Glen Beck's hospital experience

Published

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/3502/

What do you all think of this? There are several things about his tirade which rub me the wrong way but I really want to hear what you all have to say.

He must have still been under the influence when he wrote this rant, wierd.:icon_roll
I think so too.

I did look on his website and see he does have a hx of ETOH and drug abuse (by his own admission). I am sure he felt awful, but quite the drama king too. I bet he was a real handful too for the staff.

Here s a link to his website http://archive.glennbeck.com/about/about-glennbeck.shtml

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I didn't watch the video either, got enough from his writing..Who is he?

We have VIP's come in all the time & I never recognize them (they look different in real life!), which sometimes greatly offends them. Lol..Getting older I guess.

Ms.P

I dislike the entire concept of VIPs - it implys that some get SUPER hospital care......EVERYONE should get that care!

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He said he was going to be on Good Morning America tommorrow morning,with his wife and will be discussing this further.
Oh good LORD.
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I'm a nurse on a short stay unit. Yes, patients having "butt" surgery are discharged the same day and I've never seen one patient in agonizing pain like Mr. Beck. If a patient were in that much pain, he'd be admitted for 23 hour observation.

Mr. Beck was also being asked to "breathe" in the recovery room. That's kind of a standard thing, isn't it? The recovery room nurse must be sure the patient is taking good breaths on their own before being discharged from the unit.

It is policy for "butt" surgery to have the patient void spontaneously before going home as well as in good pain control.

It does appear that Mr. Beck had a good dosing of medication well at the hospital. He must have been writhing in pain. Many of our patients have had Toradol, Percocet, Morphine pumps right on scheduled doses and never experienced the "near death" Mr. Beck is stating happened to him. Fentanyl IV is used frequently in our outpatient setting and we anticipate those patients going home and we don't use it as an "end of life" drug.

To me, Mr. Beck has been very ill-informed on his surgical procedure, what to expect before and after surgery and the criteria he has to meet for discharge. Also, in my experience, patients that have history's similar to Mr. Beck, do have a more difficult time with pain control and it is more challenging getting it under control.

Mr. Beck's statements are most negative on the healthcare system. Yes, you do run into some facilities with issues, but I'll bet even the worst facility would change behavior's knowing a "well-known" patient is coming for fear of a lawsuit or exactly what Mr. Beck has done. I do believe he's hallucinated from some of the drugs...which can be a side effect.

This was a comedy, indeed.

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I'd be a little concerned his wife would take a guy much bigger than her, in the state he was in, into the shower. Most injuries happen in the home, in the shower. Had he fallen and cracked his head open...Yikes!.

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Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

Umm, my husband had "butt" surgery last year. He required a total of 5 lortab 10's over maybe 3 days to cope. Well, that and some baby wipes, colace, MOM cocktail with prune juice, and my cooking, which he refused to eat after he saw what I did with the MOM and prune juice.

Butt surgery isn't all that bad. Mr. Beck is truly blessed to have only had to have his hiney worked on.

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Specializes in Triage, MedSurg, MomBaby, Peds, HH.

I actually listened to Glenn Beck for years back in Tampa (it's where he started). His TV show is so different I never would've recognized him, so I don't watch it. On the radio he is very entertaining, even though we don't agree on a lot of things.

Hopefully this experience will help him to understand

a) how badly healthcare needs to be reformed

and

b) how much worse his outcome would've been had he been uninsured or unable to pay out of pocket.

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I just watched the interview with Robin Roberts via the net.

Obviously he still needs some education regarding meds (that Fentanyl is for dying patients only). And regarding ER waiting times.

But I still think the triage nurse standing there drumming his fingers on the door and not helping Mr. Beck get up from the couch is rude.

He has some legitimate complaints. He needs some further education.

I'm still wondering if the negative reaction to this situation would be the same if Katie Couric was on the couch in that ER waiting room and no one helped her up and into a wheelchair.

I was vaguely aware of Mr. Beck prior to this incident but have never listened to him.

Listing his opinions regarding political issues isn't a fair way to judge a person in pain.

"His opinions are opposite of mine so he must be lying" is not fair.

I've had many patients with post-op pain med/anesthesia psychosis . . one hip replacement patient got out of bed and out the door and ran down the street in his hospital gown . . .a big 6'4" guy.

By the way, his wife is a petite little thing . .. .why that triage nurse didn't help is beyond me.

steph

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Specializes in Medical Floor RN.

