EBOLA WEIRD experience yesterday at the doctor's office...

[Betty_Rose]

Yesterday, my elderly friend needed help getting to the doctor after a fall, so I drove her up there. She's in a wheelchair, so it's quite a big to-do.

When we arrived at the large medical complex, there were many signs on the doors saying, "If you have traveled out of the country in the last 21 days, please contact a medical staff member immediately."

In the doctor's office, those signs were plastered every five feet.

But here's the weird part. The nurse (CNA?) took us back to the exam room and took vitals, and it was very obvious that this staffer didn't want to be anywhere near my elderly friend.

My friend had a bandage on her hand (she'd hit her hand in the fall) and the nurse looked at me and said, "Remove that bandage, please."

She then handed me a disposable pad and said, "Please put her hand on top of this pad."

When my friend's blood pressure was taken, Nurse Chickie put the cuff on my friend's upper arm, THROUGH a sweater and shirt. Incredibly, this chick managed to do this preliminary stuff without making any direct physical contact.

Now I don't go to the doctor's office very much, but I've never seen anything like that.

When we walked out of there, my friend said, "She must have thought I had cooties."

In other words, it was evident to her as well.

 

[mzkitty]

I would imagine staff everywhere is somewhat panicking, Betty Rose. Don't let it get to you. The rules are somewhat changing.....

 

[Sacajawea]

They want to be sure they aren't passing some germs along to other patients, it sounds like. It is flu season, after all!

 

[The Traveler]

I would imagine staff everywhere is somewhat panicking, Betty Rose. Don't let it get to you. The rules are somewhat changing.....

Or that nurse has been reading all the doom here on TB and believes every word of it lol.

 

[brokenwings]

That sure wasn't a very professional way to treat your friend. I wonder if the doctor knew she was treating his patients that way?

 

[raven]

I imagine there are two phrases you will not be hearing anymore.
"Open your mouth and say Ahhhhhhh!"
"Bend over and cough"

 

[Milk-maid]

She couldn't afford a pair of latex gloves?

 

[BigFootsCousin]

She couldn't afford a pair of latex gloves?

Latex is outlawed. Usually, Nitrile takes its place.

BFC

 

[vessie]

Totally unacceptable!

That nurse is being Paid to do what she it seem's *ordered* you to do!

I would definitely make a complaint to the Dr. even though you weren't seeing the doctor, You were asked or commanded by the nurse to Do Her Job!!!

The blood pressure reading is as good as if the nurse wrapped the band around a chair arm. Totally useless!

I would demand the bill be reduced for your *Work*.

Seeing the attitude and Work Ethic of this nurse, if you had not been with your elderly friend to help her, that nurse most likely would not bother to take her blood pressure and think up some number to write in her chart.

They are being Paid to do what you were asked to do.

You and the elderly friend are owed compensation!

I am totally pissed for both you and your elderly friend! V

 

[helen]

It's called a Quality of Care complaint. Your friend can call her insurance company to find out how to submit one. You can help.

Panic Sex Lady is in quarantine herself...

 

[Josie]

Having cleaned a doctor's office (before ebola), I KNOW the hoops you are supposed to jump through to sanitize everything. And have you ever thought about all the surfaces that the person before you touched and what they were in for? Heck just think about how many people touch the exam room door knob! Do you know for sure that everything was wiped down before you entered? What about the waiting room? Anyway, some of the what the nurse did was also done to protect your friend (and you) from contamination by the person before you. The BP through the clothing doesn't give an accurate reading, but do you really want the cuff that the person before you had on their skin on yours? Paranoid, I know. But I had to clean up the result of a scabies visit once and ever since then, my thoughts have run in the paranoid direction.

 

[marsh]

I would imagine she was taking precautions against MRSA - an antibiotic resistant staph infection. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mrsa/basics/definition/con-20024479

I would imagine at this point a lot of health care workers are spooked about infectious diseases as it moves into the common population. Frankly, I understand the behavior. I had a chat with my orthopedic doc yesterday. His wife is a nurse who is at a major hospital a county over. The PPEs they are issuing them are inadequate for Ebola. They are discussing whether she will refuse to nurse an Ebola patient under those circumstances. Whether she is "paid" to do it is another question. No nurse should be "ordered" to do what she feels will jeopardize her own health. In this case, gloves could be enough protection, but I am not a medical professional and could not say for sure.

