Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group
Crohn's disease is a systemic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of unknown cause, that results in chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract. It can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, and can also cause complications outside of the gastrointestinal tract. There is no known medical or surgical cure for Crohn's disease, but there are many medical...
I was wondering if anyone else had ever written a letter of complaint/praise to a hospital about their staff?
I just finally got home after 1 E.R. and 2 hospital trips in a 2 week period. For the most part I was well taken care of, but towards the end of my stay I was completely ignored and neglected by staff for hours on end. I feel the something needs to be said regarding those staff members. There's also a nurse I feel should be commended for going above and beyond her job description to help me. She was not my assigned nurse on a given night, but I never saw my nurse during her entire 12 hour shift, and if it hadn't been for this other girl, I wouldn't have gotten any of my meds or checked on that whole evening. Anywayz, I've been in and out of the hospital a lot over the years, but never considered writing a letter before about the care I received. I'm not even entirely sure where I should send the letter? So again, just wondering if anyone else had ever written a letter after a hospital stay, and how you went about addressing the issues you'd come across. I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but at the same time I hate to think of any other patients being treated the way I was.
Thankx in advance for everyone's advice. =)
I just finally got home after 1 E.R. and 2 hospital trips in a 2 week period. For the most part I was well taken care of, but towards the end of my stay I was completely ignored and neglected by staff for hours on end. I feel the something needs to be said regarding those staff members. There's also a nurse I feel should be commended for going above and beyond her job description to help me. She was not my assigned nurse on a given night, but I never saw my nurse during her entire 12 hour shift, and if it hadn't been for this other girl, I wouldn't have gotten any of my meds or checked on that whole evening. Anywayz, I've been in and out of the hospital a lot over the years, but never considered writing a letter before about the care I received. I'm not even entirely sure where I should send the letter? So again, just wondering if anyone else had ever written a letter after a hospital stay, and how you went about addressing the issues you'd come across. I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but at the same time I hate to think of any other patients being treated the way I was.
Thankx in advance for everyone's advice. =)
I am sorry this happened to you, unfortunately it is probably more common than we think. I hope you are feeling better now.
A balanced well written letter which address the good and bad, particularly if you include suggestions on how the problems could be addressed, will be much better received than a rant. a rant will just be ignored.
Does this hospital have a Patient Advocate? This is a person, often a experienced nurse or other health care provider, who has the job of hearing your concerns, and fighting for you. When i worked at a cancer centre, this person would help patients who needed someone to speak up for them about alternate treatments, hear complaints, problem solve around medical errors, etc, often for patients who don't have a friend or family member to come to appointments with them. a patient advocate is a person who can take your concerns to the bigwigs and get results.