Dear Hckynut(John),
Thank you for your perspective! Like yourself, I too am very much a patient advocate. I have on many many occasions have spoken up to a physician , especially a surgeon , when it came to defending the rights and wishes of my patients. Being an OR RN for nearly 38years, and spending these additional 6 years working in GI, I have had to learn to develope a hard skin because of my advocacy position for the people I give the very best care I can personally give.
I , too , have had my share of my own personal colonoscopies from my IBS issues, so I too know all the ins and outs, so to speak. Having worked both in the Hospital endoscopy units, and now, working in an outpatient facility , the level of patients are entirely different . Different how, one may ask? Most, not all, of the inpatient ( in house as we say) are usually much more sicker and truly face a lot of concerning health issues that require them to have much more extensive type endoscopic and invasive procedures. I was not referring to those patients in my original posting. I am referring to the patient that, although they might have health concerns like, Barrett's esophagus, Crohns, IBS, they are generally healthier than those we treat in house.
At my facility, we RNs screen each patient carefully for underlying health issues, that could potentially cause more harm than good , and those patients need to have those procedures in a hospital where the needs and means to address those issues that most outpatient facilities do not have, sometimes the difference between life and death, can be treated more successfully.
We call each and every patient 3 days before any scheduled outpatient procedure and strictly go over each and every detail , hence what was written in my first post. What is still amazing, for a lack of a better term, is that no matter how detailed we are, no matter how many questions we answer, no matter how many classes a patient attends in our office on what to expect on the day of their procedure, no matter how costly it can become, we still will have patients come in, state they are "clear" , only to have the scope entered( colon) , and that thick brown matter that I spoke of, precludes the Gastroenterologists from completing the procedure, hence, INCOMPLETE, come back again, next time do a two or three day prep.
Nothing is better in the teaching rhelm than that of ones own personal experiences. Having been an RN, actively working her entire 43 years, retiree as an AIr Force Flight Nurse and OR / GI nurse, with 23 years of military service to my country, both active duty and reserves, hopefully, both of us can teach and educate anyone that is interested, in the subjects at hand. No matter how mundane and insignificant these procedures may be to some, these small necessary procedures, can make the difference between living a healthy life or facing life with colon cancer. I wish you the very best !
MJ
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