My day as a patient

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Pediatric, LTC , Alzheimers, Behavioral.

On Tuesday I checked into the Hospital @ 1100 for Surgery @ 1300, a Hysterectomy. All was great in pre-op. The nurses were awesome, even the Doc's performing my surgery and the anesthesiologist were a barrel of laughs. Off to surgery I went without a hitch. A wonderful experience!!

Post-op...what a nightmare!! I remember being told before going into surgery since Med-Surg was full I would be taken to Obstetrics after recovery which was fine with me. The areas of the body being tended to were the same (LOL) so what the heck!! I remember being wheeled into my room and transfering myself onto the bed, which wasn't easy or pretty to say the least! The pad under me was pretty much dragged along under my butt where it remained very twisted and wrinkled due to my dragging butt. When I say it remained, I mean it remained. Every single movement on my part immediately after recovery was extremly painful. I was of course hooked to an IV pole by my left hand, O2 tubing via nasal cannula, and of course both legs were attached to the pressure wraps and tubes to prevent clotting. Thus, I was pretty much unable to move! At 1900 my two grown kids came into the room and as my son stood staring at my foley bed bag he began sobbing uncontrollably. My daughter began hugging him and yelling at me..."How could you have Cancer and not tell us, what is wrong with you??" Instead of OB I was instead taken to the Oncology ward and had not been told. It took many tears and my nurse to convince my kids I DID NOT have Cancer!! That noc a CNA came into the room to take my vitals @ 0100 and proceeded to tell me she was going to keep the B/P cuff on my right arm so it could take my vitals as ordered. I found out later that morning I was on Q4hr vitals and the machine never automatically went off. She had set the machine for 0800. So I laid in bed with the cuff tight around my arm keeping me awake, for no reason other than she didn't want to bother coming into my room @ 0500 for the required readings. I was finally able to have the IV and the Foley DC'd along with taking the wraps to both legs. As I was helped up I realized the immense pain on my backside was from the blood soaked pad that remained wrinkled under me for 17 hours. I asked for breakfast @ 0700 and after asking again @ 0800 and 0900 I finally had a dietary aide come barging into my room as I was exposed while my Foley was being removed. She was upset at being yelled at for not bringing the menu to my room @ 0700 and refused to leave until I gave her my order, all while I'm lying there exposed and embarrassed. By 1700 that noc I had had enough and was asking to leave. I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and d/t the bloody discharge running down my leg when I stood I began crying when I realized I had yet to be brought any clean linens, towels, anything. I had been 28 hrs post op and had yet to be offered so much as a washcloth and towel to freshen up with. Due to my crying the nurse immediately came and began apologizing, when I told her I was leaving. I wanted my Discharge papers right then. She left to speak to the Dr. who had requested I stay 1 more day when I talked to him. The Oncology Nurse Manager came to give her apologies and explained they had no way of knowing the CNA's had not done anything for me since they had been signing off on all tasks they were required to do for their shift. They had even written vitals down for times they never took them. I had been one big neglect case who ended up with two falsifying aides!! I made it clear to the NM I was leaving, what hadn't been done for me, the vitals not taken and everything I could think to blurt out in my 15 minute tirade before I left. I would NEVER allow my aides to treat anyone in my care that way, yet there I was, in pain and vulnerable, allowing them to give me the absolute worst care ever. The NM proceeded to tell me it was so hard to find good aides , and that due to all the cutbacks the CNA's were no longer to automatically bring fresh clean linens into all the rooms. Only if they were obviously soiled were they to be changed. My pad and sheets were so blood soaked the mattress was stained thru all the layers yet I was still not brought any. And yes the CNA did see the stains when he DC'd my Foley. I made the comment, "Now I can get up, wash up and get a clean bed, yet he never brought any linens to make that happen. Have hospitals become so focused on the bottom line that they no longer care about the treatment of their patients??? My surgery went well, I am now home for my recovery since Wednesday noc and am very grateful to be home. I pray I never have to be hospitalized again for I would most likely receive better care at the local animal hospital, they seem to have much more compassion.:mad:

Specializes in ER, Trauma.

All I can say is that I empathize with you haven received equally bad care when I worked as a traveling nurse. I've felt like a voice in the wilderness proclaiming that money has replaced life as the most precious thing in the world, and that it caused horrible care for patients. If experienced nurses have difficulty getting basic health care, how do the non medically trained masses even survive hospitals?

Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I'm sorry you had a complete looser for a NM. And who knows where the nurse was. Let me remember your experience when it's close to the end of my shift, when I'm tired and when I don't feel like going the extra mile. It won't make your experience better, but it will not have been in vain.

Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.

I think every hospitalized patient needs an advocate (famliy member, friend, etc) to be with them most of the time during the stay.As you found out, being a nurse does not necessarily mean you can advocate for yourself. If you are sick enough to be in the hospital, you probably will find it hard to insist on the things you need.

