Glen Beck's hospital experience

allnurses Guide · Jan 13, 2008

Nice post Mr. Minor Deity . . . :flowersfo

steph

charebec65 · Jan 13, 2008

So Glenn Beck is whiny and self-important? What a surprise. He really seems to be upset because he wasn't treated like the celebrity he thinks he is. I've taken care of hundreds of guys like him, guys who on a certain level think they are just a little (or a lot) better than most people and are surprised when their every need isn't catered to as it should be(in their minds). He expected to be whisked right back because his doctor called ahead and was surprised when the nurses didn't bow down when he walked in. His physician should have admitted him directly to the floor. Actually he should have never been given the option to go home; hemorrhoidectomys are very painful and he already had pain control issues. The error in this case belongs to "absolutely amazing" Littlejohn and Stamford.

What about Beck who refused to be admitted...

VinoLover2030 · Jan 13, 2008

Well like you said End Game RN....free speech, right?

He could have complained to the hospital but no he instead took it there...he went and said HOSPITALS.Which in my opinion implies all hospitals. he didnt say HOSPITAL X OR NURSE X. He spoke so highly of his docs and put the nurses in the gutter.

He also posted the name of his doctor which is not hard to google to find out what specialty and then go on to figure out what he had done.

We are not putting him on the cross. He did that all by himself. Did he expect that the healthcare community would have nothing to say to his rant. I believe there are fair and just ways to handle things instead of jumping to conclusion. I love my profession too but I dont take to kindly to being dumped on by someone I dont know

My point is hey he should be specific instead of throwing everyone into the mix.

RNgonewild · Jan 13, 2008

I would have liked to help him out....with a nice fluffy pillow. All patients should be treated the same, with dignity, no matter their monetary worth. I have never heard of this guy, but I'm guessing he hasn't killed himself yet. At least not until he can sue the hospital that made him wait for care.

End Game RN, RN · Jan 13, 2008

SShannon81, good to meet you!

Don't personalize this. He was incoherent, frightened, and overwhelmed by his experience. There is no insult, no injury in his rant, especially considering what he went through. He didn't nail himself to the cross..we did!! Angry because some of us decided to take his statements and charges and complaints personally. He has been attacked personally and vilified unjustly by many of our brothers and sisters in Nursing.

Many I suspect took this opportunity to trash this man because of who he is, not what actually happened to him. Some posts were understanding, sympathetic even, some acknowledged that these things do happen. Glenn Beck simply stated his own truth, his own impression of the care he received. And he is correct..there are professionals in the health care field who simply do not care. No one at any level can deny this truth.

I strongly advise Mr. Beck to pursue this with the hospital administrators since he has seemed to recover emotionally (somewhat) and he needs to reevaluate what actually happened vs. his medication and pain influenced perceptions. Have his close friends and family who supported him during this time to review their perceptions of these events and compare them to his recollections and feelings. If they can do this and still feel that there is something at some level that needs to be brought to the attention of the hospital where he was treated, then for the benefit of all patients they should do so. It would be better to write a letter detailing the problems and concerns that they as a patient and family felt happened. No one can deny their right to do so.

Being one of the "old ones" I am familiar with events of this nature. I have personally witnessed nurses who are cold, unfeeling and speak out of turn in front of patients and their families. A new nurse may do this one time in front of me and that is the last time it happens..I have ways to re-educate stupid,cruel and unfeeling "professionals" I have no qualms about utilizing my "skills" to do so. I have heard nurses state that the patient should be allowed to die because of the age, diagnoses, and prior medical condition and/or history. I have heard and witnessed many forms of cruelty committed by members of our profession as well as by other health care workers. Physicians are not excluded in this group. I witnessed nurses bitching about a family not agreeing to organ donation, about some of the families wanting to learn the personal care of their family member or friend and being referred to as a pain in the ass.

PERSONAL EXAMPLES

As my older brother lay dying in a local hospital..not mine...Blood was being hung as my brother kept vomiting blood, projectile, which he began doing at home then was rushed to the hospital. A man..who displayed inappropriate body language and comments, in front of my entire family, stated real clear... "I can't believe I'm doing this, he's going to die anyway and I'm supposed to be on my break" He then turned to us, now gaping at him as if he were insane, and told us forcefully to accept that my brother was essentially dead and we should "get over it". He left the room without a backward glance. By the way, he didn't check the blood, no second RN was present to do so anyway. He never looked at my brother's wrist band, never acknowledged us, his patient's family. My brother, though weak, dying, was alert. When the jerk RN left, my brother opened his eyes and told us to tell that RN that he need not return, that he had already accepted he was dying, and asked us to leave him alone.

Yeah..compassionate.