 

[Texas Writer]

Or that nurse has been reading all the doom here on TB and believes every word of it

lol.

 

[TerryK]

That was ridiculous treatment.
Usually the ones escorting you into the exam room and doing your vitals are not nurses, but medical assistants.
Blood pressure cuffs over a thin t-shirt sleeve or something similar is not too bad. Trying to do it over a sweater is crazy.

She should have escorted you into the room and asked her to remove her sweater.
She then should have put on a pair of disposable gloves and after she was comfortably sitting for a couple of minutes, while she went through her assessment questions, she should have then taken her blood pressure.
Afterwords she should have removed the bandage and disposed of it properly in a biohazard container and positioned her hand on a pad, ready for the doctor to examine.
It doesn't take very long to become a medical assistant. Really minimal training,but they are a lot cheaper than LPNs, who are a lot cheaper than RNs, who are a lot cheaper the Nurse Practitioners, who.... well you get the idea.

As the health care crisis gets worse, you can expect to see a lot more Medical Assistants instead of Nurses, and a lot more Nurse Practitioners instead of Doctors.

 

[Milk-maid]

This drives the point home that we should get any medical procedures we need done, done now... pretty soon competent medical care is going to be non-existant.

 

[littledeb]

When I was checking in for my doc apt today (I go in every 2 weeks), the receptionist said she had to asked me 2 new questions: 1) if I've traveled to one of the African countries lately and 2) have I ever been around someone who had ebola. I live in a very small rural area. When you walk into the clinic/hospital, you are greeted with a table that has masks, gloves, sanitary wipes and sanitary lotion to use. Every room has these items in them too.

 

[jed turtle]

i am amazed that all hospitals haven't completely changed their entrance designs, which imho would immediately separate ALL incoming people from each other in booths with a few chairs (for the patient and accompanying person), and enough room for the initial medical examining personnel wearing protective clothing to approach and size up the situation without exposing her/himself to any potential microbes. only then would the prospective patient be then admitted to the ER or other appropriate section of the hospital. yes expensive, but nothing compared to entirely shutting down the hospital due to one ebola victim improperly allowed to wander the hallways before being identified as a carrier...

 

[shinerbock]

Having cleaned a doctor's office (before ebola), I KNOW the hoops you are supposed to jump through to sanitize everything. And have you ever thought about all the surfaces that the person before you touched and what they were in for? Heck just think about how many people touch the exam room door knob! Do you know for sure that everything was wiped down before you entered? What about the waiting room? Anyway, some of the what the nurse did was also done to protect your friend (and you) from contamination by the person before you. The BP through the clothing doesn't give an accurate reading, but do you really want the cuff that the person before you had on their skin on yours? Paranoid, I know. But I had to clean up the result of a scabies visit once and ever since then, my thoughts have run in the paranoid direction.

Hi Josie

If an elderly person does not get an accurate BP reading and has a debilitating or fatal stroke later in the day, who's responsible? The HCW can take a more cautious approach to patient treatment, in this case by cutting a six inch section of stockinette to place under the BP cuff - problem solved. Many institutions now use disposable BP cuffs. It's a case of being thoughtful, rather than thoughtless in a rather simple situation. Care giving cannot go out the window due to worker fear. They either adapt and improvise or they find another job (hopefully not nursing education).


Necessity is the mother of invention.

sb

 

[shinerbock]

Yesterday, my elderly friend needed help getting to the doctor after a fall, so I drove her up there. She's in a wheelchair, so it's quite a big to-do.

When we arrived at the large medical complex, there were many signs on the doors saying, "If you have traveled out of the country in the last 21 days, please contact a medical staff member immediately."

In the doctor's office, those signs were plastered every five feet.

But here's the weird part. The nurse (CNA?) took us back to the exam room and took vitals, and it was very obvious that this staffer didn't want to be anywhere near my elderly friend.

My friend had a bandage on her hand (she'd hit her hand in the fall) and the nurse looked at me and said, "Remove that bandage, please."

