To Sue or Not to Sue

[steiconi]

You mentioned that some of the nurses were really nice. How about sending letters of praise for them to the hospital? Such letters go in their files (and they get to see them), and can affect decisions about raises. It will benefit the nice ones, hopefully at the expense of the nasty one, AND make you feel better--doing something nice for someone increases your endorphins.

[Nik Colon]

You mentioned that some of the nurses were really nice. How about sending letters of praise for them to the hospital? Such letters go in their files (and they get to see them), and can affect decisions about raises. It will benefit the nice ones, hopefully at the expense of the nasty one, AND make you feel better--doing something nice for someone increases your endorphins.

That's a great idea!

[canadiandaughter]

I wouldn't sue. Like so many have mentioned, that will really get you nowhere. I would follow up with a chat or letter to the hospital so that they are aware of what happened. I know this is not an excuse, but you never know what was going on in her life at that time that might have effected her behavior. Nurses work crazy shifts and that needs to be changed. My daughter has been called in to work after finishing a long stretch of night shifts. This effects the patients care as the nurse is exhausted physically and mentally and obviously can effect their mood. Not fair to the patient or to the nurse and other staff. We had a bad experience with a doctor and a nurse at the hospital where dad lives a couple of weeks ago. We felt in that situation that talking to the doctor would get us nowhere, but my parents did share what happened with another doctor from the same hospital and they also let the cancer clinic that they are dealing with know about it. Not that anything will be done, but it made them feel better and maybe they will be watched more closely or something.

[alphagam]

Andy,
Looking at your signature, it seems this all happened almost two years ago. I sincerely believe that suing someone is not the answer especially as that nurse may not even be at the hospital. However, you need to find peace. Make a list of all that was awful and a list of all the "nice nurses", then make an appointment with the Hospital Administrator, the Director of Nursing, etc. Let them know the good and the bad. Put all on the table and then know you have done the best you could for your dad and find peace in your heart.

[momof3]

I really feel your pain. My mom passed away in September. She had been in the hospital since July. When she went in she was as quick and bright as anyone here. She was 68. In August I had some piece of shit intern explain to me that my mother was elderly and had dementia. That was my second and last conversation with him. First was not much better. I explained to him that what he so quickly viewed as dementia was in reality their screw ups and not being able to control her pain or pain meds. It was such a horrific experience, the miscare that she got as this top rated hospital. I had everything set to move her when they just kept screwing up, only to have a resident bully my father into keeping her there by saying the move would kill her. Well she died there and every single day since then I have been sick about it. She deserved so much better and I have so many regrets.

Like you, there were many kind and caring nurses and doctors, but they just do not make up for the bad ones. I'm sorry you too had a bad experience.

[andy21]

Thanks everyone for your kind suggestions which are greatly appreciated.

The main reason I have not sued yet is that I think the time of Cancer doctors is better spent on reviewing cases of patients than reviewing cases with Lawyers.

My dad had a upper limit to his insurance and since the limit was reached, the hospital did not take care as well as it could have.
An example was he was not given blood thinner injections to avoid clots when his body was swollen , which the next hospital immediately did when I moved him. Also he was discouraged from being admitted overnight for his treatment complications(to save money) and there are more of such things which I think will not stand as proper during court's scrutiny.
But even if I win, it may result in hospitals actively refusing patients with upper limit to Insurances. And that would be an overall defeat for Cancer patients.

I somehow have sympathy with the hospital administration as they were trying to do their job but absolutely no sympathy for the rude Nurse, who made the overall experience very unpleasant.

[KWT]

Are you saying that he was not treated as well due to reaching his lifetime limit of insurance? I believe that's a non issue now as part of the ACA.

It seems like a lawsuit would be nothing more than an exercise in how you deal with more stress.

[dianetavegia]

I was very badly mistreated my first night out of ICU after my liver resection and while coming off morphine so high as a kite and having hallucinations. My first thought was to sue but after thinking it through, I let it go, tho I did report it when I had my discharge survey. My insurance paid 100% and didn't refute any charges or deny any treatment.

It was a team of nurses new to the U.S. and I spent the night laying in a pool of blood, not allowed to go to the bathroom nor offered a bed pan, wet clothing (blood soaked), my hand slapped when I attempted to turn the nurses badge when she refused to let me see her name...... I was not near death but that was the ONLY night I spent alone in the hospital and the next morning I told my doctor that if he didn't get me into a private room where my family could stay overnight, that I'd leave AMA and find another hospital with a room. The morning nurse told him the night nurses had reported me as being 'out of my mind and unruly' all during the night. One against 4.......... I got my private room within 2 hours, tho. When I went to get my stitches removed, I told him the whole story and he said he'd report them.

Did I get closure? Not for a year. I finally let it go but learned a HUGE lesson. If I am ever hospitalized again either my family will be by my side constantly or I'll have a private duty nurse, which had been offered me by my insurance.

You won't win any money, not as much as you'll pay some atty., but you might ruin their reputation, report them to the BBB, contact the hospital and notify your doctor.

[TehKitz]

Not only report them to the hospital, report any mistreatment/misconduct/or safety concern to AHCA, Department of Health and Human Services, the department of Elder Affairs (the name varies by state/county), the Joint Commission and if they were on Medicare/Medcaid, CMS.gov. My father passed in March and a few weeks before he passed I was begging the hospital administration to help me put him into rehab because he was so weak (there were no insurance issues). He had a colostomy, a catheter and was so weak that I could not take care of him. I had a case manager tell me (I am his daughter) to stop crying, put my big girl panties up, take time off of work, drop out of school, and stay home and take care of my father. I had never met such heartless people in my life.

Also, it looks like this was 2012-2013, so if you were going to sue, you would have to look at the statute of limitations in your state on medical malpractice cases....so that is something to look into as well. Also, a nurse should have no idea what insurance or the financial status of a patient. If they were to go into the financial records of a patient this would be a HIPAA violation as nurses have no reason to be in any records besides medical records.

I found that when I reported the case manager to the hospital, the hospital did absolutely nothing, I have a few open cases with the organizations listed above.