At another hospital where I was visiting I witnessed something similar. And in yet another local hospital, a very large and well known facility no, not my place of employment, I saw a patient lying on the floor with the door to his room open. Curious I stepped into the room, saw the patient lying essentially on his face, slightly turned to one side..clearly dead, easily ascertained by the color of the skin, frozen facial features and stiff appearing body. You think it was a while since anyone bothered to check on him?? I went out to the nursing station and told them that the patient in room xxxx was on the floor and dead, "just thought I'd let you know so you won't be surprised when you go to his room" I received blank stares, then a question from one of the nurses said it all.."How do you know he's dead? who do you think you are?" I told her to get off her ass and check the patient and that I was an RN and thank G-d I didn't work here.

My sister-in-law, critically ill, nearly eight years after diagnosis of bowel cancer, the effects of radiation and chemotherapy to this day remain. At one point during her hospitalization I informed my brother she was incompetent to make her health care decisions..she was septic from her port o cath that should have been removed several years earlier, but feared more surgery, no matter how minor it may be. Prior to this being removed, after cultures came back positive for MRSA, STREP , E COLI ( home health nurse, real friendly, my family liked him, even let his daughter ride one of our horses, had questionable hand washing techniques) she colonized yeast...name it. She had fevers of 106 F and was skeletal. She waited to die, my family waited for her to die. I pitched a major fit, called the surgeon, who I still to this day adore..got the implanted port out of her without any interference from my brother or his wife. She survived all of this, then one day I walked into her room and found amphotericin lipid form, zosyn and vancomycin hanging and infusing simultaneously through a single 22 gauge piv. I gently, in a conversational tone asked the nurse why all of these medications were infusing at the same time and via this iv route. She told me that it was easier and faster to get them in all at once and what was it to me anyway she knew what she was doing, then in front of my brother's wife she said that it was clear that she was going to die anyway. I stepped out of the room, had a psychotic break that strangely enough left me calm & collected. I left the hospital, called the floor via cell and asked to speak to their clinical educator. When she came on the telephone, I introduced myself, stated my concerns, all very calm, rational. The educator admitted that this was a new nurse, still learning and she said my concerns were justified and she would take care of it. Then I WENT NEUTRON BOMB..me, the calm, rational professional lost it. The issue was dealt with and surprisingly to everyone, except me, she lived, recovered after several other set backs. She works full time now and is neurologically intact.

Again, an uncaring nurse, no matter how new compassion does not come with a degree.

I had an external fixator on my left thigh after removal of a bone tumor, .leg swelled around the fixator, in intense agony. Returned to hospital (not mine as the ortho oncology service worked out of this other facility and it was easier to get OR time). Went by ambulance, told at door they were closed to emergency admissions. when I told the ambulance crew to bring me to JMH, suddenly the staff did not want me to leave. I was told that I was not special and I would have to wait with the rest of the patients in the ER. I was wearing a t-shirt and underwear only lying on a wooden back board, uncovered, no pillow and no support for my swollen thigh. I heard the triage nurse tell the ambulance crew to just put me on the floor in the waiting room and I'll be seen to later. I asked them to straight cath me because I couldn't pee. After some bickering amongst the staff I was taken to a small room by two men, I clung to the uniform of one of the ambulance guys who brought me and begged him not to leave me alone. My advocate, my best friend, and a female was not permitted to go with me, her husband later came to f/u with us. He went into the room with me. Two men and me. The RN removed by underwear and waved it at me, smiling he said, "Oh Victoria Secret underwear, I guess we could have some fun" The ambulance guy, I think he was in his twenties, just gaped at this nurse. After the cath, I was told that my insurance would not pay for this admission..What??? I asked I begged to be taken to JMH and was refused by the staff to allow this. Eventually I was taken to a stretcher with an actual soft mattress. three hours after all of this drama I received my first pain medication. I was spilled onto the stretcher directly on my external fixator with my thigh pressed into the bar. I cried., I sobbed and was frightened that this could happen to anyone. This nurse who seemed to take undue pleasure in hurting me said with a smile, again in front of the ambulance crew and a couple of other staff members, portable x-ray techs..He said "I'll bet that hurt!.

I did report this to hospital administration, but was horribly traumatized and at one point was suicidal from the pain. This experience can be verified by those who witnessed this and my friend and her husband, later her son who also witnessed this example of fine, professional ER triage nursing. I am experienced to know this again was an isolated incident with one sadistic individual..

