Do nurses make the worst patients?

[Esme12]

hospitals may be the worst place to stay when you're sick

american hospitals are capable of great medical feats, but they also are plagued by daily errors that cost lives.

http://bcove.me/wturuxfq interesting video!

www.aarp.org

americans are dying in hospitals from preventable medical mistakes. but, patients can minimize their risks by keeping a close eye on their care

as a recent frequent flyer of medical care......i know why i hate hospitals and i admit i am not the most patient patient. viewing the medical profession as a patient i am increasingly concerned where this is all going to end up and increasingly paranoid when i am hospitalized knowing that it is increasingly difficult avoiding being the victum of a grave mistake.

[lockheart678]

Most patients I have had that were in the medical field were really easy. Very few of them worked in my specialty anyway, so I explained everything to them as if they knew nothing about the medical world. One nurse I had though, I will never forget because she was so rude and demanding. She knew nothing about the surgical world, yet she acted like she knew how everything works in surgery. It was a teaching facility and she demanded that she only have an attending anesthesiologist with no resident assisting. Then the anesthesiologist switches out the resident with a CRNA who is more knowledgeable and the patient complains even more about the CRNA because she wasn't an MD! Her logic was that the CRNA had less schooling than the resident, even though the CRNA had been practicing for a while and the resident was brand new. I was so happy when she was finally induced and we didn't have to talk to her anymore.

Whenever I'm a patient, I don't even tell people I'm a nurse unless they ask me what I do. I would rather keep it a secret so they don't treat me any differently than they would anyone else. When I had to have surgery though, I was glad I knew most of the people who took care of me during my stay. The only nurse I had an issue with (the only one I didn't know as well) was the one who sent me home. I was extremely nauseated and almost vomited (something that I reported happens to me when I am under anesthesia), yet she just let me go home anyway without even giving me another couple of minutes to make sure it didn't come back. Luckily for the both of us, I didn't throw up in the car on the way home. If I had, I would have complained about her for sending me home when she shouldn't have. I'm all for not giving people trouble, but if you screw up big time, you'd better believe I'll be complaining about it.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I've had a few RUNs as patients. One was wonderful from the get-go, and one had a rep for being difficult but became wonderful after I talked to her for a little while.

I was also recently a patient and will continue to be one for the next few months, and apparently, I'm an easy patient (or so they all said). I really only needed post-op abx and pain meds, but I was checked on every two hours, so the pain mgmt process was a smooth one. While it's not the norm, my surgeon did agree to discharge me quickly, given no complications and all abx infused. I practically begged him for a quick discharge when he saw me in pre-op, and I was out less than 24 hours after a 5-hour surgery, but he elicited my explicit promise to call him if any problems arose. No problems yet!

I am sending good thoughts for you to get well......:loveya:.

I am ever increasingly aware about medical mistakes and have caught many myself. I know that with an increase in the frequency of visits the frequency of errors occur. I have caught several myself and had to argue that I wasn't the one or that isn't my procedure.......it makes one into a nervous patient.