Dastardly/Cowardly-characterized by underhandedness or treachery.
Backstabbing-betrayal (as by a verbal attack against one not present) especially by a false friend.
Outrage-an act of extreme viciousness, a deplorable insult
To offend grossly the standards of decency or morality
When a family member goes through an illness such as cancer, the staff at the hospital and doctor’s office become like a family. In some cases you spend more time with the nurses and doctors that you do your own family members. This was the case with Heather. I especially became close with the nurses and aides on 6 South. Heather and I spent about 5-7 days every 21 days for 6 months with the staff. The nurses especially became like family to me. They shared my ups and downs and gave me encouragement. They cared for me as well as Heather. During our first week there the nurses all made sure I got an extra tray at meal times. This is not the normal. Usually just the patient gets the meal and other need to purchase their food. They saw a need and made sure that I had trays for all 3 meals. It was during our 2nd stay that Heather completely gave up on the food from the hospital and we brought food in for the rest of the time.
The aides made sure I had the sleeper chair. It is a chair that actually pulls out into a bed and not just a reclining chair. When Heather went to the stroke floor the aides on 6 South allowed me to take the sleeping chair to the 7th floor with me and then bring it back. They also brought me blankets, sheets and towels. They did not need to do this. But they saw me as family and not just the mother of a patient.
When Heather came back and was in ICU most of the nurses and staff there became like family again. ICU is a very different place from the regular floor. But the nurses treated Heather like a real person. ICU is a very lonely place and I spent so many days and nights talking with the different nurses we had. When things got bad the nurses not working with Heather came to support me. Here again it is a little family of sorts. They all became interested in knowing the person of Heather and not just the patient Heather.
During the time that Heather was in ICU many of the staff from 6 South came to see Heather and to check on me. I spent time going up to 6 South and giving updates. Most everyone there would see me coming and stop to come see what I had to say. When a code blue in ICU was paged someone from 6 South either called or came down to make sure it was not Heather. The night that Heather died there was 3 staff members, including the charge nurse, a floor nurse and the receptionist waiting outside Heather’s room when she died. Stacey was in the room with our family. After Heather died many of the staff trickled down to pay respects and say goodbye. Jasmine, an aide, said a beautiful prayer at her bedside. Ranie, an aide, told me “There was only ever one princess on 6 South.” Gayle who was to be at work in a few short hours threw on clothes and came to be with us. News traveled fast that Princess Heather had died. When Bill and I went back to the hospital the next day the ICU cleaned her room and left it vacant for the day. They did this in honor of Heather and what she had come to mean to the ICU. Everyone from radiology to the ER knew that she had died. I had never felt such an outpouring of love from the hospital.
I wrote an entry on the CaringBridge on April 12, 2009, describing that Heather’s needs required the best nursing care in ICU. I had been calling our team of doctors and nurses my A-team for weeks. I stated that due to the amount of medications and needs that Heather had the nurse for her were chosen 1st each shift. We were given the best nurse on shift. A great night nurse asked not to be given Heather again because she could not handle, personally, the age of Heather. It hit her too close to home. But she always checked and asked about Heather whenshe came on shift. Heather’s care was very difficult and she had so much that was to be done to take care of her. A less experience nurse might not be able to cope with all the things that needed to be attended to for Heather. She was on the vent and had a chest tube. Those 2 machines would keep a nurse busy for her entire shift. She also had the following:
3 antibiotics
Pepcid
3 sedating/pain medications-changed every 6 hrs
1 paralytic
Lasik drip
Insulin and the blood tests that go with that-every 4 hrs
Magnesium/phosphorus/potassium drip
Albumin drip
ABG’s done every 12 hrs
Artificial tears for her eyes-every 4hrs
Blood pressure
Temperature-cooling blanket if it spikes
Watching the blister on her heel
Putting her ortho boots off and on every 4 hrs
It was a very critical time for Heather as we had survived our first “don’t leave because Heather will not survive” night. Her ABG’s were bad and she could not be moved or touched due to her oxygen dropping too low. Looking back now April 12 was just 8 days before Heather died. Imagine my surprise on April 13, 2009 when I woke up and checked my email and received an unsigned, anonymous email. Still over 2 years later I am upset by this email and the cowardly, chicken, backstabbing, non human person who is a nurse that sent it to me just 7 days before my daughter, a patient in ICU in critical condition, died.
"ICU works as a team. If someone goes bad in the unit, everybody helps. Your "A nurses" work with the rest of the team. She doesn't do it alone. It's how it is in the whole hospital actually - may it be the ICU, cancer floor or ortho. Nurses work together. It's the same for doctors too. We know you just want the best for your child but all parents/families also do. So, if you always have the A team on board with you, does that mean the other patients have the mediocre team? "
This email was sent form a bogus email account as well. This really crossed the line in my opinion. What kind of a person sends this email to a parent of a child dying in ICU???? I hope and pray I never get this person as my nurse. I did not deserve this email. This person is a coward beyond the word and has no business being a nurse. It outraged me even more when I found out that another nurse had been blackballed for getting to close to Heather. Amazing that a few days before I received my email, another unsigned email was sent to management concerning Heather and the nursing staff. I cannot believe that Baywood took this so lightly. There was no real investigation into who sent this email and I have never received an apology.
With the new MD Anderson Cancer Center opening soon, several of the 6 South staff are making that their new place of employment in the next few months. I am stating clearly here so anyone and everyone will understand that the staff being taken over to MD Anderson is the best staff ever. MD Anderson is also very foolish for not taking a few people who applied and were blackballed. I am here to state as a caregiver of a patient the nurses, aides and staff on 6 South and the ones going to MD Anderson are the most hardworking, caring and best staff in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment