Burnaby General Hospital Sadists

[dumpthemonarchy]

I went to the energency ward of the Burnaby General Hospital a few weeks back for a kidney stone. It was very painful. I was told to wait when I saw reception because I was told they didn't have a bed, all this while I am writhing in pain. The nurse at the front desk told me after she knew what I had. Likely because she sees this all the time.

So, no bed, and no morphine to dull sharp pains. Then I get a bed an hour later and nothing, just waiting. I get two minishots of morphine over tow hours which don't dull the pain. Then about three hours later I get a real shot of morphine and it works. I feel okay. Then when giving a sample of my urine, the stone comes out, that is very lucky, no operation is required.

About three hours later they send me home. Total time in hospital, about seven hours and drugged up. I barf several times as I leave, once in the hospital. I barf on a bus, then outside the bus, then a few more times on my way home-outside the cab. I sleep all day.

All they want to do is send you home and save money. Hospital sadists rule in a second rate hospital system. And, so you can't get comfortable, they have an aid take your blood pressure every hour.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Here's a poll showing 54% of British Columbians rated their their last hospital emergency visit as good, and 35% as not very good. Q 6.

Poll: ZEUS poll, B.C.health care poll (2009), ZEUS poll

ZEUS poll, B.C.health care poll (2009), ZEUS poll
Jul 06, 2009
A B.C. Health Care poll conducted by Sce Research for the benefit of ZEUS polls. 3,780 respondents. This poll was conducted June 17-29, 2009. This poll has a margin of error of (1%), 19 times out of 20, at 95% confidence/competency.
Question #1

The BC Liberal government is faced with a fiscal deficit ranging from $450 million to $2 billion dollars. BC’s health ministry uses more taxpayer dollars than any other. In your opinion are changes to BC’s health care system necessary in order to make health care more efficient and services better?
Yes 58 % No 37 %
Question #2

In your opinion should the B.C. government—B.C. Taxpayer representatives--- be paying for up to 90% of medical doctor’s and surgeon’s liability insurance estimated to cost B.C. taxpayers $25 million dollars per year?
Yes 41 % No 55.5 %
Question #3

From your own personal experience or from related stories from family or friends experiences- how would you rate B.C.’s health care system?
Good 44 % Not Very Good 26.5 % No particular experience or stories to relate to 30 %
Question #4

In your opinion should income be a factor in determining access to B.C.’ health care system?
Yes 27 % No 58 %
Question #5

Have you registered as a patient at an emergency facility in a B.C. hospital within the past year?
Yes 12.5 % No 86 %
Question #6

(Only respondents who answered “yes” (454) to question #5). From the limited choices offered which one BEST characterizes the level of treatment that you received while you attended a B.C. hospital emergency?
Good 52 % Not Very Good 35 %
Question #7

Which of the following limited choices offered is the best determinate of what in your opinion is the most important qualifying factor for receiving B.C. health care?
Need 47 % Capacity to Pay 08 % Level of Danger to Life/Limb 44 %
Question #8

U.S. President Barack Obama has embarked on a highly ambitious plan to fix the United States health care system. In your opinion can he pull it off?
Yes 51 % No 44 %

Commentary

 

[FiveParadox]

Re: British Columbia’s Health Care

It’s most fortunate that a majority of patients, then, have felt that their visits to our health care institutions were good. That’s a tough question to respond to, though—are some of the respondants jaded by whatever condition they may have been experiencing during their visit? Respondants who had received major surgery may not have as favourable a memory of their stay as respondants who had visited for a broken toe or a severe fever, notwithstanding the quality of care provided. Only 166 respondants, out of 3780, reported a “not very good” experience with health care.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

My experience 7 years earlier with the same kidney stone problem was excellent. But then, the NDP had run the health system for eight years. A coincidence? Perhaps, but it was much better then.

 

[JLM]

I went to the energency ward of the Burnaby General Hospital a few weeks back for a kidney stone. It was very painful. I was told to wait when I saw reception because I was told they didn't have a bed, all this while I am writhing in pain. The nurse at the front desk told me after she knew what I had. Likely because she sees this all the time.

So, no bed, and no morphine to dull sharp pains. Then I get a bed an hour later and nothing, just waiting. I get two minishots of morphine over tow hours which don't dull the pain. Then about three hours later I get a real shot of morphine and it works. I feel okay. Then when giving a sample of my urine, the stone comes out, that is very lucky, no operation is required.

