Life As A Nurse ~Part 11 by RNKarenER
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Description
Life as a Nurse 11
The Overlooked Patient
In our busy lives as nurses, we sometimes rush to get procedures
completed. We hurry to move our patients through the system. Rarely,
if ever do we stop and actually look at the person in front of us and
ask the questions that might make all the difference in the world.
This is the story of one such patient who was overlooked until it
nearly caused her death. This is a true story.
Case in Point:
A 47-year-old female had been complaining of general flu like symptoms
for almost a week now. She carried with her the whole list of
aches, pains, fever, and headache. No one gave her much thought.
It was just the simple flu.
Besides, if she were really that ill, she would have called off sick.
This patient worked in the ER. She showed up day in and out, it wasn't
normal to come to work if you felt bad. This patient was different.
She did work each day, as it was beyond her realm of thinking to abandon
her patients and her coworkers by calling off for the day. They were
probably right, Just a simple case of the flu.
Sometime between day one and four of this simple flu, the patient started to
suffer from blinding headaches. They woke her up at night, something that
had never happened to her before. In desperation, she even tried to sleep
in her spa to relieve the horrible pains that were now wracking her body.
And still, she was there at 7:00 a.m. for her shift. Today would be
different she thought, today someone will see me and see past the work,
today someone will stop and notice me. That never happened. That day
ended as it had begun, and no one ever gave the patient a second thought.
The next day was Xmas eve. This day was the worst for the patient. She
found she required assistance to even dress herself. Today was also
her birthday. This day above all, she thought, someone will see past
my tough exterior and see how much she was suffering inside. Once again,
she was wrong. She felt as if she was screaming inside, and no
one bothered looking up from their duties to even notice that
something just wasn't right. In a plea to the nurse in charge,
the patient went to him and tried to tell him of her
plight. "I don't think I can make it through the day ", she whispered. The
clock said three p.m.. Without even looking at the patient,
the charge nurse just turned away and mumbled,
"Only 4 more hours to go!". Becoming even more desperate,
the patient went to the doctor in charge that day. She sat next to
him as he played some game on his computer. He acknowledged that she
was there, but when she told him that she was lethargic, febrile,
had a headache and stiff neck, He didn't even look up from his
computer screen and never said a word.
7 p.m. came and the night crew was there. Perhaps the patient was wrong,
Tomorrow is Xmas and rest is what she needed. She slept through Xmas
and the next day too. By Monday morning, her husband put his foot down
and demanded she go to the hospital. She agreed as she had spent most of
the night in the spa again. By Monday morning, she couldn't think nor
move her neck. She was not a doctor, but she knew in her heart that it
could only be one thing. She had meningitis. She gathered her
belongings and her husband drove her the short miles to the hospital.
The same charge nurse who had not given her a second look on Xmas eve
was there. His eyes said it all. He knew something was deathly wrong.
The patient was rushed to a private room. IV's were started,
and finally, after a week of torture, a pain shot was given
through the IV. Dr. Stanwich came in and explained what needed to be
done. The patient understood, and signed the
consent for a lumbar puncture.
Andrew and the doctor came to the patient's room. She was asked to lie on her
side as the large boring needle was inserted into her spine. She could
feel the electric shocks make their way to her toes as the needle
pierced the spinal column. She heard voices as if they were far away and
distant. "Her intra cranial pressure is high, send these tubes of fluid
for analysis." The patient was then placed on her back. She knew that it
would be a bit of a wait for the results to return. Outside her room,
she could hear the chatter of a patient who was there to get a
prescription refill of her Xanex. She moaned and complained at the
long wait. After all, she wasn't sick, she just wanted a refill.
The patient dragged herself from the bed and made her way past the
patient's bathrooms and instead went straight for the employee's lounge.
By god, she wasn't going to use the patient's bathroom, she locked the
door behind her in the employee's bathroom. Not one person even noticed
she wasn't in her room. Afterwards, she washed her hands and headed back
to the safety of the bed and spouse. This was just in time, as
Dr. Stanwich and Andrew made their way from another hall to her room.
