Our Recent Hospital Stays
My mother was just in the hospital last weekend and told me that her room mate was so disgusted with the level of her care and the way she was treated, that she packed her clothes and walked out. A couple of doctors tried to stop her and convince her to stay but she said she couldn’t take it anymore and left. I don’t know the details but how bad must they have let her feel for her to want to leave rather than be treated for whatever illness she had.
My mother also asked those same two doctors to take a look at the bottom of her foot. A couple weeks ago she stood up and as soon as she put some weight on it she felt pain like a nail being driven through her foot and up her leg. The doctors ignored her and left without looking at the foot. Then a woman came in the room, my mother doesn’t know if she was a nurse or a doctor, but she did look at the foot and told my mother that the skin had split from the heel to the toes and that was the reason for the pain. The woman left and returned with a tube of white cream which she then massaged into the crack. The pain left immediately even with standing. She let her have the tube to take home. I guess it was to small a thing for the almighty doctors to bother with.
My mom has had to be in the hospital a lot lately and this particular one is terrible. Every time she goes in there are some issues, mean and rough nurses, doctors that don’t care, and kitchens that can’t read menu orders. The rooms are so small that with the two beds there isn’t even room for more than one or two others to stand in the room.
In contrast only several miles away, my daughter had her baby at another hospital. She had a private room, and with the exception of one rough nurses aide, had nice nurses. Her doctors were interested and caring. They messed up the menu once and immediately corrected it. I stayed overnight with her the second night she was there and they were as nice to me as if I were also a patient. The little family lounge on the floor offered free coffee and tea and they ordered a couple dozen rolls and bagels for everyone every morning. I loved the cafateria, they had everything you could want, and in the middle of the night there were a dozen nooks and rooms with soft sofa’s and chairs that I could lounge on.
Both hospitals in the suburbs, but what made one so much better? Was it because one was a maternity stay and the other elderly? I don’t know, but I do know where I’ll have my next hospital stay.