Letter to the Editor: Bad Service at Local Hospital

Have you ever been treated badly by a health care provider? There is something offensive to me about receiving inadequate medical care at a medical care facility, designed to provide that very thing. We have all had nurses or doctors that were surly, grumpy, inefficient, and made you feel like one big bother. But it’s not the patients’ fault; if you don’t want to help people, don’t work in a hospital. I am perfectly happy that certain individuals do not have a good bedside manner, but they should not be in the medical profession. Go program software or something.

About a week ago, my husband and I had quite a scare. We ended up in the emergency room in Leesburg on Cornwall Street because Chris had an atrial fibrillation, a condition when either the right or left atria (upper chamber of the heart) is beating out of sync with the rest of the heart, causing an arrhythmia.

This condition is concerning because blood will eventually pool in the atria, clot and possibly cause a stroke. His arrhythmia was caused by a bad reaction to medication (we think, at least for now).

Chris knew immediately when his heart went into atrial fibrillation on Friday afternoon. He said that he felt out of breath and his heart was racing. He wisely decided to go the family practitioner, who sent him to the emergency room.

The ER at Cornwall was fantastic. Nurse Ann explained what was going on, what medications they administered and why, and kept him comfortable. However, Cornwall ER doesn’t have beds for inpatient treatment. When his heart refused to beat normally after a few hours, they admitted him to Inova Loudoun at Lansdowne.

I have heard friends say that Inova Loudoun has bad ratings and is not a very good hospital. Up until this weekend, I hadn’t spent a lot of time at Inova Loudoun with which to form an opinion. I would like to take this opportunity to say my experiences at Inova Loudoun are consistent with those that voice criticism.

I arrived to the hospital after my husband to find him in a semi-private room. I understand that sometimes semi-private rooms are necessary. Often, hospitals are overcrowded and understaffed. My problem with the semi-private room was that I was not allowed to stay overnight in the room with my husband. This was upsetting to me because my husband had a serious heart condition. I should have had the option to stay overnight with him if I so desired. There were several empty single occupancy rooms in his unit that the nursing staff could have placed him in. However, because he was in a semi-private room, I was not allowed to stay overnight in the room with him.

After having spent a terrible night on a couch in a far distant waiting room, I rose around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to check on my husband’s heart condition. The nurse was nowhere to be found. I can overlook this, because nurses and doctors have many patients that all need care.

I got in touch with the nurse around 6 a.m. He said that my husband’s arrhythmia had not gone away and that the cardiologist would be around between 7 and 9. I went back to sleep for an hour and then waited for the cardiologist, who came around 8.

The cardiologist said that my husband’s heart was beating normally. This was a surprise to us, as we were still under the impression that his heart was still having trouble. We would have appreciated a nurse telling us when his heart went back to normal. The cardiologist also advised that the floor doctor (internal medicine) would be by sometime soon to administer some pain medication to my husband and discharge him.

We waited… and waited… and waited. Finally, eight hours later, a nurse practitioner came in and discharged my husband. There was no apology for the delay, only an explanation of what medications he would need to take and what tests he would have to schedule after his discharge.

Eight hours spent in pain, confusion and fear is an eternity. We were not told he was being held for observation; just that the doctor had twenty or more patients to see and that we would be attended to eventually. Ten minutes later, a doctor came in and reviewed the same material as the nurse practitioner. The doctor at least had the dignity of looking a little embarrassed for her lack of regard.

Upon our discharge, my husband was told to stop taking a medication by the nurse (that was not mentioned by the doctor or the nurse practitioner) that would have seriously impacted his quality of life for the next few months. When we were confused, the nurse failed to offer to call the nurse practitioner to get clarification for us. And we didn’t ask for it, because we just wanted out of the hospital.

We received inadequate and incorrect communication from the nursing staff. We were inexcusably overlooked by the floor doctor, who left my husband in pain for hours. On top of that, I was not allowed to stay overnight with my husband during this terrible ordeal. Our inadequate medical treatment was inexcusable and disappointing.

I have heard that Inova Loudoun at Lansdowne has bad ratings and now I know why. I hope that our community puts pressure on the hospital to improve their quality control every time we are provided with bad service. We can demand better quality healthcare, and should for our family’s sakes. I encourage you to speak out if you have received inadequate care by Inova Loudoun; maybe we make a difference in our local community.

April Eads,
Concerned Loudoun County Resident

 “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”                                     Margaret Mead