They met in the center. "My dear, " the doctor stated,
"You have meningitis." The patient looked up at him and said,
"I know that! Do you have any idea what kind it is?"
As we discussed the treatment plan, the patient peered over
the doctors shoulder and see the large green signs being taped to her
door. "ISOLATION, DO NOT ENTER." She had to let out a laugh.
Guess they will notice me now. The patient listened to the doctor
explain to her husband that the infection had invaded her brain,
and that she needed to be admitted to the hospital for intense
antibiotic treatments and rest, in addition,
and infection control doctor had been consulted.
The door to her room was closed now, but she could hear the
conversations outside in the hall. The first one came from the
lady who wanted her Xanex refill, "Did you see that? They let a
sick person into the hospital? How dare they? Her door has been open
and who knows what kind of disease she has. This place has a
lot of nerve." The patient was feeling no pain now and this banter was
beginning to amuse her. Imagine that, she thought, sick people in the ER!
She started to laugh out loud when she heard a voice she knew very well.
It was Andrew speaking. He sounded angry. "Look lady, when you come to
the ER for a refill for your anxiety pills, you may just come across
people who are here because they are really sick!".
Wow, the patient thought, hardly believing what she had just heard.
Andrew was a good friend and had become very protective.
The patient never heard another peep from the Xanex lady.
The patient was asked to place a mask over her face for the move to her
room upstairs. They made their way up the elevator to a private room where large green signs
were already being placed on the doors. Once again, they said the same
words. "ISOLATION, DO NOT ENTER."
Over the next several days the patient was examined by numerous doctors,
given multiple medications and was eventually declared to be no longer
contagious. The headaches and neck pain had subsided, giving way to a
feeling of all over body pain. Now this feels like the flu, the patient
thought. Her discharge orders were signed, she gathered her belongings
and was finally going home.
Nearly six weeks passed and the patient was cleared to return to work.
She had suffered a few long term neurological deficits, but was deemed
ready to return to full duty. As she made her way through the ER, a few
said hello, some asked if she had been on vacation, and some never realized
she was ever gone. It wasn't until that afternoon that the gravity of her
experience finally hit her.
One of the techs told the charge nurse that
she had an upset stomach after lunch. If you can imagine, it was like
war had just been declared in the world somewhere. Oh this poor tech,
My god, we have to send her home. The patient sat by and
listened. The drive home was long and the entire time the patient could
think of nothing else. A tech says she has an upset stomach and is
whisked away home while she had worked an entire week with full blown infectious
meningitis and not one person gave me a second look. Then the tears
started.
The next day, Dr. Stanwich was there and the patient asked him for a
piece of his time. The patient could not hold back the tears as she told
him of that day before. "It isn't that I fault the tech for going home,
but I ask you, why was I so overlooked when you told me that a person
would have to be blind not to see how deathly ill I was?".
Dr. Stanwich just looked at the patient and said, " It is the stoic ones,
the ones who don't complain who get overlooked. The whiners get all the
attention. That is just the way it is. So, your newest lesson should be,
when in doubt, be the squeaky wheel," he stated. The patient was trying
to decide if she should even stay in the ER field of nursing, Dr. Stanwich
talked her out of it. You are my best nurse, I don't want to lose you
because these sometimes shallow people just don't look beyond their
little clicks of friends or the daily news. She agreed to stay, for him, and for the
patients who needed her. She would stay and care for her patients as she
always had, and now she had behind her the experience of being the
patient to assist her in providing even better care to those in need.
A bitter pill? Perhaps, but whatever helps, was worth it.
The story you have just read actually happened. The doctor's name was
changed to protect him. The patient was I, Karen Paholsky RN.
I have some advice to those who are in need and are seeking treatment
in our nation's ER's. The squeaky wheel does get oiled. I expected my
family of co-workers to notice that I was so deathly ill, but I was wrong.
I will not make that same mistake again. So, I tell you, Yell,
moan, do whatever it takes until you are satisfied that you have
received proper treatment. If this could happen to me in a place
where I work, surrounded by medical personnel, what could happen to you,
the lay person?
Think about it, I have, and the thought chills me to the bone.
Thank you for looking and even more allowing me to vent my frustrations.
Looking back, I was as much to blame because I didn't push harder
for the treatment I needed. I finally ran into the doctor who had
blown me off Xmas Eve. He looked at me and was wondering where I had been
the last few weeks. I wanted to slap him. Instead, I very calmly looked at
him and said these words: Doctor, don't you remember Xmas eve?, I came
to you and told you I thought I had meningitis? I told you I had a
stiff neck, headache and fever? His lower lip dropped, "I don't
remember you telling me this. I responded back to him with the ultimate
razor sharp knife, "Why doctor, how could you possibly remember? You
never bothered to look up from your computer to even look at me. That
was all it took. His lip still in his lap, this 6'5 doctor walked away.
All I saw was a 3-foot child toddle away. On my scale of respect, he had
just dropped to the bottom of the ladder.
To his credit, the charge nurse did give me his heartfelt apology.
He promised he would never blow me off again. He tried to explain that
because I do not complain about minor aches and pains, he just never
thought I was really ill. He said that was his mistake and it will
never happen again. I accepted his apology, and still, I wonder about
all the folks who left our ER without the right treatment, or worse, no
treatment. This single thought will weigh heavily on me for a long time
to come. It will also drive me to improve my patient care skills. So, maybe
just maybe, something good did come out of this story. I am a better person,
and nurse for it. Perhaps in the end that is all that matters.
I know I said there would be no more stories, but this one had to be told. For my own well being, I had to tell this one.
Thanks for looking'
Karen
Comments (54)
SeaCrystal
Nicely written, and so glad you're feeling better!! Not a pleasant way to spend a week of your life, but it does happen, sad to say!! My sister is an RN also, so I know some of the details of how they get treated, and also how they treat others at times!! She's been off work now for a few months recovering from open heart surgery with 4 by-passes, and just this week her husband has had to have the open heart surgery and 4 by-passes as well. He's not a great patient, and doesn't treat her with much respect, but I blame her for putting up with his shit!! Oh I could go on and on about this subject, but I won't, not on your written dime anyway!! You know there is LOTS of things overlooked in this world, you're just one of them, but thank God you have a husband that finally took you to the ER as a patient, instead of you going in as a worker!! My husband is my rock, in fact he is the only person I have to depend on, since my family is not close although they only live 4 or 5 miles from me. He has listened to many things that really bother me, some of it not so happy as a child, some of it just down right hurtful, and lots of it from lack of being taken serious while growing up, or completely ignored, which is the case of lots of people. So I know how you feel on that point!! Sometimes you never get heard, that's why some give up and never try again!! I hope your writing this about your life will help someone to keep whining till they get results!! -Trisha-
SamTherapy
Yep, Karen, I understand what you mean about the people here. The essential difference is that if you notice someone here it's through a deliberate effort of will. In the outside world we all walk past people we don't even notice, including those we work with. Thanks for sharing your story. It is definitely one to remember.
cagewench
Damn Karen, as I was reading about how the nurse (who I guessed was you right off) was feeling my first thought was meningetis (sp?) and I am not even remotely "medical"... I am glad you were OK in the end and I am sorry that ppl overlooked what was going on. I often feel the same way when I am in emotional pain. I write poetry about it and I write on my livejournal but I don't always seek out the human contact and support from my friends that I probably ought to HUG
dialyn
I can only imagine how difficult it was to write such a personal, honest, and painful, essay.That is a very powerful story, and I truly hope you don't stop writing. The skills of observation and insight that serve you as a nurse are skills writers need as well. Your stories bring an insight into a field that we often take for granted. What's really sad is that your experience is one repeated on many levels in any organization that provides services to the public. There is some impression that the people providing services are somehow not human....and that's an attitude I see from the management and from the public. It's easy to take each other for granted....worthwhile to take time to recognize the people around you, whether co-workers, empoloyees, or service providers. Nurses are heros...it's often their quick reflexes or their attention to detail that saves people's lives...and, frankly, when some (not all) doctors treat a patient as if they were a science experiment, the nurse often brings much needed humanity to medical treatments. Thank you so much for sharing your painful experience--it had to be difficult to write about because it was difficult to read (not because it wasn't well written, but because it raises such great emotions). I'm glad you recovered...and that you continue to teach the lesson of your experience. Take care...and keep speaking up.
