Death of a Complainer

wow , hospital workers murdering people. what a fantastic story

Although on the whole I've gotten good medical care, I can identify with this story.

I had an extremely painful condition on and off for YEARS and no one, multiple doctors, took it seriously.

I can see you've had little experience working in an ER...

A janitor cleaned the floor around her as if she were a piece of furniture.

Someone should check the tape and see if that janitor ever came back and cleaned that section of floor that he had missed earlier.

If not, fire him immediately.

I couldn't agree more gus. Pride in your work, whatever happened to that?

I once watched two non-English speaking cleaners dust a TV in the ER for more than 3 hours and you wonder why a visit to the ER costs so much?

Would an English speaker cleaner taken a shorter or longer amount of time?


I'm of the opinion that a Croatian speaking cleaner would have been pretty quick, but someone speaking Basque would have taken forever.

because people like you are taking three hours to watch someone dust a tv?

This story just reinforces my belief that you take someone with you to watch and note what's happening when you're made vulnerable by an illness or pain in a hospital. This woman had her boyfriend, and I know people probably don't want to bring race into it- but I wonder how different the scenario would have gone had they been middle-class and white. I know I can't imagine anyone letting me lie on the floor writhing in pain while mopping around me-it's just never been my experience to be treated with such disregard anyplace. I wouldn't doubt that for these people it was an everyday occurrence.

My father had open heart surgery and as he recuperated, they wanted him to get up and out of his bed to sit in his chair everyday. Very logically, he'd ask for his pain medication about a half an hour before they wanted him to get up and most times he'd get it. But I watched one burnt out old witch make him get up without it one time, even though he'd asked for it and reminded her he hadn't had it- and I watched my father -who is a stoic guy just about pass out from the pain. I told her straight out- "This is not going to happen like this again." And you know what- it didn't. But there was always one of us with him-between my mother and my sisters and I and even my college-aged nephew-we never left him alone.
And sadly- I feel that's the way it has to be if you want to be sure your loved one is cared for appropriately.

But not all er docs are so callous. I know one who says, "I look at it as an opportunity when a patient comes back- an opportunity to find what I missed the first time and get it right."

That's not to say they missed anything the first or second time. Her bowel might not have been perforated yet the first time, or even the second time- but he said that by the third time- they should have admitted her and had her examined by a specialist- as obviously they weren't able to do in the er what needed to be done- which was surgery.

That depends.

That depends alot from country they actually come, I mean.

well....it Was just an opinion walter :wink:

Well, and I don't have a lot of experience with English speaking tv-dust-cleaners in ERs :wink:

(But I do have an opinion about it )

Well, it would depend if there was an English language show on the TV at the time. Something really interesting.....Like Judge Judy.

Hmm, sounds more American than English :wink:

quote="Bi-Polar:

because people like you are taking three hours to watch someone dust a tv?[/quote]

...because, they get paid for dusting the tv for 3 or more hours, then they get a break for coffee and a smoke? By then the tv needs another dusting?

...because, they get paid for dusting the tv for 3 or more hours, then they get a break for coffee and a smoke? By then the tv needs another dusting?[/quote]

so you're getting paid for watching them, take a break, then watch them some more?