Hospitals – What Do YOU Think?

As I posted previously, my husband suffered a minor stroke.  This minor stroke required a trip to ER resulting in admission for a few days while they figured out what exactly was wrong.  I’ve made a few observations and have a few opinions (imagine that).  Read them and see what you think.  All in all, I think I only want to go to the hospital if I’m dying, cause if I’m not, I might be dead by the time they are done with me.

Bulleted for your easy perusal:

• When you tell the ER nurses that your husband, who may have suffered a stroke and is very dizzy has to pee, they will tell you the bathroom is down the hall.  When you tell them he’s attached to the wall via tubes and wires, they look at you funny.
• When you yell out to the nurses station that your husband is about to puke you will be asked who your nurse is.  Then they’ll tell you to grab the blue thing.  Excuse me, does it MATTER who my nurse is?  You are two feet away, could you have possibly come in?  Oh, and the blue thing?  Do you know how many blue things are in the room?  Twenty-four, I counted.
• After your husband pukes all over himself and the bed, the nurses will tell you where the clean sheets are and will hand you a box of wipes.  Again, how much am I paying for this ER visit?  Don’t you maybe want to assess the situation as vomiting with the other symptoms and his history could indicate something cardiac related?  Oh, and after your lack of help, don’t ask me if I saw a little pill in his vomit.  Just don’t!
• Please don’t act surprised that his blood pressure is back up to two hundred after the vomiting episode.  Really, did you think that vomiting would miraculously lower his blood pressure?  Me either.
• The chair in each ER room is very uncomfortable.  Very.  Especially at 3:30 a.m.
• They will do a full blood work up upon your arrival.  When they tell you the results are back and you ask what the white cell count is they will look at you funny.  Then they will tell you they don’t know.
• When finally admitted to a room, the doctors don’t make their rounds at normal times.  They come in at 10 p.m.  They will always come in when I go to the bathroom.
• The floor nurses are probably the most competent caregivers in the hospital.  They know their P’s and Q’s.  I was impressed.  When I asked about a certain med they administered, the nurse brought me a print out with info.  Very kind.
• When I come back to the hospital after leaving to catch 3 hours of sleep, an IV bag will be connected to my husband.  When I inquire, the nurses will tell me about an antibiotic push.  When I ask why, they will tell me it’s due to his white cell being triple what it should.  When I ask if that was something that happened after admittance they will tell me no, that was from the first draw in ER (30 hours prior).  See previous point.  Thirty hours to determine he needs antibiotics?  Enough said!
• When the discharge nurse comes in to discharge, she will not have pertinent information.  For instance, if I ask for the prescriptions for the medications required, she will have to figure out where those are.  If I ask if he had his morning meds, she will have to go figure out if he had them.  If I ask which doctor he should follow up with first, she will have to go find out.  If I ask for that doctor’s number…………..you get the picture.

All in all I guess he wasn’t critical.  But damn it, I love him and he is mine.  He was not 100% therefor in my eyes, he was critical.  However I do wonder how those poor souls that don’t have someone there asking questions get through such an ordeal.

In closing, I have one thing for you to ponder….he was released with no restrictions.  Let me remind you, he had a stroke.  In the state of Texas, you are not to drive for six months after suffering a stroke.  No where on any paper anywhere was that indicated.  Thoughts?

---