This week, a sister shares her recent experience at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
“Initially, I was sceptical of the stories about the nurses and staff at Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) until I had a firsthand experience. On August 23, 2023, I was admitted into the maternity surgical ward to undergo an ovarian cystectomy scheduled for August 25. Although I arrived at 11 am as instructed, I had to wait outside with two others until after 12 due to the delay in locating our charts. Once admitted, I settled in comfortably with the help of loved ones during visiting hours. The ward was almost at full capacity, with pregnant women, those who had recently experienced miscarriages, and post-surgery patients,” the sister related.
“Now, my first unpleasant encounter with a nurse occurred on the same evening that I arrived. I usually suffered from terrible lower back pains due to the cyst and as such I would have a hard time sleeping. At home, I had to sleep on double mattresses because of it. So here I was, having to make do with a cot and a thin mattress for the next few days. At first, I was fine but as I lay there, I felt the pain coming on so I got up and went to the night nurse, who had not too long ago arrived and told her my dilemma, asking if she could assist with elevating the upper portion of the bed so that the pain would ease. Despite her annoyed disposition, I provided my bed number and she said ‘okay’. I went back to my cot to wait. I waited and watched and the nurse never came.
“Eventually, she went to the bed of a post-op patient who was opposite to me and I asked her again to assist me. She told me that she didn’t think my bed had the lever to adjust it and I tried showing her that it did but she didn’t even look. Instead, she proceeded to ask me if I arrived late in the ward and why I didn’t raise the issue earlier (I’m guessing before her shift began), to which I responded that I was just starting to feel the pains. The nurse just walked away. Mind you, I was not aware of the possibility of an adjustment until I mentioned my discomfort to some of my ward-mates who told me about it. They also cautioned me that only the nurses who would adjust the bed (even if they, my colleagues, knew how to do it they were afraid of getting in trouble with the nurses). So that night I was forced to sleep as much as I could in the painful state. I should mention that normally, when the pains get bad it would be difficult for me to turn from one side to the next, and this is exactly what transpired that first night.
“In the middle of the night, I was abruptly awakened by the sound of a post-op patient vomiting on the floor. Despite the noise, the night nurses remained in their slumber and did not go to the patient’s aid or clean up the mess. The following morning, other patients in the ward confirmed hearing the commotion. Later, another post-op patient requested assistance from a nurse because her ‘pee bag’ was full. The nurse did not respond, and as the patient kept calling, one of my colleagues said she got up and went to the nurse telling her about the patient’s situation. My colleague related the next morning that the nurse had told her that she heard the patient calling, but still didn’t budge. This was only the first night.
“On the second day, in the morning I went to another nurse about the bed and she told me how I could adjust it, and I did. Everything went relatively well and was quiet that day. Three of my pre-op colleagues went up for surgery and came down later. Now, normally after surgery the nurses upstairs would administer a dose of morphine to ease the pain. So, one of my colleagues related to me that she recalled the time that she received her first dose after surgery. This dosage, according to the orders on her chart, was to be followed by another six hours later. As such, she was able to stop the nurse downstairs from administering a second dose only four hours later. However, her second dose was not administered until around 10 pm when the night shift nurses were giving out medication. I made a mental note of this.
“The day of my surgery, I attempted to clarify the type of procedure I would be undergoing, but received conflicting information. Hours before my scheduled operation, I learned that it would be an open procedure rather than the previously stated laparoscopic surgery, causing some amount of anxiety within me. As I waited, with a colleague, for our turn to be taken upstairs for surgery, a trainee doctor arrived to insert our IV lines. Unfortunately, the procedure was a harrowing experience for both of us due to the trainee’s incompetence. On me, she attempted to place an IV in one hand, but it caused swelling and was unsuccessful. We then moved to the other hand where she drew blood while I assisted in capping the vials with my other swollen hand. When she drew the last vial, she was too slow to cap the IV tube, and my blood spilled over the side of the cot and onto the floor. She haphazardly cleaned it up, and moved on to the next patient, whose experience, according to her, was more painful than mine.