About three hours later they send me home. Total time in hospital, about seven hours and drugged up. I barf several times as I leave, once in the hospital. I barf on a bus, then outside the bus, then a few more times on my way home-outside the cab. I sleep all day.

All they want to do is send you home and save money. Hospital sadists rule in a second rate hospital system. And, so you can't get comfortable, they have an aid take your blood pressure every hour.

It's not just Burnaby. My mother was admitted to hospital several times in the months before she died seven years ago, with excruciating heart problems and same thing no bed, but my mother was a very tough person and realized it was all beyond the control of the hospital employees. A lot of the problems are caused, not by so many sick people but by so many people who aren't sick who go running to emergency. Alberta has a good plan, as soon as you go in you are priortized on a rating of 1 to 7 and if you're a "7" you'll sit in that waiting room until there is no one else in there for treatment- could be an hour, a day, a week or a month.

 

[Unforgiven]

I went to the energency ward of the Burnaby General Hospital a few weeks back for a kidney stone. It was very painful. I was told to wait when I saw reception because I was told they didn't have a bed, all this while I am writhing in pain. The nurse at the front desk told me after she knew what I had. Likely because she sees this all the time.

So, no bed, and no morphine to dull sharp pains. Then I get a bed an hour later and nothing, just waiting. I get two minishots of morphine over tow hours which don't dull the pain. Then about three hours later I get a real shot of morphine and it works. I feel okay. Then when giving a sample of my urine, the stone comes out, that is very lucky, no operation is required.

About three hours later they send me home. Total time in hospital, about seven hours and drugged up. I barf several times as I leave, once in the hospital. I barf on a bus, then outside the bus, then a few more times on my way home-outside the cab. I sleep all day.

All they want to do is send you home and save money. Hospital sadists rule in a second rate hospital system. And, so you can't get comfortable, they have an aid take your blood pressure every hour.

Oh come on it's only a golf ball through your urethra. ;-)
My wife went into labour with my daughter, 36 hours worth, during that time I passed a kidney stone. No coffee, no pop at the hospital for me. I got to drink plenty of water and support my wife in her time of need.

It didn't hurt much compared to what my wife was doing to my hand every few minutes. I think they gave me some tylenol and told me to climb stairs between contractions. Eventually the stone passed, the baby was born my wife stopped yelling at me, the cuts and swelling in my hands went down and my father inlaw quite laughing his ass off at me. I like to drink plenty of water now to help flush the system out. My sympathies.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

That's what they say, drink plenty of water, I do, I am. My "stone" was half the size of a pea. But it was an abrasive little bugger. It should really be called a kidney pebble. And I have had other stones that passed through in a few hours without a visit to the ER. They recur. I look forward to more pebbles.

 

[gerryh]

I really don't understand how you could use the word sadist in your OP's title. 3 shots of morphine and it passed on it's own once you relaxed, which meant it wasn't that big a stone. Sounds to me like Burnaby General triaged you properly. You weren't high priority.

I'm sorry if that sounds "harsh", but take it from someone that has had more kidney stone attacks than I care to remember where the stones are NOT small enough to pass on their own. Where the pain is so intense that death does seem like a viable alternative and no amount of morphine takes the pain away.

 

[Liberalman]

You should have taken a box of laxitives so you would have the incentive not to barf

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I really don't understand how you could use the word sadist in your OP's title. 3 shots of morphine and it passed on it's own once you relaxed, which meant it wasn't that big a stone. Sounds to me like Burnaby General triaged you properly. You weren't high priority.

I'm sorry if that sounds "harsh", but take it from someone that has had more kidney stone attacks than I care to remember where the stones are NOT small enough to pass on their own. Where the pain is so intense that death does seem like a viable alternative and no amount of morphine takes the pain away.

It's all very calculated. The nurse knew what I had, she's seen it many times before, I didn't die, so no problemo senor. Body in, body out. Yawn.

Getting ignored in a hospital in Canada is not what I expect or I would call good medical care. I was not informed how long anything would take either.

I needed a bed and shot of morphine-not a minishot. Not too complicated, but the system decided I would get nothing. That's sadistic.

Wow, your stones don't pass through? And no morphine helps? Sounds awful. Morphone is an awesome drug.

They don't know what causes kidney stones, but for me I got both of mine when I had two jobs. I put mine down to stress.

 

[karrie]

It's all very calculated. The nurse knew what I had, she's seen it many times before, I didn't die, so no problemo senor. Body in, body out. Yawn.

Getting ignored in a hospital in Canada is not what I expect or I would call good medical care. I was not informed how long anything would take either.

