The Bullshit Stalker

Dead Patients Are Easier To Deal With?

By admin on Aug. 21, 2008.

I’m not sure I want to go to the hospital next time I’m ill or hurt.  Yet another patient dies with nobody noticing.  This time in Greensboro, NC.  This one touches a nerve for me because my mother lives there.

Two quotes from the article just jump out at me:

If the center rejects the report, federal funds will be cut off beginning September 1, Lawrence said.

What kind of bullshit is this?  They let a man sit there for 23 hours!  What are they spending the federal funds (read, our tax dollars) on?  Per the article, “watching television and playing cards a few feet away.”

I can imagine the conversation now:

Nurse one: “Read ‘em and weep!”

Nurse two: “Damn!  What is that, five in a row?”

Nurse three: “I like days like this, quiet, no whiners.  We get to play cards in peace.”

Nurse one: “Yeah, that was a great idea you had.  Don’t feed or water them and they don’t poop or pee.”

Nurse two: “Brilliant!”

Nurse one: “Brilliant!”

Nurse three: “Will you get me another Guinness from the cooler?”

And then I loved this one:

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dempsey Benton said in a statement that nurses may be reassigned to provide more patient supervision. Officials are also considering better ways to manage staff resources, he said.

Er, ya think?  Dude!  They were playing cards just feet away from Mr. Sabock.  They don’t need to be reassigned or better managed.  They need to get out of the field.  He choked on his meds.  Think about that for a minute.

I would like to close with this.  While I made a joke in this blog post, I don’t take this topic lightly.  For all the talk of national healthcare, it seems to me we have another issue to address first.  Quality.

Rate this:

3.5