Hospital, or Related, People (IRL)

[Matreya]

So.

Today my mother went to the ER. I guess under the guise of an enlarged liver. After seeing her main doctor, she was put into an ambulance and rushed to the county hospital.

I was told a few hours after she went. But, being the (attempted) good son, I charged my way down to be with her in her time of fear. After having been there for three hours, under horrendous physical torment, she was finally brought back into a room...

I thought...

Come to find out, within the past half an hour, I found that she was not. Instead they took her back, to put her in the hallway. Then, it took several more hours before they even put an IV on, nor sought to see how she was, despite the aforementioned torment.

My question is this: is this acceptable? Common? Should I attempt to do something about it?

My mother is a handicap woman, one that cannot walk, cannot breathe properly, etc. Yet they had her wait for 8+ hours, simply to give an IV, and ask how she was less than 5 times. Plus, when I came to see how she was, I was told that I could not visit long as rhey didn't want the hall, 'clustered'.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

[member="Lord Misao"] - This is going to sound callous. But you asked. And so therefore, you get an answer. My pardons ahead of time if you don't like it...

If she was in a hallway, no matter how alarming it was to you or her that she be there, she was non-critical. That, or she was so critical she had to be under ER supervision. Typically hall beds are used only when the ER is so packed that they cannot fit in more patients. The ER you were in was likely full enough that the hospital was on diversion, or close to it. Hall-beds are one of the attempts to keep treating patients without turning them away. Right or wrong, it is accepted practice.

And yes, again, it sucks but telling you that you can't come back to see her is not wrong either. Now, I would have offered to bring you back for 5-10 minutes and then had you leave, because of space. But, each department is different. There is little to nothing you could or would do except provide moral support to your mother. If they need info or to speak to you, they can find you in a waiting room or such to speak to. Being in a hall-bed, almost every family member gets agitated because they believe their loved one is being ignored, etc... You are already laboring under that impression it would seem. So assuming you were as obvious or more so during your visit means it wasn't wrong of them to ask you to wait.

As for the IV? That is facility dependent. Some people aren't easy to get venous access on, so they are let be. Other places just believe that there is no reason to gain IV access unless it is ordered or needed. Beyond blood draws (which can and often are) done by a butterfly needle, the only reason to put in an IV is for fluid bolus. Again, some places throw a 250ml to 1l bag on a slow drip, just in case/to keep access open. Some don't.

And, while I don't know your mothers' full condition or presentation, nothing in my mind screams 'Get some NS in her now' by what you say here.... My rule is, if you are over 65, you get fluid no matter what. A least 500ml. Because you are almost always chronically dehydrated. Beyond that, before I poke? I even challenge doctors... 'Why do they need this?'.. Plus, with an internal organ issue, that is dependant on CT, Ultrasound, or X-Ray. Guess what those require? Specialized technicians and doctors to authorize, administer, and treat. And now-a-days? With insurance? They have to typically do blood-draws or other preliminary tests before they can do the test they are 99.9% certain they need.

Long story short? I get that it was frustrating. Believe me. But the staff was probably just as frustrated as you, because likely they knew what needed to be done in under an hour. But the system has so much red-tape it took them a good chunk of the day. And in between all that, they dealt with car wrecks, shootings, and/or more. For myself? I did an ER rotation the other day. Whilst I was getting yelled out because someones bed has dust on it, and they hadn't been given pain medicine at the door upon entry for back pain... I was also treating a young man the same age group as myself in an accident. The kicker? He kept asking about his wife... The accident was so bad it threw her from her seat to the back windshield, and she broke it... Any guesses? Yeah.

But every so often I had to go get yelled at, and eventually thrown out of the ER room with the other patient, because of things I couldn't influence. And to top it off? If they were using hall-beds? I guarantee you they hadn't stopped to pee or eat in about 6 hours, if they were lucky. There have been whole 12 hour rotations where I went before and after I signed in, and ate only then too. So I get your frustration, but due try to step back from just how it effects you, and your loved one, and realize it is a multi-sided equation. And that, perversely, in our world of hospital care, waiting is a good thing... Mainly because it means you aren't dieing. Being rushed in and taken care of first is bad.

Signed,

Sleep Deprived Medic Student # 24601

P.S. - I hope your mother is better. If you have questions on results, anything they tell you, or that you see, just send me a PM.