Signs of Hospital Corruption

For the percentage of people that unfortunately must be hospitalized due to whatever reasons they have, hospitals don't always serve the ethical services they should.

A well-balanced hospital staff should take into consideration that the moment a patient enters into a hospital environment to receive health assistance, at that very moment, there's enough drama and the patient does not need to battle with more.

This is not to say that the patient is allowed to treat hospital staff any which way they want. No. This is not the point in case (neither the 'case in point' ).

Not wanting to undermine the integrity of any hospital, as I realize that they exist to save human lives, I unfortunately cannot deny very undeserved experiences which I've endured, both psychologically and physically. I don't want to speak of the type of illness that rendered me into one particular hospital. My point being is that an ethical hospital staff should not be biased towards any person who comes walking through the hospital doors needing health care.

Below are factors that I have come to define as a 'bad hospital', illustrating my first-hand experiences. When any of these factors pop up in any hospital that I must visit, red flags pop up within my mind immediately.

Nonchalance & Ethics

A time had arrived in my life where I needed hospitalization. I was rolled into Emergency. Because of the symptoms I was undergoing, I was unable to articulate myself. I was fighting for my stability. I was struggling against the symptoms. It seemed like eternity before a nurse finally decided to come and take my blood pressure. I remembered looking at her face and into her eyes. She asked me questions, but I was unable to answer. Suddenly she yelled at one of the nurses, "Ahh! What I have to go through each day with these patients!!". The other nurse just laughed. Taking my blood pressure (which I was later informed was abnormally high), she walked away and never returned.

In another incident, after my having been transferred to a hospital room, at one point I began to experience severe symptoms. I kept summoning the nursing station. There was no response. I began to panic, managed to get off my bed endeavoring to walk to the station. I collapsed on the floor. Eventually, nurses came in and tried to lift me. I could vaguely hear them as they were saying, "C'mon, get up". I couldn't. A nurse said, "Just leave her there. She'll get on her bed when she wants". It was agonizing, as all the other patients in the room tried to assist, but they were much too weak. I will never forget their kindness. I will never forget the experience. Eventually, some maintenance men came and picked me up.

Incompetence

While still in ER, a nurse had hooked up an intravenous bottle. She had not put the needle in correctly. A "liquid bubble" began to grow on my right arm. Weak and disoriented, I kept hailing them for assistance. Seeing that they weren't responding, the patient next to me, being hooked to a heart monitor, buzzed her emergency buzzer.

A nurse came in, and the kind patient said, "Could you please look at what is happening to the lady next to me??". At that precise moment, medical students came in with another medical practitioner teaching them. They all witnessed the huge bubble that had grown a good 3 inches in height. I was too weak to speak. One of the students took immediate action.

At another time, I was put through a gastroscopy test. They couldn't get the tube to enter into my stomach, so they forcefully pushed it in. I began to regurgitate blood. They had ruptured part of my esophagus. A hiatus hernia developed. They never took responsibility. To this day, I still suffer this.

These are just but a few examples of many that I could explain regarding my stay within this 'bad hospital'. Such a hospital etched unpleasant severe memories within me. I had become very distrusting of hospitals for a long time. I do clearly understand, under the 'Incompetence' heading above, that I could place a serious lawsuit against the hospital that mistreated me. The worse of the nightmares with this hospital in question was my having discovered their written remarks in my medical dossier, illegally doctoring the results of my medical tests and profiling me to their perceptions. And yet, I was not a 'difficult patient'. Later in time, complaints regarding this hospital began to surface on television news.

Word of advice to Patients

Pay heed to how a hospital staff responds. It could sometimes make all the difference between life and death. If you suspect foul procedure, get out of that hospital immediately if possible. Try seeking better health care elsewhere.

Word of advice to Hospital Staff

Naturally, a hospital will always seek to defend its activities and, whatever the reasons they may bring forward to justify their standards for approval, I always do take into consideration the factors that may lead to a hospital's ethical breakdown. Reasons such as understaffed and worker fatigue are comprehensible, but still no valid excuse to psychologically and physically mistreat patients.

If the staff is tired then they should stay home and rest, and not displace their problems onto the patients. I would gather that this would be the first rule of ethics in order to maintain a healthy hospital atmosphere.