Reading the post about Evie (Batgirl) being negligently dismissed as she layed on the hospital floor for any amount of time... infuriating!!! :angry-fla

For one thing, I seriously doubt that this is an "isolated event." "Isolated Event" is choice wording generally used by hospital staff to smooth over or explain a misdoing by hospital staff. Not that I've done it... I've seen it done many times... and sometimes as a patient, experienced that 'excuse' being used in my situation. I was a lab tech, not a nurse... but saw and experienced enough to have little respect for most of them . However, the nurses who serve in Iraq are a totatlly different breed (different committment)... they are awesome!

This incident (Evie) is just another unfortunate example of how those that are mentally conflicted get treated (dismissed)... even in a hospital- a place where you should be safe.

First of all, in most busy hospitals, nurses are understaffed and overworked, which tends to make them and anyone that deals with them- plain miserable people... and guess what- for you that are nurses out there who are in this dilemma, I have no sympathy for your plight because your selfishness will only bring harm to a patient one day. Quit or get out the profession all-together!
Secondly, as an inpatient, I believe you're not going to be taken seriously once the staff knows that your on psychotropic meds- the ugly face of human nature and the reality of being "psychiatric."
Third, if a nurse can demonstrate or show that a patient is a danger to themselves or others, that patient can be moved to another place of care deemed safer for that patient. And guess what... in doing so, that overworked, miserable-@ss, no sense-of-integrity nurse will have one less patient to deal with on their watch... hmm, what to do? And many times, what can you really do about it unless you have the incident on video?
But wait a minute... didn't this aforementioned incident happen at night? A nursing shift [night shift] where staff make only periodic checks on its patients, then they go back to the nurses station or break room to 'BS and gripe' (the lucrative part of working night shift; don't forget about the pay differential$$). Do they not use "bed rails" in Canada's hospital beds, or did a staff member (demonstrating gross negligence), just not raise it back up? Not all hospitals are like this, but as the saying goes, "It only takes one bad apple..."

It is so unfortunate that Evie and others who are "labeled" have to deal with so much.

Oh I just noticed this thread mentions me. I guess my uncle mentioned my fall?? Err. Anyways thanks mac for being angry on my behalf, I am okay though. I consider myself lucky that my family is here to support me. It would have been beyond awful had I been alone. I'm sure there are lots of cases like this that go totally unreported, as people are too ashamed to say anything. I know I was ashamed and blamed myself afterwards until my family told me that was bullshit.

Re: my case, yes I fell in the first place due to negligence, the bed rail was down when it was supposed to be up. The nurse has been fired. I guess I was her third "victim"... she was already on probation. The rest of the nurses though were super nice to me.

Who I really worry about is people who can't properly defend themselves, like the elderly, physically disabled people, or anyone who's alone and doesn't have family or friends to help them. Like I said I'm lucky. And yes I agree there is still a huge stigma attached to having any kind of psychiatric illness.

Hummph! Isolated... yeah...
There have been times where the hospital staff treat me with compassion and nothing but the best of care... but there are also the times I have encountered the overworked tired staff member who treats me like an object.
But I'm not limiting this to nurses, I've met abusive radiologists/physical therapists/family doctors/surgeons... hmmm... basically you can meet a miserable person working any career field, not just the medical field.
It's just that when we encounter medical staff we are usually at our weakest... and especially when we have a mental disability, the experience can become traumatic...

I've worked in a hospital (as a housekeeper AKA: maid). And I spent alot of my time in patients rooms, cleaning, changing sheets, etc. No matter how I was feeling at that time... I knew the person staying in the room probally is having a much worse day then me... and I was always polite and curteous... to me it only made sense.

After I had my surgery, I had gotten out of bed on the first day and went to the washroom. I got really dizzy and naseous and couldn't get back. I hit the buzzer for the nurse and boy was that a mistake. I got screamed at, picked up roughly and THROWN into my bed. I had just had major stomach surger. I will never forget how humiliated and how much pain that caused. I hate hospitals with a passion now.

So, I know damn well there is nothing isolated about it.

bec

Ugh OMG that's an awful experience bec... I can relate!

Actually YA I think surgeons are the worst, generally. They're like, evil or something... the surgeon I had this time, treated me like an object both times he saw me in his office. However he was super nice before and after the surgery... I think he just enjoys cutting people open.

*grins* Why do you think I'd like that hosptial on a platter, Many many patients have had similar horrid experiences. It's a sad reality of hospital "experience."

Yep not fun at all.

bec

Yeah it's very humiliating... I don't even want to think about it anymore...

Thank god that you don't go into hospital in the UK, you may end up with MRSA, which is a bug caused by doctors and nurses not washing their hands after they have treated a patient. Its very worrying, as some folk have died because of this.
Nice to see you back Evie.
Scott:claps: :claps: :claps:

We have MRSA here too Scott. I know someone who had it recently. Thanks for the welcome back.

MRSA alive and well here in the U.S. too. When I worked in the lab at my last military assignment, we identified quite a few cases of this. On one particular epidemic, we traced the source to be a massage therapist that worked on the base. She had the 'bug' on her hands and was speading it amongst her clients.