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SURGEONS ACCUSED
A remarkable claim from Kevin Rudd, especially considering he’s never researched the subject:
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has claimed that Queensland surgeons failed to properly look after his dying father, Albert Rudd, 38 years ago when he was fighting a hospital-acquired infection.
Mr Rudd said he never had time to obtain the coroner’s report.
Rudd was 11 when his father died.
Albert Rudd had been involved in a serious car accident and died from an infection he later contracted through the hospital system.
Mr Rudd said in later years he heard reports that surgeons at the Brisbane Royal Hospital had failed to take proper care of his father. But according to Channel Nine’s Sunday program, which obtained a copy of the coroner’s report, the coroner had cleared doctors of medical malpractice.
The report said Albert Rudd had been drinking before driving, that he kept falling asleep at the wheel, and that when the car hit a power pole, he was not wearing a seatbelt and suffered massive internal injuries.
I have some sympathy with Rudd on this; 37 years ago my own father died in broadly similar circumstances (flying accident followed by infection-related death many weeks later in hospital). But to claim, at this point, that surgeons failed to take proper care ... that’s one hell of a call.
I’ve got mixed feelings on this story. Provided none of the surgeons are alive to be libelled, the adult Rudd was broadly entitled to express that opinion on his own father’s demise. His view - which may also be a prejudice - was probably based on family lore, deriving from grief and confusion at the time. He wasn’t necessarily under an obligation to acquire the coroner’s report before expressing that view and Nine’s decision to chase down the document - before also publishing its details - is somewhat crass. On the other hand, had Rudd related this story to soften his image for political purposes or to make some point about his humane credentials as an architect of medical policy, journalists may have had a public interest rationale for pursuing the subject all the way to the records office. Difficult call.
C.L., I don’t think anyone is suggesting Rudd’s under an obligation to obtain the coroner’s report, but the fact that he himself admits he hasn’t puts his charge into the emotional rather than the rational category.
Besides, he’s a public figure. Any charge he makes of medical malpractice carries more weight, or at least has more exposure, than one made by a grieving private citizen. One could argue (in fact, I would) that his public status makes his casual off the cuff statements more significant and thus, does carry an obligation towards responsibility, regardless of his family lore.
Otherwise, he’s merely an ignorant blowhard abusing his position.
Posted by Steve Skubinna on 2007 03 04 at 02:34 PM • permalinkUnfortunately, that kind of in hospital death still happens, and much to often, WAY much to often in todays world. And I’m speaking in the ultra sophisticated worlds of medicine.
Mr. Rudd, I would suggest you probe as to why it still occurs and try to get it corrected. You cannot help your father, nor can you soothe your soul, but you damn sure can help someones relatives in the attempt to get correct, a situation, that still saddens many.
Hmmmm.
Occasionally a story like this crops up and I go into hospital survival lecture mode. So here we go….
1. Absolutely require anyone touching you in a hospital to wash their hands *in front of you* and then put new gloves on. Taking off gloves, washing up and then putting on new gloves is a pain in the ass so lots of people prefer to scrape by. But in an age of extremely toxic hospital-borne bacteria this is good way to die.
I’ve had a golf-ball sized chunk of flesh excised from my left arm because of my not being completely vigilant. A doctor, surgeon really, injected my left arm with some medication but failed to adequately clean the injection site with alcohol and injected using his bare hands. In fact the guy walked into the room I was in, lifted my sleeve and then just popped the needle in and then left.
I wasn’t vigilant enough because I was pretty ill but that’s still no excuse. Because a few hours later I got a full-on infection of MRSA, the flesh-eating bacteria, and nearly died from it.
2. Don’t trust anybody in any hospital to do their job properly. Always supervise. Always ask questions. Always demand to know what medications you are being given and what medications, plus dosages, that you should be given and why. Prior to being given medications demand that the person review your chart and double-check.
3. Never allow anybody wearing a tie to touch you after fiddling with it. In a hospital a doctor’s tie is often completely covered in dangerous bacteria. And it’s a peculiarly dangerous item since it’s a natural and unconscious reaction for someone wearing a tie to adjust it. If a doctor does touch his tie after washing up then demand the doctor wash up again.
