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Post by K78 on May 21, 2008 9:34:40 GMT -5
The basic understanding in this city, for the most part is: Memorial for your heart. Erlanger for ER trauma.
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Post by manlyman on May 21, 2008 11:59:50 GMT -5
I must concur with K78. My family members and friends who have had heart "episodes" all rave about Memorial's heart facility. And all of my experiences with Erlanger's emergency facilities has been excellent (especially the childrens ER). The only problem I have with Erlanger's ER is that it is a public hospital. So, even when you have a legitimate emergency, you still have to filter through all the people who use the ER for a primary care facility for runny noses, colds, "my tummy hurts", etc. BS.
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Post by K78 on May 21, 2008 12:33:35 GMT -5
The only problem I have with Erlanger's ER is that it is a public hospital. So, even when you have a legitimate emergency, you still have to filter through all the people who use the ER for a primary care facility for runny noses, colds, "my tummy hurts", etc. BS. Ya know...I have to agree to a point. However, it is common for most ERs to be this way. Unfortunately, some emergencies cannot be seen with the naked eye. You run the risk of getting overlooked when the ER nurse can't physically see your problem. The good news is, if they can, and it's a true medical emergency...you get in. Crappy that it takes that, but I guess it's the nature of the beast. Remember: The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so if your emergency is real and not just a runny nose, scream, yell, and cry like hell and maybe they will let ya on through!
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Post by bignana on May 21, 2008 13:02:55 GMT -5
I would also agree with Memorial. My husband has had two by-pass surgeries and arteries unclogged and I wouldn't go anywhere else but Memorial for that. But I like Memorial for just about everything.
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Post by raphael on May 21, 2008 14:47:11 GMT -5
Thanks to all. I was thinking about Memorial - but don't know anyone who has been there. All this makes me feel more confident to give it a try. Hopefully I won't need it, but realistically, I need to have a game plan before I need it. Waiting isn't usually a big issue when you have a heart problem. The worst thing about the runny noses and upset tummys is that you go to the ER with an emergency and catch everyone else's problems too! I appreciate the advice. Good luck in the future with all this and if you haven't considered making drastic nutritional changes like really good supplements and such you might want to consider that as an optiion IMO.
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Post by 502blue on May 21, 2008 14:56:07 GMT -5
My mom was treated at memorial for heart related issues, they saved her life, literally.
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Post by tnshecat on May 21, 2008 17:25:02 GMT -5
I was born in Memorial Hospital. My Dad can show you the room where my Mom was . I almost died there in 2005 had it not been for their wonderful care and a very, very competent Dr. He is now my primary care. ANYthing I need I prefer Memorial. There is just something about the atmosphere-- It is a Catholic run hospital and it just feels different from walking in Erlanger. Really hard to explain what I am trying to say... Any way, I have had experience with both ER's and , if you have insurance, go to Memorial. MO
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Post by knightstemplar on May 21, 2008 18:41:22 GMT -5
Memorial for heart problems hands down
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Post by copperhead on May 22, 2008 10:52:06 GMT -5
I won't go to Memorial nor allow my husband or children to go there. I was a patient at one of their facilities once and I won't go back.
Having said that, there's not a hospital anywhere that doesn't have its problems. Every single one of them has issues with MRSA & VRE. They all have trouble keeping nurses because of the working conditions, so care can often be hit-or-miss. Find a doc who can do the job & go with it. A good doctor-patient relationship (expecially communication) is key to having good primary care. Most primary docs are letting the hospitalists (employed by the hospital) handle the care of their patients while in hospital. Go with whichever hospital makes you happy.
I've worked at a three hospitals in Tennessee. Two were teaching institutions and one was for-profit. I'd take my chances at a teaching institution any day. I choose Erlanger. If Erlanger can't handle it, I'm heading to Vandy or St. Thomas (for cardiac only) in Nashville.
Oh, yeah, one final thing - avoid the emergency room if at all possible. Call your primary doc & ask to speak with the nurse or go to a walk-in clinic but don't go the the ER unless you can't breathe, are having chest pain, the worst headache of your life, lots of bleeding, suspectedbroken bones, etc.
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Post by whimdriven on May 22, 2008 10:52:50 GMT -5
Memorial ... their relationship with Chattanooga Heart Institute is unrivalled compared to other options in the city ...
