Hospital care

Recently I had the unfortunate experience of being in the ER with a family member, and then getting admitted for observation. Compared to the last time that a family member was admitted couple years ago, this time around the service was crap.

Yes, we live in a first world country, where our health care is suppose to be the best. It's free after all right? 

It's utter crap and it's just getting worse. Take this from someone who actually works in health care in Canada. Health care isn't free. We basically get taxed out of our butts and that goes into everything that you see is 'free'. Refugees? Yes, we've basically paid for your stay AND your salary here. Which is why our country is in the dumps. 

Anyways, back to hospital experience.

We went to ER on a Thursday evening, and was pretty much in ER for just under 24 hours, before getting a hospital bed. The sad thing is, I'm not surprised at all that it took that long. If anything, that's a pretty good time (compared to others). It's definitely not acceptable, but it is what it is. Now, this is a well known hospital, one of the best in the country (if not the world). But depending what you're in for, you could be in for a long haul. If you aren't dying or bleeding to death, then you will be sitting in ER for 20+ hours until you get a bed. And that's if your condition is serious enough to warrant a hospital bed. 

I can't even tell you the name of our ER nurses because we never really saw them much. They came to take a set of vitals. And that was it. You could die in the chair and they probably won't even notice, because the nurses are getting pulled left right and centre. At night, there are maybe 2 rounding doctors who have to check 3-4 separate units in ER to assess patients. On top of that, if they get a trauma case come in, they get pulled. So it can be a very busy night. 

Which is why if you're in ER alone, those are the worst cases because no one is there to observe except for other patients and families that are around. I'm fortunate that I can take the time off and accompany my family member and stay with them all day and night to ensure they remain alive while waiting for a bed. It has come to that point in this country, to ensure survival, you really should have someone with you in ER. It's sad, but it's more scary. 

Once we got a bed and went to the unit, the unit was located very far from the main building. In the words of my mother, it was like the poor side of the hospital. I mean, it is an older section of the hospital. We are grateful we got the bed, but this was just the beginning. If you thought distance was an issue, this barely touched the surface.

The unit itself was built like a square. The nursing station was in the middle, while the outer portion was surrounded by hospital rooms. Just like every other unit, the nurses rotate throughout the week. You may not even get the same nurse the next day. That's just the reality of it. I introduced myself as a health care professional whenever I got to meet the nurse for the day (or night). When they hear that, they either get super anxious, or super happy. Anxious being a trouble maker family member, or happy because I actually help them, and that is what I did. 

The issue with that is, when they see you being very helpful, they don't check in as much on your family member. The moment my family member required assistance to the bathroom (for example), the second family member was there to help, but given that there was an IV pole to push, along with the family member being unsteady on their feet, it would be a lot safer if extra help was on hand. They called for a nurse to come. The response? Oh, stay inside for now, we will be there. 

When it took a while, they realized that the nurses were giving each other report, one shift to the next. No one cared to check in on the patients' request to use the bathroom. Instead, the family member struggled with all the equipment and the mess left behind in the bathroom. They had a risk of falling, and yet, not a nurse went in there to check.

Basic nursing 101. If your patient is calling you for help, doesn't matter if it's to go back to bed, or go to the bathroom, you GO and CHECK on them. I don't care if you're giving report. You tell your colleague that you have to go check on your patient, you'll be back, but feel free to continue reading my report. What ever happened to basic common sense in nurses? 

I get it that we are all busy. I'm a nurse and I've been in situations where I had to cover an entire floor of 30 something patients with 1 colleague. But if someone called for me to use the bathroom and I was giving report, I'll be running into that room quickly because the last thing I want is to have a patient attempting to walk themselves and then falling out of bed trying to do that. 

The nurses these days, what is happening? Is everyone on Tik Tok trying to make a buck or two on their shift, and forgetting you have lives in your hands? Is it really that difficult to go check in on your patient to help them to the bathroom? If you find it annoying or if you rolled your eyes, then don't be a nurse. Find another profession to do. But just don't be a nurse.

The most aggravating thing is when my family member tried to use the bathroom, and attempted to get out of bed, but lost their balance and fell to the ground. This room was also right in front of the nursing station. Family member did end up calling for help, and that's when FINALLY the nurses came in and assisted them back to bed. 

I understand that not all eyes will be on every room at every waking moment, because sometimes the nursing station is empty, that all the nurses are with patients. I can't blame them for not watching and seeing said family member fall down because they can't be sitting there just watching a room for their entire shift. 

This obviously is a systemic issue. It's not just a hospital issue, but it's really a domino effect, and that starts from the higher up. Hospitals are all underfunded. Yes, they may do fundraising events, or have donors donate huge amounts to the hospital. Reality is, do we actually see any of it? Do we see the money? Does it reflect on each unit? No, it doesn't.

The only money that we see is when they built an entirely new wing or section of the hospital, the proof of where some of the money went. Or maybe one unit finally got a new bladder scanner from that money. Aside from that, where is the money going? Research? You've had decades to find a cure for cancer. We have the most advanced technologies, yet we haven't found a cure. But think about it. If they could actually find a cure, what's going to happen to the pharmaceutical companies? They'd go bankrupt. The nursing staff? The specialist doctors? Jobless. They wouldn't need any of us anymore. Pharmaceuticals would lose billions of dollars. 

So of course, they must have a cure already. They're just not saying it. Because hospitals would run out of business. And that's the thing. Hospitals are a business. It's not a centre of care and compassion. It's a very big business. They don't care much about retaining staff such as nurses or assistants. We are just a small pawn in a big game of chess. You don't like it? Leave. They will replace you in a heart beat.

Anyways, that's just me side tracking. But the overall hospital experience this time around was a lot worse than the other one I had that happened less than 2 years ago. It was also a lot worse than from 9 years ago when I was last there for my mother's case. So yeah, hospitals are definitely getting worse as time goes on.

I also think the nursing knowledge and care is getting much worse. I don't want to blame one generation, because from what I see, it's a mix of all generations. I don't know if it's because we don't give a crap anymore about patient care, that everything is just about making the big bucks (but really, we don't make big bucks...if we do, we get severely taxed). Or that the generation of nurses are just that incompetent and lack common sense - perhaps they see it from their colleagues and just follow along. 

I don't know what it is. But whatever it is, it makes me terrified to continue getting care in a hospital for any of my family or loved ones. I cannot rely on the hospital to provide care to my family. I would rather take an extended leave of absence to care for them at home. That's how unsafe I feel. 

To everyone else, as I mentioned above, I highly recommend ALWAYS going to the hospital with your loved ones. Don't rely on the hospital staff to care for your family.