If the McCain/Palin ticket actually makes it to the White House next month, I've decided to run for Governor of Alaska.
Seriously, think about it - could there be a better job? I mean, the population of the whole state is less than that of Manhattan, for cripes sake. You get paid to live in your own house, and you can take your kids on "working-vacations" for free. If your ex-brother-in-law pisses you off, you get his butt canned, and if his boss won't fire him, you just fire his boss! Sounds like quite the deal if you ask me.
I'm sorry, but, what the hell are these people thinking? Adding insult to injury, Sarah and her family go shopping on the campaign trail, to the tune of $150,000. If she needed that much of a make-over, why did they pick her in the first place? And if she's supposed to represent the two Joes (Plumber and Six-Pack), what does she need $150,000 in clothes for? Yes, I know, they're going to be donated to charity when it's all over. You have to wonder, though, would Sarah have coughed up the duds after the fact if no one found out about them? Yeah, you betcha (wink, wink).
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Stirring It Up
The following (in red) is the meaty part of an e-mail I wrote recently, regarding a nurse who missed a dose on one of Dennis's meds and lied about it (!!!). This was written at the request of the Nurse Manager, who brought the issue to our attention, and has since been passed on to the Manager's boss and the nurse in question, too. I'm hoping she loses her job, if not her license. There's no telling how many other patients she's put at risk with her careless approach to her job.
Ms. X ,
Whatever your intentions were in missing and falsely recording my husband's Factor VIII dose on Sept. 28th, I would like you to understand the ramifications of your error.
My husband has been hospitalized for more than half of 2008. On several occasions, I was told that he would not survive. He was transferred out and back in to various ICU units no less than three times due to internal bleeding. Three times. Each time, there was no guarantee the bleeding would stop, he was too weak to withstand surgery, and I sat at his bedside and waited for him to either recover on his own or die. I watched the nurses administer dose after dose of Factor VIII, knowing that without it, there would be no chance of his survival. I'm guessing here, but I'm pretty sure you can't imagine what that feels like, no matter how many times you've seen it in your years of nursing.
Factor VIII is liquid gold. The gallons given to my husband over the past few years have depleted our medical insurance to the point that he is now dependent on public aid for his coverage. I know that the pharmacy doesn't mix it until it's needed, and I know they don't just send it up with the other meds and assume that it will be handled properly. I also know that there is no such thing as a leftover dose in a refrigerator. Further, your statement that you "had a ten minute conversation" with my husband is laughable. My husband has been on the edge of encephalopathy for the past five days and hasn't had a ten minute conversation with anyone, including me. You didn't give it to him, you faked the records, and you lied about it - it's that simple.
When we leave our loved ones after eight or nine hours at their bedsides, we expect them to be in good hands. We believe it when we're told that they'll be watched over and taken care of, that they'll get their prescribed medications when they're supposed to, and that they'll still be there when we come back the next day. We also expect the doctors and other nurses to be able to look at a medical record and know that it contains true, factual data - not just what should be there.
Through your negligence, you've given the wife of a very sick man something more to worry about.
I'm sharing this here for a couple of reasons: First, it lets all of you in on what we've been going through these past few weeks and explains pretty well why I haven't been here! Second, this illustrates the desperate need for quality nurses in our healthcare system. Don't get me wrong, we have had some amazing, wonderful, fantastic nurses over the years! There are those, though, who don't belong there and are clearly just collecting a big, fat, union-protected check. Shame on them, and shame on our system that allows half-ass-ed-ness (is that a word?) in one of the most important professions on the planet. Don't get me started again....
Meanwhile, Dennis is back home again. We have a TON of appointments. In addition to dialysis (which is now starting at the hideous hour of 7:00 a.m.), he has to have anitbiotic infusions at UCD three days a week, along with appointments with three different services within the next two weeks. Again, we're on hold with the transplant indefinitely, but the doctors assure me that the labs are stable and nothing is urgent right now. Phew.
On a totally, completely unrelated subject....is everyone out there registered to vote?
Ms. X ,
Whatever your intentions were in missing and falsely recording my husband's Factor VIII dose on Sept. 28th, I would like you to understand the ramifications of your error.
My husband has been hospitalized for more than half of 2008. On several occasions, I was told that he would not survive. He was transferred out and back in to various ICU units no less than three times due to internal bleeding. Three times. Each time, there was no guarantee the bleeding would stop, he was too weak to withstand surgery, and I sat at his bedside and waited for him to either recover on his own or die. I watched the nurses administer dose after dose of Factor VIII, knowing that without it, there would be no chance of his survival. I'm guessing here, but I'm pretty sure you can't imagine what that feels like, no matter how many times you've seen it in your years of nursing.
Factor VIII is liquid gold. The gallons given to my husband over the past few years have depleted our medical insurance to the point that he is now dependent on public aid for his coverage. I know that the pharmacy doesn't mix it until it's needed, and I know they don't just send it up with the other meds and assume that it will be handled properly. I also know that there is no such thing as a leftover dose in a refrigerator. Further, your statement that you "had a ten minute conversation" with my husband is laughable. My husband has been on the edge of encephalopathy for the past five days and hasn't had a ten minute conversation with anyone, including me. You didn't give it to him, you faked the records, and you lied about it - it's that simple.
When we leave our loved ones after eight or nine hours at their bedsides, we expect them to be in good hands. We believe it when we're told that they'll be watched over and taken care of, that they'll get their prescribed medications when they're supposed to, and that they'll still be there when we come back the next day. We also expect the doctors and other nurses to be able to look at a medical record and know that it contains true, factual data - not just what should be there.
Through your negligence, you've given the wife of a very sick man something more to worry about.
I'm sharing this here for a couple of reasons: First, it lets all of you in on what we've been going through these past few weeks and explains pretty well why I haven't been here! Second, this illustrates the desperate need for quality nurses in our healthcare system. Don't get me wrong, we have had some amazing, wonderful, fantastic nurses over the years! There are those, though, who don't belong there and are clearly just collecting a big, fat, union-protected check. Shame on them, and shame on our system that allows half-ass-ed-ness (is that a word?) in one of the most important professions on the planet. Don't get me started again....
Meanwhile, Dennis is back home again. We have a TON of appointments. In addition to dialysis (which is now starting at the hideous hour of 7:00 a.m.), he has to have anitbiotic infusions at UCD three days a week, along with appointments with three different services within the next two weeks. Again, we're on hold with the transplant indefinitely, but the doctors assure me that the labs are stable and nothing is urgent right now. Phew.
On a totally, completely unrelated subject....is everyone out there registered to vote?
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