[ilovetv]

Orignially posted by Billyg:

Well, I hesitated to post but...
Hubby went in by ambulance, we thought it was a stroke.

ER Doc thought so too. Waited in ER hallway for a bed for 9 hrs. That's OK, they WERE extremely busy and the hospital was full.

ER staff was great, although they did take the wrong guy in for a CAT scan thinking it was husband....(when we asked about our CAT they said "You already had it."...).

Anyway, 3 days and a few tests later the Dr. and Neurologist told us nothing was wrong, tests were fine and that it was probably Anxiety or Depression and gave us a psychiatrists name. (It's all in your head dear...the pounding headache, slurred speech, unable to move your leg, the falling over and the low B. pressure when standing, confusion, all in your head.)

As we were leaving, the nurse called me aside and whispered "I found this in your chart and thought you'd like to know, the tests showed a Mastoiditis. My uncle had it and he was way off balance etc."

Why didn't they tell us???? Why didn't they treat it???

BillyG,

From your initial post, it is very hard to sort out which doctor you are referring to when you say "3 days and a few tests later, the Dr. and Neurologist told us nothing was wrong....was probably anxiety or depression".

You said "we thought it was a stroke......ER Doc thought so too." Then later you said "ER staff was great".

So, after 3 days "when the Dr. and Neurologist" told you nothing was wrong, was that dr. a hospitalist/internist under whose care the patient was placed when admitted to the hospital?

I'm asking because all our neighbors and friends who've gone to the ER were very pleased with the ER drs. and nurses, despite long waits in some cases.

I agree with Blueash above, about the appropriateness of a nurse giving you a diagnosis from a CT scan, and this statement of Blueash is very important:

"It is the job of the physician to interpret the information they receive balancing the CT scan and the clinical presentation and the other lab work and the physical exam. The CT is one piece only."

Thanks for clarifying which drs. told you it was probably nothing or anxiety or depression.

[Russ_Boston]

I work as a nurse at TV.

I'm sorry this happened to you but I can assure you that a TIA is not the same as a 'stroke' in the major sense that it does not cause brain tissue to die. Transient ischemic attack - PubMed Health

'Clot busters drugs' (i.e. tPA) are not just given randomly. Their use is under controlled conditions and almost always require a CT and evidence of a true stoke caused by blockage. If the stroke is caused by a bleed then the random use of tPA can be fatal.
Thrombolytic therapy: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

A CT within 1 hour is the standard of care. If there were signs/symptoms of a stroke your husband would have been given a CT and care would have been followed from there.

[Russ_Boston]

A note on the 'new' Brownwood hospital:

The hospital has a new CEO that is coming this week. He will make a determination what type of facility is going to go into the Brownwood location. It might be an Urgent Care. It might be a general hospital. It might be.....

I think it will be some time before this decision is made.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by Billyg

We called our Doc at home in Maine (we were NOT going to call the hospital, it would have taken forever to get help I assume) and he said that could be very serious if left untreated and called in anti-biotics

Do you feel good about a Doc who calls in an antibiotic based on a phone call without seeing the patient? Just wondering.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Do you feel good about a Doc who calls in an antibiotic based on a phone call without seeing the patient? Just wondering.

The last three posts by Russ Boston and the one from I love TV were excellent, informative and very helpful.

Sometimes people who are not educated medically make rash judgements on medical treatments. Tests and treatments are misinterpreted and misinformation is spread. The persons involved are usually tense and fearful and may have heard or absorbed the information given them incorrectly.

I thank Russ and I love TV for these helpful posts.

We learn so much on here.

[Challenger]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Do you feel good about a Doc who calls in an antibiotic based on a phone call without seeing the patient? Just wondering.

Excellent point. My family's experience with The Villages Hospital has been very well handled. With triage situations, needed tests, mandatory care for anyone who arrives(federal law)in my experience, all ERs are challenged .

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Sometimes people who are not educated medically make rash judgements on medical treatments. Tests and treatments are misinterpreted and misinformation is spread. The persons involved are usually tense and fearful and may have heard or absorbed the information given them incorrectly.

Thanks but a note of caution. All medical statements should be taken for what they are - suggestions. I state what I know but I could be wrong. In the hospital most if not all orders are reviewed by multiple people (Docs, nurses, RT, PT etc.).

We as nurses need to educate our patients on their discharge plans and are usually very good about making sure the patient and their family understand the plan of care. I haven't worked in the ED but I'm sure they have the same goals.

[Billyg]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

BillyG,

From your initial post, it is very hard to sort out which doctor you are referring to when you say "3 days and a few tests later, the Dr. and Neurologist told us nothing was wrong....was probably anxiety or depression".

You said "we thought it was a stroke......ER Doc thought so too." Then later you said "ER staff was great".

So, after 3 days "when the Dr. and Neurologist" told you nothing was wrong, was that dr. a hospitalist/internist under whose care the patient was placed when admitted to the hospital?

I'm asking because all our neighbors and friends who've gone to the ER were very pleased with the ER drs. and nurses, despite long waits in some cases.

I agree with Blueash above, about the appropriateness of a nurse giving you a diagnosis from a CT scan, and this statement of Blueash is very important:

"It is the job of the physician to interpret the information they receive balancing the CT scan and the clinical presentation and the other lab work and the physical exam. The CT is one piece only."

