How is this for irony? A few weeks ago I befriended the mother of one of the little girls in my daughter's dance class. Today we were chatting at dinner and it turns out she is a doctor at one of the hospitals here in town (not the hospital I had the recent issue with, but in fact the hospital we were trying to take my son to instead...one that specializes in pediatrics).
It really is a small world. On a positive note, if we ever find ourselves in the emergency room again, which knowing my son I have no doubt, she did say to ask for her.
Showing posts with label hospitals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hospitals. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Little Restoration for My Faith in Humanity
After our horrible experience at the hospital a few weeks ago I sat down and wrote a very concise, non-emotional letter that spanned five pages, detailing our complaints and also providing direct quotations from hospital personnel (that I recorded on my cell phone) and then mailed it to the Arizona Department of Health Services, Hospital Human Resources Department, the Nursing Supervisor, the Emergency Room Manager, the CEO of the Hospital, and JCAHO (The Joint Commission Healthcare Organization which is the hospital's accrediting and licensing board).
Surprisingly, the complaint and the specifics entailed were taken very seriously by all who received the letter. Two days after I mailed the letters I had heard back from JCAHO that they were initiating an investigation. That same day I received a phone call from the Hospital CEO, who talked with me at length about the situation and said they were opening an internal investigation and this week I received another phone call from the Department of Health Services who are also opening an investigation. To say I am surprised is an understatement. Truthfully it makes me wonder if maybe they are in violation of some law or guideline that I am not aware of and they are trying to cover their butts before I figure out their incompetency is a bigger deal than I am currently aware of.
Then two days ago I found out that JCAHO did a surprise 5 day survey of the hospital that spanned all of last week. That same day I received a phone call from the CEO who informed me that disciplinary measures had been taken (I'm guessing as a result of the JCAHO visit and subsequent consequences although I am still awaiting a letter from them detailing their findings) and that I could either come in to discuss those or the Emergency Department Director would call me the following day to go over those. I chose the latter.
After a lengthy conversation in which the Director acknowledged fault with the way his nurses handled the situation I found out the following:
* Starting two weeks ago (so within days of my complaint) all staff involved in this incident have been required to take a 3 month class that spans customer service, communication skills, sensitivity training, and the like.
* The lead nurse who claimed he was the House Supervisor when he was not has been formally disciplined including a letter in his file for not properly identifying himself....apparently a major JCAHO violation.
* The triage nurse is being made to retake her competency certification (triage nurses complete additional certification and must renew annually) and until passed has been removed from triage.
* All involved were also required to take a refresher course on appropriate triage procedure.
Truthfully, this is more than I expected when I wrote the letter. My intention was to let them know I was upset and that I was not going to pay the copay they tried to charge me. Since there was no further problems with my son I realized that beyond reprimanding them there was not much that could be done. I guess I expected an apology and wanted to make them aware that there is a general standard of care that is an expectation when entering a hospital and that there is also an appropriate way to communicate with people that oftentimes those in the medical profession overlook or intentionally disregard. I have no doubt that most of them were and are probably great clinicians, but medical professionals also have to be able to communicate effectively with patients and parents of patients and when that doesn't happen it leads to confusion and frustration. As I told both the CEO and the Emergency Director, had there been appropriate and effective communication they would never have received a letter nor would they be having the conversations over the course of the last two weeks with me that they have been having.
So, I suppose the point of this ramble is to say that I had a little faith in humanity restored during this process. I got the feeling that there are still decent human beings out there who take responsibility when they make a mistake and I also was proud of myself for sticking up for my kid and myself when I felt he was mistreated and felt like my concerns were disregarded and ignored and then had both doctors and the CEO agree that yes, he, my husband and myself were treated very poorly and they didn't try to make excuses for that behavior but instead outlined steps to correct and improve it for the future. I guess, ultimately, that is all I ever wanted.
