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  • #1

    I'm getting my money's worth!

    Ugh. Had an SC at the hospital last week.

    He wasn't even assigned to my student . . . she just ended up doing a lot of his care because she was bending over backwards to be helpful.

    Sucky Patient (SP) had been hit by a car a few days previously and mostly had road rash, but also had some broken ribs and a collapsed lung. They'd taken his chest tubes out the day before we were on the unit for clinic.

    The doctor wanted to discharge him. SP refused to leave. His rationale? "I paid good money into Medicare, and I'm getting my money's worth!"

    So in spite of the fact his hospital stay will cost him nothing (the driver of the car was at fault, and his insurance will pay anyway), he wanted to stay in the hospital and enjoy 3 hots and a cot simply because he felt entitled to it . . . not because he didn't think he had a medical reason to stay.

    Hospital =/= hotel, dude, and that unit is chronically short on beds. Go home.

    Of course, management caved and will eat the financial loss of keeping this patient in the hospital beyond what insurance/Medicare will pay for simply to avoid dealing with the problem.
    They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.
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  • #2
    I had to practically BEG to leave the hospital after my daughter was born. Five days there was enough for me.

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    • #3
      When I had my son, every day I remained in hospital afterwards I had to have an injection against blood clotting, because of being in bed and therefore mostly inactive.

      I think that as long as the SC remains in the same position, he should have something similar prescribed for him. With the biggest needle you can find.

      In the backside.
      Engaged to the sweet Mytical He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.

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      • #4
        Quoth Marmalady View Post
        When I had my son, every day I remained in hospital afterwards I had to have an injection against blood clotting, because of being in bed and therefore mostly inactive.

        I think that as long as the SC remains in the same position, he should have something similar prescribed for him. With the biggest needle you can find.

        In the HAND.
        Fixed that for ya. If you've ever had an I.V. there, you know what I mean.
        GFY

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        • #5
          You get your money's worth from something like Medicare by living in a healthier society than you otherwise would.

          You don't need to get the medical treatment personally to benefit!
          Seshat's self-help guide:
          1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
          2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
          3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
          4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

          "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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          • #6
            Quoth MiloMorai View Post
            If you've ever had an I.V. there, you know what I mean.
            Oh, yeah, had I.V. and blood drawn, I totally know what you mean...

            When I was in the hospital after my car accident, I had to stay 10 days. It felt like over two weeks. I looked forward to getting out, and this guy wants to stay?

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            • #7
              Um, Medicare does not pay 100%. QMB (a means-tested benefit) or supplemental insurance would help cover the remaining 20% that Medicare does not pay. If he's getting the former (QMB), then he has not paid in all his life for it.

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              • #8
                An enema a day keeps the SP away. :-)

                Just a suggestion.
                "All I've ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who out-drew ya"

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                • #9
                  Quoth Sheldonrs View Post
                  An enema a day keeps the SP away. :-)
                  Depends on what websites the SP visits.

                  Heck, on my last hospital stay I was homeless and out of a job. I was on the same floor as the oncology and hospice patients so as you can imagine, there was no amount of time too soon for me to get out of there. I didn't even want to remember it.

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                  • #10
                    In the HAND.
                    Ah, ah, owwwwwww....don't say that!

                    I'm...padded...enough that the nice vampires at the clinic have occasionally attempted to do blood draws from my hand rather than from the crook of my elbow. The ONE time it worked, I was in excruciating pain (I am definitely of the pervious to pain persuasion -- and this wasn't even an IV!)...And the last time they tried, they could see the vein just fine, but caused me more pain by making THREE failed attempts, whilst telling me that the damn thing "danced"! Not that I can blame the little dude, OW!

                    The thing is, I can normally tolerate an "elbow" blood draw with no problem at all simply by closing my eyes, not looking at it, and gritting my teeth...I think I will tell them to just keep trying the elbow crook from now on.
                    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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                    • #11
                      i remember being in a hospital in "A" School back when I was in the Navy. It wasn't bad really - the food was better than what we had in the mess hall. but they did charge me for it. think it was a few dollars a day.

                      still... i was happy when the doctor let me leave. he was thinking of holding me another night until he found out i already had tickets to go home on leave. (yeah i got mono right before christmas, yay )

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                      • #12
                        OK, I don't get it.

                        I very infrequently have blood drawn, mostly because I utterly freak out and need to be sedated. Last time I had an IV, though, they did it in the back of my hand, and I found that much less freak-worthy than in the elbow. I mean, just thinking about a needle in my elbow gets me shaking and tachycardic, and the hand was like nothing. Much less invasive, for one thing. Seriously, it didn't even hurt that much. Is there some reason that hand IVs are worse than elbow IVs that I don't know about?

                        (Admittedly, the seven (six? don't remember) tablets of Valium I took first may have had something to do with this, but I take that much for an elbow IV as well, and still noticed a difference. They told me afterwards that the needle was plastic, rather than metal; maybe that also had an effect. Or maybe the fact that the needle had Diprivan ("milk of amnesia") flowing through it, I dunno.)

                        ETA: Changed my mind. If there is, don't tell me, because I'm due for a blood test at my next physical, and I was going to tell them to get it from my hand. If I "know" that it'll be worse, it probably will be, so better I don't know.
                        Last edited by Shalom; 01-31-2012, 06:03 PM.

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                        • #13
                          IV catheters that are going to be in place for awhile are plastic. Needles to draw blood are metal, are are the ones used to place the IV that are then withdrawn. Back of the hand veins just rolls more and is generally a more sensitive area, but each person is different. When Bibbs was born, my first nurse was great and placed it on my forearm, so I could still more easily.

                          If the back of the hand works for you, then ask if they can use/try that first. I spent about a year straight getting IV pokes twice a month during Paramedic training, no place really bothers me anymore...lol

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Sheldonrs View Post
                            An enema a day keeps the SP away. :-)

                            Just a suggestion.
                            Nope, biggest damn foley catheter you can find. I know a livestock vet if you needs something to really get a point across.
                            The Rich keep getting richer because they keep doing what it was that made them rich. Ditto the Poor.
                            "Hy kan tell dey is schmot qvestions, dey is makink my head hurt."
                            Hoc spatio locantur.

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Geek King View Post
                              Nope, biggest damn foley catheter you can find. I know a livestock vet if you needs something to really get a point across.
                              OMG you are impossible. Funny as hell though. (I've seen some of those... yikes!)

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