it was blowing on her. He had gloves on, and he took the cover off the AC unit. Then he lifted out a clump of debris and adjusted the vent. Guess what he did next?"
"What?"
"He came over and started to test Karen's blood glucose level. She said, 'Aren't you going to change your gloves?' He shrugged, and said, 'If you want me to.'"
Jake groaned. Richard said, "That's not all!" and listed half a dozen other situations in which it seemed that Karen was paying more attention to getting good care than were the people treating her.
Karen is an insulin-dependent diabetic, and nursing practices interfered with her ability to control her insulin appropriately. People in the cardiac unit didn't know how to move her to avoid injuring her spine further.
"Listen, Richard," Jake said urgently. "Write down each of the problems she's run into. Then call the Patient Relations department and ask for a meeting. When so many things are off, that's the only way to get them resolved."
more ...
June 05 , 2011
Hospital staffers can fix problems only if you speak up
by Elizabeth L. Bewley
Richard and Karen, both in their early 50s, live in a suburb of Philadelphia. Karen was driving home from a visit with family when she went off the road in rural Pennsylvania. The nearest hospital identified a compression fracture in her spine, and sent her by ambulance to a major medical center in Philadelphia.
Karen could not recall what led to the accident, so to be safe it was decided to put her in a cardiac unit in case heart trouble had caused her to lose consciousness.
After she had been there two or three days, her cousin Jake called Richard to ask how Karen was doing and how her care was going. Jake worked in the Infection Control department on another campus of the hospital where Karen was being treated.
Richard said, "She's okay, but I thought you worked for one of the top-tier hospitals! I can't believe some of problems she's running into."
Jake asked for particulars, and Richard said, "Here's one that should interest someone in Infection Control. Today a patient tech came in and Karen asked him if there was a way to redirect the air conditioning vent, because