Bez
I had something similar years ago when I had peritonitus (sp)so I know how you feel and I'm sorry you had to go through that Karen, it's tough and it's horrible, but I am very pleased that you are still with us and sharing your experiences. God bless Karen :)
rjghise
I didn't know that you had been ill - let alone so ill, thank God that you are still here and can tell us all to speak up for ourselves. Thank you for sharing, it must have been very difficult to write.
ilona
I remember when that happened .. and I remember praying for you to get well... and I also remember telling you you were tough enough to beat anything bad that would come in your way. And you did... like strong people always do.. with grace and dignity.
Pkicks2
Miss Ilona, I too remember when this happened, as I lived this with her as her spouse. Even in my line of work, the employee's care about each other and this would have never happened. How sad is it that in a large hospital, that one person could be so ignored that it could have cost her life. I am angry, angry at the system, the people who claim to be her friends, yet ignored her. This anger will pass some day, but I plan on holding it near for just a bit longer. Excellent writing my dear.
ShadowBoxer6
This is scary, and it sure doesnt help my trust of the medical system in out society. I think I am with Sam Therapy on this one. Well written , but so terribly sad
RNKarenER
I thank you all for your words, yes they do help. I thank God for the few who did care where I work, Andrew.... There is nothing I wouldn't do for you, for your caring, for staying by my side during painful procedures, for just coming up those few stairs to say hi. (Yes, not one other person came to visit outside of my family) I will always thank the doctor, His name is Franz, I will be forever grateful for his care, kindness and gentleness. He knew what needed to be done and it happened. Franz, you will always be close in my heart. And for the people here. The so called strangers, Who really did care. I cannot thank you enough! With all my respect and admiration for all that you folks do day in and day out. I give my most humble thanks. I will carry your words inside me forever. Thank you!
SygnusSwan
Karen, Thankyou for sharing this with me. I have been nursing Jake most of my time and now my yongest son whom has gotten a cold from his play group. Thankyou for the support and prayer and the touching comments. I was so very moved by your story. As an Army wife and having to deal with an Army hospital, I have seim joked off an on about being herded like cattle in the system. I will no longer be one of the silent ones any longer, you have opened my eyes that it is my right to get treatment. Being one of the quiet and tought it out folks, but I won't be so quiet next time I am waiting for treatment. I have to say, I have been blessed, with angels of your rank all my life, each time I have been in need, A nurse such as you, has seen past my brave front. Thankyou for touching so many souls, and for truely blessing mine. Jake is ate yesterday with some promting, but still doesn't drink. He will see the doctor again next Friday, He has his moments where you can see he is feeling better. But it is still very touch and go. Thank You Sygnus
MichelleB
I have read this, and then had to read it again. Such a sad commentary to our life and times. The ER scares me already, this dashes my thoughts that myabe things were different. I am so sorry for your pain that you suffered. I do not like doctors, but nurses have always been there for me when I needed them most. When my child was born, it was the nurse who delievered him as the MD didnt make it in time. It was a nurse who comforted my child through his first baby shots and yes, his first stitches after he fell while trying to take his first steps. We can't ever, ever do without dedicated nurses like you. Please take care!
