Aiken Regional Medical Centers review: The ER challenge 1

On September 12th, Madison my home care nurse changed the dressing on my Picc line, which was the 2nd visit to change the dressing, everything was well until September 13th, when I was awakened by the pain of the PICC line, I called Madison and she told me she could not come to me until September 16th. I wrapped the arm because the dressing was coming off, so I would not get infected.

On September 16th I went to the Aiken out of patience and arrived there at 11:15 after going round and round about my VA authorization expired on September 10th and they refused to let me go further, the authorization came through about 4:45 at which time, I was told that the time and process to put in a new PICC line could not be installed, due to lack of personnel. I was told by the catheter department, that an appointment was scheduled for 9:00 on September 17th.

Because the ceftriaxone 2 grams has to be administered every 24 hrs due to my E coli infection at the time of PAD surgery. I was able to get ER authorization due to it is run by a different branch of the VA. I entered the ER at about 5:15 and was released at about 8:15 pm. Sometime around 7:00 I finally got to see the doctor, at which time she wanted to see the Picc line while removing the bandage the Picc line came completely out. The ER then contacted infectious disease Dr Gordon. The doctor advise the ER to administer Ceftriaxone 2 grams by temporary IV.

September 17th I returned to out patience and by 11:00 the Picc line had
been replaced. The line was fine till about 3:30 the catheter had moved to another location and was getting painful.

On September 18th I returned to our patient at about 10:00 am, Out patient contacted the catheter department and was told they would not see me and that if I had any issues, I would have to go through the ER. Entered the ER around 10:30 and around 3:00 they called me back and adjusted the catheter so that it was not cutting into my skin and painful at the entry site. The nurse said that was the best she could do. I also inquired about how could I contact the catheter department and she responded that unless the caterer is not working properly I would not be able to see them about this matter. Arrived home and suffered that night. I was able to administer the Ceftriaxone 2 grams, however, it was painful again at the site and this time it continued to be painful throughout the night.

September 19th I arrived at the ER around 8:30was seen and released around 11:45 am, during which time a nurse adjusted the catheter, unfortunately, the painful issue remains. I got home in Hephzibah ga
and the pain was too much to bear, my wife drove me back to the ER. Arrived around 5:00 and released at 9:30. During this time the ER decided to change the dressing and adjust the catheter. Once again I asked if someone in the hospital was on call for catheter issues and was told no.
Went home and was able to administer the medication, while trying to live with the catheter pain from the recent reset.

September 20th I went back to the ER, arrived around 10:30, and only 3 people at the ER for service and I was one of them. Around 2:00 I was called and placed in an exam room where I sat for 1.5 hours without even a hello from anyone on the ER staff. Finally, after stopping the shift nurse and explaining what I was going through, she got the hall attendant to contact a doctor or a nurse. 15 minutes later the doctor showed up and the doctor made it clear to me that they were not going to contact anyone in the catheter unit and he proceeded to tell his nurse to change the dressing. Once again the dressing was changed, however, I asked the nurse to flush it with the saline, which she did and it would not allow the saline to go through, after checking the locks, she decided to move the tubing on the catheter, this is when she told me that I would have to play with the tubing for it to work and I was not happy cause here I am with a nonworking catheter and it seems no one cared. I sat in the room for 45 minutes looking in the hallway and found that my nurse had entered someone's room and was servicing another patient while I awaited my discharge papers, another 25 minutes passed and I decided to leave.

I also left a message with the patient advocate line that day, and yet to hear from anyone regarding this matter, please also note that my pain level was very high due to the stress and other medical issues.