I too once left sooner than the doctor wanted after surgery due to abysmal care I was receiving in the hospital. At first he tried to convince me I should stay but when our conversation was interrupted by the alarm I had set because the resident refused to order ibuprofen to be given routinely (this 36 hours after major abdominal surgery but he was more than happy to give me narcotics!), he got the point - I would get better care at home. I would never go back to that hospital. I understand that things can get missed but to have to continually ask for basic care is ridiculous.Though I was not a nurse at the time, I had been a CNA on a surgical floor before so I knew that, yes, I do need you, CNA, to be close by when I get up for the first time after surgery. I had to insist that I reallyd DID want soap for my sponge bath (it took 30 min for her to find some! Really, in a hospital and you can't find soap?? Um, does anyone wash their hands??) I could go on but you get the idea. I don't think all of the staff were incompetent - I think they were understaffed - but there were some who truly did not seem to know what they were doing.

I have also been hospitalized and had fabulous nurses. It makes a world of difference. I will always remember the kindness of the nurses who cared for me after losing my baby due to a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. They made a difficult situation a little less stressful for us.Hospital nurses face so many challenges every day; in spite of that, many patients receive great care. Thank you to all you hospital nurses who work so hard because you care about your patients. Many patients will remember the little things you did for many years to come.

Specializes in chemical dependency detox/psych.

All I can say is, "Holy crap." And, ((HUGS))

Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.

Same thing happened to me when I went in for my surgery. I finally asked to see the DON and I told her no one was doing foley care, offering cloths to wash up etc... Then I told her about her RN's who kept bringing me the wrong meds and didn't have a clue about setting a pump! JC how in the H does anyone survive?

I should've know better when before I went in for surgery a nurse tried to hang prophylactic ABx and when she flushed me, she flushed it too fast and it blew the vain. Ok; I look at her and say now someone has to get another IV in me since I'm going into surgery in 10 minutes. She left, never came back, left the IV in my arm. When they came and got me and took me to the OR I told them what happened and they said that I was probably allergic to the ABx since my arm was 14 dark shades of red. No, my arm was now displaying infiltration of fluid up past my elbow! So to add insult to injury they tried to flush it........OUCH; er, ah, oh I guess it is infiltrated.

They tried to replace it and had no success 3x. Alright I don't want to play anymore. I couldn't believe it; so I told them put me out please and call the IV team. It was ridiculous. After that it only got worse.

I had a wound vac and when my surgeon's PA came to change it he was about to rip the sponge off the wound that it had dried into.........WAIT! Saline please...oh no you're kidding; you've never used saline to moisten the sponge before taking it off? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I left the next day against the recommendation of my doc. Hey; if I would've stayed there's no telling what else would have gone on.

I am sorry about your horrible experience. There is no excuse for the lack of care any of you as received. It is to late now to do what I am about to suggest but you can do it the next time you or a family member suffer. My eighty six year old father had major surgery and the following morning I found him confused, in a soiled bed, and on a pump for pain medication. I hit the ceiling. I spoke to the NM and asked her why no one had notice my Dad's confusion and is inability to use the pump. I demanded she call his surgeon and get a PRN injection.. Believe it or not she refused and sent another nurse in to give him a dose from the pump. I went to the phone, called his surgeon, demanded he write an order for an injection and that it be given every four hours until is confusion clear. I then went to the Administer office. I admitted I was hot, very hot but I demanded to see him. And if I could, I would call our local TV station and inform them of what had happen to my father. I spent an hour talking with him and the DON. Needless to say, the remainder of his stay was quite pleasant. Since this hospital was part of a group, I also wrote the CEO .

No one has to tolerate poor care. And no one should. Go to the NM, the DON, the CEO. If it is you,call them on your patient's phone. And follow it up with a letter outlining your experience. Send the letters return receipt requested-this puts them on notice.

Generally, when I've been an inpatient, I've received good to excellent care. Several years ago,I spent a number of weeks in an ICU. I was in septic shock. My daughter called the staff twice a day,while she was at work, and got a report from my nurse. The one time the RN was rude and nasty, she called the DON. The problem was resolved. I taught my daughter how to stick up for herself and loved ons. Don't get me wrong, the care was excellent.

GrannyRN65

Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

I'm really sorry you were treated so poorly. But my biggest question is where was your nurse during all this? She/he should have noticed your soiled pad? The nurse is just as responsible (or more so) of the pts hygeine needs. Good for you for speaking up and I hope that quality management is notified so they can rectify these issues. It sounds like a very poor hospital to be so neglectful of basic human needs.

Specializes in Telemetry.

Sorry that you had such a bad experience. However, why didn't you stand up for yourself while things were happening? Why did you wait so long to speak up for yourself? Especially, since you are a nurse and know how things should go.

Sorry that you had such a bad experience. However, why didn't you stand up for yourself while things were happening? Why did you wait so long to speak up for yourself? Especially, since you are a nurse and know how things should go.

I am sorry but have you ever had major surgery? Today so many surgeries are short stay and nurses do spend the time they use to. Following surgery, we are in pain, even back on a floor we are still under the post opt effect of anesthia, and not able to think straight, let a lone stand up for ourselves. And even when we are, we tend to excuse our peers, knowing they might be working short staff. Or hoping that is the reason for our poor care. There are many good nurse providing good to excellent care. We just happen to get the few bad ones.

GrannyRN65

I hate to sound like a jerk but...Did you ever think to use the call light and ask for your nurse?

I mean if I was waiting more than 30 minutes for things I'd let my nurse know problem fixed. I notice a lot of patients don't speak up until the last minute.

I'm sure the nurse was in your room more than once that night you could have told them.

Specializes in Obs & gynae theatres.

I would also follow up your concerns in writing. Escalate it as high as you can go.

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