be seen by another gyn and she might be helped by getting some of those incontintence undergarments...
Is there a clinic in your area that offers reduced rates for health care? Or a clinic associated with a teaching facility? I agree that this OB-GYN needs to step up the treatment or be replaced. Vitamins and Iron in higher doses may only help minimally. Thank goodness in our area there are 3 places to go for people who have health problems and little money. I know you are worried and my prayers will be with you and your Mom.
... when I went to the ER with a severe gallstone attack and as soon as the doctor found out I was uninsured he said it wasn't an emergency and sent me home. I mean, he didn't even make an attempt to conceal the reason he was ditching me.
Cholecystitis patients are almost always discharged from the ER with a referral to a surgeon, regardless of whether they have insurance or are self-pay. These patients are rarely admitted. Cholecystitis is generally not a surgical emergency.
Again, I sympathize with the OP's extreme frustration and concern for her mother, but the bottom line is that this situation has been ongoing for 2 years. It's been going on for so long that her mom has come up with adaptive behaviors (wearing 2-3 pads at all times) and so has the family (covering chair seats with towels). While this is a very unfortunate situation, it is not the fault of the ER. If the patient's H&H had been critically low, she would have been transfused. If her condition was a surgical emergency, she would have been sent to the OR.
It is against the law for docs and/or nurses to see what kind of medical insurance a pt presenting to the ER has. They check in, get triaged, get seen and THEN sign the papers with the front office regarding what kind of insurance. This law was enacted just so no one could judge a patient and treat them differently.
Although we would not treat anyone differently in the first place.
This is a chronic problem and you need a new gyno.
I would have gotten your mom pads, pants and a wheelchair.
I worked in a large level one trauma center for 10 years and was the case manager for two of those years. I never knew anyone's insurance info unless I needed it specifically for discharge planning purposes or to ensure a medication was covered.
I have complained about my ER visits. I find out who the VP is over that area and call that person and will either be put through are I am called back. It would be good to follow up with a letter about your experience(just the ER) to the VP who is in charge of that dept.
Two years? Same problem? What is the priority? Is healthcare a right or a luxury? Who is responsible for taking the time and money to care? Who should be responsible? Why is this happening to your mother? What can you and your mother do to prevent this sad situation from happening again?
Jo Dirt
3,270 Posts
I know what you are saying is true, but looks can also be deceiving. My sister is married to a multi-millionaire (won't say just how many times over, but will say he retired and sold his company for the millions in the $$$ digits). Anyway, she has a young child (the people at the peds office thought she was the grandma :uhoh21: ) and when they found out she didn't have health insurance they have treated her differently, suggesting she go get on some medicaid program called "Children First" or something like that. All she told them is that she didn't think they would "qualify." I know they look at her differently than insured patients, they just don't realize she is so wealthy she can afford to be self insured. And when they don't think you have a means to pay the options they offer you decrease greatly.
I have health insurance but it's so crummy I still can't afford to go to the doctor. But in my pre-work years I learned health care is a privledge and not a right when I went to the ER with a severe gallstone attack and as soon as the doctor found out I was uninsured he said it wasn't an emergency and sent me home. I mean, he didn't even make an attempt to conceal the reason he was ditching me. But when we hear someone doesn't have helath insurance we shouldn't be so quick to assume they are indigent. I'll bet my sister isn't the only case of someone who has so much money it isn't worth it to buy healthcare insurance.