My husband and I have been nurses for over 30 years and find ourselves in the uncomfortable role of patient and family. He was admitted to the hospital last Friday and his world and mine are totally out of our control. Everything is now someone else's timetable and priority. I missed the physician rounds yesterday and the nurse would not call the doctors so I could talk to them. I have no access to their on call numbers so I just had to accept it. One of the Docs was still on the floor and when the nurse told him I wanted to talk to him he said he would "if he had time". What???
I am going to keep track of this hospitalization and I am probably going to end up embarrassing my husband whom thinks we should accept this callousness without making a scene. I am trying to put the situation in my Buddhist perspective but It may not last much longer. This is the same system that touts personalizing the patient experience. My question is, when does it start?
1 comment:
Clare,
As a healthcare society, we have been too far removed from patient centered care for too long. At some point we stopped putting the patient and family at the center of our care; instead the "man" became more concerned with running hospitals' like hotels'. We are more concerned with whether or not the patient will give the hospital high marks on the Press-Ganey comment card, rather than on their course of treatment. Somewhere the "human" element of care got lost, now patients' are billing numbers.
I think if all healthcare providers would tell the truth of how they felt, that the American people would be astonished. The nurses who do truly "care" about their patients' are often the first to "burn out", or are always black-balled by administration, management, and their co-workers.
Keep being the advocate!!! Demand that the MD talk to you and Donald about the course of treatment. Remember it's the squeaky wheel that gets oiled!!
My prayers will continue to be with you and Donald.
Kristy
Post a Comment