My father, John, had prostate surgery on Monday, May 24. He was on the 3rd floor, Room 328. I am writing you to express my dissatisfaction with the level of service my father received during a recent hospital stay at the Southern Maryland Hospital. The nurses were very unprofessional and displayed a very careless attitude towards my father and family members.
My sister and I accompanied my father to the hospital that morning and were there when he was taken to the room. We were allowed to come in the room after the nurse took his vital signs. Immediately, I noticed my father was in severe pain. I went to the desk to inquire about pain medication for my father. Almost 40 minutes went by before, he was given an injection. The nurse came into the room several times without the pain medication and without any explanation. My sister and I had to badger the nurse to get information. We then learned that she was waiting for the medication authorization to be entered into the system. This was the beginning of what we learned would be a normal process of no communication.
We left the hospital around 2:00 pm that day to allow my father to get some rest. I called the doctors office and learned he would make rounds after 5:00 pm. I returned to the hospital at 4:45 pm. I found my father in severe pain again and in a very unsanitary environment. Apparently, no one had checked on him for the 3 hour period we were gone. His bed sheets were bloody. I walked to the nurse's station and stood there for approximately 1 minute and no one looked up or towards me to acknowledge me standing there. There were several nurses behind the desk and two were sitting at the front.
I said, Excuse Me. This caused several of them to look my way, but no one asked if they could help me. I moved in front of one of the nurses sitting at the front. She huffed then looked up at me as if I was bothering her. She never asked if she could help me. I asked to speak with the nurse in charge of Room 328. She pointed to another nurse. My father's nurse heard me ask for her and she continued to walk away from me. I followed her and told her I needed to see her. She said she would be right with me.
During this 20 minute period, we attempted to turn on the television. Of course it did not come on. I went back to the nurse's station and again I was rudely greeted. I informed them that my father's television was not on and we did not receive information on how to have it turned on. One of the nurses sitting at the front desk snatched up the phone and called security to have it turned on.
I saw my father's nurse at the desk so I decided to stand next to her until she was ready to come with me to the room.By this time the doctor was there. He updated us on the surgery and asked the nurse for my father's chart. She hands it to him and to his surprise there was nothing inside. The doctor turned to my father and asks, Did they take your vitals when you came up? My dad answers yes. The doctor turned to the nurse and asks where is the information? Her answer is, I wasn't on duty when he was brought up, let me find the CNA.
The doctor shook his head. I was furious. I said to the nurse, I would have thought you would want to know this information for all your patients, especially if you were not on shift when he was brought up. He has been here for 4 hours and you don't know what his vital signs are. This is unacceptable. It took them about 15 minutes, but they found the information on the CNA's clipboard.
Once the doctor left, the nurse spent approximately 45 minutes in my father's room. She had to change pads, check vitals, give medicine, and do a physical check. The nurse admitted she should have been in and out in 15 minutes. This extra time she spent with my father, was time away from other patients.
By this time, it is about 6:45 pm, he was given the pain medication, the television was turned on and it appeared that matters were back on track, so I decided to go home.
I arrived at the hospital at 11:30 the next morning. I found my father sitting on the edge of the bed. When he noticed me, he jumped up and said, I want out of this hospital. I refuse to spend another night in here. He informed me that he spent several hours during the night having to have his sheets changed and floors mopped because he kept bleeding and fluids were spilling on the floor.
Each time the nurse came into his room, they checked the IV in his arm which was in tact. Each time they came in they spoke to him in a very demeaning manner. Not one time did they check the catheter! This went on the entire night. His doctor came in around 9:00 am and noticed the catheter had come apart from the bag. How incompetent are the nurses in that hospital. Isn't it common practice for patients having prostate surgery to require a catheter? Why wasn't this problem diagnosed by the nurse? Or does this problem require a PhD?
We are so dissatisfied with the rude behavior and lack of professional medical attention provided by the nursing staff that we will NEVER use this hospital again. This is very unfortunate because we are residents of Clinton and the hospital is very convenient. However, we prefer professional and competent nursing over convenience any day.
After sharing my concerns with previous patients, I feel these incidents are normal practice and are not isolated. With this being the case, I am forwarding this letter to the hospital accreditation agency with the hope of a formal investigation.
Rhonda
Clinton, Maryland
U.S.A.
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