Most nurses are good...
I read (and reread) a comment on my first post and I feel the need to clarify one or two things. Here they are:
First of all, I honestly feel that the majority of those in the medical field are in their chosen field for all the right reasons. Most of them want to make a positive difference in this world by making a positive difference in their patients' lives. Granted, the pay is better than in many other fields, true. But in many cases, the pay is not nearly what it should be, especially for those working as nurses (both RNs and LPNs), nurses' aids, paramedics and EMTs.
Example: In the early 1980s, I had left a local fire department as an EMT. Loved the job. I seriously considered putting in an application with the local ambulance company. (It is not the same company that currently serves Pinellas County.) However, upon finding out what EMTs were paid with the ambulance service at the time, I decided against it: the pay was slightly above minimum wage; I could have made more flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. Thankfully, paramedics and EMTs are paid better now--as well they should be. As well as most people in the medical field should be.
My sister is an RN, and worked in Pinellas County for approximately 20 years. She absolutely loved her job. She has now moved out of state and is weighing her options to either get licensed in her new home state or to retire. It's a call only she can make.
Which brings me to my next point: In every job, one can point to people, both male and female, who should not be working in their field. Either they're in the wrong field completely or they have been in the field to the point that they have burned out. In the latter situation, sometimes simply taking a leave-of-absence is all that is needed: three to six months of recharging one's internal batteries and they're "good to go". Other times, though, it is best to simply admit to yourself, "That's it. I've given all I've got. Time for something else." Maybe teaching skills to a new generation is a good call; other times, a more drastic change is needed.
Also what may have been a problem in Northside (heck, "may have" nothing; I saw it as a definite problem) is not enough staff. While the CCU amazed me in Northside, with their 1-1 nurse to patient ratio (2-1 patients to nurse for the "better" pateints) and the caring the CCU nurses showed, the floor was nothing short of atrocious. Okay, so Northside, as with other HCA hospitals, is a "for-profit" hospital. To increase the profit margarine, costs have to be trimmed somewhere. But to trim costs by not hiring enough nurses and other medical personnel is unconsciounable.
I truly feel that most nurses would not treat P__ as s/he was treated at Northside. But the fact that even one or two did makes me question what is more important in the eyes of the personnel and CEO of the hospital as well as that of the entire HCA system: money or people?
You decide.
Next time, I'll include the beginning of the notes I sent an attorney who is considering taking the case. (Enough people, it may become a class action suit. But that may be getting ahead of myself.)
First of all, I honestly feel that the majority of those in the medical field are in their chosen field for all the right reasons. Most of them want to make a positive difference in this world by making a positive difference in their patients' lives. Granted, the pay is better than in many other fields, true. But in many cases, the pay is not nearly what it should be, especially for those working as nurses (both RNs and LPNs), nurses' aids, paramedics and EMTs.
Example: In the early 1980s, I had left a local fire department as an EMT. Loved the job. I seriously considered putting in an application with the local ambulance company. (It is not the same company that currently serves Pinellas County.) However, upon finding out what EMTs were paid with the ambulance service at the time, I decided against it: the pay was slightly above minimum wage; I could have made more flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. Thankfully, paramedics and EMTs are paid better now--as well they should be. As well as most people in the medical field should be.
My sister is an RN, and worked in Pinellas County for approximately 20 years. She absolutely loved her job. She has now moved out of state and is weighing her options to either get licensed in her new home state or to retire. It's a call only she can make.
Which brings me to my next point: In every job, one can point to people, both male and female, who should not be working in their field. Either they're in the wrong field completely or they have been in the field to the point that they have burned out. In the latter situation, sometimes simply taking a leave-of-absence is all that is needed: three to six months of recharging one's internal batteries and they're "good to go". Other times, though, it is best to simply admit to yourself, "That's it. I've given all I've got. Time for something else." Maybe teaching skills to a new generation is a good call; other times, a more drastic change is needed.
Also what may have been a problem in Northside (heck, "may have" nothing; I saw it as a definite problem) is not enough staff. While the CCU amazed me in Northside, with their 1-1 nurse to patient ratio (2-1 patients to nurse for the "better" pateints) and the caring the CCU nurses showed, the floor was nothing short of atrocious. Okay, so Northside, as with other HCA hospitals, is a "for-profit" hospital. To increase the profit margarine, costs have to be trimmed somewhere. But to trim costs by not hiring enough nurses and other medical personnel is unconsciounable.
I truly feel that most nurses would not treat P__ as s/he was treated at Northside. But the fact that even one or two did makes me question what is more important in the eyes of the personnel and CEO of the hospital as well as that of the entire HCA system: money or people?
You decide.
Next time, I'll include the beginning of the notes I sent an attorney who is considering taking the case. (Enough people, it may become a class action suit. But that may be getting ahead of myself.)
Labels: Horrible Hospitals, hospitals to steer clear of, Northside Hospital (Tampa Bay), Northside Hospital Problems, Problem Tampa Bay Hospitals, wrongful death
posted by feminist writer - Robin Shwedo | 12:45 PM
4 Comments:
When you have a loved one in the Hospital, they nor you want to be there.
