Terri Swan

Review of Hillcrest Medical Center

I had cataract surgery performed in the Same Day S...

I had cataract surgery performed in the Same Day Surgical Center. The nurse who took my vitals during surgery prep put the blood pressure cuff on my lower arm just below my elbow instead of above it, which apparently made it difficult for the automatic machine to read my blood pressure and it pumped the cuff up so tight it felt like my arm and hand below the cuff were literally going to explode. I was nearly in tears! I complained about it being tighter than any cuff I had ever experienced (and I'm 68 yrs old!) and her response was that I had better be quiet and sit still or it would just pump tighter! Instead of stopping the machine, getting a larger cuff, and placing it above my elbow as it should have been, she stood there complacently just letting the machine do it's SLOW release of pressure. Of course the reading was sky high!

Next, she positioned herself in front of my right hand as she tried to start an IV. I am not afraid of getting IV's started, even though it is usually a challenging process for the nurses. My veins are quite elusive. She got it stuck in a vein, and then said, "Oh, that's not going to work." And pulled it back out, leaving a nice big bruised area on that hand. I told her it is usually more successful on my left hand, and she scolded me for not telling her that earlier, and moved to that side. Telling me, "You know why it didn't work in your other hand, right?" I said no I didn't except I figured she must have hit a valve. She snapped, "It's because you moved!" I said, " I did?" Because I thought I had sat perfectly still. She insisted I had moved my hand all over and there was no way she could do it right. I know I didn't. I had no reason to. It doesn't bother me that much to get stuck for IV's unless they have to do it a dozen times.

Soon after I got moved to the next pre-op position and when another nurse came in I asked if it was not possible to replace this pressure cuff with a little larger one that could go on my upper arm. She immediately got another one that worked just fine. Incidentally, the cuff was going over the sleeve of my flannel shirt too. This time when the machine ran, my blood pressure was at its normal reading. So thankful for that second nurse! However, both nurses left the pressure cuff on the same arm where the IV was running. Not supposed to do that either. It was eventually changed by the surgical nurse when I got in the operating room because it was going to be in the way for the Dr to work on that side.

Fortunately, I survived! And many of the staff, however, were very kind and helpful. But things should not be that way at a place where all the staff should be doing their best to make their patients safe and comfortable during an already unpleasant, and sometimes quite frightening, experience.