Posted by glarson (Gwen Larson) on May 1, 2008 at 7:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Continued discussion on Dr. Jim Barnett's allegations about adversarial relationships between doctors and Newman hospital administration.

For context, see these two stories:

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2008/...

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2008/...

Posted by gazette_reader (anonymous) on May 1, 2008 at 7:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thanks for the update on the Gazette's intentions, Gwen.

Posted by emporian2008 (anonymous) on May 5, 2008 at 6 p.m. (Suggest removal)

As a former employee of Newman's I feel it is my obligation to inform Emporians that there is legitimacy to Dr Barnett's statements. I am a first hand witness to many wrong doings at Newman's. I made several sttempts to administration in regards to these instances. Patients left in urine soaked beds, call lights ignored, man-handling patients, meds not given as scheduled by the doctor, etc. I feel these things occured because nurses were too occupied with knitting, crocheting, on their personal laptops, and reading books. There are some very hard working nurses and doctors at Newmans. I feel the only way to improve the quality of care at Newman's would be to replace all administration. Administration states that their first priority is quality care. However I've known of several employees that have approached administration with these issues only to be retaliated against by termination of employment shortly after. Good doctors & staff are retaliated against by administration and some staff, whereas bad doctors and bad staff are permitted to continue with their actions. If you are not in their little "circle" and you speak up for the patients, they make it a difficult work environment or they terminate you!

The problems need to be fixed instead of just sweeping them under the rug and terminating employees to shut them up.

This is in response to old_soldier's comment about I/O (intraosseous infusion).

Intraosseous infusion is the process of injection directly into the marrow of the bone. The needle is injected through the bone's hard cortex and into the soft marrow interior. Often the antero-medial aspect of the tibia is used as it lies just under the skin and can easily be palpated and located. Anterior aspect of the femur and the superior iliac crest are other sites that can be used.

Yes I do believe it can be a lifesaver, however it should be explained entirely to the patient's family before performing the procedure (whether they speak english or not.) It should not be performed just because it is a "really cool" procedure.

Posted by yankee (anonymous) on May 6, 2008 at 1:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

As a former employee of Newman's I am happy to see that someone else feels that same way I did working there. Kudos emporian2008 you took the words right out of my mouth.

Posted by I41care (anonymous) on May 6, 2008 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I first want to thank Dr. Anderson for his favorable comments about the care at NRH. I am not sure where Dr. Barnett is coming from but I will not sweep his remarks under the table as if there is something that needs to change, then lets change it. Newmans has certainly not been a hospital to stand for inferior care. I think they are very pro active when then see a problem. Recently they initiated a bedside medication device that ensures the patient gets the right medication as each pill or IV is scanned after scanning the patients bracelet. It takes a little longer but it ensures safe administration of medication. I have read the comments about the hospital nurses. I have been a nurse at newmans for 20 years and I welcome constructive criticism. I must say when I found that there were so many negative remarks, I was a surprized. I have listened extra careful to my patients since then and they have been very complimentary about the care they are receiving. I can not speak to the comments about nurses who are not giveing there all but I do want to assure you there are many nurses who would want you to know they care and they hurt beyond imagination when something does not go well. I think if I have learned anything from all the comments it is that not enough nurses have said," I for one care". If I have the pleasure of careing for any of you than I hope you will see this in me. Believe me, I am listening to my patients. God Bless. Feel free to speak up for change.

Posted by sandyestabrook (anonymous) on May 6, 2008 at 7:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)

jayhawkers1 , your comment about numerous IV sticks being a minor thing is not accurate since it is an invasive procedure and infection can develop at the site. I am a very difficult person to get an IV started on and believe me it is no fun to go through 5-7 sticks to get it done. Think of that being done on a child and the increased possibility of infection with that number of sticks. Over the 25 years I worked as an RN in 7 different hospitals from small rural with 18 beds to larger such as Newman to Wesley I've seen problems in all. The IV issue is something the hospital can easily address. Many hospitals have an IV team of RNs who only start all the IVs and blood transfusions. They maintain a high level of skill because they do it all the time. This is a case where the saying "practice makes perfect" does apply. Of course they have even had trouble with me and then the anesthetist is called. Many hospitals have adopted a policy that after 2 sticks by the floor nurses the CRNA( anesthetist) is called. Babies and children are very difficult to start an IV on and yes the nurses feel really horrible for the trauma the child goes through but there are better ways to do it.

