Vents and Gripes - Day 30

I think the BIGGEST weakness at the hospital was the poor communication and/or vagueness between the hospital staff and my family.

1. The staff moved my mom to a different room FIVE TIMES without notifying anyone.
2. I've received either misinformation or several different explanations about the same issue.
3. I've received LAST MINUTE notifications about things like surgeries, tests and when my mom was discharged...if I had missed those, it could have been very problematic and/or left me ignorant of the circumstances.
4. I've received calls to come to the hospital as soon as possible to sign papers so that the staff could do the procedure right away, only to wait about four hours for them to finally take my mom down and perform the procedure.
5. I've been misinformed as to where to wait for my mom after an operation. For example, if you've read most of the blog, I wrote that during my mom's major surgery, the nurse had us seated in the wrong waiting room. When the surgeon came out to tell us how my mom was doing after the surgery, we were not there...we were in the WRONG waiting room, waited there for HOURS, and didn't find anything out until the next day.
6. When my mom got very agitated and upset, instead of calling me about it, I found out from my dad that my mom called him and wanted him to take her home. I called the nurses and they pretty much didn't say anything, and then when I called her up she said they were mistreating her. When I went down there, she was freaking out. WHY didn't anyone tell me she was behaving this way before it got out of hand?
7. I REPEATEDLY asked the nurses to notify ME of anything of importance about my mom. The nurses either called my dad first (who usually doesn't understand or gets confused) or didn't call me at all. Once my mom was able to make decisions herself, the nurses said that they didn't need to notify me anymore; that I could get updates from my mom. But often her updates were inaccurate because often she didn't fully understand something that she was told my a nurse or doctor. That's why I wanted it straight from the horses mouth.

I think the BIGGEST weakness at the convalescent hospital is...well, its a myriad of things, so I'll just lump them under the category of: Weaknesses of Convalescent Hospital.

1. Cell phones. Most people in these hospitals are not familiar with how to use them or any advanced technology. Why not regular phones? I am STILL trying to teach my mom to use hers. Jeff made some changes to the phone to make it easier for her to use. He set up one-push dialing (she presses one number to call me and a different one to call my dad) and one push answering, so she can basically push any key to answer the phone (what a sexy brain he has). So far, so good. I called her and she answered. Next test...she calls me.
2. My mom's doctor has only visited her ONCE, didn't even LOOK at her, wasn't there for more than FIVE MINUTES, and I ended up having to call him with my concerns about her.
3. Apparently, the concerns I voiced to my mom's doctor were noted in her chart but NO ONE took care of them...some of the things that concerned me should have been done early on because they were impeding her physical therapy.
4. As with the hospital, there is poor communication abound between the staff and my family. But I dont want to go into all of the little details.
5. It's sometimes hard to get in touch with anyone, either at the convalescent hospital or when calling it, or they are just plain ignorant of what is going on...they are definitely less professional and efficient than those at the hospital.
6. Some of the nurses seem to be kinda lazy...my mom told me that they once left her in the same clothes for two days; she even slept in them. So I laid out something for them to dress her in the next day. When I went to see her the next day, she was wearing something different. Without even asking, they assumed the clothes were dirty and put them in the laundry bag. Similarly...
7. I brought her some new PJs, then went in the next day and she was wearing something that wasnt even hers. But it was a pair of PJs in the afternoon. Are they going to leave her in PJs all day?
8. Visiting and privacy. Visiting my mom is hard. My mom has a roommate and I feel awkward when I go to visit her. I'm afraid I'll be too loud, say something offensive to her roommate, and the like. AND sometimes she has the TV too loud, or will fall asleep and snore. I HATE the curtain separating the roommates thing. I want to somehow get a bill passed making it a requirement that everyone admitted into a hospital is to reside in a private room.