4. If you have any hesitation about any procedure, doctor, nurse or medication then listen to your inner voice. Don’t depend on the intelligence and expertise of medical staff because, even if they are superlative, medical staff the world-round are often vastly overworked and thus can be very tired and overworked. And being human they will make mistakes.
Take it from someone who has almost died about 4-5 times so far from mistakes and errors in a hospital.
...
IMHO the one single thing most likely to prevent such deaths and illnesses and yet the most *unlikely* to ever be implemented is open documentation of the work histories of doctors and nurses put online and available to patients and their families.
Many doctors and nurses are very good. Quite a few however are either mediocre or pretty bad. The problem is that the combination of a shortage of doctors and the diving policy of governments to shield doctors from public scrutiny combine to prevent the bad doctors from being ejected from practice.
An example here in New Jersey, USA, is that doctors can be punished for many infractions but all of that information is hidden from public view. So you literally have no idea if the surgeon working on you had been treated for heroin addiction only 6 months previously and who has had an on-again off-again long-term addiction coupled with several psychological problems culminating in an armed standoff with the police in a seedy motel. Or that the same surgeon has been reprimanded for operating on patients while under the influence of heroin and other narcotics.
Perhaps that has nothing to do with your surgery. But then again it might be something you’d like to know.
Posted by memomachine on 2007 03 04 at 05:02 PM • permalinkHospital acquired infections are a serious issue but the single most effective means of preventing it is very difficult. You see, it requires people to turn on a tap, dispense some liquid soap onto their hands and squish it around - not neglecting between the fingers - for about a minute. Both nurses and doctors are notorious for skimping on this (which is a pity, because they’re actually finely trained in other clinical areas). They therefore rely on ever-more powerful antibiotics, the overuse of which - as you’ve all heard, quite correctly - breeds ever-more powerful bacteria.
If you’ve any choice in which hospital you’re going to, then provided they have the necessary facilities, I’d choose one relatively small and private, not public. If you can’t afford private, just make sure to avoid Bundaberg and Townsville. ;-)
Exception: if it’s an acute emergency, like a heart attack, just call the ambulance and get to the closest Emergency Department around. Treatment can be very effective, but is best given within the first 4 hours. So don’t call the After Hours service, don’t book in with your GP next day. It boggles me how many heart attacks I’ve seen self-treated by the patient overnight with mylanta.
#7 ed
Your point about disclosure of doctor’s errors is not without merit, but if implemented, should be applied to other professions. Your life is in the hands of many people other that doctors - the engineer who designs and supervises the construction of a building, the mechanic who fixes your brakes, your friendly bus driver, and so forth.
Would you hop into a bus if there was a sign next to the driver declaring he’s been in 2 accidents and arrested for drink driving? Neither would I.
Might as well just sack or deregister those sort of people. With open disclosure, they’ll never get any work, just a bucketload of shame.
PS: you’re definitely right about doctor’s ties. As for swabbing your skin down for injections, you also have to wait 3 minutes, otherwise it’s useless.
I think doctor is the only profession where bow ties might be useful.
Posted by boxofmatches on 2007 03 04 at 06:47 PM • permalinkWhen Kevins father died, the hospital standards of hygiene and staff standards were of a higher order than now. One reason being ,that the nusres were trained in hospitals and learned their art the hard and painful way, by experience, and we passed each knowledge learned down to the next generation. Now they are all university grads with a desire never to let their hands be contaminated by actually handling the patients and they do not observe the standard we had to maintain. They have long hair hanging over their shoulders and in their eyes, pierced ears and multiple earings, watches, bracelets/bangles and often more than one ring all of which harbour pathogens. ( just watch them fiddle with their earings) They wear clothing that is not boilable, uniforms more suitable to a bank teller or office worker, slacks and skirts that are worm for more than a week without change. This did not use to happen. We were told to remove jewelry, even wedding rings were on a chain round neck, nails wear short and unpainted always and our heads covered with hair either very short or in a bun. Another thing is the increase in Male nursing staff-sorry chaps- but they are not at all consciensious as to hand washing ) Another thing not allowed was too wear uniform out of the hospital. We had clean aprons every day and change if splashed. We still gowned up for sterile procedures.