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Post by K78 on May 22, 2008 11:00:16 GMT -5
Copperhead, do you mind elaborating on your experience? I'm curious. You don't have to, as I know that medical information is most of the time, a private matter.
I just can't see them being a bad hospital. My mom developed cardiomyopathy when she was pregnant with my little brother and has been going there or Northpark (still the same people) for a long time, my grand father has had a quadruple bi-pass there and they took excellent care of him, he has had bouts with prostate cancer (survived it), and is now on dialysis there (maintaining). You have raised my concern level.
You don't have to provide details, but a time frame would be good. Was this recent?
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Post by copperhead on May 22, 2008 12:51:12 GMT -5
I had an ectopic pregnancy in 2002. The obgyn needed to perform emergent surgery on me & he did his surgery at Northpark. Most (not all) of the OR nurses on the case seemed to be rather busy joking around (it was very early in the a.m. and I was VERY distressed so a little less joviality would've helped that day). I had to ask the CRNA to listen to my heart - I was told that he'd listened while listening to my lungs. The nurse who started my IV didn't realize she needed a hematocrit on me until after she'd flushed the site with saline. I asked her to just draw the blood from a different site but she persisted in drawing diluted blood from the site. My hematocrit came back low - duh. I wasn't told that I'd had a catheter during surgery but had signs upon my return home that indicated that this had occurred. I had to call my doctor's office to confirm this & have an antibiotic called in as a result.
I'm a nurse. I know the drill. I know what is supposed to happen and how it's supposed to be done. I've done my share of assessments and discharge instructions. A lot of things slipped through the cracks that day. The doc's use of Northpark was my only reason for changing obgyns when I became pregnant.
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Post by Jack White on May 22, 2008 12:53:02 GMT -5
I have heart problems as well. Two open heart surgeries to be exact. Both of my surgeries have been @ Vandy. Every year I have an annual check-up with a cardiologist @ TC Thompson's. Yes it is primarily a children's place, but they said that I continue to go there every year the rest of my life as they know me best (they have treated me since I was an infant). However, if I had a situation where medical attention was needed immediately, I would go to Memorial.
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Post by K78 on May 22, 2008 13:36:49 GMT -5
I had an ectopic pregnancy in 2002. The obgyn needed to perform emergent surgery on me & he did his surgery at Northpark. Most (not all) of the OR nurses on the case seemed to be rather busy joking around (it was very early in the a.m. and I was VERY distressed so a little less joviality would've helped that day). I had to ask the CRNA to listen to my heart - I was told that he'd listened while listening to my lungs. The nurse who started my IV didn't realize she needed a hematocrit on me until after she'd flushed the site with saline. I asked her to just draw the blood from a different site but she persisted in drawing diluted blood from the site. My hematocrit came back low - duh. I wasn't told that I'd had a catheter during surgery but had signs upon my return home that indicated that this had occurred. I had to call my doctor's office to confirm this & have an antibiotic called in as a result. I'm a nurse. I know the drill. I know what is supposed to happen and how it's supposed to be done. I've done my share of assessments and discharge instructions. A lot of things slipped through the cracks that day. The doc's use of Northpark was my only reason for changing obgyns when I became pregnant. I see the concern. I grew up in Hixson, so North Park has always been closest, but not the best. To be truthful though, when it comes to conditions of the heart, Memorial Heart Institute can't be beat on a local level. They are good. And it is really different than North Park, even though they are affiliated.
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Post by copperhead on May 23, 2008 9:02:46 GMT -5
Parkridge is for profit and nurses tend to be more intimidated of physicians in that environment. I learned that when I worked for a hospital that was part of the same system a few years ago.
A hospital released info to someone who didn't need it? That's called a HIPAA violation. Yikes!
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Post by knightstemplar on May 23, 2008 16:39:33 GMT -5
Parkridge is for profit and nurses tend to be more intimidated of physicians in that environment. I learned that when I worked for a hospital that was part of the same system a few years ago. A hospital released info to someone who didn't need it? That's called a HIPAA violation. Yikes! In every hosp. RN's run the show. To work in a hospital setting one must understand this. IMO
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Post by copperhead on May 23, 2008 21:50:12 GMT -5
In my experience, the RNs have to have the cojones to call a doc when there's a problem & stand up for the best interest of the patient. I've seen many who are marvelous at caring for their patients and advocating for them as well. I've seen several who don't provide adequate care and several who provide care but no advocacy or critical thinking. Patient advocacy is part of the core of being a nurse. Without this, they become a physician's whipping dog & the patient loses out.