“After a successful surgery, I woke up feeling pain and then blacked out again. When I came to the second time, a nurse administered a dose of morphine for the pain and told me, upon my request, that the time was 2:30 pm. As a post-op patient, I was placed on a fresh cot and noticed a new set of day nurses, one of whom was rude to me when I requested a more comfortable position. At around 6 pm, a different nurse attempted to administer my second dose of morphine and I asked her what time my first dose was given. She then went and checked my chart and realized I wasn’t due for my second dose until around 8:30 pm. This, she relayed to the night shift nurse. However, when I asked for the medication at the correct time, the nurses were dismissive. My colleague from the previous day had undergone a non-invasive surgery and she later related to me that her pain increased whilst she awaited her second dosage which was overdue according to her chart. As such, I feared that, with my low threshold for pain and my c-section-type cut, I would’ve met the same fate as her or worse. When I called again, the nurse rudely said, ‘ma’am when we’re giving out medications you will get it’ and went back to her ice-cream sharing and phone browsing with her colleague. At this point I knew that that meant 10 pm and, annoyed, I threatened to report them in the papers. This caused them to quickly move from their post and soon my medication was administered. I reminded them that medication and time were important to me and asked them not to think poorly of me for doing so.
“Early in the morning (Saturday), the nurse provided bathwater for both myself and the other post-op patient. We cleaned ourselves up and walked to the bathroom to brush our teeth. Shortly after, we were given our last set of morphine, along with paracetamol and ibuprofen to alleviate pain. We hadn’t eaten anything since the night before the surgery and were only on IV fluids throughout the night. Therefore, I opted to drink some coconut water before taking the pills. As time went by, the medication started to affect me negatively, and I began feeling nauseous. I promptly called for the nurse, who was incredibly rude and unhelpful and stated that there was no prescription for Gravol on my chart. (I had asked if it was possible for me to get something to alleviate the nausea.) I then requested a bedpan but was given a tiny one that resulted in me spilling vomit on the floor. The nurse sent the cleaner to wipe the floor but did not empty my bedpan, and I was eventually forced to get up and empty it myself. After vomiting, I lay down in an attempt to settle my stomach and to ease the dizziness I was feeling. Later on, the rude nurse began checking vitals from a portable machine but instead of visiting each patient’s bedside, she set up the equipment some beds away and called out names. When she called me, I declined to get up because I wasn’t feeling strong enough. I was worried about throwing up again because the bedpan had already fallen out of my grip and I was unable to bend. The nurse asked the head nurse whether myself and the other post-op patient could walk, and even though she was given the response that we could, I still refused to move. Eventually, the nurse came and checked my vitals.
“By this time a doctor had already made her rounds and my catheter was removed so I was free to go to the bathroom and relieve myself. What an experience that was! Because of all the fluids in my body from the night before, along with the coconut water and tea that I had consumed, my bladder kept refilling every few minutes. As such, I was tasked with struggling in and out of bed a good number of times within one hour. When my mom came, I told her about this experience and she asked why I didn’t ask the nurses for a bedpan. To this I responded that I didn’t want to chance having to lug around a full bedpan myself to empty seeing as how I had to do so earlier with my own vomit.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only patient to experience mistreatment by the nurses during my stay. I vividly remember walking by the bed of a double amputee and noticing that it was soiled with food she had spilled while trying to feed herself. Rice and chicken were scattered all over her blanket and bed. I immediately called one of the nurses and showed her the mess, hoping she would assist the patient. However, instead of taking action, she went back to the nurse’s station where all the other nurses were gathered around their phones and loudly announced, ‘she mess up she bed…’ before rejoining the group. This report didn’t phase the other nurses, and they continued to be engrossed in their mobile phones. After about what I presumed to be 15-20 minutes, one of the nurses finally got up and cleaned the bed. However, when I passed by again, I was shocked to see the same blanket covering the double amputee while the floor near her bed was laced with food mixed with pee stains (or was it pee?), a thermometer (yes, a thermometer which they use on us patients) and the ‘pee bag’ in the midst of it all. I was appalled to say the least.