Posted by sandyestabrook (anonymous) on May 6, 2008 at 7:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Someone asked why patients are sent to Topeka etc for pacemakers when the surgery could be done here. Possibly that is because we don't have a board certified cardiologist handy and that is a heart procedure. Most hospitals are qualified to insert temporary pacemakers in an emergency situation but for a permanent one it is probably better to be overseen by a cardiologist. I have been a patient 4 times in the ER and received good care each time. However once when admitted I almost received pain medication double. I had waited about 30 min for pain medicine and turned my call light on again. A second nurse came and told me she would be right back. Minutes later the first nurse came with the medication which was given to me. She no sooner left the room when the second nurse came with the pain medication. I was in pain and somewhat sedated so if my daughter had not been there to ask the nurse what she was doing and then tell her that I had already received the medication I would have gotten it twice. Medication errors are more common that you would think and so hopefully the new system will help that. The main thing I and my family have realized with all the various incidents in the emergency room and in hospital is that people need to have a family member with them all the time. The nurses are rushed, sometimes the patient unable to speak for themselves (sedated, elderly and confused, a child) and in cases where your own physician is not taking care of you and knows your history, MISTAKES HAPPEN. The days of thinking your doctor is God and that the hospital will take good care of you because that is what they are suppose to do, well, those days are gone. You have to be an advocate for yourself and your families health care. All the questions are good and I hope we get some real answers and solutions soon. When doctors are sending patients on to a higher level of care that is a good thing. When doctors think they can take care of everything in a small hospital and really can't that is a bad thing. Be grateful that we have doctors willing to put their patient's care first.

Posted by savannah (anonymous) on May 7, 2008 at 8:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

In response to the above comment.....sometimes patients are sent on to other hospitals because they feel the patient will get better care for what they have going on at the other hospital. Not because they (the Doctor) can't take care of them. There are many factors that go into the decision to send someone to another facility. Now if you are talking about beyond their level of expertise as a reason to send then the statement would be a true one. There are Doctors here in Emporia that give high levels of care.

Posted by sandyestabrook (anonymous) on May 7, 2008 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

savannah, what I was referring to and didn't make clear was a small rural hospital (personal experience while working there for 3 yrs) which of course Newman is not. My experience with doctors at Emporia has been a positive one. I write the above info because having been a nurse for many years and also a patient with serious heath issues, I have seen what happens from both points of view. It gives you a different perspective and something I think each nurse and doctor should experience. Even if I had been able to return to work, I would not as I was so disillusioned by things that happened to me by nurses I worked with, doctors I knew and the cover up that followed. Don't even try to tell me that things like that don't happen because I know different.

Posted by savannah (anonymous) on May 7, 2008 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Your misunderstanding my comment. I understand what your are saying, I know there are things that need to be corrected but sometimes when you try and correct them you are the one that looses out. I was just trying to comment on the fact that sometimes people are sent out for correct reasons, not because the Doctor can't handle their problem but because the supporting staff cannot handle the problem .I could go on but i'll stop at that. It would be nice if all this would end up benefiting the people of Emporia, their hospital, all the health care professionals that spend so much time doing what they are doing.

Posted by sandyestabrook (anonymous) on May 8, 2008 at 1:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree with you savannah, but it seems the issue between some of the doctors and staff may be continuity of care. I would like to see an article by the Gazette from the nursing administration as to what type of nursing staff hierarchy they are using and what the school of nursing is teaching. I may be old fashioned but after working with different types I still think the Head nurse with RN team leaders who have LPNs and nurses assistants on their teams works the best. There is a chain of command and responsibility which gets lost with some of the others. As a patient I had my nurses name written on a board with a phone number. I wonder what happens if that person is unavailable? I was lucky to see the nurse once a shift (not here).