Being a patient, your opinions

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After having a family member hospitalized, I definitely saw things from the other side. Because I am a nurse, I knew how precious time was for my family member's nurse, therefore, I was very careful with my requests. All in all, the care was excellent.

Focus: if you have been hospitalized, or someone else in your family has been, what could the staff have done differently or what made it a positive experience?

Had this nurse NOT made me so mad, I would not have told her that I was a nurse. However, this was the hospital I worked at, so she would have found out eventually, anyway. I can not BELIEVE that heifer said that about your Daddy. I would have unloaded on her. I think it must be a Southern thing. We just don't sit still for that. Kudos to you for keeping your cool. I'd have been in jail.
Oh trust me, I tore her a new one... the look on her face when I started tossing out medical terms and it dawned on her that I knew what I was talking about was precious. I'm from the South too, btw. I was able to keep my cool (and I really wasn't that 'cool' about it) only because I knew Mom needed help immediately. I was so furious that I instructed my father that if she ever got into trouble like that again and the nurses refused to respond, he was to hit that big blue button on the panel over her bed.

BTW, in this same hospital (a major well-known teaching facility) after her initial head/neck surgery (14+ hours in the OR)... NO one made rounds on her from late on 3-11 shift until after 7 am the next morning. I was in her room and awake the entire night. The door was closed and remained so the entire night; no one so much as peeked into the room, forget about VS or assessment of any sort. I complained about this only to be told that their nurses were not required to make rounds.

WTH??

I would dearly love to get hold of her medical records and read what the nurses charted on her that night.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

I was very recently a patient in the hospital I work at. the care was wonderful and staff in Radiology were very special. What I did learn however was how horrible the tests are that I have been sending my patients off the floor for and how some of them make you just wanna die. I have learn't that I will be more considerate and caring when my patients leave the floor and more importantly I shall be there promptly upon their return to make sure they are not too traumatised. Also not to rush any IV meds as they are so horrible and hurt.

My bed wasnt changed on one floor for 3 days and after some of the tests it is important to make sure the pt has a clean bed!!!! Might seem trivial but believe me it is improtant that the pt is not emarrassed nor does the pt feel unclean.

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.
i'm from the south too, btw. i was able to keep my cool (and i really wasn't that 'cool' about it) only because i knew mom needed help immediately. i was so furious that i instructed my father that if she ever got into trouble like that again and the nurses refused to respond, he was to hit that big blue button on the panel over her bed.

.

way to go..i too, would have been in jail for assault, after which i would have made it my life's work to get these idiots fired!!

:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

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My mom just spent a week in the hospital. It was a suburban hospital and mostly the things that I saw were excellent. It was several hours from time we hit ER till we got to floor and many people would have raged over this. But I know how it is and I did not flip out. We were not abandoned while we waited because we were checked on and food was provided and comfort measure were attended to. I took my mom to hospital at 8am because I know that is ER slow time. My advice to people is don't wait around and rush in at 2pm when everyone else shows up. It is the flu season and had we done that she would have had to sit on a cart in hall like so many other. The hospital has primary care nursing. Honestly this is better, I know because I used to work there. If course there were days that there was no aide and you saw the nurses a lot less. Had to laugh at that because 20 years ago they had days when there was no aide and they were hectic and nothing has changed. Had a lot to do with why I left, managment must find this situation acceptable because they have not done anything about it in 20 years. Couple of things irked me. There were no routine checks done when trays were delivered. This was unthinkable to me, when I was the nurse everyone was visited after trays were delivered at least once. Perhaps they thought people would put on light and ask for things they needed but not everyone has their wits about enough to do that. Now I had bad days when the tray checks would be late and always I would find someone whose tray was unreachable and who did not have their wits about them enough to ask and always I felt horrible about this. However, always I got there eventually. My mom was frequently cared for by an experienced LPN and on those days she got the best care. Other days she was cared for by inexperienced RN and boy did it show. On discharge day this nurse did not give my mom her morning meds and she told me it was to "MAKE IT EASIER FOR ME!" Her reasonsing being that I would not have to worry about what was given and what was not given. That was not acceptable and I told her so. My mom did not get home till 2pm and it is not acceptable for elderly people to get their BP meds, heart meds and blood thinners 6 hours late on those ground. Big NO NO and I could have reported her for that. I think the real reason was to make it easier for her because she did not have to spend time doing all that explaining. Totally unacceptable and I never pulled a trick like that in all my years of nursing. I also informed this nurse that my mom still had a lock and asked that it be removed. Made a big mistake in assuming that it had been removed because when I got home and checked found it still there. Only left a lock in once in my forty years as nurse and it was in a patient that left at shift change 30 minutes after I walked in door. Still I felt that it was my responsibility and I was severely repremanded about it and I did not feel resentful about the repremand because I was responsible.