“Another patient, who arrived from the upper ward on that Saturday, having had a two weeks-dead foetus evacuated from her body, was neglected for hours before one of the nurses went and removed the IV line so that she could go and get herself cleaned off. This patient told me that she came down at 10 that morning and was ignored. At the midday visiting hour, she said, she asked the nurse for her IV to be removed so she could go and get cleaned up, but the nurse told her that a lot of people were around so when visiting hours were over (the midday visit is from 12-12:30), she would be able to do so. However, it wasn’t until around 4 pm that the patient told one of our colleagues what was happening with her and this colleague approached the nurses to remind them. At this, one of the nurses stated, ‘oh shucks I forget about she’.
“It should be noted that there were about four nurses in the station that day and all were on their devices either playing music or watching videos loudly, disturbing patients who were trying to rest. I recall at one point while I was drifting off to sleep, I was suddenly awakened by the sound of their loud outbursts and laughter. One elderly patient who was on a cot not far from mine told me that she had not slept the night before because of the noise, and even then, during the day she was unable to since the noise continued. To add insult to injury, on different occasions during my stay I observed that the nurses would allow a cross-dressing friend of theirs to enter the ward (outside of visiting hours) and even use the washrooms. This friend of theirs was also very loud in his speech and would disturb resting patients, myself included.
“Throughout my entire stay, I noticed an evident lack of compassion from the majority of the nursing staff towards the patients. This included those who were experiencing the traumatic event of a miscarriage. I expected the nurses to offer words of comfort or at least visit the patients outside of the routine checks, which were nearly non-existent. Unfortunately, they showed no empathy.
“Despite this, there were exceptions. One particular young nurse was kind and gentle, visiting every bedside and checking every patient’s vitals during her night shift. On the Saturday evening, when no staff were available, an elderly nurse stepped up and was joined by a middle-aged nurse. The elderly nurse, although shaky, was meticulous, considerate and kind to the patients. She completed all her duties before resting, and woke early to continue her work. The middle-aged nurse was equally as lively and visited each patient to check vitals. If all of the nurses were like them, I believe patients would experience a more pleasant stay and recover more smoothly and quickly.
“While I was disappointed with the behaviour of the majority of the nurses during my stay, what really bothered me was the lack of proper communication from the doctors regarding my surgery. After my procedure, I never saw or heard from the surgeon(s) who operated on me. I had to ask two different doctors to inform me of what happened during the surgery. The first one only told me that a piece of my ovary had been removed, while the second doctor was more thorough and provided me with a detailed explanation. Unfortunately, it seems like this lack of communication and failure to follow standard procedure was not an isolated incident. One of my fellow post-op patients experienced a similar issue and ended up with an infected cut at home. She was not given any blood tests prior to the procedure and only had her blood drawn on the day of the surgery. After being discharged and while visiting the clinic for the first time, post-op, she was informed that, according to her blood test results, her thyroid levels were elevated, indicating a slow recovery.
“In summary, I believe that a lot of patients’ deaths are not caused by the procedures they undergo but rather by the lack of proper aftercare from the nurses in charge. While I understand that wages may not be attractive, nurses have taken an oath to care for patients with compassion, kindness, and gentleness regardless of pay (not in those actual words but it is indicated in the Florence Nightingale pledge). They should not be rude, on their devices, fraternising, or sleeping while patients are in need. Additionally, doctors should be more informative with patients to prevent wrongful deaths or surgeries gone wrong. Patients should be informed beforehand and fully understand before signing consent forms. Better can be done. Lastly, all staff should be aware of the potential presence of important individuals, such as a reporter, who may have pen and paper as weapons.”
I wish this sister a speedy recovery.
