Worst Nursing Scenerio

[Guest guest]

ALL YOU WONDERFUL NURSES ON CEDA, PLEASE DON'T GET BENT OPUT OF SHAPE. I know

you'd never do the things I experienced in one of Atlanta's " premiere " hospitals

during my January surgery.

I had emergency surgery for a synovial cyst that found its way into C7-T1 and

compressed the cord and C8 root so badly that paralysis was imminent. Since I

was squeezed in, mysurgery didn't start till 4 p.m., took 3 hrs instead of 1

1/2, spent 3 hrs in recovery (instead of 1 1/2) so it was 10:30 p.m. before I

was taken to a room on the neurosurgery floor across from the nursing station. I

asked to use the bathroom but was told I was on " flat bed " which wasn't true.

So I was brought a bedpan that must have been made for a Barbie doll. The

nurse's aide left the room and told me to call when I was done. 4 minutes

later, I was more than done. As my youngest son used to say, " it overfloated " .

I rang for help. The voice said that she would tell my nurse. 10 minutes later

, I rang again and got the same answer. Bu now I was pretty disgusted so I

thought i could sotrt of wiggle off it being hypermoble and throw my legs over

the bar which upset the blasted thing and soaked me and the bed thoroughly.

Again I call for help , but this time no voice answered. I was connected

because I could hear people laughing and talking , but I couldn't speak to them.

Get this picture. My head is on the pillow, but the rest of me is draped over

the side rail feet dangling down. It is now 11:30 p.m. Everytime I hear

someone coming down the hall, I call " help, help " but no one can hear me because

I have a paralyzed vocal cord and the good one was bruised when the breathing

tube was removed. Finally, someone heard me and got me help. I was cleaned up

with profuse apologies.

Sometime during the night, the PCA (patient controlled anesthesia ) quit

working. When I awoke and realized that, I called for help. The nure looked at

it and told me it was working. 15 minutes later I call again and the same thing

happens. After 3 hours, someone actually looked at the machine and said, " Oh,

look there's a kink! She straightened it out and it worked. So many more things

happened in the 2 1/2 days I was there that I don't even want to go into it.

When I got home, I was really angry. I wrote a letter to the chair. of the

hosp. board with copies to the hosp. director and my doctor. Instead of just

complaining, I offered some cost free solutions to the problems I encountered.

I offered my expertise as an educator with a string of degrees ( AB, MS, ED.S)

to conduct an inservice free of charge. I would like to borrow Janet's

Curse A Nurse theme and come up with some role playing reversals.

My favorite is to tie that #$% nurses aid to the bed and pour a gallon of yellow

tinted water on her (just kind of hintining it urine) and leave her for an

hour. I need y'all to come up with some other ideas I also need a name for

the paras/aides

I will be very interested to see if I hear back from the hospital. My doc's

right hand; she does everything but the surgery , was so delighted with my

letter that she asked if she could show it to other patients who complained and

ask them to write also.

Judy with a REAL turtleneck up over my ears in georgeous Atlanta with 70

degrees today