University of Cincy Hospital experience

[Joe G]

Mrs G's Granny fell out of her wheelchair on the way to church Sunday. Ambulance to local hospital where they found out she broke some bones in her neck so they transferred her to Univ of Cincy hospital that night.

The Mrs (Deb) went up to see her with one of her cousins after the kids came home from school yesterday. Wanted to spend time with her, but also relieve some of the other relatives who have been with her the past day.

She's in a lot of pain, so they have her on a lot of painkillers and are giving her various other meds.

When Deb was there she saw the nurse give Granny a shot in her stomach, as well as an injection into the IV port - both without wiping the skin or port with an alcohol wipe.

As she was doing it she told the nurse to stop, but the nurse kept injecting until done. After Deb asked why she didn't sterilize the sites before injecting... young nurse said, "We don't have to. The needle is sterile (while giving Deb the look), don't you know?"

Deb immediately stopped her and said, "yeah, but neither of the sites (skin or the IV port) is sterile, and you just made a path for an infection into my Grandmother." Nurse replied that "everyone does it that way here, it's what we were told to do." Deb called BS!

Nurse started to raise her voice to Deb, so Deb shut her up and told her to GTFO of the room (yes those words) and called for the head nurse on call.

When head nurse came in Deb told her what happened. Nurse said no one was ever told that and that she was going to make sure all nurses were aware. Deb also said that she never wanted to see that other nurse near Granny again.

Deb's called the hospital today and spoke with as many people there as possible. Any suggestions on what titles she should make sure to tell this story to?

 

[Joe G]

Forgot the rest of the story...

When Deb's Aunt and cousin came back later (they went home to eat, shower and change clothes) she told them about what happened.

Both said, almost at the same time, that they hadn't seen ANY nurse use alcohol wipes before injecting (either skin or IV port).

It's definitely something that Deb brought up when talking to the head of nursing, the infectious diseases dept., as well as Granny's main Doc (mostly so that he knows that some sort of infection is likely and will be ready for it if/when she spikes a fever or goes downhill quickly).

 

[ruger1800]

Hospital can make more money if they can give patients staff infections, glad you have them documented,they sur as hell would never take the blame.

 

[ruger1800]

Be sure to document everything, time date names ect....contrary to what most people think hospitals are only in business to make money, lots of it.

 

[devious169]

U.C. hospital is a training hospital! Half of the nurses are either morons or just don't care. I wouldn't ever recommend going there!

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Yep...document and write a letter(s) to the head people in charge of the nurses and the hospital. I'd send an email now with a paper backup later so that they'd formally be on notice of what you've observed so that they can take action now to prevent harming, not only your relative, but all the other patients in their care.

 

[ruger1800]

1 in 25 Patients End Up with Hospital-Acquired Infections

 

[Joe G]

Thanks all.

Yes, Mrs G spoke with 4 different people today - each higher on the food chain than the other. Half started out by making excuses vs. apologizing for the mistake. They quickly realized that that was NOT the way to go. LOL

Names, positions, phone #'s, times and discussion points were all written down and will be sent to them. We are also awaiting written confirmation from them about what happened as well as what steps are being taken to remedy the situation.

After talking to the head of nursing (first person she spoke to) it was confirmed by the original nurse that she made a mistake and knew better than to not follow proper procedures (sterilization of the injection sites). I'm sure it was a CYA measure, but glad she at least admitted to it.

 

[ruger1800]

Made a mistake,bs just pure laziness , sterilizing a injection site is not something that a nurse should forget or overlook, have been giving livestock, dogs, cats injections since I was 14 my father and grandfather would have beat my ass if I didn't sterilize.
Have seen some bad abscesses in animals that did not have injection site sterilized, by veterinarians, they don't care it's not their animal just another dollar in their pocket.
Can guarantee you that f-----ing nurse would have sterilized, if it was her child or grandmother.
Sue them, it's the only way they will learn.

 

[MohawkSlim]

I thought Obamacare was going to fix all this?

 

[ruger1800]

I thought Obamacare was going to fix all this?

Obuma people would smear feces on the injection site.

another thing I never see nurses do is asperate, to make sure their not in a vein, had relative loose a arm because of this.

 

[Hoosierkav]

You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Give them thirty days and ask for a status update--what actions have they really put in place? It is easy to field a phone call or send off a grievance letter and move on; if they see you as a partner and advocate for patient safety, they're more likely to feel compelled to do the right thing.

You always scrub the hub (IV/port). No excuses.

You also foam in and out. No excuses.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Hell, even death row inmates get a wipe-down right before a lethal injection. And Granny doesnt? Totally unacceptable.

 

[ruger1800]

Hell, even death row inmates get a wipe-down right before a lethal injection. And Granny doesnt? Totally unacceptable.

LOL