Surprisingly, the complaint and the specifics entailed were taken very seriously by all who received the letter. Two days after I mailed the letters I had heard back from JCAHO that they were initiating an investigation. That same day I received a phone call from the Hospital CEO, who talked with me at length about the situation and said they were opening an internal investigation and this week I received another phone call from the Department of Health Services who are also opening an investigation. To say I am surprised is an understatement. Truthfully it makes me wonder if maybe they are in violation of some law or guideline that I am not aware of and they are trying to cover their butts before I figure out their incompetency is a bigger deal than I am currently aware of.
Then two days ago I found out that JCAHO did a surprise 5 day survey of the hospital that spanned all of last week. That same day I received a phone call from the CEO who informed me that disciplinary measures had been taken (I'm guessing as a result of the JCAHO visit and subsequent consequences although I am still awaiting a letter from them detailing their findings) and that I could either come in to discuss those or the Emergency Department Director would call me the following day to go over those. I chose the latter.
After a lengthy conversation in which the Director acknowledged fault with the way his nurses handled the situation I found out the following:
* Starting two weeks ago (so within days of my complaint) all staff involved in this incident have been required to take a 3 month class that spans customer service, communication skills, sensitivity training, and the like.
* The lead nurse who claimed he was the House Supervisor when he was not has been formally disciplined including a letter in his file for not properly identifying himself....apparently a major JCAHO violation.
* The triage nurse is being made to retake her competency certification (triage nurses complete additional certification and must renew annually) and until passed has been removed from triage.
* All involved were also required to take a refresher course on appropriate triage procedure.
Truthfully, this is more than I expected when I wrote the letter. My intention was to let them know I was upset and that I was not going to pay the copay they tried to charge me. Since there was no further problems with my son I realized that beyond reprimanding them there was not much that could be done. I guess I expected an apology and wanted to make them aware that there is a general standard of care that is an expectation when entering a hospital and that there is also an appropriate way to communicate with people that oftentimes those in the medical profession overlook or intentionally disregard. I have no doubt that most of them were and are probably great clinicians, but medical professionals also have to be able to communicate effectively with patients and parents of patients and when that doesn't happen it leads to confusion and frustration. As I told both the CEO and the Emergency Director, had there been appropriate and effective communication they would never have received a letter nor would they be having the conversations over the course of the last two weeks with me that they have been having.
So, I suppose the point of this ramble is to say that I had a little faith in humanity restored during this process. I got the feeling that there are still decent human beings out there who take responsibility when they make a mistake and I also was proud of myself for sticking up for my kid and myself when I felt he was mistreated and felt like my concerns were disregarded and ignored and then had both doctors and the CEO agree that yes, he, my husband and myself were treated very poorly and they didn't try to make excuses for that behavior but instead outlined steps to correct and improve it for the future. I guess, ultimately, that is all I ever wanted.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Lottery
The other day I went to the mall in an attempt to take my kids to the movies. We were meeting my grandmother and got there a little before she did. While we were waiting I put some money into one of those machines where you drop the claw, try to grab a toy, and then bring it back to the chute to collect. I NEVER win anything out of them, but I figured it was worth the try. First attempt: score! A huge water, glitter ball. Second attempt for another? No luck. I then went to a different machine to try to get one of those huge, spongy balls. Score. Two for three ain't bad.
Fourth attempt I end up grabbing two stuffed animals and bringing them both back for collection. I tried for one more stuffed animal, but failed. Seriously, in all my life I don't think combined I have ever won four prizes from these games. I was feeling pretty good.
We then tried to see the movie, which when trying to purchase tickets, we were told that the particular showing we wanted to see was a private viewing for a school. I pointed out that the time was listed in both the paper and online and what a major inconvenience it was for us to come back (not entirely true, but once you have kids stoked to see a movie it is hard to explain that they can't see it). Anyway, I walked away with 4 movie passes for any movies we want to see.
In all seriousness this much good fortune just does not happen to us, me specifically, very often. And when it does it is rarely on the same day...or even during the same year for that matter. Since we couldn't see the movie we went to order lunch. They ended up giving us an extra drink, which I pointed out, but gave to us anyway. Nothing major but my grandmother was thrilled to have an extra one to take home for later.
