The incident that brings me to write this letter of concern and complaint happened on Friday, June 3, 2016. I was not available to visit my dad that morning but my mother went to visit him around 10:00 am, when she arrived she was shocked at the condition he was in, his arms and legs were twitching so badly (due to severe neuropathy) and he complained that his back hurt so much (due to the six back operations) he was in such pain that he did not know where to put himself. He told my mother that he kept asking for his medication and was being told that he was getting his medication. Dr. Piotrowski and her group came into the room for morning rounds, my dad asked her why he has not been getting his medications, she told him that he has been getting …show more content…
My dad told her that he knew that he was not getting his medication and was told once again that he was. My mother told me that a nurse looked at his records and said that he had only been getting insulin and a medication for his nausea. They looked at the doctor and asked why my father had not been getting his normal medication, he is on eighteen medications daily, the nurse said that they did not have orders for other medications. During this my mother heard someone in the group with Dr. Piotrowski comment that “well, it’s only one day”, meaning one day without medication is ok ? My father has several chronic and serious medical conditions and is on multiple medications daily, methadone being one of them, the thought that it would be acceptable for a professional to say that missing one day of these eighteen medications is ok, is ludicrous! For my father to go one day, never mind 36 hours, without even his baseline medications is reckless at best. My mother was so furious that she asked to speak to whoever was in charge, she was told that …show more content…
Upon entering my dad’s hospital room I thought that could easily guess what the problem was, he was obviously in a great deal of pain and his neuropathy was probably the worst I’ve seen it. I asked him how long he had been like that and he told me since the night before. I then saw my mom and how angry and upset she was and I asked her what happened she told me that my dad had not received any of his normal medications since he was at home some 36 hours earlier, that since he was admitted they only been giving him his insulin. After the shock and disbelief of something like this happening in a hospital that we have trusted and defended for the past fifty years, I asked her how they knew this, through tears and anger she told me what had just unfolded with Dr. Piotrowski and her team. She told me that they were waiting for Dr. Gutierrez to come in and talk with us, we
I cared for a 76-year-old end-staged chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder patient who was admitted for respiratory distress. The doctor requested that my nurse and I get the family together for a family meeting. During the meeting, the doctor communicated to the patient and his family members that the patient will be palliative and no longer be in the ICU. The family members were concerned about the transfer of care to the medicine unit, what to expect from palliative care and other options for care. This scenario did not go well because the patient and family would have benefited from a palliative nurse with expertise, respiratory therapist to discuss other options, pharmacist about medication change if needed, social worker to help guide the family through end of life care for their father. In addition, there was no collaboration with interprofessionals prior to the family
The Board received a complaint on 04/02/2014 regarding patient Gloria Kinder from Dena Andrews who has a POA for health care matters on the patient. The complaint was regarding Dr. Negron taking over care of the patient after her primary care doctor retired. The complainant states that the doctor would not refill her potassium, did not do follow up labs, and would not care for the patient.
Although I respect and trust nurses and doctors, I always carefully observe what is being done with myself or my family members. After watching Josie’s story and being in the process of becoming a medical assistant, I feel this story has given me an initiative to ensure patients and their families are kept safe. The generation we live in is technological, there are many resources for patients and families to utilize to educate themselves when it comes to medical conditions. Some people like to self-diagnose and it makes it harder for doctors and healthcare workers to work with those patients. This is when communication and active listening becomes especially important to work through what is fact and what is misplaced
At that time I advised the doctor’s assistant that I also needed to speak with the doctor about insomnia since I had missed my new patient appointment on the 17th of February. The doctor came in asked questions (as normal) I showed her my prescription that I needed a refill on and she advised she would need a drug blood or urine test before prescribing controlled substances. I had given specimen already and advised her I gave urine just before coming to the room. The test was clean besides the insomnia meds I take, of course, in which I had shown her the prescription for. She advised she will send the prescription to the pharmacy HEB in Lockhart Texas. That evening I checked with the pharmacy and they advised they have NOT received it. I contacted Lone Star Circle of Care to send a message to the doctor. The following day March 1st the prescription had still not made it to the pharmacy and when I called Lone Star Circle of Care they advised the doctor received my message around noon that the pharmacy hadn’t received it the day before. I figured I should give her until closing to send the prescription, so later that evening the prescription still was not at the
He was an outpatient, who arrived at 8 am to get ready for his surgery. Feeling I was ecstatic and enthusiastic to get back into the field of work to do my clinical rotations. Although I was ready to have a new experience at the recovery unit, I was also extremely scared, because this unit was a specialized unit, where the patient needs vital care while recovering from anesthesia.