Yes. Mr. Beck can be a little dramatic at times, but, this article brings to light what many may forget. I truly believe that many nurses, doctors, techs, etc. lose sight of the real reason for being in the health profession...We are all here to HELP people. To allow Mr. Beck's wife to carry him back from the ER by herself is disgusting. It is very sad that the triage nurse did not help in any way. That is really sad. As for the nurse who did not check on him while he was there the first night/morning; AGGHHH! Listen to your patients, please. When a patient says something, they are probably (99% of the time) telling you the truth. Listen. I think many of these problems could have been remedied had there been proper teaching done at the pre-op and post-op levels. It seems as if Mr. Beck was not told much of what to expect after the surgery about his pain and the drugs. Although this article does show the sometimes ugly side of the profession, they need to be printed as well as all of the amazing stories about the profession (which far outway the bad ones) so that people can remember (who have forgotten) why you are in the healthcare industry. God bless to you all.

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Dr. Charles Littlejohn is a colorectal surgeon, which may help to explain why Beck has chosen not to discuss the nature of the surgery. It is something Beck would like to put behind him, so to speak. It is also possible, since he said it was a procedure that is normally done on an outpatient basis, that Beck had hemorrhoids removed.

If that is true, hemmorhoid surgery CAN be painful - but he was given the opportunity to stay at the very beginning - and chose not to.

It kind of sounds like he has NO pain tolerance at all, and I'm glad I wasn't his nurse.

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I'm a nurse on a short stay unit. Yes, patients having "butt" surgery are discharged the same day and I've never seen one patient in agonizing pain like Mr. Beck. If a patient were in that much pain, he'd be admitted for 23 hour observation.

Mr. Beck was also being asked to "breathe" in the recovery room. That's kind of a standard thing, isn't it? The recovery room nurse must be sure the patient is taking good breaths on their own before being discharged from the unit.

It is policy for "butt" surgery to have the patient void spontaneously before going home as well as in good pain control.

It does appear that Mr. Beck had a good dosing of medication well at the hospital. He must have been writhing in pain. Many of our patients have had Toradol, Percocet, Morphine pumps right on scheduled doses and never experienced the "near death" Mr. Beck is stating happened to him. Fentanyl IV is used frequently in our outpatient setting and we anticipate those patients going home and we don't use it as an "end of life" drug.

To me, Mr. Beck has been very ill-informed on his surgical procedure, what to expect before and after surgery and the criteria he has to meet for discharge. Also, in my experience, patients that have history's similar to Mr. Beck, do have a more difficult time with pain control and it is more challenging getting it under control.

Mr. Beck's statements are most negative on the healthcare system. Yes, you do run into some facilities with issues, but I'll bet even the worst facility would change behavior's knowing a "well-known" patient is coming for fear of a lawsuit or exactly what Mr. Beck has done. I do believe he's hallucinated from some of the drugs...which can be a side effect.

This was a comedy, indeed.

I thought it strange that Beck was still afraid he would stop breathing even DAYS after surgery.

And I have news for him, the nurse who told him he was breathing fine WAS monitoring him. It's called patient assessment. To me, this is an example of how little the public understands what we do and the knowledge we have that allows us to do it well.

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As I read the many responses, I am astounded that not many seem to realize that no matter what we think as nurses, what Glen Beck wrote was his, the PATIENT's experience. We are so busy making excuses for the shortcomings of the hospital staff that we miss thet big picture. He was in pain. He did not receive the help he needed. All it would have taken was someone, early on, asking him..."How can I help you?" and then following through. What I hear in his blog is that NO ONE SEEMED TO CARE. It sounded as if for many at that facility it was ' just a job'. He seemed to understand the need to wait. What he did NOT seem to appreciate was the feeling that he was being ignored, that he was not important. Maybe it is time to review Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And also remember.....it's not about US, it is about the patients. I believe that he had real complaints....the person who did not help him walk, the clerk who did not go the extra step to get him help...the nurse who did not listen to his fears about his breathing stopping. And did anyone take the time to educate him to his meds? All I am asking is for us to remember that the PATIENTS do not know what we know and we must listen to them, and remember that being a nurse is about them, not us. Not that we sacrifice ourselves, but we must remember the heart and soul of nursing.....or get out. And in the end, the patients experience is real to them, no matter how we see it. So it is time to stop making excuses and to take personal responsiblity for the shortcomings of our profession. It is time to STEP UP and be accountable. Sorry for the rant

, I just have a thing about blaming the patient, especially where pain is concerned.

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