An Immigrant Women’s Experience in a County Hospital
Shikha Ahuja
Drexel University
S.D. is a 38 year old immigrant female who was admitted to a community memorial hospital when she was nine months pregnant. S.D. went to the hospital clinic for a prenatal checkup on October 7, 2014. The nurse took her vital signs and all her vitals were normal except for the blood pressure. She had an abnormally high blood pressure reading. The physician admitted her as a precautionary measure. She stayed in two different units in the hospital during her stay: Labor & Delivery unit for three days and the Maternal Post-Op recovery unit for the same amount of time but the quality of care she received in both units was not the same. She was …show more content…
reports that she interacted with the following hospital personnel during her stay were: staff nurses, O.R. nurses, physicians, radiology technicians, social worker and nursing students. She reports that all the hospital personnel performed hand hygiene before and after any contact with her. All the procedures were explained to her at a level that she could understand. The staff in the Labor and Delivery unit was more than eager to explain answer all of her questions and concerns but the same couldn’t be said about the staff in the recovery unit. For example, S.D. was advised to call for help before going to the bathroom because of pain and swelling around her stiches. But one of the nurse in recovery unit refused to help her and said that S.D’s husband can help her with the task. On further inquiry, S.D. reports that nurses in recovery unit worked 12 hour shifts compared to the 8 hour shifts that nurses in Labor unit worked. And long work hours increase the risk for reduced job performance, obesity, injuries, and fatigue-related errors could harm patients (Caruso & Claire, 2014, p.19). Fatigued nurses also endanger others during their commute to and from work (Caruso & Claire, 2014,
Shikha Ahuja
Drexel University
S.D. is a 38 year old immigrant female who was admitted to a community memorial hospital when she was nine months pregnant. S.D. went to the hospital clinic for a prenatal checkup on October 7, 2014. The nurse took her vital signs and all her vitals were normal except for the blood pressure. She had an abnormally high blood pressure reading. The physician admitted her as a precautionary measure. She stayed in two different units in the hospital during her stay: Labor & Delivery unit for three days and the Maternal Post-Op recovery unit for the same amount of time but the quality of care she received in both units was not the same. She was …show more content…
reports that she interacted with the following hospital personnel during her stay were: staff nurses, O.R. nurses, physicians, radiology technicians, social worker and nursing students. She reports that all the hospital personnel performed hand hygiene before and after any contact with her. All the procedures were explained to her at a level that she could understand. The staff in the Labor and Delivery unit was more than eager to explain answer all of her questions and concerns but the same couldn’t be said about the staff in the recovery unit. For example, S.D. was advised to call for help before going to the bathroom because of pain and swelling around her stiches. But one of the nurse in recovery unit refused to help her and said that S.D’s husband can help her with the task. On further inquiry, S.D. reports that nurses in recovery unit worked 12 hour shifts compared to the 8 hour shifts that nurses in Labor unit worked. And long work hours increase the risk for reduced job performance, obesity, injuries, and fatigue-related errors could harm patients (Caruso & Claire, 2014, p.19). Fatigued nurses also endanger others during their commute to and from work (Caruso & Claire, 2014,