During my 10 years retired, I have been exposed to the nursing facility concept and can say, without hesitation, monsters do exist and some are administrators, head nurses, nurses, and nursing assistants along with doctors.
I would have to agree with you on that. I was in three hospitals in 2023 for 96 days. In hospital #2, a supposed "Specialty Care" hospital, the night Nurse came in and gave me my insulin, and another shot which she neglected to state what it was. I had just had the catheter removed that morning and was a bit sore. About 30 minutes later I filled the little quart sized urinal that they gave me to about half full. If I put any more in it, I would get it all over me. So I called the CNA to come empty it. By the time she got there I had to go again, and again, and again, for about 8 hours.
Not knowing why I was doing a Niagara Falls imitation, I asked the morning shift Nurse to get a Doctor for me. I had to know why. She looked at my chart, then looked at me kind of puzzled and said "Didn't the night Nurse tell you she gave you a shot of Lasix at 11:10p last night?" I was was madder than I had been in years. I knew what Lasix was because my Wife Cindy had taken it many times for a lot of what her Docs said were "severe edematous episodes."
I didn't say anything to her other than calmly saying "No, she didn't tell me that. If I had known, I could have asked for a five gallon bucket." That night when the same night Nurse came in, she started to give me my insulin, and I stopped her. I said "Is this the same thing you gave me last night, because if it is you'll have to get a five gallon bucket first." She said "Why would you need that?" I picked up the urinal and said "Because I filled this thing half full every 15 minutes last night. That's a half gallon every hour, and that when on for 8 hours."
She said "This is your insulin." So I said, "Yes, I know that. I recognize the vial you drew it from. But then last night you gave me another shot, a high dose of Lasix, and you neglected to say what it was."
She looked at me and said she was sorry, it was a busy night. So, being the type of person that if I think something, 90% of the time the thought will just come out of my mouth, I snapped at her "What if I had died? Is that what you would have told my family? That it was a busy night!"
At that moment, the Charge Nurse walked past my room and heard me say that. She stopped and came into my room. "Is there a problem here?" I said "No, but there sure was last night."
That was just one night in my glorious 96 days in three different hospitals.
