Dear All,
Firstly thankyou, thankyou for the many kind and supportive emails re my
recent
experience of in hospital care of my dad. Also I was gratefull for the
news of
many other experiences that were opposite to my own. At that time these
stories
were reasuring as I was still a little shocked. From those clinical
educators
who expressed interest, please do use any of my feedback if you feel it
will
be of value during your work. If you would like some specific details I
will
try and respond with examples if you woul like to contact me personally.
As for formalizing some feedback to this hospital- if only I had the
time. I
still havn't cought up with what was put on hold during my abscence. On
my
return I have now further task as well- reports to put submissions in
for, new
committee meetings to attend, Visiting mid meetings to catch up ect ect.
As yet
I still have not had one spare moment to put towards my research studies
which
I'm getting so behind on as well. I need more than the 12hours I can
work in
one day.
Once again thankyou all for your support and kindness,
Heather
patricia schneider wrote:
> Hello Heather, Thankyou for sharing that intensly moving and personal
> account of your father's recent illness. It all sounds appauling and it
> must have been dreadful for you. I have to say though that I wonder if you
> ( and your dad) were just terribly unlucky. My own father ( aged 85) is now
> at the end stage of fighting metastatic melanoma. I am now home midwifing
> him ( birth and death are the same experiences aren't they) by choice...
> but he has been ill for three years... had many trips to hospital and
> several operations. The care (nursing and medical) he has received on each
> occasion has been exceptional, and I have nothing but praise for the staff
> of the many and varied hospitals ( both public and private) where he has
> been a patient. There have been times when the nurses have been run off
> their feet...short staffed, very very sick people to care for, but never
> have my father's needs been ignored. The nurses have also been very kind
> and attentive to my mother ( a very frail 82 year old ) and to me, my
> husband and children.
> Now that we have opted for palliative care at home, the support systems are
> wonderful and we feel very blessed to have this time with Dad.
> I'm not sure where your father was in hospital... perhaps location is an
> issue. Also, my Dad is a veteran and is fully covered by Vet Affairs...
> maybe that helped us.
> Still, that is no excuse for your dreadful experience of the system. I hope
> your dad is on the improve and trust that you will, in time, put this all
> behind you.
> Have you written some letters of complaint??? I sure would have.
> Take care,
> Trish.At 03:55 PM 8/20/99 +1000, you wrote:
> >
> >Hi All,
> >Have just finished going through the 200 plus em's awaiting my return to
> >the computor.
> >I've been away for 12 days-having been called to my dear Dad's bedside
> >following his admission to hospital with an acute illness. In fact it
> >was a drug induced nightmare (he was on A/B's for a tooth abscess-
> >repeat by one) and developed a profound thrombocytopenia. Admission
> >platelet count of 100 (no NOT 100,000) and bleeding from mucosa's. What
> >a bloody night mare that little journey was. Essentially my greatest
> >sadness comes from being around the most appauling nursing care I'd ever
> >seen!!. What has become of good general nursing care? It was not just
> >the three medication errors of my dad's first 4 days in hospital but
> >more the neglectfull, disrespectfull, humiliating treatment that the
> >other old folk received in the ward he was in. I suppose I feel like I
> >have allways (the last 14 years anyway) been actively involved in
> >political action for maternity choices, women's rights ect (yes I payed
> >the $10 to get the senate inquiry submission delivered on time- I lost a
> >day travelling down to see dad) and I've done my bit on a local level
> >for years. But now I realize that there is another sector of society-
> >middle aged/older men who are also being abused by our health system!!
> >I just feel so very very sad about the lack of humility, undertanding
> >or even basic care shown to my dad's room companions by the staff. It
> >was interesting that the only health worker that offerred what I believe
> >to be reasonable care was a young woman RMO. When it got to the stage of
> >no improvement for dad- we'd exhausted platelet stores (he had 47 units
> >infused) high dose steroids were ineffective, 12 infusions of intragam
> >ect wasn't helping -her atitude was humble .....
> >(medical management can cause damage that they are unable to repair) and
> >she asked my dad to call on his own healing abilities, to use his
> >thoughts, his own will, to focus on his body's ability to turn back the
> >harmfull process that had become established. She responded to my dad's
> >cynical, weary reply with such deep affirmation of him that I feel a bit
> >teary when I think of it. And yes from the next day things began to
> >change, and change for the better. Not that I was happy with many other
> >incidents along the way, or his discharge with a platelet count of only
> >500. But that RMO was a bit of a light in what was a gloomy setting for
> >healing and yes death that occurred in medical ward 3. For me I say
> >shame on those cruel staff and I prey/ask for their movement back into a
> >heart space during their important work. And in many ways I feel
> >gratefull for having had a chance to be midwife to those older men- sit
> >them up so they don't drown in their sputum, or sit them up so they can
> >drink their cup of tea without spilling it and scalding themselves, role
> >one on his side and wipe his face so he didn't choke on his vomit
> >awaiting a nurse to respond to a call bell, or actually putting the call
> >bell in reach so help can be brought, or the bottle in reach, or the
> >triangle in reach so some mobility is possibility and so on........
> >Enough for the moment! I'm having to consider coming off the list for a
> >while-It seems nearly impossible to fit in the time to read/respond to
> >the list's fantastic diverse discussions.
> >I'll close for the moment as I need to pack/check my birthing kit for an
> >impending homebirth. I'll offer some closing responses tomorrow, and
> >then it will probably be goodbye for a while.
> >Thankyou for being a place to share my recent experience- so different
> >to the wonderfull home death story I 've just read. Once again the
> >shadow and the light.
> >Heather Gulliver.
> >--
> >This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics.
> >Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
> >
--
This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics.
Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