We had permanent cleaning staff to each ward and the wards were spotless, linen changed daily,we had nowhere the level of cross infection that is seen to day.I left nursing a short while back as I could not cope with the standards of today and my own health compromised.
Drs wore clean white coats and would not turn up with out clean white shirt, tie pinned or tucked into shirt now they look as if they have come in from a barbeque.
Not all are like this, but far too many have a very casual observence of hygiene.
Many times in the past RNs had to remind the Drs , Specialists and Med students to go and wash their hands properly. We did not have mixer taps and would turn off the tap the paper towel not to recopntamminate our clean hands.
We had regular cleaning rituals in which BP cuffs where soaked in in lysol before washing, now they are never cleaned, the junior nurse had to damp dust the bed tables and oxygen equipment each morning and clean the baths. When we complained we were told that if we wanted to be charge nurses we had to understand what the cleaners were expected to do that we could not be good leaders unless we had done it ourselves.
Now look at the bedside tables and dust at heads of bed and under beds- we are sinking down to 3rd world level in many places, RN are short staffed and girls come out of college and have to work alone. We used to work in pairs especially doing dressings, one a ‘dirty’ nurse removing old dressings and one a ‘sterlile’ nurse to clean and apply fresh dressings. We did not use half the antibiotics now in use and often none if no infection present, now they are given before surgery in some cases.
Finally as to Kevs’s dad, he was probabley lying injured for many hours before he was found and every minute the clock is ticking down,the risk of death from a contaminated wound increase manyfold.
It is absolutely pathetic and very childish of him to bring this up now. Smacks of the kid with his hand in the cookie jar turning round and saying there’s spider on the wall!Would anyone above like to show us the evidence that swabbing the skin before an injection is of any benefit (I’m not talking about an intravenous line here)? Like all doctors, I faithfully do it but it is more of a religious ritual than anything else.
I think the bit about ties is a little overdone as well. Their contribution is minor compared with that of not handwashing. Not that I would wear one myself (why bother?)
You are all too kind. I say Rudd is mentally disturbed. To complain in public but not bother to read the coroner’s report? He won’t read the coroner’s report because that would let the doctors off the hook. He can’t face reality which is that his alcoholic father died of self-inflicted wounds, leaving young Kevin to have a childhood harder than it might otherwise have been. Would our Kevin be feeling any grief if his father had killed someone on the way home? It’s all about Kevin.
I have fond memories of Queensland in those days. When drunk, we would drive home in second gear. Nothing happened fast enough that you couldn’t cope with it. What a paradise it was.
Kevin, if you must blame someone, blame your old man for not wearing a seat belt (the ‘conspiracy’ that killed Diana et al) and drink driving.
AFAIK Kevni was the youngest sibling, you’d think he was an only child by his family references; why would it be up to him to chase up a coroner’s report, aged 11?
His old man’s ineptitude (resultant loss of rented farm income and home) may explain why the lil’ SOB seems to be so mean spirited and have an axe to grind.
C.L. Tim seems to have the creds to make a comparison as a minor celeb with a similar loss.
I’m sure we all have our horror stories about hospital infections and mishaps, but if you don’t wear a seat belt, not even a tiara will save you ...
Only recently, John Fahey lost his youngest daughter in similar circumstances over Christmas.
Hillyminx
Good post, one of the fetishes i have as a medic is hand washing. I dont touch a patient without doing it even if its just a BP reading.
No-one wants to do the basic stuff that reduces infection. Mind you some people are their own worst enemies.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 03 04 at 08:21 PM • permalinkSo Dadrudd was blotto and nodding off while driving- sure that Kevni wasn’t yammering away in the back seat at the time?
I think he’s starting to unravel- the Qld Labot Govt doesn’t need any help in having shit thrown at hteir disastrous health system. Sure this occurred on Joh’s watch, but the average punter won’t make that distinction, and will link this to current fuck-ups, like Jayent Patel and the former Health Minister looking like having to show extra slippery soap dilligence in the Palen Creek Correctional Facility showers in the very near future.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if they had to dump the Attack Squirrel 6 months out from an election- a train wreck’s got nothing on what’s fast approaching.
#14 Egg. IIRC the wearing of seat belts was not compulsory 38 years ago so maybe Rudd’s father didn’t have one fitted or hadn’t belted up. I don’t think the report really clarifies this.
