Pre-surgery nightmares

I'm wondering if anyone has had to deal with the emotions of a poor surgery prep ? I have had a few various surgeries over the past few yrs at a few different hospitals and I have learned that how you are treated when they prep you for surgery really impacts not only the surgery itself but how you feel about future surgeries. I was lucky because when I had my D & C 6 months earlier I went to an outpatient surgery center and they were wonderful. It was quiet and relaxed and they made me so comfortable. They came in to check on me frequently and when they did they walked in slowly and waited for me to talk. They didn't seem to be in such a rush.

So when I went in for my LSH last week at a different hospital I had these wonderful visions of how I didn't need to worry because all would be calm and fine. Those visions kept me together the days before surgery. But things didn't go the way I thought. I was first told that my hubby had to wait in the waiting room for the first hour so they could prep me and then they would come and find him to sit with me until I went in. Well, I was the first patient to come in and within 30 minutes everyone else had their relatives with them except me. I kept asking for my hubby but when they called down to the waiting room desk the clerk wasn't answering. Finally 30 minutes before my surgery the nurse walked out there herself to get him.

The whole atmosphere was rushed and loud. All the pre-op rooms faced a main desk and they kept leaving my curtain wide open so they could come and go quicker but that forced me to watch everything that went on between the nurses and Drs, to hear all their stories, etc. Not to mention the visitors walking by could see me sitting in my bed. The only person who actually made any real conversation with me was the nurses aid whose only job was to have me change and take my vitals. Everyone else talked a mile a minute like we were all on an assembly line and they had to hurry, hurry, hurry.

Anyways, I could go on and on but the whole experience sort of traumatised me and I wasn't sure if anyone else has had to deal with this emotionaly

yes!, yes!, and YES!!!! I am really struggling with the emotional after affects of my pre op experinece. I too was rushed through the process. I was actually ignored by the nurse who was supposed to be caring for me. I told her at least 8 times that I didn't want Versed at all as I have had bad experieneces with it in the past. She COMPLETELY Ignored me! I was floored. I finally refused to sign a paper until she would acknowledge me. She finally told me she would tell the anesthe. that I didn't want Versed. I later found out after surgery that I was given Versed in POST OP!! The anesth. said the nurse told him I didn't want it in pre op....such a lie! I called the hosp to complain and was given the shaft. They told me that they have had complaints about that nurse before but since she has been there for over 20 years they aren't going to do anything about it. ;-0 I am appalled at how I was treated and the fact that no one cares. I was rushed, ignored and am really afraid to have surgery again because I don't want to go through this trauma again. Surgery itself is bad enough, pre op should be relaxing....sorry, I had to Vent. ;-) They wouldn't let my husband come back at all! They said because of Hippa violations....ugh!

I'm sorry this happened to you. I know exactly what you are talking about because I am an OR nurse and I work in this stuff daily. You are right. It is loud, rushed and anything but private. The hospital where I work has hired a lot of new surgeons without compensating in employees or operating rooms. We have impossibly full case loads. If we want to get everyone finished by midnight we have to run a rat race, and I hate this. Surgeons are demanding, want to work RIGHT NOW and they all want to work at once. So we have to do the best we can to get patients in the rooms on time and quickly so we don't have surgeons having meltdowns in front of everyone and embarassing us to tears. Ugh. The only person who really suffers is the patient, but no one seems to realize that. well, I do, but I can't change it. I didn't go through this when I had my TAH because I'm an employee and got the princess treatment. But other surgeries I had before working there......well it was the same treatment you got. Hugs and healing to you =)

I, too, am sorry you had a bad experience.

For the most part, my hospital experience (pre-op & immediate post-op) was pretty uneventful. The issues that I would suggest to the hospital to correct would be the lack of communication to my DH while I was in recovery. I seem to take a long time to wake up from anesthesia - it was about 2 1/2 hours from the time that the doctor talked to my husband after finishing my surgery til I woke up and was able to be taken to my room. He was absolutely panicked! Then, when he finally got freaked out enough to ask the information desk what my status was, they told him - "Oh, she's already in her room!" Nice notification system they had! So, he immediately came up to my room, but the nurse who was checking me in very rudely told him he had to leave until she was finished with the check in. I mean, all he wanted to do was make sure I was okay and she was almost to the point of yelling at him to get out of the room. I had to tell them both to calm down! I just couldn't believe how rude she was to my DH. It was totally unnecessary and I was glad when she went off shift a couple of hours later. Though, she was much nicer the next day.

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Originally Posted by juniboop I'm sorry this happened to you. I know exactly what you are talking about because I am an OR nurse and I work in this stuff daily. You are right. It is loud, rushed and anything but private. The hospital where I work has hired a lot of new surgeons without compensating in employees or operating rooms. We have impossibly full case loads. If we want to get everyone finished by midnight we have to run a rat race, and I hate this. Surgeons are demanding, want to work RIGHT NOW and they all want to work at once. So we have to do the best we can to get patients in the rooms on time and quickly so we don't have surgeons having meltdowns in front of everyone and embarassing us to tears. Ugh. The only person who really suffers is the patient, but no one seems to realize that. well, I do, but I can't change it. I didn't go through this when I had my TAH because I'm an employee and got the princess treatment. But other surgeries I had before working there......well it was the same treatment you got. Hugs and healing to you =)

I just don't get why they can't hire special ppl whose only job it would be to support the patients. Each person could be responsible for just 3-4 patients and they wouldn't need to be nurses. Just someone who walked in every 10 minutes and said "how are you doing?" "can I get you anything, a blanket, are your feet covered up? ", etc. The only person who actually talked slow enough for me to answer was the hospital pastor. The anest. came into my room and stood staring at my chart for 10 minutes before he even introduced himself...that was REALLY creepy.