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"Your mother's problem is your father. He needs to leave immediately."
[size=3]I think I would have freaked out if someone said that to me. If you didn't knock that nurse out,  you did good.[/size]
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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

When I've been a patient, my biggest complaint was that, when I was on clear liquids, the kitchen kept sending me orange jello! (I detest orange jello). Honestly, that was my big complaint. I got wonderful care. I did once have a nurse start an IV before an outpatient surgery; when she withdrew the needle from the catheter, she stuck it into the blue pad on my lap. Problem was, it went through the pad into my leg. She was horrified!! She was still apologizing when I left that afternoon.

As far as family is concerned, my only complaints were about doctors, not the hospital staff. One surgeon operated on my husband, called from the OR to say he was fine, and left to go out of town! Nobody else would give me any information. This same doc also ordered the wrong medication for him. I wouldn't let the nurse give it and had her call his partner and get it changed.

A few years later, he was in the hospital where I was working to have hernia surgery. He was kept NPO and kept getting bumped on the OR schedule. This was a teaching hospital, BTW. They finally discharged him and rescheduled for a month later, promising me he'd be first case. Well, the resident rotation had changed and the exact same thing happened! Not only that, but a resident argued with me that they couldn't order for him to take his home meds. I knew better. I may understand why the hospital marks generic medications up so high; that doesn't mean I want to volunteer to pay it when I don't have to.

I then took him to a private surgeon at another hospital, he had it done outpatient, and all went well. I complained to my employing hospital and got an apology from administration.

Oh, and I had a couple of ER docs in different hospitals treat me like I didn't know what I was talking about, once with my husband and once with my son.

In my hospitalizations, I was known as a nurse due to circumstances (two I'd been employed at, one the surgeon told everyone in advance).

When my parents are in the hospital, I usually get introduced as my-daughter-the-nurse to everyone.

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:typing

My mom just spent a week in the hospital. It was a suburban hospital and mostly the things that I saw were excellent. It was several hours from time we hit ER till we got to floor and many people would have raged over this. But I know how it is and I did not flip out. We were not abandoned while we waited because we were checked on and food was provided and comfort measure were attended to. I took my mom to hospital at 8am because I know that is ER slow time. My advice to people is don't wait around and rush in at 2pm when everyone else shows up. It is the flu season and had we done that she would have had to sit on a cart in hall like so many other. The hospital has primary care nursing. Honestly this is better, I know because I used to work there. If course there were days that there was no aide and you saw the nurses a lot less. Had to laugh at that because 20 years ago they had days when there was no aide and they were hectic and nothing has changed. Had a lot to do with why I left, managment must find this situation acceptable because they have not done anything about it in 20 years. Couple of things irked me. There were no routine checks done when trays were delivered. This was unthinkable to me, when I was the nurse everyone was visited after trays were delivered at least once. Perhaps they thought people would put on light and ask for things they needed but not everyone has their wits about enough to do that. Now I had bad days when the tray checks would be late and always I would find someone whose tray was unreachable and who did not have their wits about them enough to ask and always I felt horrible about this. However, always I got there eventually. My mom was frequently cared for by an experienced LPN and on those days she got the best care. Other days she was cared for by inexperienced RN and boy did it show. On discharge day this nurse did not give my mom her morning meds and she told me it was to "MAKE IT EASIER FOR ME!" Her reasonsing being that I would not have to worry about what was given and what was not given. That was not acceptable and I told her so. My mom did not get home till 2pm and it is not acceptable for elderly people to get their BP meds, heart meds and blood thinners 6 hours late on those ground. Big NO NO and I could have reported her for that. I think the real reason was to make it easier for her because she did not have to spend time doing all that explaining. Totally unacceptable and I never pulled a trick like that in all my years of nursing. I also informed this nurse that my mom still had a lock and asked that it be removed. Made a big mistake in assuming that it had been removed because when I got home and checked found it still there. Only left a lock in once in my forty years as nurse and it was in a patient that left at shift change 30 minutes after I walked in door. Still I felt that it was my responsibility and I was severely repremanded about it and I did not feel resentful about the repremand because I was responsible.

