After every chemo treatment, my mom would have to be admited into the hospital for about two weeks. Part was due to her immune system shutting down and part from an intestinal infection. Hospital hopping is what I will call it! We have been to all the hospitals in central Florida. With that came the good, the bad, and the ugly nurse stories. Let's start with the bad:
The Complainers: mom had been in much pain from everything. And while we know nursing is not the easiest of careers neither is cancer or sitting in pain. My mom and sister had asked for some help with the pain medication mom had been waiting for. Well, little miss burnt out was not happy. Shortly after providing my mom with what she needed, this nurse and another nurse stood outside my moms room and started complaining about their patients. My mom thought they were talking about her and got very upset. She felt like she was a burden. When I found out, I was livid. My sisters and I decided to be more vocal next time. My mom should never have been made to feel like an inconvenience. After this and other experiences we will get to, she did not want to go back to hospital.
The Forceful: one nurse told my mom she would not leave the room until my mom took all her medication. My mom knows her body and she knew one type of medicine was too much. But the nurse made her feel pressured. On a better note: the night nurse told my mom she had the control and did not have to take anything they gave her. We loved this Nurse. She was very kind hearted and understanding.
The Ignorant Doctor: one doctor was quick to prescribe and slow to listen. We blame her for most of this. Wether it is right or not we will never know. What we do know is lymphoma was not present until we introduced Prednisone, a steroid. When complications arose, this Doc shrugged them off. We should have made her listen but we never expected to have to do that with a Doctor. We are trained that they care and listen. While some do. Most seem not to. While in the different hospitals, doctors would make their rounds. They would come in say hi and as you were asking questions they were backing to the door. All I could think was wow! Really and we have to pay how much for that??
The Rude One: one night my sister was sitting with my mom and went to ask the nurse why my mom was not hooked up to an IV. This had happened before where mom sat for hours without IV or pain medicine. This even
happened when she had been admitted for dehydration. When my sister approached the nurse she was very rude. At this point we had had enough. My sister asked for a different nurse and from that point on things were great there.
The Best: I will not go into detail or name the hospitals where we had bad experiences. But I will say Moffit in Tampa and Shands in Gainesville were the best!!! Nice new facilities. While the newness is great it was the staff that made the difference. Shands ICU rocked! Especially Nurse Mo! He treated my mom with such respect and care. He laughed with us and really listened to mom. It made it easier for me to leave at night.
I appreciate nurses and doctors. It's you who takes care of my loved one when I cannot. You save lives and prevent illness. You make a difference not only to the sick but the ones who love them. You have big hearts and nurses and doctors everywhere will remain in my prayers. However, if you start to forget how important you are or start to feel like the people you help are a burden, please, please, please get rejuvenated in a different department or change careers because those bad nights with nurses killeded me and made it hard on my mom. We all fight the fight but cancer is a whole different game where we need positive players.
