Glen Beck's hospital experience

emmycRN · Jan 20, 2008

end game,
you need to chill, woman.
all the yelling in the world, will not and should not inhibit others from expressing their opinions.
i'm glad you advocate for your pts.
and i'd be willing to bet my last dollar, that most on this bb, do so, too.
advocating and protecting the rights/well-being of your pt, does not mean enabling nontherapeutic behaviors.
and if some of us are irritated at the histrionics of a misinformed pt, then that is ok too.
capiche?
thanks.
leslie

Thanks Leslie!!

Endgame, I think you may be taking this a little too personally. We're not mean, uncaring people. We're just sharing opinions on what Beck himself put out there for the world to read and reflect on. We're entitled.

nuangel1, BSN, RN · Jan 21, 2008

end game you need to calm down and not be telling people what to say or think.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Jan 21, 2008

1. don't forget to call your doctor on the way to the er

[color=sienna]nope, you still go through triage, and get placed in line of most to least sick.

2. don't use an ambulance unless you really need it

[color=sienna]true, and ayou'll get a therapeutic wait for trying to jump the line

3. don't be quiet

[color=sienna]the triage nurse is the person in charge, but if you get a hospital administrator they may bump you up whether you are sick or not in the name of customer satisfaction.

4. don't get angry, and don't lie

[color=sienna]er nurses have amazing lie detector abilities. they've seen 10/10 pain many times, and if you can make it into the triage room and talk coherently you are not there. give us the real number so we can provide better care.

5. don't forget the phone

[color=sienna] but you'll make so many people cranky that it may not be worth your while unless you are dying. send in the post discharge survey and be detailed, name names. they do get followed up on, but please, if you have something good to say don't leave it out. for every ten complaints, even the best nurses might get 1 compliment, and they earn it.

CHATSDALE · Jan 21, 2008

in the end it does matter how inflated the patients head is, it is the job of nurses to provide adequate care

and a 'therapeutic wait' is not good nursing

the md was wrong, he should have been scheduled to a day surgery where they can evaluate level of pain and potential for discharge

i have never been with hemorroids but i have heard that they are very uncomfortable

CHATSDALE · Jan 21, 2008

PAIN LEVELS

#1 on pain scale = you have two broken legs

#10 on pain scale = a door slammed on my finger

End Game RN, RN · Jan 21, 2008

Hello out there

I appreciate the input. It was excellent!!! I had a lot of fun writing this. Thought adding "Hit me with your best shot" would get a quick response.

I'm a very strong proponent of free speech. I do not tell people what to do or what to say or think, only an opinion that it is better to be kind when speaking about someone we don't know. Not all of these posts were insulting and judgemental, many were compassionate and had legitimate criticism. I was not addresing those who offered reasonable commentary, just those who seemed to mock this person.

We are as a rule a very compassionate group of people who chose this profession because we felt it was our calling. It helps to love what you do, and the bonus is that we are paid for something we love doing.

With respect

End Game RN

elliejayRN · Jan 22, 2008

Beck really seemed to be most unhappy with the 250-300 male nurse. I'm frankly as surprised as he that he was treated in that manner. He expressed concern about breathing and was anxious; he was ignored. He was angry about his mistreatment and used his resource to vent.

allnurses Guide · Jan 22, 2008

Beck really seemed to be most unhappy with the 250-300 male nurse. I'm frankly as surprised as he that he was treated in that manner. He expressed concern about breathing and was anxious; he was ignored. He was angry about his mistreatment and used his resource to vent.

Yeah, sorta like we do here on allnurses. ;)

Chilly_hands · Jan 23, 2008

I'm tired of the Glen Beck thing. You can't make all of the people happy all of the time but you can make some of the people happy some of the time. With that said, I'll stop reading the thread and go on back to trying to deliver care to my patients, who sometimes do get discharged and have to go back to the ER...for some reason or other. Usually with the follow-up phone calls, you find that it's for pain or bleeding. If you inquire further, they didn't take their pain medication on schedule or they weren't icing, resting and elevating something. Go figure.

psalm, RN · Jan 23, 2008

Let's all remember Keith Richard's kind words about nurses:

http://people.monstersandcritics.com/news/printer_1163283.php

Cheers!!

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Jan 23, 2008

Let's all remember Keith Richard's kind words about nurses:
http://people.monstersandcritics.com/news/printer_1163283.php
Cheers!!

Well, that's how I want to go--- falling out of a coconut tree on a South Sea Island!

Oldiebutgoodie

StacieRN, RN · Jan 24, 2008

Some things come to mind:

Patients with a history of drug abuse are notoriously difficult to get good pain control on. I'm really sorry about that. We do the best we can to help them but it is THEIR fault that this problem exists.

Pain is NOT an emergent problem - no matter what the patient thinks. Neither is being unable to void.

Nurses aren't mind readers - if you need a wheelchair or assistance walking, for heavens sake WHY wouldn't you ASK for it?

If the doctor had been doing his job, Mr Beck wouldn't have gone home and the whole ER ordeal wouldn't have happened.

If Mr Beck hadn't insisted on going home the ordeal wouldn't have happened.

If the Dr has gotten off his lazy @ss and direct admitted Mr Beck, he wouldn't have had to wait in the ER.

The Dr mislead Mr Beck that "calling ahead" would get him to the front of the line.

Mr Beck was poorly educated about what to expect regarding post-op pain. The surgeon and anesthetist were responsible for this.

Mr Beck makes several uninformed statements regarding the medicines he was taking (their uses and side effects),foley catheters, need for oxygen and breathing monitoring, etc. Yes, he should have been better educated. But he seems to think he knows more than he does.

He complains of not having his pain addressed but admits that he was not using his PCA. If he was afraid of it stopping his breathing why not ask his nurse to explain (again, not mind readers).

Mr Beck seemed to be under the impression he should get better care because of his fame.

Mr Beck wants to place the blame on the hospital and nurses. The doctor and Mr Beck himself seem to be the reason he was in this situation.

Monitoring breathing is common in PACU. Once discharged by anesthesia, it is no longer necessary unless a problem arises. If he was able to verbalize to the nurse -it seems he was breathing adequately and she was assessing him.

.....................................................................................................................

If I could talk to him, this is what I would say-

Mr Beck:

Take responsibility for your care. Participate! Ask questions, ask for explanations.

Don't just assume nurses can read your mind and know what you need or what you need to know more about.

If you need help (i.e. a wheelchair) ask for it.

If your doctor recommends that you stay overnight - stay.

Nowadays nurses are extremely busy and we prioritize care. If your nurse wasn't spending much time with you, that means you were stable and not in danger.

If you were given a PCA, that means it was considered safe and you were expected to use it. If you were afraid of the side effects why didn't you tell the nurse and ask for further information?

Monitoring your breathing after surgery is common. When you were allowed to leave the recovery area it was because you were breathing okay and was no longer necessary. If you can talk, you are breathing alright. Panicking about it just makes the feeling of not being able to breathe worse. If the nurse says you are breathing fine - relax.

Your wait in the ER was because pain and bladder distension are not life-threating.

Life-threating conditions are seen first. And just because the waiting room patients were "sitting down" does not mean their condition was not worse than yours.

Your doctor could have bypassed the wait by admitting you himself - he knew that your condition was not an emergency and that you would wait. Calling ahead does nothing - you will not get seen ahead of a sicker patient.

Also, don't just assign blame without finding out who the responsible party actually is.

In this case - I'm afraid it's largely YOU!