I am appalled at the treatment my daughter received tonight in Arizona while visiting an ER.
She is in Arizona because her fiance is in school there; she was mugged a few months ago and fell hurting her knee, her leg etc. She is unable to see a primary doctor until she has a well visit.
Tonight, she went to an ER with complaints of knee swelling, nausea and an earache. She has had chronic ear issues since she was born. The type that 'there is nothing there' and five hours later she is getting narcotics for pain and the ER doctor sees fungus growing inside her ear! She was mugged two months ago in Phoenix!
Today, she was desperate to get some relief for this knee pain. It is swollen, her hands are edematous , she feels sick to her stomach from the pain etc. Some of this could be from anxiety due to their financial roller coast and trying so desperately hard to find jobs. Some of this, I am certain, is from being in pain.
When the ER doctor 'Ken' saw her, his response was " 'if you want a pregnancy test, you can buy one at the dollar store'. As well, he informed her that he did not want to waste the ER's resources and x-ray her knee.
Unfortunately due to her difficulty in locating a job, she is currently on Mercy Care. I am all too aware of the low reimbursement rates for Emergency Room Physicians as well as ER visits and testing. We are going to write a fact filled letter to the CNO; however, this is unacceptable.
She tried to get treatment at Urgent Care but their x-ray machine being broken.
This is a despicable state of affairs in our Country.
How ironic that I wrote a thesis back in l993 about 'Women, Mental Illness and Misdiagnosis'. How deplorable that this is 2009 and this type of activity is continuing! She realizes at 21 years of age that an ER is NOT a walk in clinic. Unfortunately, she has had a heck of a time getting established in Arizona; the mugging was just one of the many highlights of her last sixteen months of residency.
As a nurse and a mother, I feel helpless. I am thousands of miles from her. My advice 'take 600 of Motrin , put ice on it and find another hospital to treat you'.
Not everyone that walks in an ER is just looking for hand outs!