???
ahh Karen I have felt that dehumanized in a similar situation..it's horrible and I wish there were about 20 special angels as the one I'd had for everyone who gets ignored or snubbed or exposed to sublevel healthcare. Last time I was in the hospital, I couldn't even get nurses to help me at all..not that I'd asked them, but I would see nobody unless it was absolutely necessary, and one night..this little nurse came in.. noticed I couldnt sleep..brought me a sleeping pill..and then she took off her shoes..climbed up in bed behind me.. and brushed my long hair..and braided it. She probably would have gotten in trouble for that..had anyoen seen her..but she was just perfect..for me.. I felt like..God put her there right at that moment. I wish.. everyone was that sweet and sensitive to people. I wish you'd had people like that for you. HUGE HUGS
bebert
on our premises, a proverb known as: the shoe-makers are most badly fitted!!!! and it is unfortunately an example moreover. I include/understand perfectly your anger in front of this injustice. Kisses. Robert
Gor111
Oh Karen this is a real exceptional and shocking story! How can they be so ignorant!!!!Unbelievable that something like this can be happen! Take care Karen!!!
kansas
A heartbreaking true story. Thanks for the vent/rant. We all need to wake up. I am a retired RN and worked ER years ago. I have this to say---way back then, people paid much more attention to the status of everyone around them; patients and coworkers. I have been shocked at the uncaring attitude of many of todays health care professionals. I have many stories to tell also, but shall refrain. Thank you Karen.
Vampir3Princess
OMG Karen... this is unbelievable.. heartbreaking and despicable, how in the world they couldn't notice it? I really hope they all learned from this and I'm sorry it had to be you who tought them with your owns suffering... I love you and I thank God for still having you here with us!! Muahh!
femalien
Oh, my God, Karen, it's terrible! To be so ill and still come to work! I don't know how you managed it, you're a very strong and brave person. But you are right: sometimes you have to be weak in order to be noticed. Our field reporting prof in university taught us the same thing: no one notices reporters at an event, if there is danger the press is the last to receive attention. I'll never forget how he said it: strip naked, walk in your hands, do ANYTHING to get noticed. By God, I'll even do it if necessary.
Destinie
This brought me to tears Karen. I know I told you about my son's menigitis and the stories are sooo similar. I almost lost my baby boy because everybody thought I was the over-reacting mother. Like you my son didn't complain and like you they almost over looked him until it was almost to late. I learned to be the squeaky wheel because my pediatrician said do whatever it takes, scream, hollar, throw a hissy fit but I want a spinal tap done before you leave that ER. I almost got arrested, but it was worth it. Patrick will celebrate his 6th birthday next month. I am so glad that you are okay and I can understand your anger, your frustration and your pain so well. I send you a big cyber hug across the many miles.
RNKarenER
Yippee! This story has just been published!!!!!
Armorbeast
The sad thing Karen is that sometimes people can ignore the squeaky wheel and live with the noise...consider yourself fortunate and remember the squeaky wheel that doesn't get heard,the noise is there its just being ignored:)
RottNKorpse
I have talked to you and haven gotten to know you without ever reading these stories...after reading them I wish you would write more...all of the stories were great but I never felt motivated (for lack of a better word) enough to leave a message on them until I read this one. I wasnt shocked that it was you because throughout the story I was looking for you to help the patient because you seem to make that a priority and you were never mentioned so I then thought that the patient must be you. The story is truely heartwrenching and I wish you all the best...Its terrible, the fact of how you were treated but I am overjoyed to know that you are now well. I hope continue with the stories and maybe make a book with them because I think all nurses should read your stories before they even get into the field so they know what lies ahead and so they get knowledge from a great experienced nurse...If I ever were to need an ER visit, I hope its on vacation and I just happened to be in your area.
Digimon
An incredible story, and unfortunately all too common. The unfortunate reality for any occupation that involves human beings, is that they involve human beings. People are people, some are petty and apathetic. The real tragedy is that there are a few occupations that should never allow those personality types past the door. Health care (Any care of people) and education are the main ones I can think of. We have to rely on our own initiative and be the "Squeaky wheel" as that doctor pointed out. But it would be nigh impossible without the few truly dedicated empathic care givers like yourself! And to you, and those like you, I give my heartfelt thanks. Thank you!
wgardenhire
As a Paramedic, I know your words to be true. I thank God every day for ER nurses; they're the very best. Thank you, Karen.