It was a quiet and pleasant Saturday afternoon when I was doing my rotation at the surgical medical unit at Holy Cross Hospital. It’s time to get blood sugar levels from MM, a COPD patient. His BiPAP was scheduled to be removed before his discharge tomorrow. When I was checking the ID badge and gave brief explanation what I needed to do. The patient was relaxed, oriented and her monitor showed his SPO2 was 91, respiratory rate was 20. His grandchildren knocked the door and came in for a visit. I expected a good family time, however, the patient started constant breath-holding coughing and his SPO2 dropped to 76 quickly. With a pounding chest, the patient lost the consciousness. His grandchildren were scared and screaming,
A week before Christmas in 2013, my stepfather suddenly lost consciousness. His body stiffened and he began to violently convulse – he was having a seizure. Later in the hospital, the doctors informed us that my stepdad had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. The anguish that I felt that night was eased by a nurse who talked to my family about my stepfather’s condition and assured us that the hospital would do everything that they can to assist him with recovery. The next few weeks were filled with uncertainty as my stepdad laid comatose, no knowledge of when or even if he would wake up. During that time, my interactions with the nurses always made me feel safe and comforted Unfortunately, he passed away in January 2014. Though this was a traumatic and life altering experience, what I remember most are the nurses that provided care to my stepfather. They went above and beyond their outlined job duties to care for my loved one and to make my family feel secure even in such a difficult time.
Physicians ultimately decide what dose and drug will benefit the patient and restore them back to health. Held by the standards set by The College of Physicians and Surgeons, Physicians must abide by the Health Professions Act. Physicians are responsible to prescribe the right medication and right dosage. It is thought that physicians and other prescribers are ultimately to blame for medication errors. Although malpractices do occur among physicians, nurses are responsible to have a thorough understanding of the medications one administers to their patients. A nurse does not just simply do what they are told and administer drugs without having a thorough understanding and background knowledge. Nurses are to know the purpose of each drug they administer, the therapeutic effects, side effects which can be harmless or injurious, and adverse effects which is a severe negative response to the drug (2009). In reference to the previously mentioned scenario, the physician’s handwriting was careless and illegible. Although the Physician demonstrated lack of clarity, the nurse noticed the hastily written sentence signed by the physician and continued to administer the drug as she had routinely done the past couple days. Nurse’s should have a strong pharmaceutical knowledge background and be aware of the potential harm a medication could cause. In the process of medication administration, registered nurses are responsible to “determine that each medication order is clear, accurate, current and complete. Medications should be withheld when a medication order is incomplete, illegible, ambiguous or inappropriate; with concerns being clarified with the prescriber (CNO, 2015)”. The critical care nurse demonstrated ineffective communication, which was shown by failing to ask the physician for clarification. Another instance of miscommunication is during medication
She has the formal power but in this situation she can not used it. What is important to know is that in any complicated situation, there is an answer, a way to escape. The nurse is in the position to take a decision and she must first assess her alternatives of action. First of all, the nurse knows that a patient has the right to refuse medical care and treatment and to leave the hospital against medical advice (AMA). In our case, Mrs. Jackson is aware of her serious problems and of the fact that leaving AMA the insurance will not pay for her hospitalization. Also, her doctor tried to prevent her from leaving AMA, explaining to her that at home she will have problems in managing her pain. Even so, Mrs. Jackson wants to leave, and the nurse must to respect her wish. In making the decision, the nurse may also consider the fact that the doctor left the prescriptions and follow-up appointment papers. In my opinion, the nurse should treat Mrs. Jackson the same way she treats the patients who are discharged with the doctor’s “blessing”. She must let Mrs. Jackson go home with her rider and give to her the prescriptions and follow-up appointment paper. Mrs. Jackson knows that she has left only few more weeks and in my opinion she deserve to spend these days in the way she will consider that is making her
