Hospital ward cleared for Kylie Minogue

[PamUK]

Excuse me but this person can't be as big a celebrity as she or he thinks because I never heard of this person.

"I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky lucky"

Its a song of hers... the joke is funny in my head anyway!!!!

[SmilingBluEyes]

I see both sides. The media circus needs to be avoided for her AND the wellbeing of other patients. I just hate they had to clear an entire unit for her presence. Too bad celebrity and all it's crazy trappings make it even seem necessary.

[DidiRN]

I've heard of her and seen her, but she is not well known at all in the States. She is HUGE overseas however. Kind of like the Beckams too...they could most likely walk in the US completely unrecognized too.

Excuse me but this person can't be as big a celebrity as she or he thinks because I never heard of this person.

[begalli]

"The Herald Sun said visitors to the hospital were made to enter through the intensive care unit in order to keep them away from Minogue's wing."

This is very inappropriate.

The article goes on to say that the actions of the hospital upset the doctors. That, I think, is noteworthy. I know our docs are very protective of their heart patients when it comes to where they stay. The docs want the nurses who KNOW these types of patients and KNOW how to manage these patients.

It's one thing to have special set-ups for celebrities, but to move an entire unit is just absurd and unsafe.

[begalli]

Kind of like the Beckams too...they could most likely walk in the US completely unrecognized too.

Oh HECK no! I'd recognize these two, alone or together, in a heart beat!!

:)

But you're right, most would not.

[Stitchie]

Last spring a popular singer cancelled a concert then demanded that he be taken to the hospital by ambulance (bypassing ours, where any other ambulance would have come) to the local Level-1 trauma center.

He refused to depart the ambulance until the ER had been cleared. While I cannot divulge the nature of the c/o, it was minor, minor, minor. You and I would have taken a Tylenol and gone to work.

Hello! Level One! You can't refuse the Flight for Life helicopter unless you're on complete bypass/diversion -- and one patient diversion doesn't make.

Unless they're a complete train wreck (in serious need of trauma care or really seriously ill) can't these ppl get home care, house calls and all the privacy in their own homes that their vast wealth can buy?

The paramedics couldn't stop laughing during the radio call

[OntCaRPN]

We in Canada enjoy a bit more British and Australian influence in our music (I think). I've adored Kylie since she came out with Locomotion years and years ago. She's just a few years younger than I am and DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. She released a European-techno-pop cd a few years ago that I enjoyed very much. "I just can't get you out of my head ... boy your lovin's all I think about ...."

Fabulous entertainer with crappy taste in relationships :)

Besides the point but ... fun.

[begalli]

You know why hospitals do this VIP crap. It's so that those in the public eye who might have some persuasion on public opinion won't be exposed to what it's really like with nursing care and ratios. This is exactly why Arnold or any of his family will never experience what it's really like.

Imagine if a celebrity had to endure waiting for their pain meds or help to the bathroom. You'd better believe the one's who are politically inclined would talk about it.

Hospitals are guilty and they know it.

[cassilee30]

Did anyone read the article about Kylie Minogue getting an entire hospital ward to herself? I cannot believe they would move all of the patients so she could have the whole ward for herself. I know she's a celebrity, but it's a hospital, not a hotel. Special treatment is one thing, but this seems absurd. Has anyone ever heard of something like this happening for other celebrities or had celebrities in your hospitals and if so, were they given special treatment?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050602/ennew_afp/afpentertainment_050602100045

Also to play devils advocate...every patient, including celebrities, have a right to privacy. If she were in the room across the hall from someone who recoginized her, he/she could sell that information to the press and she would have her rights violated.

just another view.

Cassi

[live4today, RN]

That's ridiculous. I don't care who you are. You can't go around inconveniencing other patients because you think you're so incredibly special.

It goes back to that whole VIP care thing. I give all my patients the same treatment, no matter who they are. Hospitals better pay attention.

Their bread and butter comes from the local people, not a one-time visit from a celebrity.

My thoughts exactly!:)

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Excuse me but this person can't be as big a celebrity as she or he thinks because I never heard of this person.

In America she's a nobody. But in Austrailia and the UK, even Asia she's a superstar of the same cabliber that Madonna is. She's had dozens and dozens of hits over many years in those countries, including many #1's. She had two hits here called "The Locomotion" and "I Should Be So Lucky", a then disappeared, but she continued to be a major hitmaker around the world after that. She's an icon and a diva, she's had peeks and valley, but still is a household name over there. But she's also a lovely person, not an egomaniac.

So yes, she is a huge celebrity.

Tweety (music triva whiz)

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

You know why hospitals do this VIP crap. It's so that those in the public eye who might have some persuasion on public opinion won't be exposed to what it's really like with nursing care and ratios. This is exactly why Arnold or any of his family will never experience what it's really like.

Imagine if a celebrity had to endure waiting for their pain meds or help to the bathroom. You'd better believe the one's who are politically inclined would talk about it.

Hospitals are guilty and they know it.

Having worked at Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert, California and Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, California I think I can respond with some accurate information to your response, begalli. We had oodles of celebrities as patients. We had special "suites" at Eisenhower Medical Center for these special patients. They even had a special gourmet menu from which to order their meals. Why does it seem like these patients are catered to? Because they (or their families) make BIG donations to these hospitals. Eisenhower has its Betty Ford Clinic. Desert Hospital (I think they're called Desert Regional now) had its Sinatra Tower. These structures wouldn't have been built without huge donations from celebrities and other people of renown. So, you see being a VIP has its downside. There are problems that come with being rich. Don't you think that these celebs know that the hospitals are sucking up to them in hopes of getting a donation out of them?

I started the very first IV in my career on a celebrity--and missed the vein on the first stick. It was a garden hose, too. I wanted to die. The person was very sweet to me about it and it made me feel even worse. When I lived there in the 70s and 80s I think just about everyone had a story to tell about Frank Sinatra. I don't know how old you are or if you remember what a big star he was, but Sinatra was a king down there. When Nixon was the president it was common to see Air Force One parked out at the Palm Springs Airport.

If you lived in Palm Springs you knew that Bob Hope and his wife, Delores, donated--donated, the land on which Eisenhower Medical Center now sits. It is prime real estate that sits across from the Annenburg Estate. We all knew that if we encountered Delores Hope in the hospital hallways we had better be courteous no matter how disgruntled we might be feeling about something. Proceeds from the Bob Hope Desert Classic go to the support of this hospital every year. It's a fabulous, beautiful place to work--a real desert oasis.

President Ford was a patient at Eisenhower for several days. He had his security men posted outside his suite and near the entrances of the hospital. We were all aware that he was there and where his room was. We were asked not to go to his room to try to see him.

One reason I can think of for giving celebrities a little extra treatment is probably because of our admiration for them and it is one way we have to personally express to them how much we appreciate the entertainment they provide to us.