@smudges That’s great! I don’t feel you are being contrary. There are good and bad stories throughout the health system.
My dad just had amazing care in the hospital, but his current surgeon found that the previous surgeon didn’t repair everything that was supposed to be done and my dad was not told! The previous surgeon left minimal surgical notes and no explanation for why he skipped doing one of the repairs he was scheduled to do.
When my husband was having a bad reaction to cipro the hospital nurse kept saying no one has bad reactions. I had to insist she call the doctor with me standing in front of her demanding it “now” to get her to do it. The doctor changed the meds, I don’t think the doctor minded changing it. The next morning they sent in a nurse to redo my husband’s IV line and she was shaking so bad it seemed like she had Parkinson’s. Waving that needle near his arm. My husband finally said stop your not doing this. I think it was a joke or punishment they were delivering.
In Atlanta they never cleaned my wounds in the ER after my accident. They sent me up to the cardiac floor with pieces of road in my cuts. A very deep wound kept oosing and the nurse didn’t take it seriously even though my husband pointed it out twice, she said the ER should have taken care of it. Doctors did nothing. Finally three days later at an urgent care a different doctor said it should have been stitched but too late now.
That same hospital stay they left me alone without the sides up on my bed and they didn’t know I had SEVERE vertigo and when I moved I was extremely unstable. They also unnecessarily CT’d my body multiple times and they estimated I had 20 years of background radiation plus or minus 50% in that one minute.
I had a very lucky great experience with a gastro problem. The ER staff and the gastroenterologist were amazing and I was so thankful because I was really afraid about what was going to be done.
One doctor I saw wanted to cut off part of my clitoris from a possible cancer scare. That surgery usually leaves women in chronic pain. When I told the checkout person I’m not scheduling that surgery her response was “the doctor says you need it.” Long story short I went to two more GUN’s and then an oncologist specialist who told me in two minutes I definitely do not have cancer. That other doctor was going to butcher me.
I could go on and on with good experiences and bad.
I am damaged by the bad experiences, a lot of people have bad experiences in medical care and I think doctors and nurses need to understand.
I went to a rheumatologist years ago and his receptionist gave me a hard time because the referral hadn’t been sent. I told her I would pay and go to my primary afterwards or fight with insurance afterwards she still gave me a hard time. The doctor walked out to the lobby and said to let me cone into the exam room. Later on he told me when his dad was very sick in the hospital he came up to the room while he was being treated badly by a doctor and he swore in that moment he would never do that. Once the hospital staff found out the son of the patient was a doctor they treated him differently.