Nevertheless I agree with you that if he was blotto and was not belted up then he paid the penalty.
# 11 Hillymix. My wife was RN at Brisbane’s PA hospital back in the 60s/70s and would agree with your comments. What she dealt with then has turned her away from conventional medicine and she hasn’t been near a doctor in decades, relying on alternative treatments instead. Her tales of incompetent doctors and hospital management were scary.
One of my grimmest memories is of visiting my father in a public hospital ICU on a weekend. (Weekend = short staffing.) The nurses were going from patient to patient and not washing their hands in between. I wondered how long it would be before Dad got colonised by MRSA. Not too long as it turned out. And once that happened, well, suddenly they were claiming that everything was an “extraordinary measure”. You can guess the rest.
I’m sympathetic, family loses chief breadwinner, etc, kids at a young age, it can’t have been easy for the mother(s) to suddenly have to raise a family on their own.
However, this is obviously a burning issue within the Rudd family, though you are telling me that when he was one of the most senior if not most senior public servants in Queensland, he never once lifted a phone and had the report either sent to him or verified?
This from the guy who had the time to go to WA to meet Brian Burke on three occasions, but he never had the time to solve a long running family issue like this?
Pull the other one Kev.
In the Victorian teaching hospital where I do occasional business there are pump dispensers of isopropyl alcohol on the ward walls - they were introduced last year. Quick squirt and a rub is apparently effective. Dries in less than 30 seconds. Handwashing/gloving is still required but the alcohol is an effective adjunct.
Posted by walterplinge on 2007 03 04 at 09:56 PM • permalinkhillyminx
From the link
“Dr Abdul Majid Katme, head of the Islamic Medical Association, is telling Muslims that almost all vaccines contain products derived from animal and human tissue, which make them “haram”, or unlawful for Muslims to take…”The comments are priceless.
Hand washing problems in the UK.
Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 03 04 at 10:05 PM • permalink#14 egg_
I don’t recall questioning Tim’s competence to comment on the story.
From my own familial knowledge I know that if someone has a parent who died during his or her childhood, not infrequently what they know of the death derives from the family’s own take on events. It’s a very easy matter for a coronial report or death certificate to couch the cause of death in straight clinical terms, while airbrushing the pre-expiration details. There is one such death in my own family where, from multiple sources, the lore concerning the doctor’s competence is very condemnatory. Yet the documentation relates only the clinical events and pathologies accompanying the patient’s decline. Officially, there’s nothing to see here, etc. Unofficially, that isn’t really true. As I said, I think there’s a possibility Rudd is cynically motivated but I’m a bit wary of a news organisation snooping into it.
David Marr investigating the allegedly sharp business practice of John Howard’s father and grandfather; channel Nine pulling Albert Rudd’s coronial report. What next, Nixonian break-ins to purloin somebody’s psych records?
#17
I was a child of the 60’s, like the KRudder.
From 1966 all Holdens were fitted with seatbelts, compulsory wearing commencing in QLD in 1973.
If the coroner’s report mentioned the cause of death was related to not wearing a seat belt, logic suggests that he had the choice (i.e. seatbelt fitted to car).
I’m sure Kevni knows the cause of his old man’s death ... of course, safety devices aren’t the panacea for all car crashes.#22 C.L.
I don’t recall questioning Tim’s competence to comment on the story.No offence meant.
If Nine’s behaviour could be viewed as crass, I was pointing out that Tim’s perspective is a little different and was not implying that you indicated any differently.
A family member almost died during elective surgery due to the anaesthetist puncturing a lung during the op - spent a week on a respirator in ICU - I’m sure we all have our horror stories - theatre staff being human, after all.Hmmm.
@ mark
Would anyone above like to show us the evidence that swabbing the skin before an injection is of any benefit (I’m not talking about an intravenous line here)? Like all doctors, I faithfully do it but it is more of a religious ritual than anything else.
No offense intended but ...
Let’s see now. I’ve had 3 cases of bleeding gastric ulcers, 2 of them nearly fata. 2 cases of sepsis, 1 of them nearly fatal. I suffer from ESRD, End State Renal Disease, so I have to undergo hemodialysis 3 times a week. I also have had a vein/artery graft in my left arm which failed due to a narrowing of the artery in the upper arm and repeated cases of thrombosis in the graft. I now have a fistula in my right arm. I’m been in a multitude of hospitals and I’ve been injected with just about every single kind of needle from 22ga to 14ga.
