Hospital Injustice!
I will be the first to admit, I do not understand ER rooms, how they decide which patient will be seen and when, without fail, I have asked several times for hospital employees to explain the hospital procedures. I like many Americans want to understand, so that when and if we have to visit an ER room, we have a general understanding of how things work, how long our wait in line will be and what can be done while we are waiting to see a doctor. After all, it is a service that is provided by the hospital. Remember, I said it is a service. If you receive poor service anywhere else, we as Americans complain, we ask for restitution, we demand excellent service. Yet when our loved one or ourselves go to the hospital in my area, we virtually become zombies, slaves of the oppressive hospital system that does not work and is not working like our sin lives. In Wake County, wait time, once entering the ER, can range from 2-12 hours. They also have what is called a Quick-Med in the ER room. It closes at 1:00 am. After going through security checkpoint, you have to empty pockets, and purses, and wallets and be screened, you stand at the registration desk and get logged in, then you are told to have a seat, and wait to be called to triage, before going to triage, you will be called to registration where you explain what is wrong for the second time, and sign a form that gives permission to treat you as a patient. In the meantime, you are asked to sit and wait in a waiting room that is filthy and unsanitary. There were layers of dust in the window ledges, trash under the chairs. The cushions of the seats have old and new stains of various body fluids. In the seven hours, I sat in the ER waiting room, I did see a cleaning person come through three times, She never touched the waiting area, she actually cleaned out the employees trash cans, sanitized and wiped down the registration desk and spent all of maybe three minutes total in our area. The bathrooms were unclean and unacceptable. I saw both, as I had to help my Dad to the men’s room as he could not help himself, there was feces, urine, blood and trash in both bathrooms, It was still there when I left the following day. What a horrible hazard, of germ breeding, and contagious malice, is going on here. While waiting to be called to Triage, it astounded me to watch the various degrees of diverse individuals being treated, with no respect, no compassion, and no understanding. People who had been brought in by ambulance, were left unattended for hours between reassessments, without no one to look after their well being or care, Finally when their names were called, I watched as individuals struggled to wheel themselves to the front desk, already incapacitated and zapped of strength, the compassion came from the other patients who quickly got up to offer help or service to the afflicted individual. What an injustice to our people. I personally had to watch my father suffer for numerous hours in a great deal of severe pain, and I requested a reassessment three times after he arrived at 10:30. The note had been misplaced I was told by the triage nurse, and finally when my Father got back into triage, he was told they could do nothing for the pain until a doctor assessed him. He was sent back out into the waiting room and sometime after 4:30 am, he finally got into the back to be assessed by a doctor. A serious of the test were done, a CAT scan, and blood workup, and my father was quickly admitted to the hospital and will be there for 2 to 5 days. Within several minutes he was given morphine, and was finally able to relax and sleep. My father suffered unnecessarily for six to seven hours. WHY? I use to believe all hospitals operated in this capacity. That is an untruth. While out of state several years ago, I ended up at a Catholic hospital in Chesterfield Virginia. Their system was phenomenal, upon entering the waiting room; a sign said you were guaranteed to be assessed by a doctor within 30 minutes. At the same time you signed in another nurse checked you out medically. Depending on your severity, you either went straight back, or you waited 15 minutes before going back. The staff showed concern, compassion; they listened to you, and took very good care of you. If you did not have insurance, they automatically signed you up at registration for state assistance. They did the paperwork for you. I remember leaving and thinking about the level of care and difference of compassion between the two hospitals, how fortunate Virginians were to have a state of the art facility for their residents. I at the same time felt betrayed by my state, North Carolina, for the local hospital my family has to rely on for medical care.
It is kind of like when you live in the world, and are a sinner, you are not saved and you have the bad hospital, it is all you know. You are accepting, until, you discover that other hospital, there is a better way, a better life and great health care awaiting you. Life as a Christian brings joy, hope, compassion, understanding, and love. All you have to do is accept, believe, repent, and walk through the door of the shiny new hospital to the true healer and savior, Jesus Christ. Then you reap the benefits.
God Bless!
