[OT] I hate hospitals...

[Blood Jester]

I have come late to this thread, but wanted to send my best wishes Tsyr.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Read the above statement 10 time. Make them answer your questions. Keep asking for a nurse or doctor. They are charging your dad about $2000 an hour for these type services, you have a right to know what is going on.

Uh, no. Unfortunately, Tsyr has no right to know anything about what's going on with his dad in a medical situation unless he has been given permission to access that information, usually by his parent in question, sometimes governed by law (father is brain dead on a machine and Tsyr is the last living relative, etc.). This is a very hard rule to enforce as an RN because I feel so terrible for family members that I really want to keep them informed, but I can't unless dad tells me I can. It's for the father's protection/right to privacy.

I realize that it also really seriously pisses family members off. I've had them yelling in my face and calling me names, but all I can reply is "it's his decision whether he wants you to know or not."

You have to put yourself in the patient's shoes. What if he has something really embarrassing like... er... syphilis (this is just to make a point. I don't think he really has this). He's not gonna want his kids to know that. What if you had the clap from visiting 10 cent whores? Do you want your family to access that information just because they're family? And where do you draw the line on this free information? Before or after they find out that the ER removed a hamster from your rectum? Extreme examples these might seem, but I've seen far far worse.

It's a right to privacy issue and the courts and the regulatory agencies (JHACO) are going to town on this one.

I think they probably aren't telling because they aren't sure and because you technically have no right to be told (though I don't know much about laws in the USA).

And you'd be right. Though, I have to admit, a lot of nurses/doctors ignore that rule and are starting to get their hands slapped and, sometimes, a bit more.

That sounds like a non sequitur to me. Surely it is Dad who has a right to know. His money, his medical information: why is it someone else's right to know? I don't know about the USA, but in this country doctors and nurses are not allowed to divulge my medical information, even to my relatives, without permission from me. And a good thing too, because I don't necessarily want my relatives knowing all my medical details.

Exactomundo... You got it. And it doesn't even have to do with whose money it is. It's his body, his problem, his right.

I do, however, feel terrible for Tsyr. I hope everything turns out all right.