Dorothy Tillman Arrested At Montgomery Hospital

seen too much (4.00 / 2)

here's  one from PA:

One RN in charge of a Day Surgery Ward (about 30-40 patients total) doing post operative checks preparatory to releasing folks in the late afternoon. Lots of TURPS done that day - I guesss Urology was having a special. 

For help, she has one nursing student and one Aide. Nursing student is called by the Aide, who shows that Patient X is passing tons of blood and clots from his catheter. His wife was with him, and there was blood all over the bathroom wall. Nursing Student does a set of vitals and asks some questions. Calls in RN. RN's eyes widen, and she calls his Doctor.

Doctor is off that day, but the call goes through to his partner, who doesn't know the man. Partner suggests using a larger catheter.Also asks RN to check for spasms in the bladder area. Screams at RN that this wasn't done before she called him. Nursing student helps with exam. Bladder feels like a large rock. Patient is pale and clammy, BP dropping.

Now we have all 3 staff members in one room. The other 39 patients are blissfully unaware of this.

RN calls the partner again after replacing the cath. Gets another earful. RN then calls the Urology Resident, who breezes in looking like she just fell off the catwalk at a Paris fashion show. Tall, blonde, and uninterested, she examines the patient for about 30 seconds and mocks the RN for making a fuss. The RN is practically in tears at this point.

Nursing Student goes home, and reappears the next day for duty, asking about Patient X.

Patient X is now in ICU. He had a stroke during the night, probably due to the large number of clots circulating in his system.

Patient's actual doctor, now mercifully on duty again, has taken large chunks out of both his partner and (you guessed it) the little RN. Little RN talks desultorily about finding a different job. Life goes on. 

 

 

 

When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.---Mark Twain

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by: julie @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 10:08:13 AM CST

More info on Tillman arrest (4.00 / 2)

Mrs. Tillman tells her side in this link from The Sun Times Group.  Sounds like a case of over reaction by the Hospital staff and the Montgomery Police. 

 "They pointed a Taser at my heart, they threw me down," she said, noting that she was donning one of her signature hats and it flew off as police and security guards cuffed her arms and legs before taking her to jail.

How is this for customer service?

Tillman demanded the staff turn over any medical records for Barker. She wanted to take her aunt to another facility.

But Tillman said the staff refused to provide the records.

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 10:21:42 AM CST

Tillman arrested for tresspassing (4.00 / 1)

According to hospital and police spokespeople police were called because she was being "distruptive". 

''Ms. Tillman was disruptive, and the hospital staff felt it necessary to contact our security guards, and they [security] didn't feel they could calm Ms. Tillman down, so they called the Montgomery Police Department, who came and arrested her," said Peter Frohmader, a spokesman for Jackson Hospital.

Tillman was booked in to the local jail on one count of misdemeanor trespassing at 6:32 a.m., according to Cook and J.C. Welch, a corrections supervisor at the jail.

Isn't a hospital public property?  Aren't hospital workers trained to deal with irate and emotional family members?

Anyway, they are reviewing "tapes". 

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 10:38:03 AM CST

[ Parent ]

no (4.00 / 1)

maybe doctors are, but not lower staff. Dealing with familiy is something they just learn as they go along. Like every other group of people, some will be better at it than others.

When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.---Mark Twain

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by: julie @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 09:50:25 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Seriously? (4.00 / 1)

Lower staff who deal with the "public" at "public" facilities aren't trained on how to deal with said "public", who by the way pays their salaries via tax dollars?  If not, therein lies the problem.  Said "public" will also be paying for the trial of Dorothy Tillman and possibly a Civil Suit because "dealing with family is something they just learn as they go along".

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 10:39:03 AM CST

[ Parent ]

not all hospitals are public (4.00 / 1)

Many are privately owned and operated.

Brookwood in B'ham is one of the bigger for-profit hospitals. Cooper Green is the County hospital, where non-insured, under-insured, and under-wealthy people get sent. If they did a couple of years military service, they can go to the VA as well.  not sure about UAB - but since the University gets State funding, the hospital may be considered a public facility.

People who deal in Medical Records are mostly trained to do just that. They aren't expected to do a lot of customer service. There are also reams of privacy laws regarding medical records. This is part of the reason for the nightmarish experiences of family members who need records, particularly if they aren't next-of-kin. (spouse, child, parent)

In Tillman's case, it may be that she got a  raft of obstruction because it was an aunt, rather than her mother. If the hospital hands over a record and the patient sues, they can get slammed with HUGE fines and penalties. 

Why is it such a nightmare to deal with them? BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO INCENTIVE TO MAKE IT OTHERWISE. The insurance companies run American healthcare. Not doctors, not hospitals.

Insurance companies LOVE paperwork. It gives them an excuse to slow down payments, and makes it easy to slip in little disclaimers in the fine print on page 58 ^o^ 

 

When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.---Mark Twain

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by: julie @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 08:06:29 AM CST

[ Parent ]

"Insurance companies LOVE paperwork." (0.00 / 0)

Truer words were never spoken written.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 12:02:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Better get the medical records, first thing, if you can (4.00 / 1)

Family members do not realize how hard they have to push to be listened to.

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 22:11:17 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Medical records (0.00 / 0)

I spent several hours last Friday and most of today sorting out several health care providers, a doctor's office, Medicare, the VA and Blue Cross -- all trying to get someone released with the proper prescriptions, care and equipment.

All I can say is, folks if you haven't wrestled with this system yet, you can't possibly appreciate the complexity of paperwork, ironclad total BS requirements and general hoop jumping involved.  Get yourself listed as someone providers can talk to first (I already was) and make a photocopy of every piece of paper that passes through (or even reasonably near) your hands.  In this day and age, almost nothing in a doctor's office, nursing home, pharmacy or medical provider can be officially done electronically.  They need a physical paper trail and the delay and inefficiency involved in creating and maintaining that paper trail is mind boggling.  

My today was largely spent tracking down the original of a paper document that was transmitted by FAX last Friday and delivering it to the office that received it via FAX.  The original was absolutely, positively, unequivocally required by COB today.  Unfortunately it had also been mislaid, misfiled or inexplicably delayed somewhere between the FAX machine and the patient record.  

How senseless is it to have someone travel from office A to office B to fetch the original of something FAXED from office B to office A.  Then, to go from office B back to office A for a photocopy of a FAX, which is then taken back to office B with the request to "look for the original of this."  Once they found it, it is physically moved from office B to office A.  After all that it will probably get FAXED to yet another office.

The inefficiency is mind boggling.  And yes, get your hands on all the medical records you can, whenever you can, because after a few hours of dealing with medical beaurocrats, any normal person would be testy enough to perhaps wind up like Ms. Tillman.  There but for the grace of God, so forth and so on.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 22:49:44 PM CST

power of attorney (4.00 / 1)

is one way for a familiy member to smooth the way if an aged parent becomes ill or incapacitated.

 

When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.---Mark Twain

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by: julie @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 09:43:19 AM CST

Very good idea (0.00 / 0)

But at the very least, a family member should be on that list of people doctors, etc. are allowed to release information to.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 16:14:27 PM CST

[ Parent ]