And the only times I’ve ever had a problem with infection has been traced entirely due to either not using an alcohol pad or not using one in an appropriate manner.
So if you’re really a doctor and you’re really not certain if it’s a good idea to sterilize the skin prior to injection in a hospital setting rife with dangerous bacteria then perhaps you should reconsider.
Or you could try an empirical test by repeatedly injecting yourself with saline *without* taking the proper precautions whilst in a hospital? If so, then I’d suggest you ensure your life insurance is paid up.
For my part my own personal experience with this subject gives me more than sufficient cause to believe in it’s value.
Posted by memomachine on 2007 03 04 at 11:11 PM • permalinkRudd:
I knew that I was going to a dinner which Mr Burke would be at and where business people would be at and that’s the beginning and the end of it.Wasn’t it “a complete surprise” to Kevni when he arrived that the Great Burke was at the dinner?
Kevni being a last-minute invite by Edwards?My father suffered dreadfully when he was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach and treated at a Melbourne teaching hospital that is no more. The night before surgery he was given a meal and then taken to surgery early in th morning, as a conseqence of which, he aspirated on the operating table( that is the contents of his stomach flowed back into his lungs) He arrested on the table and spent weeks in ICU before being transfered to another hospital for Surgery.
He was returned to the ward too soon. I receive a call from my sister also a charge nurse to say Dad was very ill and in AF( atrial fibrillation) could I come over and support her. I was a night sister and went straight from duty. The staff were very hostile that we should dare critise and evetualy brought in the surgeon who tried to patronise us by saying as nurses we were over reacting, I told him what had happened to Dad was criminal negligence and unless he got a cardiologist in pronto I would take legal action. Its amazing what happens when you know a little.They had so many Drs dancing attendance within minutes. However as I was beside his bedside I noticed his drip had run through I told the nursing staff and they did not return so I kept filling his burette and charting it as per chart. An hour later I went seeking nursing staff for the umpteenth time as the fluid had run through and non left. The nurse came and very huffy with me. Next day I arrived and drip thru ,blood up tubing- again Icomplained after I found all staff in teas room- they did not come for 30 minutes. When a nurse came she started forcing saline down and inserting needle without washing hands or the bung. I went tO admin where I was told that “as I was obviously a good nurse and high standards” but suggested I was over reacting. I was so very angry and very distressed. Poor old Dad said not to worry the girls were ‘kind”.
Whilst at this hospital I met the wife of a ‘Knight of the realm’ who was so very kind, her husband had also been in intensive care and thrown out too early and suffered severe conseqences as a result. They transfered him elsewhere.
Dad had his surgery elsewhere eventually, after which Mum nursed him for 2 years at great cost to her own health. Sadly Dad had to return to the original hospital for his last weeks where he suffred dreadfully. Mum asked me to deal with the staff as he was in such agony. They refused to up his dose of morphine and he had dreadful falls trying to get out of bed to pee and no one to assist him. He looked as if someone had kicked the s—t out him he had such huge bruising over his grossly distended belly full of tumour.
I would have taken them to court and given the money to charity, I am not a litigious person and would not want to make money from his suffering, however Mum didn’t want to make a fuss and I had to respect that.
I spent years in oncology and never saw or let my patients suffer this way so it was doubley hard tp accept such negligence.It is interesting also that the good and consciensious nurses get bullied and harrassed often by some colleagues usually the slackers. Many nusres these day who achieve power in hospitals would be better as warders in Gitmo and then they would be considered too ruthless.
Am I bitter- yes, because I was not able to effect change other than to draw unwelcome attention to myself.
