Poor Emergency Room Treatments

When I think ER, I think of nurses and doctors running around and saving lives. No time is wasted while they attempt to cheat death's watch. However, have you actually been inside an emergency room lately?

Within the last year, I've had the "good fortune" of visiting three different hospitals. Not for myself, but with others. One wasn't terrible (although I wouldn't be giving it five stars), but the other two left me in complete disgust for what our nation's health care has become.

The first hospital was in my home town, and it's somewhat small. I've heard plenty of horror stories over the years about how they make major, deathly mistakes all the time. After my significant other tangled with a stray cat and lost, he went in for treatment on his swollen, infected hand. The visit was less than an hour total, and in that time, I do not believe we were left alone for more than 5 minutes. Even though they left out a crucial "at home care" tip of soaking his hand (a call to the ER the next night would provide us with this information), the speed and care was adequate.

Our next trip was to the "big city" of Des Moines, to the hospital my children were both born. It's always had rave reviews; free of major complaints and medical mistakes. Up until the night we visited, I had not had any experience with the emergency room, but I didn't think there would be much of an issue. The emergency was for chest pains, and not something to play around with. We were checked in quickly, and an MRI was done within the first half hour. At this point we though the trip was going to be a smooth one, with them addressing the issue and letting us out quickly. WRONG! Almost five hours later, I had changed my tune. "We don't know" was the ending diagnosis, with a suggestion to visit his regular doctor within the next week. Seriously? What's worse, it took a good 20 minutes after the doctor said "you can go" for the nurse to come in and remove the IV.

The final emergency room visit was the absolute worst. Again, we were in Des Moines, but this time to the "low income" hospital. All those stereotypical stories you hear about "free clinics in the hood" came to mind that night. I honestly didn't know they existed, but this spoiled blue-collar girl saw first-hand they really do.

The significant other's mother was taken by ambulance, which we had followed from her house all the way to the hospital. Once there, we had to park in the back and go in the walk-in entrance. Not a single person was at the front desk, even after we pushed the "ring for service" button. Since my other half needed to find out where his mother was that very second, we rushed down the hall to another section of the hospital. Luckily these receptionists did care about their job, and were nice enough to page the ER receptionists. From their reaction, I tend to believe this happens often.

As if not being at their post in an emergency room wasn't bad enough, both women had an extremely uncompassionate attitude towards us. When my other half stated his mom had come by ambulance, one woman replied with an unenthused "oh", as if to say we were not in need of medical care and thus didn't matter. How dare we interrupt whatever it was they were doing? I don't think I would have minded as much if either one of them had stayed at the desk, or if they had at least been apologetic. Sadly, though, they weren't. Also, others came into the ER at various times while we waited, and both girls again were nowhere to be found.

This trip was about as uneventful as the last, since his mother got the same "we don't know" answer. They ended up having to pry information out of the staff as to what may have caused her need to visit, which turned out to be a panic attack possibly caused by low potassium (and no, they did not give her any form of potassium, either).

After these three very different experiences at three different hospitals, I really started to wonder where the customer service has gone in this industry. "Emergency" to me means the need for immediate care and attention. It's possible others have abused this service, but we were not. In all incidents, we felt going to the ER was a necessity and could not wait days or weeks to see a doctor. Maybe it's just me, but I would think if you were understaffed, you'd correct the situation as quickly as possible and treat with accuracy.

Have we become nothing more than a paycheck to doctors and staff? Am I wrong, or is our medical industry failing us?

Comments are more than welcome....