This is just too much!

[Teresa in MO]

My daughter's BIL got taken to the ER this morning with severe stomach pain. They would not let his wife into ER, which they expected.  She had to go home to be with her kids.  After about an hour, she called the ER to find out what was going on.  They told her he was taken into an emergency surgery, but would not tell her for what or how serious it was!  He called her like 4 hours later and told her that he had a ruptured appendix.  So she had to wait over 5 hours before she knew that he was going to be OK!  

What if it was something more serious and he was laying unconscious in an ICU bed?  Would it have been days before she was told anything?  I think that is terrible to leave a patient's spouse hanging for so long!  The thoughts that must have been running through her head.

[Murphy101]

4 minutes ago, Teresa in MO said:

My daughter's BIL got taken to the ER this morning with severe stomach pain. They would not let his wife into ER, which they expected.  She had to go home to be with her kids.  After about an hour, she called the ER to find out what was going on.  They told her he was taken into an emergency surgery, but would not tell her for what or how serious it was!  He called her like 4 hours later and told her that he had a ruptured appendix.  So she had to wait over 5 hours before she knew that he was going to be OK!  

What if it was something more serious and he was laying unconscious in an ICU bed?  Would it have been days before she was told anything?  I think that is terrible to leave a patient's spouse hanging for so long!  The thoughts that must have been running through her head.

My outrage is dependent on knowing if he had either a directive or otherwise written permission for his wife to know?

If he did - then that is indeed an outrage.

If he didn’t - that’s just HIPPA . Especially via phone. 

[stephanier.1765]

18 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

My outrage is dependent on knowing if he had either a directive or otherwise written permission for his wife to know?

If he did - then that is indeed an outrage.

If he didn’t - that’s just HIPPA . Especially via phone. 

Is that something you can take care of on the fly? I'm pretty sure my parents and dh are approved but none of my adult children are. This thread made me wonder what if I was visiting my son a thousand miles from home if I could authorize him and his wife right there and then if there was an emergency.

[kbutton]

Maybe he was really out of it when he got there or put on meds that made him not able to really deal with details. But, I would think the intake person could've asked if he had someone that needed to be called unless there was a lot of serious intervention the moment he got there (with a rupture, that could be the case).

I do have relatives that would've been able to call and opted not to (with various levels of distorted thinking not due to meds).  It's happened in emergency situations before (my MIL). Nothing like my husband finding out his dad had a heart attack 36 or so hours after the fact because she left a message in a way that he was nearly certain not to get it. 

So, it depends on a few variables. 

[TCB]

It is difficult with HIPPA. Technically that was probably a correct action but if I was his nurse I would have tried to find out from him who I could pass information on to if they called or asked him if he wanted me to call anyone to tell them he was having surgery. If he had his phone with him he should have been able to call her and tell her what was going on before they took him to surgery, it does not seem like the kind of thing they would be running him to the OR for, like a bleeding artery or something. It is really crazy in some hospitals at the moment so I wonder if they were rushed off their feet and not able to do their normal thing.

[TCB]

2 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Is that something you can take care of on the fly? I'm pretty sure my parents and dh are approved but none of my adult children are. This thread made me wonder what if I was visiting my son a thousand miles from home if I could authorize him and his wife right there and then if there was an emergency.

You can give permission for whoever you want. In our hospital they have to be given a code which we ask for when they call. The difficulty would be if you were incapacitated and unable to say at the time.

[sweet2ndchance]

We have always been asked upon entering the hospital if we want them to give information to callers or not. Except for the time ds had to be taken by ambulance for a seizure. I don't remember being asked that time but the whole thing was a whirlwind so maybe they did and I don't remember.

I mean they have no idea who is on the other end of the phone line claiming to be a spouse or the mother or father of a child or a grandparent or whatever. I like the code thing mentioned above. Then only people you have given the code to can receive information. That seems like a good system and something that should be given to a spouse or guardian who has to drop off a loved one and leave due to current circumstances.