And to make sure this never happens to anyone else.
Short story-
I endured a painful miscarriage and received deplorable, inattentive care in the emergency room.
Long story-(this is semi graphic)
I went to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain that had progressed to contractions. It was around 5:30 in the morning and for the first 2 hours I received excellent care-the nurses came in and checked on me at least every 15 minutes, the doctor was very thorough and immediately did a pelvic exam and called for an ultrasound. She informed me that it was the end of her shift but she was going to recommend to the incoming doctor that I be transferred to the women's hospital downtown as soon as I had my ultrasound and the results were looked over. I went in for the ultrasound around 8:30 the ultrasound technician said that it looked like my membranes had ruptured from the low amount of fluid and that surely within the next hour I'd be transferred to the women's hospital for better obstetrical care. When I got back to my room at 9:20 I rang for the nurse because I was having more pain than before-15 minutes later at 9:35 a C NA came in to fill up a cart and I asked if she could let my nurse know I needed some pain medication. A little after 10 a nurse finally came in and administered morphine and when I asked if I could speak to the my attending physician(who I had not seen since shift change at 7:30) I was informed she would be in shortly. Around 11 I noticed I had started gushing blood and clots and was pretty much laying in a kiddy pool of grossness. Plus I started getting really strange sensations and I knew something wasn't right. I rang for the nurse again and waited in my cesspool. At 11:30 a nurse and my doctor came in and told me that I was finally going to be transferred to the women's hospital and I notified them of the strange feeling and the amount of blood I was laying in. The doctor told me they would take care of me at the women's hospital and the nurse said a C NA would be in to clean me up. The C NA was there right away and did a wonderful job. Not too long after she left just before 12 I could feel something was extremely wrong-I could feel it coming out I rang for the nurse and waited ten minutes but when I was sure I couldn't wait any longer I began screaming at anyone who walked past the curtain. Finally a woman-who I don't think was a nurse(she wasn't in scrubs) stopped as she was walking by and asked me if I was okay-I told her I could feel it coming out, when she asked me what- I told her I was having a miscarriage and because I was in such a belligerent state I threw my covers off and showed her. She turned right around and ran screaming for my nurse who came in and looked and then started screaming for my doctor who took what seemed like forever to come in. I delivered the fetus which they estimate was about 21 weeks gestation at 12:18 and this is what really bothered me-they left it laying down there for a full half hour until 12:52 before they clamped it off and removed it from the bed. Going through a miscarriage was hard enough but then to have it lay there and get cold beside me was torture. They gave me pitocin to help deliver the placenta and I delivered just before the emt's came in to transfer me around 1:30. When I got to the women's hospital they had none of my information-they didn't even know who I was. I told the OB and Nurse everything that had happened- the OB looked like she was in disbelief at first but said the emergency room I went to did not specialize in Obstetrics, but the nurse later told me it sounded like I received 3rd world country style treatment. The rest of my stay at the women's hospital was perfect-the nurses were dutiful and the doctors spent more time in the 3 hours I was there than the doctor at the emergency room did for my 7 hour stay.
I just want t know what I should do know-do I need to file a grievance? Should I retain a lawyer? I am just in shock that I received this kind of care.
Short story-
I endured a painful miscarriage and received deplorable, inattentive care in the emergency room.
Long story-(this is semi graphic)
I went to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain that had progressed to contractions. It was around 5:30 in the morning and for the first 2 hours I received excellent care-the nurses came in and checked on me at least every 15 minutes, the doctor was very thorough and immediately did a pelvic exam and called for an ultrasound. She informed me that it was the end of her shift but she was going to recommend to the incoming doctor that I be transferred to the women's hospital downtown as soon as I had my ultrasound and the results were looked over. I went in for the ultrasound around 8:30 the ultrasound technician said that it looked like my membranes had ruptured from the low amount of fluid and that surely within the next hour I'd be transferred to the women's hospital for better obstetrical care. When I got back to my room at 9:20 I rang for the nurse because I was having more pain than before-15 minutes later at 9:35 a C NA came in to fill up a cart and I asked if she could let my nurse know I needed some pain medication. A little after 10 a nurse finally came in and administered morphine and when I asked if I could speak to the my attending physician(who I had not seen since shift change at 7:30) I was informed she would be in shortly. Around 11 I noticed I had started gushing blood and clots and was pretty much laying in a kiddy pool of grossness. Plus I started getting really strange sensations and I knew something wasn't right. I rang for the nurse again and waited in my cesspool. At 11:30 a nurse and my doctor came in and told me that I was finally going to be transferred to the women's hospital and I notified them of the strange feeling and the amount of blood I was laying in. The doctor told me they would take care of me at the women's hospital and the nurse said a C NA would be in to clean me up. The C NA was there right away and did a wonderful job. Not too long after she left just before 12 I could feel something was extremely wrong-I could feel it coming out I rang for the nurse and waited ten minutes but when I was sure I couldn't wait any longer I began screaming at anyone who walked past the curtain. Finally a woman-who I don't think was a nurse(she wasn't in scrubs) stopped as she was walking by and asked me if I was okay-I told her I could feel it coming out, when she asked me what- I told her I was having a miscarriage and because I was in such a belligerent state I threw my covers off and showed her. She turned right around and ran screaming for my nurse who came in and looked and then started screaming for my doctor who took what seemed like forever to come in. I delivered the fetus which they estimate was about 21 weeks gestation at 12:18 and this is what really bothered me-they left it laying down there for a full half hour until 12:52 before they clamped it off and removed it from the bed. Going through a miscarriage was hard enough but then to have it lay there and get cold beside me was torture. They gave me pitocin to help deliver the placenta and I delivered just before the emt's came in to transfer me around 1:30. When I got to the women's hospital they had none of my information-they didn't even know who I was. I told the OB and Nurse everything that had happened- the OB looked like she was in disbelief at first but said the emergency room I went to did not specialize in Obstetrics, but the nurse later told me it sounded like I received 3rd world country style treatment. The rest of my stay at the women's hospital was perfect-the nurses were dutiful and the doctors spent more time in the 3 hours I was there than the doctor at the emergency room did for my 7 hour stay.
I just want t know what I should do know-do I need to file a grievance? Should I retain a lawyer? I am just in shock that I received this kind of care.
