CNN iReport

I didn't expect to be hospitalized with an ingrown toenail when I went to my doctor to remove it.  Because it was slow to heal, he sent me to the JCVA Hospital for some test.  After a few test  it was determined that I needed more test,  so I was admitted.  A team of Doctors was assigned to me and everyone of them took the time to explain what their role was and what to expect.

Over the next several days I went through test after test.  I V's were attached, up to 4 at a time.

The number of personal required for all this was, to my surprise,  quite extensive.

From the janitors, transporters, nurses aids, nurses and their supervisors, the staff was quite extensive as it spread over 3 shifts. Sometimes it is hard to tell how well someone is performing their duties because on the surface  it  appears everyone is really busting ass, but when you are laying in bed for 5 day's and going through 3 shifts a day,  you get another perspective on the whole picture.  The people who are really outstanding and performing their jobs beyond the call of duty starts to show through.  There are as many levels of performance as there are personalities.  There are some that do their job just enough to get by to keep their job, then there are the ones that take up the slack by performing beyond what is expected.  This became obviously evident when they moved Martin (not his real name) in as my new roommate.  Martin was admitted with a huge  kidney stone that could not be dealt with with the regular procedures. Sound blasting could not break up the stone as it was too large and hard.  They told him they would have to go in from the back where they will have to put a drain in.   That afternoon they took him to surgery to operate to put in a tube with a bag to drain fluids until they could do the surgery to remove the stone.  They brought Martin back to the room around 3:30 or 4PM at shift change time. He was in a lot of pain, but that is to be expected, after all he just went through a surgical procedure so you would expect some pain.  The staff was great during the evening by checking in several times.  Martin's pain progressed as the night wore on and the nurses were able to get a pain shot for him as the pills weren't working.  Now don't get the wrong impression, Martin is a tough old bird and was toughing  out the pain.  However , the pain did not subside, even after the second shot.  By now, we are into late night and the midnight shift was on. Martin is still in agony but would not push the button to get help. He's just trying to tough it out. Well about 3:30am Martin started having difficulty breathing, but still would not call for help.  Finally,  It got to the point I called the nurses in.  They checked him over and everything seemed to be in place, and they did not want to call the doctor because it was so early in the morning.  I got mad and said that it is obvious Martin is in more distress than what should be normal and if the Doctor didn't want to be disturbed he should go and get a 9 to 5 job at a factory.  Well his Doctor arrived around 6am and examined him and then left.

For the next 2 hours Martin lay there in agony, barely able to breath because of the pain.  About 8am and shift change,  I pushed the button again and asked the nurse to check Martin who was by now in excruciating pain.

The nurse went over to him to look at the incision site and staples and exclaimed, here's the problem, the bag is twisted, no fluids were draining!   She corrected the problem and secured the bag so it would not twist and then came back in with a device for breathing exercise and made him breath deep until she was satisfied he was breathing properly. That nurse was tougher than Marten, when he didn't want to breath deep, she jumped all over him and asked him if he wanted to come down with pneumonia? She must have scarred him because   he immediately started taking deeper breaths.   Within 15 minutes his pain subsided to where he was able to get some sleep after enduring 16 hrs of extreme discomfort.

The Nurse told me not to tell anyone,  I suppose she didn't want to embarrass the doctor.

I saw many examples of people that were really sharp on the job, going beyond expectations . I also saw some indifference.   Additionally,  there were several mistakes being made because of a problem with Doctor orders not getting through the proper channels.  Some of my blood test were missed because they were not in the computer and test that were scheduled then later canceled did not get canceled and the transporter that came for me, had to waste his time and endure the aggravation he had to put up with with  me refusing to go with him.

My viewpoint of this is it seems that the ability to observe when a patient is recovering normally or experiencing symptoms of distress which are beyond normal and knowing how to respond are limited to just a few highly dedicated and motivated people. They are the one's that go out of their way and do what is beyond expected.  I would put those people in the category of greatness.