A Rant About Chip’s Hospital Stay!

Ok, I wasn’t going to do this blog but the more I think about it, I think I should, if not just to get it off my chest! Chip had to go into the hospital on March 7 and came out on March 17. Without going into too much detail he was pretty bad off with pneumonia and a few other things going on. I have several issues that I would like to address about his stay (none of which are good!)

First! Why is it that when you go into a hospital that it takes an act of congress to get a room! We had to spend 22 hrs in the emergency room waiting for a bed to come “available”. In other words (in my opinion)… you have to wait for the cleaning staff to come in and clean a room!

Second! How many different people do we have to give information to? There must have been at least 10 different people who came in wanting to know his name, date of birth, doctors names, insurance information, what meds he takes, etc. I can understand the name and date of birth stuff because every nurse wants to know she has the right patient but how many times do we have to give medicine and insurance info? After the first or second person it should be in the computer by then. I mean I even had a list of his meds they copied at the front desk!

Third! Why do some nurses have to be soooo mean! Chip cannot stand to have tape pulled off of his skin. He has a hairy chest and arms and about every nurse that came in there insisted on ripping it off of him without even giving him a warning even though we told them before that he hates it. I think a few of them learned their lesson though because when Chip was kind of out of it, I think he gave them a little something they weren’t expecting too without knowing itJ

Fourth! When a doctor orders a new medicine for you why doesn’t the nurse tell you when she brings it to you? Every time they brought his meds we asked what they were and a couple of times there was something he had never taken before? If we had not asked then he would have blindly taken anything they brought him when he was kind of out of it!

Fifth! Speaking about meds! Why does it usually take a whole day to get the medicines right! Chip has to take a lot of different meds for his kidney transplant, blood pressure, and pain and it seems like it takes forever to get everything straight! The first day he was getting one pill at this time and another the next hour til everything was approved!

Sixth! Now luckily Chip had either me or one of his family taking shifts to be with him 24 hrs a day. If we didn’t, he would have been waiting for a nurse to come to his aide which for the most part could have been too late for some problems he was having. Even though we were there, there were times he had to have a nurse and it ended up being too late by the time she got there. Which in turn ended with them having to do a clean up. Now I understand there is a shortage of nurses and God knows you could not pay me enough money to do the great work they do but I just wish that their services were not spread so thin.

Seventh! Why is it that one day you get a choice of what you want for your next meal and the next day you don’t? The whole time he was there he had two different food service people bring the food. One lady was extremely nice and asked what he wanted on his next meals and even brought something extra for me when I stayed with him; then there was an older woman who just popped in the room, dropped the tray off and didn’t say a word or ask what he wanted for the next meal.

Eighth! Why does it take forever to get processed out of the hospital? The doctor had come in and told us he was going to do the paperwork to let him go home and then about an hour later the nurse comes in after Chip had his clothes on and says “Where are you going?” We told her the doctor just told us he was able to go home and we were just getting ready? She says “Well, let me go check and see if the papers are ready for him.” So a few minutes later she comes in with the prescriptions and take home instructions and says “Ok, I guess you ready and leaves the room to call transportation for a wheelchair!” We wait a few minutes. Ummm…. Excuse me? But he’s still got an IV in his hand? I go out to tell the nurse and she come in giggling saying well “ I guess you don’t want to take that with you!” DUH!

Well I could probably go on but I think I got enough off my chest for now. At least he is better now and hopefully will not have to go back any time soon. These incidents are not just based from this hospital visit though! When we first started going to this hospital I really liked them because I thought they were the best and friendliest we had been to at that point; but it seems every hospital we have had to go to in the past had the same problems? Oh well, I guess hospital visits are not supposed to be like staying at the Ritz Carlton but I was expecting a little better service?

Let me say though I have the total utmost respect for what doctors and nurses have to go through to help the patients and I know for a fact I am not the type to take on that type of job and responsibility. I’m not sure what nurses get paid but I know it’s not enough for all the crap they have to go through. I just think it’s the system that needs to be worked on and probably some communication problems as well.

If you have any hospital stories you would like to share please feel free to share them in the comments. Also feel free to make comments on the past blogs as well as participating in the little surveys to the left. Thanks. Nora