RNs run the show to the extent where they have time to think about more than just "putting out fires" and burrowing down in the necessary documentation to be finished by the end of the shift. The nurse manager is a big component in empowering the staff RNs. If your manager doesn't back your valid judgement calls, you might as well go find another job. I've known nurse managers to give a physician a rough way to go when a nurse correctly advocated for a patient. I've also seen a nurse manager write in an order where there hadn't been one the day before (If someone had complained, my rear would've been in the chopper over the incident). That was at my last bedside position.
There are days I miss "floor nursing". Being part of a team that works together in the best interest of the patient can be a really rewarding venture. What keeps me away from the bedside is mandatory overtime, weekends, holidays and high nurse-patient ratios. I'll stick to what I'm doing now until I can get it together to go to grad school.
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Post by sugarcane on May 25, 2008 8:22:56 GMT -5
Remember: The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so if your emergency is real and not just a runny nose, scream, yell, and cry like hell and maybe they will let ya on through! I've found that puking on the floor in the waiting room will get one a bed real quick. ;D
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Post by copperhead on May 29, 2008 8:54:36 GMT -5
I had this recent bad experience at Parkridge. ... After I had been there for two weeks, a nurse who had been assigned to me several times, asked me why I was there. This doesn't make a sick patient feel very good when they don't even read the charts to see what's going on. Erlanger is not in the equation for me. They gave my medical history to someone who didn't need it and caused me a great deal of problems. Worse, the history they gave out was not even what they had told me, so they told a stranger a different diagnosis than they did me. Pardon me, but I got to thinking over the weekend (scary thought, I know) and wondered why you asked for suggestions about hospitals in the area when you'd already ruled out 2 of the only 3 you could use? I mean, really. If you won't return to Parkridge & Erlanger is out of the question, that only leaves Memorial unless you go to another city, i.e., Nashville or Atlanta. You'd already made your decision before you posted.
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Post by newuser on May 29, 2008 20:45:12 GMT -5
Again, thanks to all who answered my question. Sorry I've offended some with my question. You see, I don't know all the hospitals in the area; therefore I asked a question.
Not to worry - I won't ask anymore. It's a shame; I try to use a discussion board and someone lets me know I'm just a stupid idiot who is welcome no where.
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Post by tnwaltz on May 29, 2008 20:51:41 GMT -5
honey... i don't think she meant it that way. you're welcome with us.
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Post by raphael on May 29, 2008 21:02:33 GMT -5
Again, thanks to all who answered my question. Sorry I've offended some with my question. You see, I don't know all the hospitals in the area; therefore I asked a question. Not to worry - I won't ask anymore. It's a shame; I try to use a discussion board and someone lets me know I'm just a stupid idiot who is welcome no where. Don't worry what some say. You sometimes have to have some real thick skin and let a lot of things slide when posting on a forum. My dad was in Memorial and I liked the care there I really didn't want to pull him out. You have to remember Erlanger takes in a lot of indigant care which IMO would for the most part be a "training" area for most of them to move on. However I have heard they do have some good surgeons. In fact one of them saved my dads life when he had his abdominal aneurism.
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Post by newuser on May 29, 2008 21:08:59 GMT -5
I've apologized to Fredo. I didn't mean to be a problem. I asked for suggestions because I needed them. I had made no decision as was suggested, and I need help before it's an emergency.
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Post by raphael on May 29, 2008 21:14:15 GMT -5
I've apologized to Fredo. I didn't mean to be a problem. I asked for suggestions because I needed them. I had made no decision as was suggested, and I need help before it's an emergency. Why did you apologize to Fredo? Are you having heart problems?
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Post by newuser on May 29, 2008 21:24:19 GMT -5
I apologized because of the comment in reply #18 that I had already decided before I asked the question as if I were stupid or something. I didn't want Fredo to think I was misusing the forum. I genuinely had a question.
The phrase in reply #18 "I mean, really" is indicating that I asked a stupid question.
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