As a pain patient in the hospital you have probably encountered staff that are rude and in some cases incompetent. I have been in the hospital over 30 times in treating my CRPS. I have encountered the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the worst cases of incompetence I ever encountered, shockingly was in the ICU. After my surgery to put in my morphine pump, I was in agonizing pain. I called my nurse to give me my pain shot and after calling numerous times and waiting over an hour she finally came into my room. When I asked for my shot she told me that I had a morphine pump and I should not be in pain. I tried to explain that my pump would take about 24 hours to reach therapeutic relief, and I needed the morphine my doctor prescribed. She argued the point again then finally rolled her eyes, sighed and left my room. She finally came back 30 minutes later with the shot. That was the longest hour and a half of my life, I was in tears, shaking and throwing up. My husband and my advocate, demanded to see the charge nurse and the hospital patient advocate. The nurse was removed from my care. As a patient you have the RIGHT to be treated PROFESSIONALLY, COMPASIONATELY, WITH RESPECT, AND WITH DIGNITY. Some hospitals now treat pain aggressively, they have low to zero pain goal. But there are still nurses that question a patients requests for pain meds, or are slow in delivering them. At that time I had very little knowledge of my rights as a patient, but over the years it has become an asset to know that these rights are not optional when it comes to hospital care.
Generally, your rights as a patient are:
· You have the right to know all the information that affects your care in the hospital, and be involved in the decision making process.
· You have the right to be treated with respect.
· You have the right to choose who will be your advocate.
· You have the right to know who will be the lead surgeon and you have the right to contact your surgeon about your care, not just whomever is on call.
· You have the right to emergency care even if you cannot pay.
· Finally, you have the right to speak to a hospital advocate if you feel like your rights are violated or if you don’t receive quality care.
Hospitals are not just about patient care anymore, this is big business folks and like any other business if your customer service is lacking, SPEAK UP. If your complaints are not taken seriously or if you feel your rights have been violated, you can contact the Joint Commission’s Office of Quality and Patient Safety.
