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Well we told Doug that we might want to take a detour and do other things--so AZ. is ?able---
And I knew how he would feel---
*Of course I understand BUT I wont be a happy person*
The flu/whatever has been hitting here like crazy---and this was very sad to read in the paper
Tucson ER/Hospital has a very poor nursing staff?? a rating of *D*
what a letter to be rated with
Plus a few other states were included~~~
I had great care,a few years back, @ St.Josephs ER!!
Kait is doing fine---and the school had to be notified,in writing,by LYNN as what to do *in CASE*
DUH!!! well just let Kait drift off--pee in her pants and be unresponsive!!
At least the college is geared for such emergencies---
till later
keep a smile
luve, Barbara
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control
I'm glad to see that Kait is doing much better now. When you posted about her seizues, that just about bowled me over. That was quite a shock, after she had been making so much progress. I hope that she can stay on track now, without any more setbacks.
They say variety is the spice of life. Maybe going to Arizona every other year, would be more practical.
Luv,
Galahad
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
One of my boys lives in Phoenix and he said ER time is running a 4-5 hr wait because they are so busy. I liked the nursing in Phoenix. Don't know how is it in Tucson but doesn't sound good. Take care you don't get the flu. Love Oma
Maybe the hospital problems are getting to be all over. Our local hospital, about 10 mins away is closing it's emergengy department to all level 1.2.3 (the most serious cases, due to lack of staff. They now would have to travel another half hour to the next hospital or to the Brisbane hospital obver an hour away. The local emergengy department could not cope with what they were getting so you can imagine what is going to happen at the other hospitals. Used to be about a six hour wait to see a doctor. Very bad situation as the local used to cover a very wide area with thousands of people many elderly.
Love
Liz
A smile is a light in the window of your face that shows that your heart is at home
The word is out on the streets about healthcare professions -- the only jobs in the USA with price controls, and now docs are having to work for insurance companies indirectly, and they can get away with things they couldn't before due to the precident that Medicare (socialized medicine) has set.
They have continually lowered the amounts that doctors can charge for their services to the point that many of the old fashioned, private doctor's offices have had to close their doors. Not only that, if they object, they can end up in jail! In terms of trying to get reimbursed, particularly for complicated cases, it's almost not worth the time and harrassment to get what you are owed.
Finally, in this country, patients are being to see that they've been hoodwinked into thinking that they would benefit from all these political payoffs -- making patients think they're getting the same thing for less when they're not. After all, when a patient sees someone in a white uniform, they call them "nurse." but the meaning of that the word for that profession has totally changed.
There was a time not too long ago when the time it was beginning to take to become a degree'd RN was becoming 5 yrs, but all of a sudden, there are all sorts of so-called "accelerated programs" just so that hospitals can fulfill their manditory staffing obligations with the required numbers of professional staff. Not only that, but the accreditation of some of the institutions providing these so-called educations is not up to the quality that they used to have.
Across the board in most jobs, there used to be money spent for continuing education for improvement on the job throughout one's employment, but most companies are finding that eliminating on the job education was one of the "expendable" line items, and for many if not most hospitals, this has been the case. In a hospital, this means that many young, poorly educated, and poorly trained nurses, are being thrown on the job without anyone experienced enough to help them make the transition into the real world of sweat shop nursing.
The crisis is now coming to a head as nursing instructors are largely of retirement age, so we will not even have people capable of TEACHING anyone to become a good nurse.
A few years ago, it was suggested that patients ask who their nurse is on each shift, and how many patients each is assigned, but with the cheap labor that is overworked anyway with the almost ICU like conditions on the regular hospital floors, one might as well hire their own retired nurse, and take them with you. This is actually being done quite a bit nowadays.
The untrained folks may be able to do some routine stuff, but heaven help you if something goes wrong, and no one has enough knowledge to recognize the signs early enough to intervene in time to do something about it (that is if they're even around to observe you in time to see something!)
If you saw that news journal program a while back on medical care, you might've heard about the actual account of a patient in a hospital being cared for by an aide who, when her patient began perspiring, and was short of breath, thought the appropriate intervention was to just open a window. As it turned out, the patient was having a heart attack, and anyone with any new grad RN would've easily realized what was happening in time to intervene, provided they weren't so overworked that they couldn't even make rounds or get to all the call lights which is more likely to be the case nowadays than not, unless the census is unusually low at that point in time.
One of the things that's happening in the ER's, particularly in the southwest, as you know, is that so many are without insurance, and can get treated in ER's for minor illnesses, and things that shouldn't even be treated in an ER.
One of the reasons that staffing spiralled downhill in hospitals was that the staffing came to be dependent on the AVERAGE census. Welp, just doing that meant that the staffing would CONTINUE to decrease because the numbers that would be averaged together over time would be lower and lower. That's one of the reasons that the patients you see on regular floors are so much sicker -- rarely do you see a patient admitted just for tests anymore if they aren't acutely ill.
Some of you may have heard about a hospital like the one in North Carolina that doesn't take any insurances, including Medicare. They are getting the best staff available, people love their jobs, and they are getting so many patients that they can't take them all. I would imagine that considering what people are saving on insurance premiums, they are coming out ahead in most cases. I suppose that they may be getting some extreme catastrophy insurance if it's available, but at least they're getting what they're paying for instead of the cut that goes to the stock holders, and the cost of maintaining all the paper pushers on staff just to handle the insurance hassles. Instead, they put their money into people who actually help the patients instead of into the nightmares that goverment has a way of creating.
Before government got involved, patients in this country were all cared for as they ultimately are now, but the staffing was far superior to what we have (or don't have now).
Patients think that someone knows what they're doing based on certain superficial observations of perceived professionalism and personality, but until they become the exception, they think all is well. Problem is that such a tiny proportion of the patient population becomes aware of what they're not getting, that they are essentially unheard by the majority who thinks they're getting a bargain. Woe be unto you when you are the victim, and have no voice.
I predicted this would happen years ago when working in a small doctor's office and observing how the hands of government/insurance were taking over like the gustapo these tiny little businesses that operated like every other business in the USA with a small margin of profit over their costs, and an appropriate amount of donated services, done privately and discretely. Now, they are being forced out of business, and patients HATE the big clinics that they are now forced to use.
I could go on and on of examples of things that patients think are a bargain, but really aren't, but will save that for another post to this thread if I think of it tomorrow.
Hi Lucy
Our problem with the doctor shortage goes back quite a few years when entry to medicine cources was limited by some of the medical profession themselves. We are now reaping the results of that. They are trying to recruit overseas doctors but after some bad choices in that area, the checking of credentials & the capabilities of applicants is becoming far more stringent.
Specialist can just about name their own price but doctors in the hospitals, particularly the interns & registrars, work very long hours for not a huge lot of money. I have seen doctors on duty for almost 24 hours at a time & with a few hours break expected to be back in there again. There are also many dedicated specialist who work as consultants & I have had experience of that.
re the nurses: Nurse training used to be practical on the job & this also provided staff in the hospitals. Now nurses are university trained & have short practical periods of work in the hospitals. I have several friends who are nurses, one a nurse educator & they really don't agree with what is happening. Wards are ofen understaffed & nurses are run off their feet. It is all about money & the private hospitals are no different. Don't know what the answer is.
Litigation is also a factor that effects things in several areas. Insurance costs to doctors is prohibitive & of course this is passed on the the patient. Medical insurance has also become out of reach for some people, including myself. Also our free hospital system is becoming under threat.
Love
Liz
A smile is a light in the window of your face that shows that your heart is at home
