So yeah. I am a respiratory therapist at a hospital as many of you know. By the way, healthcare on this level is infinitely scary these days. For one, the turnover of nurses is so high that the field is rapidly losing any expertise. Also, there are a great deal of minorities filling these positions. Maybe purely because that is what our population is becoming regardless? Either way, they are not very swift by any measure and have no business being trusted with people’s lives.
We all know nursing homes have long been terrible (to an unthinkable level now), but the quality of care in hospitals is unthinkable as well. The only exception are intensive care units, as they only staff seasoned and competent nurses. Moral of the story is to be very cognizant of what is happening while you or a loved one may be admitted to a hospital.
On a less serious note, I was asked last night by a nurse to go evaluate an 85 year old lady who has been there for multiple days for non respiratory issues. Apparently, she has had a persistent cough for 2 days yet has tested COVID negative. However, the nurse thought it would be appropriate to call me at 0300 stating she was refusing cough medication. She wasn’t on oxygen, lungs were clear, and pt said the coughing wasn’t causing her any shortness of breath. Oddly, she didn’t even cough once while I was in the room.
I felt like saying, “You do realize respiratory therapists role in a hospital is primarily to save lives right?” The fact that I was even standing in the room was a complete waste of time. After pulling **** out of my ass that made it sound like she wasn’t an idiot, I ultimately ended up telling her that it’s really not worth obsessing over. If she doesn’t want cough suppressant….who cares!