Finally. alcoho; wipes are not a good alternative to a good THOROUGH handwashing with an acid free soap.Too many chemical destroy the good bacteria and too much alchol on the skin cause the finger tips to become dry and rough which harbour more nasties. Soap and nail scrubbed with a brush soaked antiseptic and boiled and sterilised once a day- HA where would you find a boiler on the ward these days? alternately each nurse should have her own and a new one each shift.-Won’t happen
Sorry for the long post- memories stirred up!#17 spag
I concur with you- I never go near hospitals or Drs and have been researchin alterative therapies since suffering a dreadful condtion for which I was told I had dillusional Parasitosis despite evidence of some unrecognised mite and offered tranquilisers. After 2 years of intense misery I am now getttig on top of it but believe now that I have been treted for asthma and chest infections with too many steroids and antibiotics and thsi has dstroyed my immune system. I now have discovered from observation that there is a organism that lives in nose and lungs but trying to find a cure is very difficult as getting the Medical fraternity to take note.
They are desciple of big pharma and that is another topic.However many health problems I believe are due to to many chemicals such as fluoride and aspartame to name 2- ,just do a gooogle it will makee you take stock.
CheersRudd’s comments about his dad’s death simply adds to the impression he is a slimy little prick. He was willing to deal with the devil (Burke) to become Labor leader and now he is trying to invoke sympathy over his dad’s death. Rather that make me feel warm and fuzzy about him, it chills me to think that he would his father’s death in this way.
My mother was admin director of the oncology unit at the PA, and a good mate of mine is an ICU gas passer in the state system- both have little regard for nursing staff, particularly the empire-building careerists who spend all day with a clipboard rather than wiping bums. Tertiary qualified nursing has been a bigger disaster to the state hospital system than allowing staff quacks to administer units, despite having all the organisational skills of epileptic howler monkeys. I’d like to see the whole lot fall in a heap and be privatised, but I pity any poor sod who falls into their clutches- just as well state governments have a bottomless pit of other peoples money to pay out compensation for malpractice, ineptitude and incompetence.
I have a notice in my wallet that if I’m ever beaned off a bike or mashed in a car, I’m to be carted to the nearest private facility- if the only option is a medivac to RBH or like trauma centre, I want out of there ASAP (and my own quack notified in the meantime, so the lazy bastard can earn his money).
Different decade and different party, but the Brisbane Courier Mail remains as pathetic as ever. They couldn’t find the illegal brothels and casinos in the valley in the 70s. Now they can’t find anyone who had the pleasure of working under the Swot Womble in the 90s.
Posted by boxofmatches on 2007 03 05 at 01:59 AM • permalinkPoor Kevnis father was killed by straight out stupidity - no seatbelt, alcohol and running into something harder than the sheetmetal of his car.
Regardless of what happened at the hospital only one person created the situation that caused his own death. On another note, speaking of medical people washing their hands, next time you go to the public (or work) conveniences have a little look at the number of people who dont bother to wash their own hands afterwards, what disgusting, vile lazy pricks they are. ANd can someone please tell me the best way to open the door out of the toilets without getting your hands dirty?
Posted by surfmaster on 2007 03 05 at 04:09 AM • permalinkHedley Thomas’ “Sick to Death” (on Patel, the other Doctor Death) is a good read. Well, when I say “good read” I mean that it’s well written; the story is easy to follow. But having had too many of my own unhappy experiences with health bureaucrats and assorted know-it-all, know-nothing “health professionals” it wasn’t pleasant reading. Too many bad memories stirred up.
Nevertheless, if you want a clearer understanding of what Qld Labor did to public service ethics, how Beattie works, what Rudd seems to have learned from that and how very similar Qld Labor and WA Labor seem to be as far as government non-accountabilitiy goes I recommend you read this book.
Also see Hal Colebatch on Rudd and WA Labor.
Re what mark said at #12.
I vaguely recall reading something years ago about how using alcohol swabs prior to giving an injection made no difference to infection rates. I’m guessing that this research was done on people whose skin was ordinarily clean and that the researchers were adept at no-touch techniques in attaching the needle to the syringe, in drawing up whatever is to be administered and in actually giving the injection.
Most people are well used to their own germs. It’s other people’s germs and germs in dirt that you have to worry about. But, of course, that only refers to the giving of injections. In the last few years I’ve had to have a few blood tests and it really bothers me how often phlebotomists wipe the area with a swab and then palpate the vein with an ungloved finger prior to inserting the needle.
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/
jon Ray has posts on the State of our Hospitals-I can assure everyone that if nurses were allowed or dared to speak frankly, the system would be shut down.
