Was BACK in E.R. last night..

[Jenn]

I'm sure ya'll are sick of hearing about my drama, but I have to ask ya'll what I should do. I wen't to the E.R. at 5:30pm last night because even with all the care I've given my wounds I could see they were getting very swollen, hot and VERY red....and EXTREMELY painful....(INFECTION!!)
Anyway, I get in there, they insist on doing a whole nother round of X-Rays and another CT of my head. 7 HOURS later, they come in tell me eveything looks fine, but now I have cellulitis starting in my knee and arm and my site's have to be debrided. OMG NO pain medication was EVER offered to me which I don't like to take it anyway, but when they cleaned out my wounds....I would have taken ANYTHING. So it was 2AM by they time I got home. The E.R. was dead, the Techs were RUDE. So, do I bother writing a letter of complaint and to whom would I write it? Would they even care? Not once was I asked if I needed anything, I sat in the room and stared at the wall in pain for 7 hours. Don't you go to the hospital for relief?? Oh, and finally, EVERYONE that heard I was in a biking accident told me to stay off of MOTORCYCLES!!!

[KnottedYet]

Did you ask for pain meds and they refused to give them to you?

What did they give you to take care of the cellulitis? (HipGnosis6 went through quite a merry-go-round with her biking wound)

That must be quite the intense road rash for them to assume it came from a MOTORcycle! Yowza!

Take care, rest, lots of fluids!

[Jenn]

I asked for pain meds, and everytime the tech would say ok, let me go find someone, HOURS wen't by. So, I consider they did, but after hearing how they were talking about other patients at the Nurse station, they had people with chest pain in room so and so and forgot about...as they LAUGHED!
They put me on Keflex 4 a day for ten days and she did write me a script for Percocet which I'm finally going to HAVE to take at night just to sleep.

[limewave]

((((((((JEN))))))))))
Take care of yourself and keep a close watch on those wounds. It was smart of you to go to the ER. I've had cellulitis before and it turned out to be MRSA (deadly flesh eating bacteria). I had to have IV's and surgery and lots of antibiotics to get rid of the infection. If it doesn't start to get better in 24 hours, I would go to the doctor again.

[Shiraz]

Jen,
First, I am so sorry to hear of your accident. I hope you start to feel better soon. Cellulitis is not to be messed around with so please keep a close watch on the size of the red area and your temp. Watch closely to see if the area gets bigger. Many times we will mark the area so you can see if it decreases or increases.

Second, I am a Pediatric Nurse Manager and still work the floor and am so sorry to hear that you did not receive compassionate care in a hospital. As a nurse manager, if this occurred on my floor I would want to hear from you. YOU are the patient and YOU are the paying customer. You should have been offered pain medication and asked what your pain score was before, during and after cares. You should have been offered pain medication and not had to ask for it. This is basic nursing and is a JCAHO requirement. Scoring pain is the 5th vital sign (along with your temp, heart rate, resp rate and BP). I would suggest you call and ask to talk to the Nurse Manager and if you receive a survey in the mail asking about your care please feel it out and return it. I take all comments good and bad back to staff and talk to individual nurses about how they are perceived from the patients perpective. I frequently remind them about what is said from the nurses station is frequently heard by the parents and patients.

I hope you feel better soon!!!!

[Jenn]

They asked me my pain scale when I walked in and I told them an 8 because the area was getting so red, hot and swollen.....and they did nothing.
Thank you for the information, I'm watching the sites, they seem to be not as big and red and hot today.

[crazycanuck]

(((((jenn))..Sorry to hear you had to revisit the ER. It's ok to post about it kiddo!

I'd write a little letter to the head of the ER or patient services stating perhaps the staff might want to treat the patients a tad bit better than they normally do. They're there to treat you properly and with a bit of respect last time I checked!

(((((((Jenn))))

Sorry if i've babbled...

C

[Artisan]

So, do I bother writing a letter of complaint and to whom would I write it? Would they even care?

Jenn, so sorry to hear about your accident. Road rash is horrible, I've had my share of it so I feel your pain.