So, I was feeling pretty good. I called my husband and told him. He was pretty surprised since usually I am calling to tell him how I lost my cell phone, or had to wait forever behind some idiot somewhere, or was tripped by an old man in a wheelchair. Things like that. He suggested I go buy some lottery tickets after my daughter's dance class. So, that was the plan....until my son fell on his head and a trip to the ER took precedent over a trip to my local convenient store.
Now, I am pretty convinced my string of good luck is over and am hesitant to waste my money on lottery tickets. I am thinking that yesterday was the day and I missed my chance. :) Bummer.
Fourth attempt I end up grabbing two stuffed animals and bringing them both back for collection. I tried for one more stuffed animal, but failed. Seriously, in all my life I don't think combined I have ever won four prizes from these games. I was feeling pretty good.
We then tried to see the movie, which when trying to purchase tickets, we were told that the particular showing we wanted to see was a private viewing for a school. I pointed out that the time was listed in both the paper and online and what a major inconvenience it was for us to come back (not entirely true, but once you have kids stoked to see a movie it is hard to explain that they can't see it). Anyway, I walked away with 4 movie passes for any movies we want to see.
In all seriousness this much good fortune just does not happen to us, me specifically, very often. And when it does it is rarely on the same day...or even during the same year for that matter. Since we couldn't see the movie we went to order lunch. They ended up giving us an extra drink, which I pointed out, but gave to us anyway. Nothing major but my grandmother was thrilled to have an extra one to take home for later.
So, I was feeling pretty good. I called my husband and told him. He was pretty surprised since usually I am calling to tell him how I lost my cell phone, or had to wait forever behind some idiot somewhere, or was tripped by an old man in a wheelchair. Things like that. He suggested I go buy some lottery tickets after my daughter's dance class. So, that was the plan....until my son fell on his head and a trip to the ER took precedent over a trip to my local convenient store.
Now, I am pretty convinced my string of good luck is over and am hesitant to waste my money on lottery tickets. I am thinking that yesterday was the day and I missed my chance. :) Bummer.
Why I Don't Own a Gun
We had a bit of drama last night when our son decided to take a header off a bench and land on a concrete slab head first. It was horrible, awful, sickening. (I swear this kid is going to kill me with worry. He is so active and rough that I want to just wrap him in bubble wrap and never let him do anything or go anywhere.) He may or may not have lost consciousness en route to the hospital. He may have just been sleeping, but since I couldn't easily rouse him we don't really know.
The good news is that after keeping vigil by his bedside all night because I was afraid he'd die (a bit of an exaggeration, but I was concerned nonetheless) he appears to be fine, minus the bruised head and swollen left side of his face down to his eye. The bad news is that our health care system is at the very least incompetent but more likely negligent.
I won't get into the entire story here but we waited hours with a toddler with a head injury. When we finally spoke with the House Supervisor he acknowledged that due to the severity of the injury and our son's age he should have been fast tracked, meaning he should have been in and out within 45 minutes. When I asked why this wasn't done he said, and I quote, "Well, I am not entirely sure because I wasn't here when you came in, but the nurse looked out through the window (a glass partition separating the triage area from the lobby) and saw your son walking around and determined he was behaving appropriately." Hello, Natasha Richardson! Apparently, based on that highly medical assessment she determined it was not that urgent that my son see a doctor. This must be some new method because I am fairly certain that 1)nurses can't make medical diagnosis' and 2)making a medical decision without examing the patient has to be a violation of some sort.
