[Mack184]

One of the problems to getting discharged..and it is absolutely maddening for nurses & other hospital staff is getting YOUR doctor to discharge you. The doc's gotta sign off, and many, many times the staff is just cooling their heels waiting to get the doc to sign you out. That doesn't mean the doc is out goofing off or playing golf while you're waiting. He may be seeing regular patients, he may have been sidetracked by an emergency while doing his rounds and so forth. But without the OK from your doc or the staff Hospitalist-MD, you're not going anywhere.

Since TVRH has a chronic shortage of needed beds, that causes all the other things to slow down, which then adds to the ER waits. It's a vicious circle. The staff wants you OUT! And I don't mean that in a mean way..they need your empty bed. At TVRH they are essentially "hot sheeting" those beds. As soon as somebody is discharged, and fresh linen can be put on the bed and the room quickly cleaned up, they've got somebody new to put into that bed.

Basic rule of thumb if you're headed to the ER..Plan on being there at least 12-15 hours. I'm talking from wait time to discharge. It can be a lot longer, but I hear funny stories about people coming by with very unrealistic ideas about how long their wait is going to be. You can't stop by at 8am and hope to make your 12noon tee time. Not gonna happen. Really...if you're going to go to the ER..You can plan on being there ALL DAY, and by all day it's not unrealistic for that to mean 24 hours.

But..no matter how long you've waited..Be kind & don't take out your frustration on the nurses, aides & doctors. They are running their tush off for you!