There’s a Patients’ Bill of Rights. Hospital staff receives training on how to respect the individuality of each patient. However, when individuals enter a hospital for whatever reason, they become subject to rules and customs that they had no part in making.
As an RN, I’ve met patients who seem to relish having someone else take care of them and tell them when to eat and when to sleep. Many patients can’t wait to escape from the hospital so they can return to their own ways of doing things, including their so-called bad habits.
The idea of democracy acknowledges our need to take part in developing the rules by which we live and to live according to our wishes rather than someone else’s. However, it’s not only hospitals where a person has to choose to conform or be labeled a bad patient.
In the workplace, in stores, in agencies, in schools, a good manipulator can become a petty authority whose warped vision controls the destiny of others. I’ve had senior workers tell me what to wear and what’s wrong with my sex life. I’ve had store clerks insist I can only buy what they want to sell, and tenured faculty choose what books I should study.
There’s a movie out called, “Bad Bosses.” In this economic climate, 
people hesitate to say anything bad about where they work or about their bosses. The movie’s solution is for the workers to plan to kill their bosses and to fail due to humorous complications. It touches lightly on a serious matter and offers no real solution. I think we need some fictional non-conformists such as the lawyer in To Kill a Mockingbird and the soldiers in Catch 22.
Maybe you know good examples of successful non-conformists in modern fiction. When a petty authority remains alive in a communal situation, those subject to the whims and manipulations of such an authority have to find a way to change the restrictive climate. That’s not always easy. Sometimes it takes years.
An example of a petty authority in a communal situation might be found in a homeowner association group. I think there is a thriller/horror book titled, "The Association," about that sort of situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that HOAs can get out of hand. However, hospital procedures aren't spelled out for patients. HOA rules must be given to any prospective buyer for their evaluation before they make an offer on a house. Most patients (even if procedures are located somewhere in the fine print) don't have a choice because they must have an operation.
ReplyDeleteMy son's birthday yesterday reminded me of my hospital stay when he was born. We were told he had a heart problem.
I was worried about my son and still having pain from delivery when I was told that the hospital had no codeine-free pain relievers. Of course, they just wanted to knock me out. As a result, I didn't get any pain relievers because I refused to take the ones with codeine. As if a new mother would actually choose unconsciousness instead of being near her child, who could be in danger. I was amazed by their cruelty.
After we saw a heart specialist we were assured that the "problem" wasn't really a problem and the specialist took the doctor to task for worrying us needlessly.
All in all, it was one lousy experience for a new mother. I know you are exception to the rule, but as a result I hate nurses. One of the reasons Big Nurse terrified me in Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Thanks for the suggestion, Kara. I'll take a look at the book.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your experience, Elaine. I know people have been working for some time on developing more sensitivity in the labor and delivery setting.
The trouble with hospital experiences is that everyone a patient comes in contact with has a little bit of the information the patient needs. I didn't understand why I still had to use a walker that inhibits my freedom when all the therapists were saying I was doing well and could progress. Finally, I insisted on talking with the surgeon who did my operation and found out my restriction has to do with the new surgical approach and nothing to do with me or the actual operation.
After my two bone marrow transplants I was as helpless as a newborn. I had both great and wonderful experiences with all levels of staff. During the first stay respiratory services were called in but didn't fit me in their schedule until late at night. Fair enough. No complaints on that score EXCEPT forever after that a respiratory therapist would wake me up to see if I was still breathing about 2:30 AM every morning. Once seen at night, it was impossible to shift their services to the day time when I was awake.
ReplyDeleteNight time activity can drive people a little nutty. I'd just go to sleep and someone would wake me to take my vital signs. I'd be sleeping in the early dawn hours and a lab tech would come in to draw blood. Both activities were necessary and the staff were always courteous and considerate but I would rather have stayed asleep.
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