I recently was in the hospital for a surgical procedure which required I stay overnight to be monitored. The pre-op, operation and post-op experience were fine. The staff was efficient and friendly, the hospital clean, and I thought all was well and that I was in good hands.

Until the sun went down, or should I say, until the shift change. I was moved into a semi-private room and had a very nice roommate. All was well until about 10:00p.m. when the place turned into a morgue. It seemed no one was there from 10:00p.m. to 6:00a.m. which may have been fine if I had been doing well, but as my luck would have it, I experienced a few minor complications. I ended up living a nightmare.

It started with my IV. It needed to be moved as my vein collapsed. It took 3 nurses to find a vein. By the time that was finally accomplished, I was in a lot of pain and my medication being fed to me intravenously wore off. So they gave me more—much more.

At 2:00a.m., I pressed the call button as I was feeling nauseous. No one came, not for 15 minutes, not for 30. I kept pressing the call button. My roommate who could walk with her IV tube and stand tried to help me by getting a pail as she could tell that if someone did not come soon, I would lose it.

I did. Finally someone showed up at 3:00a.m. She changed my bedding and put me back to semi-comfort. She did all of this without saying a word or apologizing for taking over an hour to respond. At 6:00a.m., some guy came in to take my blood pressure. I asked him to come back. He refused to come back, again with the call button, again with no response.

When the shift changed again at sunrise, the magical 7:00a.m. time, it was back to a friendly, efficient and safe care. Nurses came in three times between 7:00a.m. and 9:00a.m.

My doctor came in at 9:00a.m. for rounds and discharge me. I told her about my experience. You know what she said? “I recommend to my patients if they ask to hire a private nurse for nights. They can get you what you need and you don’t sacrifice care.”

I was stunned. So, I pay a fortune for health insurance. I pay deductibles to doctors and hospitals. I even paid a deposit when I went into the hospital so they were covered, and now I need to pay for private nursing while I am a patient in the hospital? Does this make sense to anyone out there?

It really makes me wonder what happens to people who have long term hospital stays. What happens to those who cannot afford care? What happens as the nursing shortage continues to increase?

This is the Real State of our Health Care System. It is not just about insurance coverage for all. It is about getting the proper care one needs in order to get well. No matter how much money one has.

Guess if I have to go into the hospital again for any reason, I better think about getting my own nurse so I can be properly cared for. Hope this gives you some food for thought.

Lisa

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under General Interests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.