hospital staff

Boy Lynda, that really is scary that a pediatric nurse does not know how to administer the epi. Equally as scary is the fact that they evidently have pnt all over the menu. Where can our children be safe if not in a childrens hospital?

Hi
I took my daughter for her check up last week and her pediatrician commented that she considers the hospital to be much worse of a risk for accidental contamination than the schools. She commented that they pick up the trays and leave them sitting around until the next meal before being collected so any food is lying around. My son (not the peanut allergic child) was in hospital the week before Easter with severe asthma too, and I noticed all kinds of risky areas, including all of the snacks on the coffee cart that comes around and the area they have for parents to make snacks for their kids (which includes peanut butter tost).
I don't know the policy at your children's hospital, but here you can request certain special foods 24 hours a day and a special menu. The thing is they don't inform you of that - I only found out because we saw the dietician last year when my son was anaemic! You should ask to talk to the hospital dietician to have your meals specially ordered. You should also ask your doctor about getting a private room - my doctor always gives us one. With asthma and pneumonia it can probably be justified for respiratory isolation (as if the doctor is worried that your son may get all the other kids sick with the virus that has set off his asthma) if your doctor does not feel that his allergy is sufficient justification. Here, anyway, if the doctor orders isolation (and so a private room) it is not charged to the patient or your insurance because it is a medical concern. At least at the hospitals these days they let you stay with him 24 hrs a day so you can "protect" him from the risk of exposure!
Good Luck.
Deb

Hi Lynda,
How scary!!!You don't know who to trust with this allergy. Here you think your son is safe in the hospital. I would write a letter regaurding this. Anyways, I hope Sean is feeling better. What an awful way to spend Easter. Good luck.

Lynda - Please learn from my husband and my mistake when it comes to the hospital...We were the typical parents who listen to what the doctors told us concerning our daughter who has severe kidney problems. One night when we went to the ER with a fever of 105 and they sent us home with the song and dance that it was a cold (dispite our quiet protests that we thought it was kidneys). Within two hours our daughter went limp, stopped talking or moving and we had to rush her back to the hospital where they immediately admitted her to the ped. intensive care unit with an antibotic resistant infection. Our daughters kidney has been so badly damaged that it has not grown since that infection and we are now faced with high blood pressure and renal failure in our 2 year old child! Potenially she may need a tranplant. She also may stop growning at any point.
There is not a day that doesn't go by that I don't think "What if they had started the I-V antibotics immediately???" If we would have waited to take her back to the ER (which we considered because we were worried we would "upset" the doctors by returning) we would have lost our beloved Madison.
Please learn from our mistake and be a VERY LOUD advocate for your child. You know your child best and don't be afraid to ask for a second and third opinion at the hospital.
Good Luck and Take Care
--Kelly--

Lynda -- I am so sorry for you and your child. I'm glad you are all back home. I spent many holidays (Easter, Christmas, and Halloween) in the ER/hospital as a child, usually because of eating candy or contaminated candy. I hope you have recovered emotionally! As for hospitals and their staff, they need to be educated. When I had my last serious reaction and went into shock a couple of years ago, my allergist had to convince the staff at Georgetown Univeristy Hospital in Wash. DC to keep me overnight. Thank God, since I had a 2nd reaction later on. Granted, Georgetown is a teaching hospital, but I was inspected, prodded, poked, and examined by over 20 doctors a day who had "never seen anything like this." They couldn't understand why I was so swollen and covered with hives, and kept asking me if I could be allergic to any type of detergent, perfume, or lotion. They kept asking my parents if it might be food poisoning!!! Some had never even heard that a peanut allergy could be so severe (and these weren't all student doctors). Bottom line is to be your child's protector and like stated above -- DEMAND the epipen even in a medical environment. Take care.
------------------

Boy Lynda, that really is scary that a pediatric nurse does not know how to administer the epi. Equally as scary is the fact that they evidently have pnt all over the menu. Where can our children be safe if not in a childrens hospital?

DH...Hi thanks for the reply. We just came home from the hospital. On an even scarier note...while being discharged, I asked the nurse for the epipen that was ordered for my son for standby in case of anaphylaxis. She searched the medicine bins and nurses station....and lo and behold....there was none. There was an order for one to be put bedside, but no one bothered filling it. I can not tell you how horrified I am. No matter what, my husband and I had ours but when he was admitted, they said we could not use ours. They would have one for him. I think the only place our children are safe is with us.

Hi
I took my daughter for her check up last week and her pediatrician commented that she considers the hospital to be much worse of a risk for accidental contamination than the schools. She commented that they pick up the trays and leave them sitting around until the next meal before being collected so any food is lying around. My son (not the peanut allergic child) was in hospital the week before Easter with severe asthma too, and I noticed all kinds of risky areas, including all of the snacks on the coffee cart that comes around and the area they have for parents to make snacks for their kids (which includes peanut butter tost).
I don't know the policy at your children's hospital, but here you can request certain special foods 24 hours a day and a special menu. The thing is they don't inform you of that - I only found out because we saw the dietician last year when my son was anaemic! You should ask to talk to the hospital dietician to have your meals specially ordered. You should also ask your doctor about getting a private room - my doctor always gives us one. With asthma and pneumonia it can probably be justified for respiratory isolation (as if the doctor is worried that your son may get all the other kids sick with the virus that has set off his asthma) if your doctor does not feel that his allergy is sufficient justification. Here, anyway, if the doctor orders isolation (and so a private room) it is not charged to the patient or your insurance because it is a medical concern. At least at the hospitals these days they let you stay with him 24 hrs a day so you can "protect" him from the risk of exposure!
Good Luck.
Deb