The real story here was the staff who witnessed this and lowered their heads when I looked at them for help, did not interfere in this man's treatment of me, they did not step in to stop what happened to me. That ultimately was a crime. The floor nurses where I was finally sent were truly outstanding individuals and exemplified nursing at its best. The only good thing that came out of this experience is that I became "Super Nurse" when I returned to work. I was very good before, but became obsessive about patient care.. there was nothing I would not do for my patients and families, I still hold myself to a higher standard and sometimes it kills me.

I am not ranting..I know to some degree what happened to Glenn Beck does happen in health care facilities everywhere.

Prison nurses who allow a child to be beaten to death, a young man who became a quadriplegic while being arrested for some dumb ass crime. He was placed on a chair in jail and kept falling to the floor. He was labeled uncooperative. jail nurses had no clue. He was eventually admitted to us, he eventually died. Oh yes, **** happens.

Despite all of the experiences I've had, I experienced, I witnessed good, bad, indifferent, cruel...these things actually occur very rarely, but when they do...Oh brother, look out, we are all painted with the same brush in the media.

Have a heart, deal with the fact that some of us don't represent our profession well in the community, our families and friends, the media. Some of our people are monsters, but this is exception, not the rule. It is our responsibility to weed these people out before they can do harm, or any more harm.

We are a great profession and have so much to be proud of!! But we need to keep an open mind when interacting with our clients and really take the time to listen to them...

Now you know some of my secrets and my pain and to some degree my guilt in feeling that I don't always perform to my own standards.

Bye

End Game RN

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Jan 13, 2008

Very interesting thread--

Just some questions: Could he have had a Nicotine patch (or two) on and decided it was Fentanyl?

Perhaps some other kind of dressing which he decided was Fentanyl?

Was he hyperventilating, causing him to think he couldn't breathe and was dying?

And as for those who are concerned we are crucifying the gentleman, well, that seems to be his job in life, as well.

I know, off the wall, but ya gotta wonder...

Oldiebutgoodie

klmRN234 · Jan 13, 2008

END GAME RN: That was a very powerful post, thank-you. Even though I think most nurses are compassionate and knowledgable, the bad one's really make the rest of us look like dog poo.

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Jan 13, 2008

In 13 years of nursing and 18 years total of working in hospitals, I have never (and I mean never) seen a nurse tell family members that their loved one is dying and to 'get over it.' I have worked with many, many dying patients, and the first question that is asked in report is, "Does the family know, and how are they dealing with this?" I know that most of us have prayed and cried right along with the family members in these cases.

I've also had quite a few family members die, or almost die in the hospital. My family was never treated like our loved one was a burden, because the nurse felt his or her efforts were 'futile'.

I have also never seen a male nurse insert a foley in a female patient without having a female witness in the room- and I have worked with tons of male nurses over the years. They are usually more sensitive to the needs of female patients and their privacy than we female nurses are at times.

I think that most of us care, and have the capacity to empathize with the majority of our patients. We are not always perceived as being caring at times when our focus may be more clinical, but I can say that the vast majority of nurses (male and female) that I have worked with have been extremely considerate people, and they do care about their patients. We couldn't do this job for long otherwise.

There's a fine line between being able to put yourself in a patient's shoes, and in keeping enough of a distance to make hard life-and-death decisions for that person you are responsible for. Some may vacillate back and forth before they're able to find that fine balance, but I think that most of us do strive for it.

moseisley · Jan 13, 2008

I think it's awesome that all the people here are compassionate, and want to err on the side of showing too much caring! We're lucky to have you in the field.

On the other hand, I think you have to look at Glen Beck's personal tirade on a deeper level. His histrionics are typical behavior for someone on a 'crusade', and when someone is on a crusade 'think the inquisition', you polarize the situation and attack the entities on the other side (in this case 'people who don't care') when the reality is that he is the one who doesn't care.

The nurse and the doctor and the surgeon in the ER aren't stupid people. They clearly saw a guy come into the ER with pain way out of proportion to the exam or the clinical situation, and instinctively knew he was faking it (he probably was a horrible actor). For someone to take a fentanyl patch, IV morphine, and long acting morphine you are dealing with someone who is a regular narcotic user, and as far as I know he has no reason to be on narcotics long term. He also 'demonizes' the fentanyl patch, and this is typical behavior for someone who doesn't want to look in the mirror at his own flaws AND someone who is campaigning for a dilaudid injection (which comes with the biggest high apparently). That's not to say asking for dilaudid is a queue for drug seeking behavior - it's often used for cancer pain when the others don't work. But when the picture of a patient encounter fits, 9/10 times you are going to be right with your instincts.

I'm not judging Glen Beck, I'm just saying that it appears based on the convoluted story he presents, that there is probably another side of the story to this, and if it is true that he has a drug addiction, that is nothing against him as a human being, it just means we have to figure out how to address his spirituality.