Thanks for clarifying which drs. told you it was probably nothing or anxiety or depression.

Sorry for the confusion.
When he arrived at ER the ER Doc said "we think it's a small stroke, we are going to do some tests".
Cat scan was done 5 hrs. after he arrived to ER.
Next day an ultrasound was done.
Next day the MRI.
That night the attending Hospital Dr. and Neurologist came in and said the tests were clear and I have the name of a psychologist for you.

We went to a different Neurologist ( Dr. Valencia) last week.
He told us that it was a TIA, put hubs on Aggrenox to prevent future strokes and ordered cholesterol blood work (not done in the hospital).
Soooo....
Once again. The ER staff and all nurses were great.
Thank you all for your questions, input, support and wisdom.
Much appreciated

[Living a Fantasy]

As to where to complain....my discharge statement had some very wrong things in it so we went to medical records and asked how to have that correct infor noted. There is a dispute form that one can fill out with an attached statement why you feel discharge statement is wrong. We've done that, it will be reviewed by committee and they will inform us of decision. That's fair.
Now as to the care I recieved while there....a "customer service" person came around on day I was discharged and asked me for the good, the bad and the ugly of my stay there. I told her! I think they are trying to improve, but some of the care that I recieved(or actually failed to recieve) is unexcusable. Some serious errors were made that resulted in me suffering way more than I should of had to. I am writing a complaint to the hospital administrator. Hope it helps for future patients. There are some great nurses there, I had two in the 8 days I was there. Russ, I would have loved to have had as my nurse, I know the care would have been excellent and maybe even more important I would have had reasons and explainations.
I am not saying that I wouldn't ever go the The Villages hospital again because I know these things happen all over the country, even in the big "medical" cities. We all need to advocate for ourselves or have someone who will do it for us.

[Graytop]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience,....I had some surgery done there last August and didn't have any issues,....hopefully that kind of thing doesn't happen there often....

[cricket1]

I took my 85 yo mother to the Villages Hospital Emergency Dept. Sunday, Feb 19. She was suffering hip pain with no history of a fall. We signed in at 10:00 am. She was triaged at 11:59 am. She was brought back to the treatment area to be seen at 7:30 pm! OK-I checked with the registration desk volunteer more than once on where in line Mom was. I was told there was one patient ahead of her---but wait, 2 other folks also asked the volunteer the same question. They also got the same answer. "There is one patient ahead of you". HMMM!

When we finally got to the treatment room, the RN and the doctor were fairly quick to address Mom's needs. The exception was that neither the doctor, nor the RN, asked Mom even a basic health history (except if she had fallen) and Mom was never asked for a list of the medications that she takes. I've dealt with many ED trips in the past, and my career was medically based. I don't understand the standard of care when those kinds of things are ignored. Mom had a CAT scan and blood work done, was given a narcotic pain medication and told to see her physician within a week.

I wasn't happy about having to wait 9 1/2 hours for Mom to be seen. Neither was she! I somehow thought that the care would be better. Asking an elderly patient basic health questions and for a list of medications is not too much to ask. The standard of care at The Villages Regional Hospital needs a serious review.

[ccalvertr]

sounds like the villages hosiptal is in need of new

leadership.

I was at Munroe in Ocala for ER this past weekend. 8 hour wait. Not unusual for an emergency room.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by cricket1

The exception was that neither the doctor, nor the RN, asked Mom even a basic health history (except if she had fallen) and Mom was never asked for a list of the medications that she takes.

I think you may have somehow missed the history and medication part. Perhaps you stepped away for awhile?

I'm a RN on the medical floor in TVRH. When patients are sent up from the ED I see all the paperwork (yes there is tons of it!). One of the basic and yes most important forms is the history and medication list. In fact we need to reconcile the medications with a doc ASAP when the patient is admitted. The health history area is usually very extensive and details all known conditions. Maybe it's different when someone is not considered for admission but the facts I just stated are just that - facts, for all the patients I have admitted.

Right now the ED is completely overwhelmed with patients. Two days ago we had 14 patients waiting for a bed upstairs but the hospital was booked. And quite often the ED is in 'divert' mode where we send patients (non life threatening) to other hospitals.

I'm not saying it justifies the long wait but she was triaged in decent time for a non life threatening injury and I'm sure the triage nurse (hopefully) let you know that it would be some time since the injury wasn't urgent. We have dozens of very ill patients that get seen in appropriate time in the ED and unfortunately this time of the season presents many challenges.

I hope she is well.

Russ

[cricket1]

I was with my Mom the entire time she was in the treatment room. At one point I even produced the plastic bag I had brought Mom's prescription meds in and said to the ED nurse, "Look, I even brought Mom's meds with us." She said, "Oh, we love it when patients do that", but she didn't look at the meds. That was the entire discussion about current meds.

I understand the triage concept and the need for it. I get it on how busy things are here this time of year. What I don't understand is how after years of this topic, the situation doesn't seem to improve. I don't have an answer but I'm not in a position to fix it. I hope the folks who are in that position are working on it in some way.

Mom is still having pain in her hip. There really isn't a reason except for favoring that leg for a day (10 days ago) while she had a charlie horse in the opposite leg. She will get better, in time. Thank you for your concern. And thanks for reading my story.