Saint Clare's Hosp-Denville
Doctor: Unknown
Grade F- and serious neglect happening at St. Clares' in Denville on overall care of stroke patient
Hospital Complaint About: Saint Clare's Hosp-denville - Unknown
Author: Undisclosed
Hospital Service: Poor Service
Occur date: Feb 18 2010
Post date: Feb 22 2010, 01:28:21 PM
Doctor Complaint: Unknown - Saint Clare's Hosp-denville
my father went to St.Clares' hospital in Denville, NJ as a slight stroke patient on Thursday, Fab 18 -Saturday, Feb. 20. The care was non-existent. the patient was told they were short staffed and therefore they could not aide him in getting in and out of bed to relieve himself in th bathroom, although, after the stroke, he was capable of ambulating and it probably was in his best interest to try to walk a bit. He was given a bedpan and for two and half days he was made to use the bedpan when it was not necessary. For over 48 hours the patient remained hooked up to monitoring devices and was not able to move around or have adequate help to reposition himself. No one offered to help him. No one came around much to provide any care should it be needed. When buzzed, it took very long for someone to come to the room. On two occassions while I was there over the days, no one showed up when buzzed. Meals offered were against the patients usual dietary restrictions and did not seem to be things someone with a stroke should eat - eggs and bacon as one of the two offerings for breakfast - everyday! The other offering also included bacon! The food technician practically stood at the door and just pushed the food tables in the room, yet too far away from the bed so that my father could not reach it to pull it up to him without compromising the wires he was hooked up to. He waited over an hour until family came to guide the meal table to him to eat the, now, cold food - which turned out was not what he even ordered! The tests that were communicated to him to be done on Saturday did not seem to surface and no explanation were provided. He saw and understood he was not getting any decent care and he was not about to have to wait another day to get the tests done in that hospital. So, late in that morning, he pretended to be having stroke sensations again and suddenly the mentioned tests were performed.
On the second evening while asleep, the night nurse came and gave him a pnuemonia shot - he woke up with a painful, very swollen arm that caused him discomfort and lack of sleep for the remainder of the night. A pamphlet was left in his chest indicating he had been given this shot and why. One, why would one do this while the patient slept in the middle of the night when they could not get the patients input?! This shot had previously been administered to my father two years ago and is good for five years. So pain, extreme swelling and fatique from lack of sleep were caused unneccessarily due to this nurse providing medication that was not even needed to administer afterall. Also in those two or so days, no one offered or aided my father in bathing or sponge bath. He was confined to the bed because no one attended to him or would unhook the monitors. He could have used some assitance with positioning. No medication was given to address the stroke. No one communicated what to do to respond to this life event currently or when he went home. When new medications were given. Typically, dad gets certain ones at certain times. It happened that way the first day but the second day- he got all those medications in one dose, in one foul swoop unlike the day before. Real safe and professional. He was allowed to be discharged into that third day provided that the three specialists gave their approval. Two of the specialist had shown up and the third did not show up by 5:00pm. Having received no real care, being fatiqued from discomfort from lack of movement, poor rest, and developing constipation from being forced to use a bed pan, my father refused to stay any longer - the stay was not contributing to making him feel better or as though his health care was a priority. He resolved if he made the wrong choice of discharging himself he would turn around and go to Morristown Memorial instead. My father thus discharged himself with no instructions provided by the hospital upon that discharge (which I find inexplicable). Upon arriving home, my father looked worse than the day he sustained the stroke. He was weak, fatiqued, irritable and unhygenic having gotten no help in a change of gown, change of sheets, in hygiene like toiletting, bathing, or brushing his teeth from the hospital personnel. So his family gathered stuff up and helped clean him up with wipes. How many days is it typical to let a patient go with hygiene help or a change of gown and sheets. Evidentally its more than three days. Yuck! His voice was weak and he looked worse than when he arrived with the stroke in progress on Thursday. When asked was he told of what to do next to care for himself he expressed that one specialist came in, asked him on certain points of his body if he could feel the sensations and promptly told my father he had had a stroke and without any further comment then exited the room. Just like the horror stories you hear on television, about uncaring doctors and poor nursing care except this was not tv but very real. Although I was at the hospital several times, only once had a technician come in the room over the course of those visits. The hallways were loud and the place was unkept, smelled bad and probably not cleaned well enough. The heat blew cold air and the upkeep of there HVAC systems looked disgusting - the hospital clearly is not attentive to the air quality in the rooms. The vents of the unit were inches thick with lint, dirt and debris. There was nothing to say positive about the experience at St. Clares in Denville. No care was really provided. If anything I think the stay worsened my fathers condition. There was certainly nothing done by St.Clare's doctors or nurses to contribute to a positive experience and improving health. My father is seeking his regular PCP for advice on how to care for himself, if medication is needed and if he has an further dietary considerations or the like. We will never seek out this hospital for any type of care again as a family. I can not say enough of what a negative experience this was - there were no redeeming events to this stay at St. Clares in Denville.
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Other Complaints About: Saint Clare's Hosp-Denville
| Denville City Hospitals | They don't care for their staff, so they won't care for you! |
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