After I walked in and heard his speech about what he liked and didn’t like, I tried to go about my normal routine and started his vitals. About ten seconds into taking his pulse he dumped his water glass on my shoes claiming I was “squeezing his wrist with the intent to break it.”. I spent the rest of the day listening to the sound of my wet feet sloshing as I walked. Even after my failed attempt at taking his vitals since he was my last patient of the day I was the lucky CNA responsible for taking him to physical therapy. I walked in and explained to him I was going to help him into his wheel chair and then take him down the hall to PT. He of course made everything a struggle. He refused to put on his shoes and tried pegging me in the head with one, he said about a dozen curse words and told me I was an awful person just like the rest of the staff. As I took him down the hall he kept putting on the breaks to his wheel chair and yelling awful things at me each time I took the breaks off. What should have taken me five minutes took twenty and ended with the Therapist on staff having a foam roller thrown in his
One must evaluate all parties involved. It can be argued that do to the lack of documentation or communication of the physician this was an act of negligence. A jury can decide that lack of documentation is sufficient evidence in finding a physician guilty of negligence (Pozgar, 2009). When we look at the role of the defendant which was the pharmacist not the physician his duty goes above just filling prescriptions, the duty of a pharmacist is to monitor the patient’s medication. In order for him to have achieved this properly he should have made sure he contacted the physician for further information even if the physician failed to communicate with him. Because of his actions the plaintiff is holding the pharmacist accountable for his treatment and that is not where all of the blame should be consumed. The argument that can be made for the pharmacist is that the pharmacist acted within his scope of practice and left everything to the physician. This situation can easily be construed as, if the physician needed further medications or if there were any adverse reaction then he would have contacted the pharmacist. Once again the prosecutor may argue that the pharmacist had a duty to follow up on any treatment that he provided to a patient. These arguments would be the most persuasive. These are the key elements in determining the case being argued. For example the pharmacist not following up with the patient’s physician may be
Dear mr. Ferguson I'm Kendra hammock a United States veteran honorably discharged and I'm also 29 years old a single mother and a full-time student at the University of West Georgia currently my health is not doing as great as it could be I have been diagnosed with narcolepsy type one with cataplexy I've also been diagnosed with depression and degenerative joint disease and both my left and right knee which is secondary to my service-connected injury which includes my left and right ankles that have been injured since 2008 I am currently awaiting Social Security disability and I am aware of the length of the process but I have used every resource that I possibly can to keep me and my daughter off the street but unfortunately all of the resources
My first patient that I started as student nurse on one of the long Rehab Center was a seventy two year old man who had Clostridium difficile (C.diff), Dementia, Hip replacement, and Obesity. Due to the above sickness he had many complications. I can still remember his face suffering from pain. Because of his lack of ambulation and incontinence, he had developed a very serious pressure ulcer under his sacral area. I went through to the room with my instructor and the instructor introduces me for the patient as his student nurse from Towson University and will taking care of him. However the patient was not happy and he becomes a challenging patient in my first experience day. But I may learned more from that challenging patient for my future experience.
He encouraged the patient to ambulate. He helped patient get out of bed by using gait belt. He made sure with physical therapy whether it is safe or appropriate time to ambulate the patients. He would never ambulate the patient alone. He would tell me to help him in ambulating the patient because he wanted the safety of the patients. Before ambulating the patient he made sure that IV lines are not dangled, if there is chest tube chamber then he made sure that it does not tilt while ambulating. He also had a wheelchair ready if the patient felt dizzy while walking. If the patient has spinal cord surgery then he did not allow the patient to bend and twist while walking. He also educated the family regarding ambulation and process of getting out of the bed. These actions were in line with the recommendations of evidence-based nursing literature.
I wake up in this room. My mother is to my left crying with her face in the palms of her hands. My dad, he paces the floor with his hands in his pockets. I am scared I can barely remember what has transpired. As my mother stands and looks at me square in the eyes, the nurse comes and says with a grin on her radiant face “Hello, Mr. Howard. How are you feeling?” I attempt to sit up, but my body is aching. My dad hurries over to help, but it was no use the pain was overbearing. I began to weep and apologize. My dad with a stern look on his face says, “Andra, you are fine now just relax”. How could I relax? I am stuck in this room with no memory of what happened.