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Mater Hospital
4
Communication and information in admissions ward
Admission
to ward
In general, the patients knew what to expect
during their stay on the admissions ward, again because
most of them were repeat admissions and were familiar with
the process. In particular, the patients were usually aware
that their stays on the admissions ward would only be temporary,
and they would then be transferred to medical or surgical
wards:
| MS01: I
knew this was only the admitting ward - I knew I'd only
be in here for a while. |
However, one patient did not know what
to expect during his hospital stay, as it was almost 60
years since he had been in hospital previously:
| MS03: No, I did not, because the last
time I was in hospital was near 60 years ago.Ah, well
you know, you could near pick it up as you go along.
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In addition, a medical patient was not
aware that she had been admitted to the admissions ward:
| FM11: Is this the admissions ward?
Don't tell me I'm going to be shifted again? |
However, the same patient had been admitted
to the admissions ward on a number of occasions previously.
Doctor-patient
communication
In most cases, it was clear that the doctor-patient
communication had been satisfactory such that the doctors
had listened to what the patients had to say, spoke directly
to them and provided the patients with sufficient information.
In addition, the medical staff ensured that the patients
understood the information they were given and gave them
the opportunity to ask any questions:
MM17: Dr. ----- (the consultant).me
and her straight talk.Aye, she tells me to say what
I think, you know.
FM09 (Patient had lung drained): She asked me did I
want to ask her any questions (about the procedure),
and I was able to ask her 'was it sore?'. You know,
in some hospitals they don't like you asking anything
like that.
FM02: He (the doctor) says to me, he says: 'if you are
not satisfied about anything don't you be afraid to
ask me, and I'll tell you what's what'. |
In addition, the doctors tried to keep
the patients informed about their conditions and the reasons
for any treatment provided:
FM04: I had another, I don't know, cardiograph or whatever
it is this morning, and blood tests. And they reassured
me that I didn't have a heart attack and that it was
an angina attack I had this morning.
FM07: They told me I'd need a blood transfusion - that
my blood was really low. |
However, in a few cases, the doctor-patient
communication was less than adequate. In the case of FS14
(a surgical patient who underwent an operation for a wound
infection), she did not understand the terminology which
the doctor used to describe the operation. In addition,
the doctor did not ensure that she understood what the planned
operation involved:
| .But he just explained why it was
having to be done - he didn't explain what was going
to happen. He just says that they were going to open
it up - open me up - and they were going to leave me
open. And I don't understand what was meant by 'leave
me open', you know. So I'm going to have to ask what
was meant by it. I just don't understand. |
Similarly, FM10 (a medical patient) did
not understand the plan for her care, again because the
doctor who was making the decision used medical terminology
which she did not understand, and spoke to the other doctors
present rather than to the patient herself:
| He seemed happy enough with the x-rays.
And I'm on blood pressure tablets, which he has increased.
And I don't know what else he said to the nurses, but
he says 'if she's ok, we'll probably let her go home
tomorrow' - that part I did hear.Do you know the way
the talk in their words, you know? I wouldn't understand
what they're talking about, but I understood that part.
(He was talking to the other doctors), not to me. But
the way he was talking, I could more or less hear what
he was saying, like. |
Likewise, because the medical staff used
terminology which FM19 could not understand, she assumed
that they had said she was going to die:
| I says (to the doctor): 'I don't know
what you are doing. Tell me something, am I going to
die?' 'Are you going to die?', he says. 'Not at all,
you're not going to die on us, no way'. It's just the
way they look at you and it's the way they say things
and you don't understand what they're talking about.
They talk about a medical condition and I don't understand
that, you know. |
Moreover, because the same patient was
hearing impaired, and had not been able to hear what was
being said, she was unsure whether her discharge was being
planned:
| Dr. ------ was in with me this morning,
taking blood tests and things. I think I'm going home
in a couple of days. I don't really know like. Do you
know the way with the doctors sometimes - I can't hear
what they are saying.I have a hearing aid love, so I
have. But I'm that conscious of it, so I am, so I can't
wear it. |
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