Think of a senator who goes on a campaign against gays and get caught in a restroom soliciting for gay sex. it's the same old playbook my friends.

Peace and may you continue to be light to the world

End Game RN, RN · Jan 13, 2008

Baptized By Fire, thank you for your response. it proves that these events are the exception and not the rule. I agree, the vast majority of us are decent and kind, caring people, Uh, but not those who posted such nasty comments regarding Glenn Beck.

I love my co-workers with a passion, I would fight for them as they would for me. We as an ICU represent the best of nursing, at least in my opinion. I have met, socialized and taveled with other nurses from other health care settings, of both sexes and 100% of them are just normal, caring professionals. Then there are those who simply give our profession a bad name. All professions have a few of those.

Yes, our family was told to "get over it" regarding my brother. The other issue with improper administration of blood products should have elicited some commentary as well.

Not speaking to us, his family, this deserves attention as well. complaining about missing his break?? that was a big one also.

Yes, I was straight catheterized in a small room with only this nurse, as described in my previous post, and one of the ambulance crew members who I clung to since I did not want to be alone with the other man. Yes, my friend Bonnie, who was waiting just outside the door to this small room was refused entrance and had the door closed firmly in her face. She later told me that she walked around asking other ER staff to find out what was going on. She called her husband to come to this hospital as she wasn't getting anywhere with ER staff. I was also dumped onto another stretcher onto the external fixator bars and yes, staff observed this and lowered their heads and turned away as this nurse made the comment that he bet that "that hurt." One of the ambulance crew members who was assisting the nurse told this guy to back off and went to look for another nurse to take over.

These things do happen, in my case for each event there were multiple witnesses who spoke with administrators about these events (never getting out to the local media and we never thought of retaining an attorney) and I was not present for any of these discussions as I was still hospitalized and unable to walk at that time. Our goal was simply to bring awareness to management that there is a problem. I do not use drugs nor partake of alcohol, never have nor never will. Just because you have not observed some of these cruel behaviors on the part of a nurse or other health care professional does not mean it cannot or does not occur.

Every day I walk in my patients shoes and don't regret doing so. I never make life and death decisions for any patient. That is inappropriate. My responsibility is to provide love, support and education. My role is to assess the needs of a critical patient and the family and friends and to try my best to meet those needs. I do go above and beyond and yes, my personal experiences influence my care, but I do have an off switch, I do set limits, and I control our relationships and I still provide the best care I can.

See my article "Beginnings and Endings" this is just a small part of what I do each and every day. One other article I wrote "Who Knew, the dark side of nursing" was pulled from this forum and it had already been toned down considerably before I posted it. These are thoughts and feelings and reports of my experiences, past twenty-eight, 29th year ongoin, as a critical care nurse.

Again, thanks for your post. Take care!!

EekaEndGameRN

End Game RN, RN · Jan 13, 2008

Hey Moseisley;

I have yet to meet anyone posting as kind, caring ,compassionate and nonjudgemental like you. Keep up the good work!!!

Leave politics out of this. We could trade barbs back and forth with pointing out the flaws of politicians on either side of the isle.

Have a great day, and I hope and pray that no one judges you as harshly as you have done to one man, then a political party without knowing all the facts of the case, Glenn Beck, not the sleezebag soliciting sex in a (OMG) bathroom.

Sticks and Stones my friend.

EekaEndGameRN

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Jan 13, 2008

Every day I walk in my patients shoes and don't regret doing so. I never make life and death decisions for any patient. That is inappropriate. My responsibility is to provide love, support and education. My role is to assess the needs of a critical patient and the family and friends and to try my best to meet those needs. I do go above and beyond and yes, my personal experiences influence my care, but I do have an off switch, I do set limits, and I control our relationships and I still provide the best care I can.
EekaEndGameRN

Let me say that I am very sorry that this happened to you.

And this may be a bit off topic, but as an ICU nurse, I'm going to assume that you work from protocols on your unit. That being said, you do use your clinical judgment to make life or death decisions regarding your patients every day, and are trained to do so. If it was only your job to provide love and support- well your hospital wouldn't be paying you. Your patients can get that for free from their family members. There is a large clinical component to nursing- especially in the ICU. I think too many nurses downgrade that, and then wonder why we get pushed down as a profession.

I think that when we as nurses are either in clinical mode, or if we're trying to think about what's best for all of our patients as opposed to just one at times, we are perceived by the one who wants our attention as being uncaring, because our focus may be on another who immediately needs our attention.

I refuse to point the finger at Mr. Beck's nurses. I wasn't there, and I don't have their side of the story. Unfortunately, they don't have a national media forum at their disposal to take up for themselves.