Should I call the hospital to c/o about mistreatment?

[CarreBarreLPN, ASN, RN]

So on Monday I chocked on a little water. It got into my lung- I could feel it. I spent the whole day and all of Tuesday coughing . I was having diffuculty breathing but my inhaler/breathing treatments weren't working. I had a client at 2pm and as soon as I got there I started having slight to moderate pressure in my chest. Similar to how I've felt when I have bronchitis. I called my dr and she said to come in right away- but I couldn't I had a client to care for. I made an appointment for today. I was driving home and was talking to my Mom (she's also in the medical profession) and she insisted that I stop at the primary care and be checked out since at that point I couldn't carry on a conversation without stopping to cough. I was also wheezing. I get to the primary care and they check my O2 sat in the waiting room and say "well it's 97". She was rather huffy and acted as if I was perhaps making it up. At that point I was coughing, wheezing on inhalation and whistling on exhalation. They bring me back to a room and another rn takes my bp which was VERY high for me- When I mentioned that my bp never goes over 110/70. She rolled her eyes. She listens to my chest and says- you sound clear I don't hear anything. At this point I can't even say a full sentance w/out coughing and the wheezing is ridiculous. She tells me to wait. I waited for 30 minutes. The dr finally comes in, listens to my lungs and says she thinks I have an inflamed esophagus but they'll do an xray to be sure. I go down to the xray room and I'm waiting for the tech to finish uploading the xray when she gets a call....she responds with "Well I already did the test so it doesn't matter". I get back to the room and 2 seconds later the dr walks in and says "Yeah the nurse said this was on Oprah today- you're not dry drowning I looked it up on the internet and it's not real". Uh sorry doc I didn't have time to watch Oprah but thanks to you and the nurse for dismissing my concerns. Should I stop making up this pesky wheezing then? I have never been so embarassed in all my life. I was coughing wheezing and whistling all day and I could barely answer her from all the coughing. I told her repeatedly that my asthma meds weren't working. So her action was to tell me to take the asthma meds q 4-6 and if it's really bad maybe my dr can have a CAT scan done. I don't want a CAT scan- I want to stop wheezing and hopefully get rid of the water I aspirated. I looked at her like she was crazy and said " I didn't come her because of Oprah I came here because I can't stop coughing and I aspirated water into my lung. If you think my esophagus is swollen why don't you give me an anti inflamatory." She says "Oh uh ok well I guess I can give you prednisone". That's it. At no point was I even offered a breathing treatment to SEE if it would clear up the wheezing and it had been 7 hours since my last one. The dr. sent in another nurse to discharge me and when I walked out stunned and still wheezing my rn nurse gave me the most disgusted look- as if I had just wasted their time with a pesky little problem I saw on Oprah today. Do I call the hospital they are affilitated with and complain? Do I drop it?

[EmergencyMedicine]

****RANTISH****

Hey i'm not a Dr or a Nurse Im an ambulance driver. If you called into to dispatch and told them you had wheezing and slight chest pain you would be rushed to the ER. We would put you on a nasal canula of about 6 lpm and possible ionization treatment or humidification. If you were to go into an ER with any thing involving your airway (the number 1 priority in patient emergency care) you would have been treated ASAP and would have left the ER better than you came in. I have run into this soft of similar issue before. Sounds like you have BC/BS insurance and your "board certified" GENERAL practitioner is sending you to standard tests charging your insurance $200-$300 a pop. I would call your Insurance Company(if you have one) and tell them you were unsatisfied with the level of care you received and they can help you file a report. What facility were you at? Like any other business a hospital has human resource staff that weed out the mal-practice Dr's, you should never leave a facility or business unsatisfied. If so, what the **** was the point in going there in the first place? Seriously, come on IL DR's step up the game, im an EMT not a GP

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

If you are truly dissatisfied with the service, I would certainly file a written complaint to the CNO of the hospital along with a courtesy copy to risk management and the clinic manager. Hope you are feeling better soon.