No emergency room ANYwhere can tell you how long your wait will be if you're non-urgent. And unfortunately, while they hurt like hell and make you want to die, kidney stones are non-emergent when held up against bleeding trauma, breathing difficulties, and all the other stuff that ER's see. It's on the list of things we can't quite believe aren't emergencies, like broken bones. Yet, walk into an ER with a kid with a broken bone, and unless there's bone outside the skin, you're likely to sit and wait.

 

[gerryh]

No emergency room ANYwhere can tell you how long your wait will be if you're non-urgent. And unfortunately, while they hurt like hell and make you want to die, kidney stones are non-emergent when held up against bleeding trauma, breathing difficulties, and all the other stuff that ER's see. It's on the list of things we can't quite believe aren't emergencies, like broken bones. Yet, walk into an ER with a kid with a broken bone, and unless there's bone outside the skin, you're likely to sit and wait.

Consider this a greenie.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

No emergency room ANYwhere can tell you how long your wait will be if you're non-urgent. And unfortunately, while they hurt like hell and make you want to die, kidney stones are non-emergent when held up against bleeding trauma, breathing difficulties, and all the other stuff that ER's see. It's on the list of things we can't quite believe aren't emergencies, like broken bones. Yet, walk into an ER with a kid with a broken bone, and unless there's bone outside the skin, you're likely to sit and wait.

So, like, are you a nurse? Were you in the empty emergency room with me?
I don't think so miss know it all.

No person in the ER had their guts spilling out. It was kind of dead-pardon the pun. But there were two nurses in the office who weren't that busy also. Perhaps they could have gotten a calculator out and figured how long it would take for me to get some attention.

I'm thinkin' I'm encountering another unthinking, heartless, cold, callous, obdurate, cruel person. Of course, it's not the nurses, it's the system. But it takes my money and I want it to take care of patients faster. Sadists are more common than I thought.

 

[karrie]

So, like, are you a nurse? Were you in the empty emergency room with me?
I don't think so miss know it all.

Hey, I wasn't getting pissy with you, I was merely commenting on the system, so either don't bring up something so personal and sensitive, or tone down your sensitivity a notch.

 

[gerryh]

ok.... I wasn't going to say anymore about this, but since reading your response to Karrie, I think I will reiterate one more time.

Dinky little kidney stones that can pass on their own with a minimal amount of painkillers, like you had, aren't any more important than a cut finger. You could have gone to your doctor and gotten a script for some oxycotin, or a muscle relaxant and it would have taken care of things at home.

Emergency rooms should be used ONLY in an emergency, when something can't be taken care of in your doctors office/walk in clinic or a home remedy. People that use emerges for anything else are only abusing the system and possibly causing those that DO have a real emergency to wait unnesasarily.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Hey, I wasn't getting pissy with you, I was merely commenting on the system, so either don't bring up something so personal and sensitive, or tone down your sensitivity a notch.

Well, I've heard other times from medical personnel, "The doctor/nurse will be right with you/in five minutes." No rocket science required here. What is routine to some people, is not to me. So I complain. And this is a very personal topic, and unfounded comments will be subject to very close scrutiny.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

ok.... I wasn't going to say anymore about this, but since reading your response to Karrie, I think I will reiterate one more time.

Dinky little kidney stones that can pass on their own with a minimal amount of painkillers, like you had, aren't any more important than a cut finger. You could have gone to your doctor and gotten a script for some oxycotin, or a muscle relaxant and it would have taken care of things at home.

Emergency rooms should be used ONLY in an emergency, when something can't be taken care of in your doctors office/walk in clinic or a home remedy. People that use emerges for anything else are only abusing the system and possibly causing those that DO have a real emergency to wait unnesasarily.

A cut finger is like a kidney stone? With my first kidney stone, it did not pass through and until the operation and it was cut out, I felt like I always had to go to the bathroom. I would pee, then five minutes later I would feel like I would have to pee again, but I knew I couldn't because I just peed. Put up with that for 3 weeks.

Obviously I'm encountering more people with extensive medical experience.

 

[lone wolf]

As abusive as you are being, I'd say you like the attention.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

As abusive as you are being, I'd say you like the attention.

Simply stating the facts on second rate hospital care. Apologists for the "venerated" Cdn medical system do it no good. Given a choice I'd rather be healthy and stay away from ERs. I need attention like I need another kidney stone.

 

[TenPenny]

... unfounded comments will be subject to very close scrutiny.

Does that include the ones you make, or only others'?