More than I wanted to know

[FlorentineRN]

I had  a freaky experience at a small rural ED a few years ago.  I received a telephone call that my 80 year old father had fallen overboard, was injured and was being treated in a small rural ED. The location was about a 3 hour drive away. 
When I arrived, the waiting room was full of family and extended family.  A cousin was a floor nurse at the hospital, but when she heard my Dad was in the ED she somehow became his ED nurse.  So, it was a bit of a party scene when I arrived and no one seemed to be caring for my father.

So I went in to my Dad’s room in the ED. He was alone, confused, but verbal and had a Bair Hugger on. He was on a heart monitor. He had closed head trauma and heavy bruising to the face, arms and chest. I could hear the large party of waiting room folks yukking it up even louder in the ED waiting room. I was curious about my father’s hypothermia and injuries. A paper medical chart was open near the bedside. I looked at it, but it was just a problem list that included “erectile dysfunction”.  More than I wanted to know,  but I had only myself to blame.

After a few minutes, a new graduate RN came in and said my father was warm now and would therefore be going home.  It seemed quite inappropriate to me. The new grad removed the leads for the heart monitor and pulled on my father’s injured arm to pull him out of bed.  My Dad screamed in pain and fell backward lifeless onto the bed.  I noticed he was not breathing.  The new nurse determined he was pulseless and called the code.

At some point after the code was called, my cousin ran in to the room and saw the chest compressions underway and the ED doc running the code.  Her contribution to the situation was to say my father had no advanced directive and did I really want resuscitation efforts to continue.  YES!  Please continue.

He was successfully resuscitated and transferred to a hospital with a trauma ward.  He is fine, but I get so mad every time I think about the abject neglect he received during the family reunion in the waiting room.  How does a nurse from the floor self-appoint herself as ED nurse for a family member?  Who left his medical history at the bedside? 

 

 

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

It is a miracle when an 80 year old is successfully resuscitated. I would focus on the gift of more time with dad.. than being angry about any other issues.

[JKL33]

I'm sure this was a disturbing experience, but it seems that you have not processed it. Your own family has a lot to do with the inappropriateness of the situation.

 

On 3/5/2021 at 7:29 PM, FlorentineRN said:

How does a nurse from the floor self-appoint herself as ED nurse for a family member?

 

You should ask your cousin how this happened. It doesn't sound like you know much about it. I'm not saying it was 100% appropriate but surely you understand that in small places 1) people end up caring for family members or at least being around when their family member is being treated 2) there are going to be nurses who are much more jack of all trades and are not confined to one area. Even in bigger places nurses manage to be cross-trained in a way that might allow them to float to ED.

Besides, if you didn't want your cousin to be his nurse then it seems like you would've been stuck with the other inappropriate nurse to whom you have referred as "new" three times in one paragraph.

Obviously his chart should not have been left at the bedside.

I think @Been there,done that gave some words of wisdom. WHY tarnish your remaining time with your father in this way? It seems like you aren't interested in confronting your family about this--if you were I assume you would have done so already. Likewise with regard to speaking to a hospital representative. So....let it go.

I hope you find peace about this. Take care ~

[FlorentineRN]

My time with my father is not tarnished.  I am lucky to have him.  We did an advanced directive and POA together after the events in the ED.

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

When things have cooled down a bit a letter to the DoN ccd to the ER director might be appropriate. Emphasize that you were concerned about specific aspects of his assessment and care, especially since he was clearly not home discharge material as evidenced by .... (Did he have an arm fracture or ligament tear and the pain was a shock? Bruising that extensive would warrant longer observation. If he was a near-drowning his lytes should have been checked often; I wonder if that might have contributed to his arrest... were there other findings at the other hospital that were missed?); I wouldn’t make too much of his chart being at bedside; 80-yr-olds often report ED. 
The “party” in the ER when he was alone was a bad look to any family. You could certainly point that out.