She then handed me a disposable pad and said, "Please put her hand on top of this pad."

When my friend's blood pressure was taken, Nurse Chickie put the cuff on my friend's upper arm, THROUGH a sweater and shirt. Incredibly, this chick managed to do this preliminary stuff without making any direct physical contact.

Now I don't go to the doctor's office very much, but I've never seen anything like that.

When we walked out of there, my friend said, "She must have thought I had cooties."

In other words, it was evident to her as well.

I certainly wouldn't comply with inappropriate orders from a HCW. Doing so only enables the worker to avoid the job requirements established for her position. If the worker is not willing or able to troubleshoot, improvise or find a way to get 'er done, it's high time the person hangs up her/his spurs.


Note: DW is a retired RN with thirty years of critical care and ten spent teaching same @ four year universities. She is shaking her head.

 

[VesperSparrow]

Just an add-on~~~~but when I took my mom to HER heart doc last week, she had to sign that obola-form and so did I. And when we got into the room the nurse asked us BOTH had we been out of the country to Africa or in contact with anyone with obola....like yeah....we'd KNOW if we had contact with someone with obola....and I wasn't even the patient....

 

[vessie]

Just an add-on~~~~but when I took my mom to HER heart doc last week, she had to sign that obola-form and so did I. And when we got into the room the nurse asked us BOTH had we been out of the country to Africa or in contact with anyone with obola....like yeah....we'd KNOW if we had contact with someone with obola....and I wasn't even the patient....

I have a problem with the protocol I've read about on how medical facilities are trying to keep ebola from finding it's way into their buildings.

If they're trying to be proactive in keeping ebola out of their offices, they shouldn't be waiting til people are already in the waiting room or exam room to ask those questions.

If someone says 'yes', then it's already too late to keep the contamination out of the building. V

 

[Ta-wo-di]

If the nursing staff is freaking out, just think about the EMS folks that never know for sure if they are pulling up on a sick subject, a stabbing, shooting or otherwise. I am certainly glad that I gave that volunteer profession up years ago. I worry enough with DW being a dental assistant.

 

[Betty_Rose]

Thanks for the replies.

I also think it was a very odd response, and I read online that putting the BP cuff on someone through thick clothes can create a false reading.

More than anything, it was off-putting for my elderly friend. It was quite obvious this "assistant" didn't want to touch the bare skin of my friend.

 

[ginnie6]

I had to take dd to the doctor yesterday for her wrist. They had to update forms since she hasn't been in this year. Absolutely NO questions about travel or anything. No hesitation touching her either. They took her bp and used the standard cuff.

 

[cuz1961]

i went to have blood drawn for lab work monday
and was asked

the nurse asked if i been out of the country to Africa, i told them

"no'

then asked if i had been in contact with anyone with obola, i told them

"no,, but the president, the cdc, and now a special snowflake typhoid
mary named kaci,, spelled with a k and an i,,

,,, is doing all they can to change that. "

 

[dstraito]

That would make a good SNL routine.

Take a germophobic HCW and have them treat an ebola patient.

Seriously, I think people are freaked which is no excuse for not being professional. If they can't do the job they should remove themselves from it and if ebola flares up to a higher percentage of the population, I can see HCW abandoning their profession in droves.

 

[Raggedyman]

It's called a Quality of Care complaint. Your friend can call her insurance company to find out how to submit one. You can help.

Panic Sex Lady is in quarantine herself...

point well taken - the trouble is most insurance carriers are going to be even less caring than traditionally rude medical staff personnel. truth be known; nurse (CNA most likely) was probably following newly established protocol given the current scene; if you are in a large metro area that's probably the most likely reason for the scenario you describe

 

[Raggedyman]

If the nursing staff is freaking out, just think about the EMS folks that never know for sure if they are pulling up on a sick subject, a stabbing, shooting or otherwise. I am certainly glad that I gave that volunteer profession up years ago. I worry enough with DW being a dental assistant.

absolutely!!! I have a son and a son in law who are firefighter paramedics in ORlando - world class travel destination - it's a (currently) low grade but steady simmer of concern here