If you look at this long post you would think I was saying the care was bad. It was not, over all it was good and even excellent at times. I want to make sure everyone understands that.:typing

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One negative experience for me. When I had my second baby, she was so big that she tore my pelvic bone from the pubic symphysis. I had so much pain that when I tried to walk my toes curled up and would not allow me. I could not walk it hurt so bad. The staff did not believe me and finally the doc ordered a x-ray. There was an inch gap in my pelvic bone. Ortho doc consulted and said it is similar to a broken pelvic bone and it hurt so bad because it was unstable. Later that day a staff member actually told me that they did not believe me that I was having pain until they saw those x-rays. After that everyone's attitude changed, but until then, they treated me like I was a drama queen.

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Specializes in ICU.

Ironically, my experience as a patient is what motivated me to pursue a nursing career. I stayed two days for a nerve injury. First day was a female RN, next day was a male RN. The male RN sat and talked with me.. and gave me some insight as to what a nurse really does. Back then.. I thought nurses simply passed meds and cleaned up poo...

Boy what a difference a few years makes!!!!

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I'll never forget the nursing assistant who helped me get cleaned up after labor. My legs were not stable from the epidural and I was exhausted. This aide helped me wash, change into a clean gown and get tucked in a clean bed. At that moment, I had never been so grateful for another person's help.

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Specializes in OB, Med-Surg.

my husband became ill while we were vacationing in Wisconsin. It was the middle of the night, our first night there and we were miles and miles away from home. We had our children who were 1 year and 3 years old at the time. I had to call an ambulance because I had no idea where the nearest hospital was. I received wonderful care ( and my husband too ) all the way from the police officer that came to the hotel to help me out, the ambulance crew that safely got my husband to the hospital, and the nurses in the emergency room. I can't ever thank them enough.

The nurses knew I was scared, I was trying to be there for my husband while taking care of our children, in a strange place where I didn't know anybody else. They were so wonderful. Everything I think a nurse should be. They made sure my children had a bed to sleep on, allowed us to stay in a "family" room, and was supportive and calm to my very shook up husband. Everything turned out ok in the long run with him, and we came back home the next day so he could recover, but if it weren't for those nurses that night it would have been a lot scarier, and I would have been a nervous wreck.

Thank you Wisconsin E.R. nurses in St. Claire Hospital in Baraboo Wisconsin

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Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

The one thing I think staff in general could do better is give a quick synopsis of what is going to happen today, or during this visit/ stay. If staff can set general expectations as much as possible, the pt/ family feels less insecure and usually less discontented. (They may not be happy about the wait but at least they're not blind-sided if they need to make alternate childcare plans, etc). Example: accompanied a family member yesterday who needed an urgent but not emergent diagnostic US. He was given little info at Radiology. I waited until there was an opening at the Reception desk to speak with them and thru questioning found that his US was being fit in and they were hopefully having an opening in about 30". The US would be read by a radiologist who would then report to the MD who ordered the test. If the office was closed at that time they would report to the MD on call.

I've found as a staff member that giving this sort of info at the onset saves me big time in the long run as it cuts down on family members hovering around the nurses' station every few minutes. Also if I can stick my head into their room with any updates it is more convenient for me than if they chase me down in the middle of doing other patient care.

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