A friend was recently admitted to North Carolina Memorial Hospital
because of suspected meningitis.  Serious business.  They wanted to do
a lumbar puncture, for which a CT scan is a prerequisite.

I arrived in her hospital room about an hour after she had returned
from the CT.   She was in tears.  Evidently the technicians in the CT
lab had been very unpleasant to her.

To begin with, they put her on the apparatus that moves you into the
machine itself, and just pushed a button to slide her straight into the
machine, without any explanation.  Imagine this.  You worried you may
have a deadly disease, and next thing you know you're being put into
this big scary machine, without a word of explanation about what is
going to happen to you.  I believe this is inexcusable.   She waved her
hand as if to say what are you doing to me, and they responded with
annoyance and anger.  Next they inserted, or tried to insert, an IV
catheter.  Apparently she has a lot of trouble with these and complained
of the pain.  The technician just stopped and fixed her with a glare
without any words of explanation.

Is there anything I can do about these pigs ?

I realize that these technicians do this sort of job day in and day
out.  And that some patients can be very irritating and uncooperative.
But this is simply no excuse.  Their purpose for existing is to help
sick people, and there is no excuse for this sort of behavior.
Fortunately my friend is fine.  But I imagine a large proportion of the
people who get CT scans are not fine at all.  They have cancer and that
sort of thing.  They don't need this kind of shit.

Also, since I named the hospital involved, I should also point out that
neither she nor I have any complaints about the competence or compassion
of any of the other personnel at NCMH.

Thanks for listening,
John Eyles

writes:
Friend's unpleasant experience uring CT scan deleted

I'd suggest writing a detailed letter about the incident to the
hospital administrator. Specify the date and time. If possible the
names of the technicians.

Send a copy to the clinician under whose care your friend was
admitted. I say this because, though your friend has no argument
with the doctor, I have found that administrators sometimes ignore
complaints until the patient becomes litigious. Clinicians may not
have been informed of the complaint and are very surprised to find
themselves named in a suit.

If there is no response within a week send a follow up letter.
Attach a photocopy of the original letter. Do this weekly until you
do get a response.

CAT scans are non-invasive but they can be very scary. The scanner
can be a bad place for the claustrophobic. There was an interesting
study in the BMJ, about 10 years ago, which found that around 10% of
people who had CAT scans found it so unpleasant that they would
never have another. This compares with 15% who said the same about a
lumbar puncture.

Don Mackie - his opinions

: A friend was recently admitted to North Carolina Memorial Hospital
: because of suspected meningitis.  Serious business.  They wanted to do
: a lumbar puncture, for which a CT scan is a prerequisite.

: I arrived in her hospital room about an hour after she had returned
: from the CT.   She was in tears.  Evidently the technicians in the CT
: lab had been very unpleasant to her.

[.....edited....]

: Is there anything I can do about these pigs ?
What >I< would do would be write to 5 levels of the hospitals administration:
1. the techs immediate supervisor
2. The head of the radiology dept.
3. the patient administration department
4. the quality assurance department
5. The office of the president of the hospital
Id say exactly what happened in great detail as well as why you feel you
have a grievance.... Give them enough hell and hopefully your friend will
at least get an apology.
There is no excuse for techs of any kind to behave in that manner. I am a
laboratory tech at a major 1000+ bed teaching hospital in NY and even
though i dont deal with patients directly, if one has a question in the
hall or needs help I am more than happy to assist them. Hospital employess
should be overly considerate of the patients mainly because it is the
patients who pay their salaries, not to mention the fact they are
frightened and vulnerable while sick. Hopsital staff should realize
someday THEY will be sick and would like the proper care and respect as well.
Good luck to you and your friend in resolving the issue.

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