73 People Share Insider Information About Hospitals That May Just Freak You Out

How often mistakes are made.

AppealingTypeface:

This happened to me. I had surgery earlier this year and they left a piece of medical equipment in me. It was discovered a week later when I went in for a follow up and they insisted on doing a CT. I had another surgery 2 days later to remove it. I got very lucky and didn’t develop an infection because I was already prescribed antibiotics as part of my postoperative medication regimen.

The absolute violence that is orthopedic surgery. Especially your total hip and knee replacements.

All while Orthobro is blasting mid 2000s rock/metal over the Bluetooth speaker.

_bbycake:

Orthopedic surgery is human carpentry. And they are not gentle.

The sheer amount of Googling. In the ER we google non stop.

ReadySetTurtle:

I watched an anesthesiologist google “children vitals”, go to images, and pull up a random infographic. We were in the OR, the child was already out on the table.

babymilfie:

The amount of times we've had to Google basic medical stuff because we can't remember would probably terrify patients. Like yesterday I had to look up normal heart rate ranges because my brain just blanked. We're human and sometimes the most basic facts just slip our mind in the moment.

If you are a particularly interesting or sad situation everyone in the hospital (and most outpatient) knows about your case to some capacity whether it is relevant to their specialty or not.

RueTabegga:

At 44 I was diagnosed with colon cancer and had a grapefruit sized tumor removed from my colon. When I went back to get my port placed all the nurses knew about me. “You’re the one who survived a tumor the size of 3 iPhones stacked together? I heard about you! You must be tough!” It actually made me feel super strong.

Members of your care team may have just dealt with something horrible and tragic minutes before stepping into your room. Working in a busy ER there were times when I had to quickly change out of my bloody scrubs from a horrible code before going to see my next patient.

The amount of emotional suppression required working in the medical field is insane.

i work ICU as a RN. I worked ICU and hospice during COVID. I stopped caring. People ask what we do after doing CPR and seeing a person [pass away]? I replied “I usually eat and do my charting”. People are stunned. They think we mourn and cry.

I guess TLDR, please remember this is a job but often it’s just a 9-5 for us, or I guess 7-7.

Also the American Healthcare system is VERY DEPENDENT on nicotine, adderall and caffeine to keep people alive.

Not a nurse but a kid with a teen sister [with] cancer. At the children's cancer ward kids [pass away] a lot. Sometimes every day. I remember asking where my new friend went that I met last week, month, even 3 days ago. Pro tip, If the nurse chokes up telling you that your new friend went home that nurse is lying to save your feelings. Super [messed up] up to be used to your friends [being gone] at 9 or 10 years old.

It’s realistic that you could be followed by a neurologist, a pulmonologist, an internal medicine doctor, and an oncologist all at once and none of them are talking to each other about your care.

The lack of communication between specialties is astounding sometimes. Write things down and ask questions.

Past 8pm your life officially rests in the hands of myself and every other mid twenty something year old who are borderline burnt out and overworked.

TheODPsupreme:

Out of hours, your life is in the hands of an incredibly overworked 26 year old. In hours, the middle grades of doctors and other health professionals (it’s not just nurses you know) are better at their jobs than the most senior ones.

Oh, and the average health care worker has seen more genitals than Bonny Blue and Ron Jeremy combined. Yours aren’t special, or particularly different than anyone else’s.

We hate doing CPR on elderly patients who are doing their [darndest] to [pass]. It is time to let Nana/Papa go.

The_Erlenmeyer_Flask:
The hospice company that managed my dad's care at the end called my brother the morning my dad passed and thanked us for letting them know about my dad's DNR. They too don't like doing CPR on elderly patients. Stop continuing to make their lives miserable & let them go.

Thankfully, my entire family got to spend time with him before he [passed away] so everyone could say their goodbyes.

Hospital rooms are usually extremely unhygienic. They pay someone barely above minimum wage to clean hospital rooms for 5 minutes. They don’t clean most surfaces between sick patients.

ER nurse here. People come in with bed bugs more than you’d imagine. We call in exterminators as soon as we’re aware, but often times these people walk the halls, sit in the lobby, and use the bathroom before we can even identify they are carrying them.

Unless you are in a union shop with mandated staffing ratios, your hospital is not staffing enough nurses and aids to take care of you safely and comfortably. To save money.

Working in a hospital is actually a big game of telephone.

Sea_Technology6536:

A game of telephone on Hell mode. Not a single word can be wrong, and it's timed.

not_a_muggle:

It sure is! I actually was part of a group that did a research study and published a paper on EMS handoff. We followed the patient as soon as they were brought in to the trauma room, through their outcomes. We observed the handoff between EMS and ED staff, and recorded the information that was provided. Then we obtained and reviewed the EMS records to determine what info was provided to EMS at the scene.
We found basically what you're describing - that info is often lost in translation or just lost in general due to not having a standardized handoff. For EMS personnel that utilized an implemented handoff tool, and when a time out was called so that the handoff could be completed thoroughly (still less than 30 seconds), reports were more accurate and patients had better outcomes at hospital release, and after 30 days.

You are at more of a health risk being in the hospital than out. Get out as soon as you safely can. Always have someone stay with you, rotate, et. If possible. Extra ears and eyes leads to better care!!

During the Delta Wave of covid, we ran out of space in the morgue and had to stack smaller decedents on top of larger ones. This was with a refrigerator trailer morgue outside, in addition to the normal one.

The public generally sees medical professionals as good, caring people. The reality is that there's as many idiots, [jerks] and mentally disturbed people as most other fields.

People think surgeons use futuristic laser scalpels for everything. In reality, half of an orthopedic surgery sounds like a Home Depot workshop. There’s a lot more literal hammering, sawing, and 'I think we need a bigger bolt' than anyone tells you. It’s basically high-stakes construction work where the building can scream.

Don't sit on the floor in any hospital!

Every hospital has cockroaches. Yes, even the best and most reputable ones (hospitals, not cockroaches).

Anon:
Sometimes they come from patient purses :(