There are a number of Nurses that are not qualified for their job @ Northside Hospital. I was told upfront (for whatever reason) that a Large Majority of these Nurses, @ Northside are Contracted thru an Agency. Very seldom will they take care of the same patient two days in a row. Therefore there is NO PERSONAL CARE>>>>
I agree that you have to be w/that person almost 24/7 while they are @ Northside Hospital. The Nurse Supervisor on Duty one afternoon saw me walking my Spouse & patted spouse on back. Never did a nurse walk him. Boy, would that not have been a BIG Law Suite on the Hospital if he had fallen in the hallway Floor near the Nurse's station.
I can go on & on w/you Mrs. Shwedo. Please DO NOT stop w/the "push procedure" to get your answers. A possible resolution when you get the chance to respond.
P.S. My sister was admitted to a Hospital in A DIFFERENT STATE for Mal-nutrition & Dehydration for 1 & 1/2 wk. The only Home she went to, when she was discharged,was w/our Maker the best Physician in the world. She died from an infection "E-coli" while in the Hospital. I never got to tell her Goodbye & that I will always LOVE her. I Do FEEL your Pain!!
I have a two-page letter I wrote several months ago to Northside Hospital but never mailed; I still plan on mailing it.
Regarding the nursing care: My father was in Northside Hospital for three months back in 2005. I was there EVERY single day except for the first three days. That is a lot of days of observation of the daily workings of this hospital.
I immediately noted that the nurses and doctors DO NOT wash their hands upon entering or leaving a patient's room. During all that time, it was less than 5 times I saw that happen. Nurses would enter and go back to their desks, and this was both in the CCU setting for most of his stay as well as on the floor.
He had an A-line put in his neck at 5 p.m. on 5/4 with resultant bloody sheets which were not changed until the following evening 5/5, three full nursing shifts(CCU).
A squashed spider on a sheet was left ("well this is Florida") (CCU).
Foley catheter began leaking. His nurse simply put a towel between his legs and was to flush it. After several hours, his nurse and another nurse came in to pull him up in bed, and the other nurse was surprised when she got urine on her hands. Then the Foley was flushed (CCU).
He was put on a bedpan and left there for 10 minutes because his nurse went on break and the other nurses ignored his bell. When the ICU/CCU nursing top supervisor walked by and saw, she and another nurse went in to help him (THANK YOU SUPERVISOR!) (CCU).
One nurse, "Margie", came in late and pretty much ignored my father all day. I saw her at the nursing desk eating a donut and saying to another nurse "Let me just bend over and you can kiss the other cheek." (CCU)
It does not instill confidence when you see the nurses looking through the job ads. (CCU)
Tuesday, May 24: His blood pressure was dropping drastically low (56/23, 48/22, 61/32) and they couldn't figure out why. Finally it was discovered that his IV had fallen out and the meds were draining out onto the floor. (CCU)
Out on the floor, a lady across the hall has asked for a bedpan. The nurse says "just finish it in bed and I will clean up the mess." How degrading to the patient!
My father was sharing the room with a VERY frail gentleman in diapers and had to be fed. The aide who was to feed him did feed him lunch when I was there, but only during the commercials of the Montel Williams show. She also says to him in a very mean voice "I told you not to use your sheet as a napkin" and also "I told you not to cough in my face." This same aide came in and took vital signs on my father and left, all without saying a word.
A small point: they have white boards in all the rooms where you are supposed to be able to see who your nurse is, the aide's name, date, etc. This was RARELY kept up to date and we went four entire days without it being updated.
My father was awaiting transfer to the VA when his AICD started firing. After five shocks in 20 minutes, I had to INSIST that the nurses notify the doctor as they weren't going to do it ("oh, well, we know it is working like it is supposed to do"). He had to endure 7 shocks in one hour because of this delay. (floor)
I was in the surgical waiting room one day sitting in the corner, and a nurse walks in talking on a cell phone. He says "I am counting the days until I'm outta here."
I was told by one of the nurses in the CCU that she would never work out on the floor because you could be responsible for up to 10 patients!!! This particular nurse was one of the two OUTSTANDING nurses we had in the CCU in 2005.
I know that they have had a change in command in the CCU/ICU. This is a very welcome change and we were there again in 2006 in the ICU. The care was excellent. I even saw the nursing administrator going room to room, introducing himself and saying that if there any problems, he was available. This was VERY comforting.
After complaining of a sore spot on his back for 11 days, my father developed a bed sore. One nurse's reply "oh, it is not that bad." Finally after the skin split open, they took it seriously. It took MONTHS to heal and he was in a lot of pain during that time, which could have been prevented if they had been proactive.
If I have to go to a hospital emergently, Sunstar will take me to Northside. I have instructed my relatives already to transfer me to Morton Plant ASAP!!
One night, my dad had an altercation with one of the nurses, Blythe. He had threatened to throw something at her and she had threatened to tie him down, so I was told. The next morning I went to give him his hearing aide, and it was gone--both the hearing aide and the container that held it. A thorough search by the day nurse yielded nothing (CCU).
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