Home Health NUTS (I mean, Nurses)

I have known my fair share of nurses over the years, and for the most part they have all been very sweet, caring, and well-educated. But, as in all things, there are those that are completely clueless. Unfortunately, I found a whole agency of them. Let me just say, they were so bad that my doctor got involved and fired the entire agency!

When I left the hospital I had to continue on IV antibiotics. The doctor wanted to be sure that all infections were totally cleared up. Since I wasn't yet capable of taking care of myself, I had to have my first home health visit at my mom's house. The nurse showed up and seemed to be very competent. She was nice enough, went over my medical history, and prepared to get yet another needle shoved into my chest. Thankfully, she hit the port on the first try. Then the problems began. She started to tape it down when the tape twisted. As she was trying to pull the tape off the needle came out of the port. Since time was running out for my next treatment she immediately gave it another shot. She thought she hit the port. After a number of attempts to flush the port with saline, I was in so much pain my mom finally told her to pack up her stuff and leave.

We grabbed my next treatment and headed to the ER. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. They pressed on my chest on the side where my port is located and it was very soft and puffy. The home health nurse had shot so much saline into my chest cavity that they had to give me pain medication. Once they located my medical records they immediately needled my port and started my IV antibiotics...two hours AFTER I was supposed to have it. So home I go.

The next day another home health nurse showed up at my home. This time the home health nurse had no clue what she was doing. She couldn't get the needle in my port for nothing. Again, I had to tell her to just leave. Again, I had to take the antibiotics and head to the ER for my treatment. Once my doctor got word of what had happened, not only once, but twice with the same agency, she called them up personally and fired them. Needless to say, I received a phone call from the agency. They wanted to know why my doctor called them up and fired them. I explained to them what had happened with the two nurses who had been sent to my home to take care of me. Not surprisingly, they tried to defend the nurses. I now knew why everyone that asked me who was going to be taking care of me at home was reluctant and told me to reconsider. Unfortunately, when you are in the military you tend to have to use who they tell you to. The only way to change it is to have things go wrong. At least I know who I don't want taking care of me, EVER AGAIN!