Monday, March 01, 2010

The Night in HELL

Steve stayed until I got settled for the night, then he went home to check on the girls and get them off to school in the morning. Little did he know, he left me to the mercy of what I can only think must be the place where they send all the nurses who failed their sensitivity training.

I am not what you would consider a "high maintenance" patient. I was still in a lot of pain, but I did my best not to complain or make life difficult for the nurses. All I needed was an occasional bed pan and pain medication. From the very beginning, the nurses on this ward let me know that I was a total inconvenience. They never introduced themselves. They just came in at all hours of the night and started poking around on me. If I pulled my call light for the bed pan, it took them a long time to respond; then they would leave me on it until I had deep ridges on my ass. Also, it was the loudest hospital I had ever been in! Doors were being slammed constantly and the staff frequently stood outside my door practically yelling at each other. Needless to say, I got very little sleep that night.

Around 8:00 in the morning, the doctor came in to describe my surgery and asked if I had any questions. I had not had anything to eat or drink since 7:00 the previous night, since they didn't know when my surgery would be. So I asked Dr. Brown if I could have some water. He said that I could have water until 9:00, which left me about an hour. My mouth was dried out from the pain meds and I was parched! I hit my call light.

At 8:50, someone finally brought me water, but still had not gotten me the pain medicine. I was in so much pain that my teeth were chattering and tears were rolling down my face. The nurse said he was going to give me something for anxiety! I said, "I'm NOT anxious, I am in pain!" Steve did finally talk to someone and told them to stop ignoring me. But by this time, I only had a few minutes to drink the water.

It was a humiliating experience, and one I hope I never have to go through again! I was really surprised, because Overlake usually has a good reputation. I wasn't asking for anything out of the ordinary or being demanding or disrespectful. I have worked as a nursing assistant, so I know how demanding, difficult and stressful the job can be. But, honestly, there is NO excuse for the poor level of care I received.

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