Its not helped having Unions they only look after their own- when one speaks out and is victimised they are not interested. So many excellent nurses after many years service had be either forced into resigning or left disillusioned and suffering from injuries, bad backs and depression.
It has been the practice these past few years to ’ work out’ good nurses by first undermining and belittling them- especially those over 45 years why? because they don’t want to pay senior nurses at the rate to which they are entitled and the State Goverments made it easier by funding 2 graduate nurses which removes one senior staff from the payroll and they get 2 inexperienced nurses to do the ward work.
Many of these girls think it is beneath them to clean up soiled beds etc and only want to get into’courses’-read management ASAP AND wander round doing medication rounds, taking as long as possible whilst they let part time or agency staff do all the ‘dirty work’To get a head, do not dare be a well adjusted heterosexual and especially do not do anything that makes the patients appreciate you.
We used to make cups of tea if and when we had time in the evenings and at night and making one meant making it for many. The patients so apprecaited it,one was able to learn if they had any worries and concerns by having a quiet chat, they were too intimidated to ask the day staff. I have been told in a very nasty way ‘that you better take old Mr/mrs X home since you have time to dispense tea and sandwiches. Often they could not eat the unpalatable or heavy meal sent. or too frail to manage and just loved a cuppa.
Anotther delightful thing I have experienced is nurses who have stuffed up their IVs and then blamed the night staff.On a few occasions I was told that Mr so and so( Surgeon/DR is furious with you and wants an incident report. I made it my business to phone the Dr and explain that I was not responsible only to find out they did not know what I was talking about.Thet just blamed someone else for their own incompetance
Working in ICU I was acused of taking my meal breaks and not adjusting my IVS, THE BUREETES FILLED EACH HOUR TO RUN AT A CERTAIN RATE. I was meticulous about this, so started to mark the wheel on the clamp and found the wheel had been released during my absence.This happened several times before I realised what was going on and went to Admin and asked to resign. I got a transfer but I don’t know if anything was done, but I was told that I was not the first to complain of this.
Now they have computerised drip controls but I have been attacked in front of others for not setting them up correctly,at first I accepted it but later after this happened again I asked the patient who was rather alert and was told that ‘the other sister had come in an ‘fiddled with it’.
On another occasion a patient had been given 10x the dose of Methotrexate by a Dr in error IV AS STAT DOSE for an arthritic condition, I reported this and later found the report sheet and medication sheet missing.
I re reported in RED BLOCK LETTERS. The patient died. I told the rels they should seek an explanation. I do not know what happened but I was called to Admin and told that some staff had complained about me, that I was distruptive and the staff could not work with me. This was not the case and they would not give me names or details. The Union would not help and I sought help from a barrister friend- No further action,
I absolutlely loved my job and have some wonderful colleagues who are still my friends, but many sadly make it a hazzardous career for any caring person. It destroys your soul. I know however that their are many who loved and appreciated me and that gives me comfort.
Don’t put you daughter in the ward Mrs Worthingtom!#34 If the door has a handle use your foot or grab some paper towel on the way out to use on the handle/knob (if there is a dispenser). Avoid drying your hands in a blower as they circulate air within the loo & onto your clean hands. You can guess what’s floating around in some of those places.
Might sound a bit over the top but at my age the last thing I need is extra bugs mixing with the ones I already have.
I’ve got to admit I’ve nothing but praise for the staff who looked after my dad last week. Okay, it was only from sat arvo until monday evening, but they were wonderful.
With my mum, she spent many months in a couple of different country hospitals, and while she had great care, I did get a bit of a shock when an old lady in the bed opposite mum was going to be sent home in nothing but her nightdress.
Her kids were in town and couldn’t make it to collect her, so the hospital called a cab to take her back to the nursing home.
The poor lady didn’t have any clothing, and they were just going to wrap a blanket around her which the cabdriver would return to the hospital.
Apparently they needed the bed.
We were appalled, and after a bit of discussion, Mum gave the lady her spare dressing gown.
I have never felt so embarrassed on behalf of another person. The complete lack of dignity with which she was treated still leaves me dumbstruck.
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2007 03 05 at 08:56 AM • permalink
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He always want to blame someone. But wants to be Mr Teflon himself.