East Houston Regional Medical Center
13111 East Freeway
Houston TX 77015
My dad was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia & I went to visit. He was alone in his room,because my mom had been up all night & day and had finally gone home to get some rest. I stayed at the hospital with my dad from 6:30pm until 9:30pm. I spent 3 hours observing the workings of EHRMC. Here is my opinion of the hell hole.
Upon entering my dad's room, I found him furiously pushing the call button to summon the nurse.He had a completely full urine jug & needed it emptied (he was bedridden & could not access the restroom). No one ever answered or came to see what he needed, so I emptied it myself. Then, he began having problems breathing & needed a nebulizer treatment. I went to the nurses desk & advised that my father was in distress & needed treatment immediately. The nurse called the respiratory therapist & I could tell from listening to his end of the phone call that the answer was pretty much "I'll get there when I get there". I went back & monitored my father. Approximately an hour later, I went back to the desk & requested a status update on the therapy (now remember...this whole time, my dad COULD NOT BREATHE). The nurse called on the phone again with the same result. Finally, after talking to the charge nurse & also the hospital doctor by phone, the breathing treatment finally arrived. Its not a very difficult process. Unhook the air hose & stick on the apparatus. Drop in the medication. The entire process took less than a minute. My poor dad had to suffer for 2 hours because the hospital personnel could not find 1 minute of time to attend to him. Also, during the time when he couldn't breathe sufficiently, he called the nurse's desk from him bed phone & was hung up on. My father is 72-years-old & deserves to be treated with dignity & respect.
I for one do not understand the practice of having medical personnel work 12+ hour shifts. The greeter at the WalMart is tired after his/her shift & can't wait to get home. After 8 hours doing anything, its time to GO. So how come it is that with MEDICINE, its ok to be overworked and tired? Shouldn't medical personnel be at their MOST alert? Isn't it easier to make a mistake when you're tired? Well, in this case, my dad's male nurse had been on duty since my dad came in around 2am. His eyes were red and irritated. It was obvious that he was exhausted. In this state, he was absolutely worthless as a caregiver.
Also, my dad had an issue with medication & blood spurting out of his IV. His sheets were soaked with liquid. The male nurse brought in the supplies to change the IV. But he forgot about the problem & never came back to fix the IV. Then the nurses had a shift change. The second nurse was advised. She placed a piece of tape across the IV. (UM, ok...now what about the spurting medication?...isn't this something that should be going INTO his body instead of onto the sheets?) A third nurse arrived & was advised. She said she would tell the second nurse. But at least she turned off the IV machine. Now the only problem was...my dad needs the meds. So about an hour later the second nurse comes back. She says theres no problem with the IV. Well, Sherlock Holmes...you might wanna check that again. The machine is NOT ON. The tubing is NOT IN THE ARM. Where the hell did you go to nursing school? So then the second nurse gets the charge nurse. Luckily she was quite capable and competent. Finally...what should never have been a problem was finally resolved.
The hospital seemed very clean. Most of the complex is still closed and/or under repair due to damage from Hurricane Ike. But the patient care is horrible. There were plenty of nurses on duty (I know because I spent a lot of time at the nurse's desk trying unsuccessfully to get prompt help for my dad). So it wasn't the quantity of nursing staff, just the quality. If my experience at East Houston Regional Medical Center is the norm, then Hurricane Ike was doing us a favor by closing this place down.
Houston TX 77015
My dad was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia & I went to visit. He was alone in his room,because my mom had been up all night & day and had finally gone home to get some rest. I stayed at the hospital with my dad from 6:30pm until 9:30pm. I spent 3 hours observing the workings of EHRMC. Here is my opinion of the hell hole.
Upon entering my dad's room, I found him furiously pushing the call button to summon the nurse.He had a completely full urine jug & needed it emptied (he was bedridden & could not access the restroom). No one ever answered or came to see what he needed, so I emptied it myself. Then, he began having problems breathing & needed a nebulizer treatment. I went to the nurses desk & advised that my father was in distress & needed treatment immediately. The nurse called the respiratory therapist & I could tell from listening to his end of the phone call that the answer was pretty much "I'll get there when I get there". I went back & monitored my father. Approximately an hour later, I went back to the desk & requested a status update on the therapy (now remember...this whole time, my dad COULD NOT BREATHE). The nurse called on the phone again with the same result. Finally, after talking to the charge nurse & also the hospital doctor by phone, the breathing treatment finally arrived. Its not a very difficult process. Unhook the air hose & stick on the apparatus. Drop in the medication. The entire process took less than a minute. My poor dad had to suffer for 2 hours because the hospital personnel could not find 1 minute of time to attend to him. Also, during the time when he couldn't breathe sufficiently, he called the nurse's desk from him bed phone & was hung up on. My father is 72-years-old & deserves to be treated with dignity & respect.
I for one do not understand the practice of having medical personnel work 12+ hour shifts. The greeter at the WalMart is tired after his/her shift & can't wait to get home. After 8 hours doing anything, its time to GO. So how come it is that with MEDICINE, its ok to be overworked and tired? Shouldn't medical personnel be at their MOST alert? Isn't it easier to make a mistake when you're tired? Well, in this case, my dad's male nurse had been on duty since my dad came in around 2am. His eyes were red and irritated. It was obvious that he was exhausted. In this state, he was absolutely worthless as a caregiver.
Also, my dad had an issue with medication & blood spurting out of his IV. His sheets were soaked with liquid. The male nurse brought in the supplies to change the IV. But he forgot about the problem & never came back to fix the IV. Then the nurses had a shift change. The second nurse was advised. She placed a piece of tape across the IV. (UM, ok...now what about the spurting medication?...isn't this something that should be going INTO his body instead of onto the sheets?) A third nurse arrived & was advised. She said she would tell the second nurse. But at least she turned off the IV machine. Now the only problem was...my dad needs the meds. So about an hour later the second nurse comes back. She says theres no problem with the IV. Well, Sherlock Holmes...you might wanna check that again. The machine is NOT ON. The tubing is NOT IN THE ARM. Where the hell did you go to nursing school? So then the second nurse gets the charge nurse. Luckily she was quite capable and competent. Finally...what should never have been a problem was finally resolved.
The hospital seemed very clean. Most of the complex is still closed and/or under repair due to damage from Hurricane Ike. But the patient care is horrible. There were plenty of nurses on duty (I know because I spent a lot of time at the nurse's desk trying unsuccessfully to get prompt help for my dad). So it wasn't the quantity of nursing staff, just the quality. If my experience at East Houston Regional Medical Center is the norm, then Hurricane Ike was doing us a favor by closing this place down.
East Houston Regional Medical Center gets an
EYEBALL DOWN from JudgedByJody!
They got those HUGE signs all over the rooms...with pictures of HAPPY FACES that are
ReplyDeletegrimacing...asking "What Is Your Pain Level"?
But when you try to tell them...they run like hell.
Yeah, I had to sit in the emergency room for...ummm...too long if I can't remember. When I finally got called back (along with another person at the same time)I was given a prescription for an earache...I went in for a sore on my leg....what the HECK!
ReplyDelete