I was watching my Facebook feed and saw
something from NPR that caught my attention. It was an article that
was written by a doctor who'd seen something that she didn't
understand initially and then became very troubled about when she
realized what she was seeing: discrimination in an ER against a
disabled man. Here
is the article.
This made me think. I called a friend
of mine with severe back problems. She's not in a wheelchair yet, but
she requires a great deal of help getting up and down and is always
in a great deal of pain. She told me she's been left alone for a few
hours before in an ER before someone came in to see what was wrong
with her. I've been stuck in an ER before as well like this. Both of
us have our diagnoses written on our charts. For the both of us, as
we talked, we realized that there was a very good chance we were
being discriminated against because of her physical and my mental
disabilities.
Yes, I know there is always a wait in
an ER. But when not even a nurse comes in to tend to you over the
course of two to three hours is a good indicator that either you've
been forgotten about or they don't want to deal with you. Himself has
had to go out a couple of times to get someone to come in and see me.
My friend's dad has had to do the same for her.
I think all medical practitioners need
to be taught how to deal with those of us with physical or mental
disabilities. We shouldn't be forgotten, pushed off to the side, or
ignored because nurses and doctors don't want to deal with something
different. The article mentioned that less than 20% of medical
schools teach their students how to talk to someone disabled about
their needs. This should be 100%, not 20%.
I'm not so sure that it's discrimination so much as overworked staff and triage. I have no 'diagnosis' on my charts, but my dad dragged me to the ER when I had a migraine and was throwing up to the point of dehydration. We were left sitting there for 2 hours before Dad went back up to the window and said, "Hey, WTF?" They finally took me back to a bed... and did nothing for another 20 minutes before a nurse finally deigned to put an IV in me, and it wasn't until we'd been there for 3 hours that they decided to do an MRI... which I threw up in.
ReplyDeleteI think it's more if you're not gushing blood, or obviously in imminent danger of dying, you're going to wait a lot longer than we would like. It also doesn't help that a lot of folks who can't afford a regular doctor will go to the ER for basic things like a cold, causing those of us who actually think we might be dying to wait.
You bring up a valid point. But for the both of us, this was after we'd been taken back to beds. We heard the chatter of nurses. In my case, I could hear a couple of them talking about weekend plans. But no one came in to see me until my husband went out and snapped at someone. It's not always going to be about a disabled person's diagnosis, but that does play a factor in how long you're made to wait.
DeleteI've had problems with doctors mostly ignoring me most of my life, and then trying to rush me through to get it over with. Even in private practice where there was no wait. You really have to be confrontational with them to get a prompt response or to get them to take you seriously...or bring someone with you who will. I agree with the above poster that it has to do with how *visibly* hurt you are, but for some things that can kill you very quickly there is no visible bleeding or whatever. If doctors aren't attending to people, patients need to call them out and demand timely and quality treatment. We pay them (or our insurance does). Which makes me wonder...There is definitely discrimination based on how likely they think you are to have insurance. Hospitals keep a fund going to pay for the procedures and medication of the uninsured who come to the ER -- and by then, it's often very expensive since they don't come to the ER until the situation gets really bad. Perhaps they see a disabled person and think that they are less likely to have insurance for a preexisting condition? Or maybe that their insurance will suck? This is one of the problems the ACA hopes to fix, I know, but it's really too new to see how it will turn out.
ReplyDeleteThere's also discrimination for people on Medicaid, which I am, because doctors wonder if the procedure is going to be covered. I think discrimination covers a broad spectrum of things and has many causes. I also think the bullshit needs to stop.
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