I have MRSA. My primary is on vacation. Should I take my chances and just leave and go by my ER? They are terrible here please anyone in NJ stay away from Clara Mass. Wow this is a hospital?
PICC line - peripherally inserted central - It’s started in your arm and the catheter is threaded up to a vein that runs near your heart where blows flows more freely. It allows for easier administration of IV infusion medications. I’ve had one and had no problems with infection.
Leaving the hospital AMA will open the door for your insurance to not pay the claim for your stay and subsequently for any ER,visits or admissions related to stay where you leave AMA. Talk to your physician about transfer to another hospital. Also, if you have active MRSA another hospital may not be anxious to admit.
I was a home care nurse and worked with many picc lines & while infection certainly was a risk factor, my picc lines didn’t get infected. It depends on the person’s hygiene, immune system (your oncology patients were most like prone to infections due to immunosuppressive medication. I wouldn’t just leave the hospital. If you are ready for discharge wait until the DC planner gets aplan going for you to receive homecare. Without a lot of info as to your condition and why you have a picc, we don’t know,but leaving now would be counterproductive and if the picc isn’t being cared for properly then yes, you can develop an infection and die from sepsis (a systemic blood infection). You’ve made it this far at your present hospital (East Orange or Bloomfield NJ if I remember correctly?- are they affiliated with NJ College of Medicine and Dentistry?) stick it out and change doctors when you get out. Remember your infectious disease doctor’s name as usually they determine when antibiotic therapy is completed and then remove the picc in their office or the home care nurse will remove it ( it’s not very hard to do). Good luck! I myself had a picc line for abx therapy and had no infection issues.
Don’t just leave AMA because insurance is looking for a reason not to pay anyway.
I believe the hospital you are in is bad but believe me, I’d bet you never were hospitalized in Mississippi. My husband drives me to New Orleans for medical care. It’s a whole different world there, just 60 miles away.
But you said the substandard hospital wants to insert a picc line? You do have a right to refuse it. The picc line is inserted straight into your heart. It gets infected so easy and is definitely something nurses and docs like because it makes the administration of drugs easier for them. And yet I challenge you to find an RN who can do maintenance care or safely administer medication in one properly. You can’t even breathe in the picc line’s direction because your breath can infect the patient fatally.
Talk to the charge nurse, DON, social worker or doctor who is thinking of placing the line and tell them no. NO!
Ask if you can be transferred to the closest competent hospital to continue your treatment until your primary doctor returns from Belize.
Don’t sign any consent form concerning picc line!
I am a retired oncology nurse. We used the line to administer chemotherapy when the patient has run out of veins that are acceptable.
I’ve seen the picc line kill many a depleted patient. Infection, which you seem to already have. You do have rights though!!
I don't know about ~every~ hospital. But the hospital you are in may have Patient Representatives or Patient Advocates. Ask if this is available, then you can speak to them, they may be able to give you advice.
How did you end up in a hospital different from the one that you usually go to? Was it an emergency and you were taken to the closest hospital to your current location?
"just leave and go by my er"--If you leave "AMA" (Against Medical Advice), then the health insurance company just might refuse to pay for the hospital stay at C M. Did you have the pic line in place before you went into the hospital? If yes, will CM transfer to that hospital?
I know that each healthcare facility has its own policy and procedures regarding MRSA so it is hard for me to give much advice at this time about that.
"My primary is on vacation"--What is this person a primary of ? We need a little more background so that we can give more appropriate suggestions.
Leaving the hospital AMA will open the door for your insurance to not pay the claim for your stay and subsequently for any ER,visits or admissions related to stay where you leave AMA. Talk to your physician about transfer to another hospital. Also, if you have active MRSA another hospital may not be anxious to admit.
I wouldn’t just leave the hospital. If you are ready for discharge wait until the DC planner gets aplan going for you to receive homecare. Without a lot of info as to your condition and why you have a picc, we don’t know,but leaving now would be counterproductive and if the picc isn’t being cared for properly then yes, you can develop an infection and die from sepsis (a systemic blood infection).
You’ve made it this far at your present hospital (East Orange or Bloomfield NJ if I remember correctly?- are they affiliated with NJ College of Medicine and Dentistry?) stick it out and change doctors when you get out. Remember your infectious disease doctor’s name as usually they determine when antibiotic therapy is completed and then remove the picc in their office or the home care nurse will remove it ( it’s not very hard to do).
Good luck!
I myself had a picc line for abx therapy and had no infection issues.
I believe the hospital you are in is bad but believe me, I’d bet you never were hospitalized in Mississippi. My husband drives me to New Orleans for medical care. It’s a whole different world there, just 60 miles away.
But you said the substandard hospital wants to insert a picc line? You do have a right to refuse it. The picc line is inserted straight into your heart. It gets infected so easy and is definitely something nurses and docs like because it makes the administration of drugs easier for them. And yet I challenge you to find an RN who can do maintenance care or safely administer medication in one properly. You can’t even breathe in the picc line’s direction because your breath can infect the patient fatally.
Talk to the charge nurse, DON, social worker or doctor who is thinking of placing the line and tell them no. NO!
Ask if you can be transferred to the closest competent hospital to continue your treatment until your primary doctor returns from Belize.
Don’t sign any consent form concerning picc line!
I am a retired oncology nurse. We used the line to administer chemotherapy when the patient has run out of veins that are acceptable.
I’ve seen the picc line kill many a depleted patient. Infection, which you seem to already have. You do have rights though!!
But the hospital you are in may have Patient Representatives or Patient Advocates.
Ask if this is available, then you can speak to them, they may be able to give you advice.
"just leave and go by my er"--If you leave "AMA" (Against Medical Advice), then the health insurance company just might refuse to pay for the hospital stay at C M. Did you have the pic line in place before you went into the hospital? If yes, will CM transfer to that hospital?
I know that each healthcare facility has its own policy and procedures regarding MRSA so it is hard for me to give much advice at this time about that.
"My primary is on vacation"--What is this person a primary of ?
We need a little more background so that we can give more appropriate suggestions.
I really, really don't like the expression "take my chances" in this context. Whatever you decide to do, chance ought not to come into it.