You asked if you should bother to write a letter of complaint, my opinion is YES! It's not about if they would even care, though being validated is always nice, it's about how it will make you feel. Also, your letter may help change things so that someone else doesn't have the same bad experience as you had.

[DarcyInOregon]

Jenn, I am sorry this happened to you. I hope you get better quickly.

This is my advice to everyone.

My husband has been ill since the mid-1980s, and so there have many times I have been in the ER in the middle of the night. I have learned that unless I think my husband is dying, like a heart attack or stroke or intestinal bleeding (which he has had), or maybe a broken limb, that it is best for any other medical conditions to wait out the night and get into the doctor during regular office hours. It isn't effective to go to the ER unless he is in danger of dying, even if there is a lot of pain, because it is just sit and sit and sit and sit - for hours and hours and hours and hours - and by the time it is all over, I could have gotten him into the doctor during regular hours, or one of the other doctors if our primary physician wasn't available, or even a Physician's Assistant. Not only that, I swear, that being the relative and having to wait in the ER with my husband, has given me quite a few air-borne illnesses because of people coughing and hacking all over the place, and normally I am quite healthy.

Darcy

[mtbdarby]

Feeling any better Jenn? ((Hugs)) to you. Tell the munchkins momma needs butterfly kisses for her booboo. Baby kisses are very healing in my opinion

[SouthernBelle]

Agreed on go somewhere other than an ER when you can. I've never had an accurate diagnosis in an ER for myself. I've had some unpleasant experiences when taking my parents. We're talking some large hospitals here. Always try to go to your own, or at least a reputable, physician who will be providing continuing care for you.

[KSH]

I'm sure ya'll are sick of hearing about my drama, but I have to ask ya'll what I should do. I wen't to the E.R. at 5:30pm last night because even with all the care I've given my wounds I could see they were getting very swollen, hot and VERY red....and EXTREMELY painful....(INFECTION!!)
Anyway, I get in there, they insist on doing a whole nother round of X-Rays and another CT of my head. 7 HOURS later, they come in tell me eveything looks fine, but now I have cellulitis starting in my knee and arm and my site's have to be debrided. OMG NO pain medication was EVER offered to me which I don't like to take it anyway, but when they cleaned out my wounds....I would have taken ANYTHING. So it was 2AM by they time I got home. The E.R. was dead, the Techs were RUDE. So, do I bother writing a letter of complaint and to whom would I write it? Would they even care? Not once was I asked if I needed anything, I sat in the room and stared at the wall in pain for 7 hours. Don't you go to the hospital for relief?? Oh, and finally, EVERYONE that heard I was in a biking accident told me to stay off of MOTORCYCLES!!!

PLEASE tell me you got ANITBIOTICS for this. PLEASE!

This is a very serious matter and if not taken care of immediately with medicine can lead to the loss of a limb to the infection.

I got this after a surgery I had. My knee/leg was so swollen (knee- was around 14-16 inches in diameter) and it was painful. I then had to buy antibiotics that cost around $100 (not covered by insurance) to fix the infection.

I hope you are going to be OK. That infection is NOTHING to mess with or take lightly.

[uforgot]

Wow! Take care of yourself! And for what it's worth, I have a slow connection, and I probably wouldn't have re-read the Crash thread. I saw this one and your name and thought "Oh, my gosh! Again? I need to read this". So I'm glad you started another Thread! After all, how many times do we have a new one about using Ipods?

[bmccasland]

((((((((Jenn)))))))))

I'm sure most of us have had various degrees of roadrash, one of the most painful and easily infected wounds to get. I hope you're feeling better!

[jusdooit]

I am so sorry you injuries have worsened. Good advice to always find someone to go with you!!!
Along with the advice to write/ talk to the nurse manager I would also cc the top administrator. Depending on how po'd you are, I would consider a report to either JCAHO or local agency. I would also make it clear that I refuse to pay for the additional x-rays and CT scan (I would also advise my insurance company not to pay). They were not medically indicated according to your complaints.
Hope you start to feel better soon.