Aside from the total lack of care there was not a single person in the hospital that could/would answer a single question we had. Namely, we wanted to know how much longer we were going to have to wait because if it was going to be hours we were going to chance it and take him to a different hospital. Secondly we wanted to know if there would be any financial consequences if we took our son to a different hospital, one specifally with a pediatric department (I took him to this one because it was the closest and at that time I didn't know if he was conscious or not). Their response repeatedly was, "We can't really tell you to stay, we can't tell you to leave, we can't tell you if you'll be billed if you leave, we can't tell you if you leave if your insurance will be billed or if they end up being billed if they'll pay. Basically, we are under such strict federal guidelines we can't tell you anything about anything." I really find that hard to believe especially as I am standing there holding the Patient's Bill of Rights, every one of which they violated last night. My husband's response, which I thought was a good point, was "So, you stand by your nurse who made a medical assessment of my son without ever examining him simply by watching him through a window and then based on that assessment determinted urgent medical care wasn't needed, yet you can't tell me whether we should keep him here or take him elsewhere and if we leave if you will bill us?" His response was, "Yeah, we can't really tell you anything pertaining to any of those things."
The bottom line is that I am thankful our son seems to be okay and as of this morning I have filed complaints with the Arizona Department of Health Services, The Joint Commission of Healthcare Organizations, the Hospital CEO, Hospital Human Resources, and the House Supervisor's superior. I figure at the very least we are owed an apology and personally I would like to see the dozen or so employees we dealt with last night lose their jobs. They should absolutely not be anywhere near sick or injured people. They messed with the wrong person; the last person you ever want to piss off is a mother with a sick or injured child who feels her child isn't getting even the minimum standard of care.
The good news is that after keeping vigil by his bedside all night because I was afraid he'd die (a bit of an exaggeration, but I was concerned nonetheless) he appears to be fine, minus the bruised head and swollen left side of his face down to his eye. The bad news is that our health care system is at the very least incompetent but more likely negligent.
I won't get into the entire story here but we waited hours with a toddler with a head injury. When we finally spoke with the House Supervisor he acknowledged that due to the severity of the injury and our son's age he should have been fast tracked, meaning he should have been in and out within 45 minutes. When I asked why this wasn't done he said, and I quote, "Well, I am not entirely sure because I wasn't here when you came in, but the nurse looked out through the window (a glass partition separating the triage area from the lobby) and saw your son walking around and determined he was behaving appropriately." Hello, Natasha Richardson! Apparently, based on that highly medical assessment she determined it was not that urgent that my son see a doctor. This must be some new method because I am fairly certain that 1)nurses can't make medical diagnosis' and 2)making a medical decision without examing the patient has to be a violation of some sort.
Aside from the total lack of care there was not a single person in the hospital that could/would answer a single question we had. Namely, we wanted to know how much longer we were going to have to wait because if it was going to be hours we were going to chance it and take him to a different hospital. Secondly we wanted to know if there would be any financial consequences if we took our son to a different hospital, one specifally with a pediatric department (I took him to this one because it was the closest and at that time I didn't know if he was conscious or not). Their response repeatedly was, "We can't really tell you to stay, we can't tell you to leave, we can't tell you if you'll be billed if you leave, we can't tell you if you leave if your insurance will be billed or if they end up being billed if they'll pay. Basically, we are under such strict federal guidelines we can't tell you anything about anything." I really find that hard to believe especially as I am standing there holding the Patient's Bill of Rights, every one of which they violated last night. My husband's response, which I thought was a good point, was "So, you stand by your nurse who made a medical assessment of my son without ever examining him simply by watching him through a window and then based on that assessment determinted urgent medical care wasn't needed, yet you can't tell me whether we should keep him here or take him elsewhere and if we leave if you will bill us?" His response was, "Yeah, we can't really tell you anything pertaining to any of those things."
The bottom line is that I am thankful our son seems to be okay and as of this morning I have filed complaints with the Arizona Department of Health Services, The Joint Commission of Healthcare Organizations, the Hospital CEO, Hospital Human Resources, and the House Supervisor's superior. I figure at the very least we are owed an apology and personally I would like to see the dozen or so employees we dealt with last night lose their jobs. They should absolutely not be anywhere near sick or injured people. They messed with the wrong person; the last person you ever want to piss off is a mother with a sick or injured child who feels her child isn't getting even the minimum standard of care.
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