How do I receive answers from doctors and nurses about my husband??

Question

hubby was admitted yesterday with pneumonia -I couldn't accompany him in ambulance(hubby is also a stroke victim) before arriving at hosp. the ER Dr. called and said not only did hubby have pneumonia but LUNG CANCER-upon arrival this Er. Dr. said he wasn't sure about the cancer -now by phone no one will tell me anything-am going to hosp. in a few mins. --how do I (without losing my temper) get info as I am legally married to him for 12 yrs. Have been on the phone all day and can't even find out if more test are being run. No answer in hubby's room -but he is expressive aphasia and maybe cannot reach the phone if it was not place on his left unaffected side -can anyone tell me the best way to get info. without losing my temper . Nurse always tell me to talk to drs. but when I call the drs.they have a nurse who today told me I had to be at hop. between 5 am to 6am when the Dr. made his rounds to get any info.-am 59 yrs. old and have no car-help me please to deal with this as I almost stroked out myself after the premature diagnoses from ER. Dr.s call yesterday. Doesn't the pateint or pateint's next of kin have certain rights also?

Answer 1

i am so sorry about what you are going thru annie.  i want to box that doctor's ears in myself.  try grounding yourself by placing your hands in soil, or, on  a tree.  your emotions are running high right now.  take a deep breath.  and remember to keep on breathing.  in and out!  now, ask to speak to the nursing administrator.  this is the liason between you, the doctor and the nurses.  he/she pulls alot of weight in the hospital.   she will be the one to move the mountains.  now, write everything down that you want to say, what you need to ask, and if you can bring a voice recorder so you can remember what she/he is saying.  if you can bring a member of the family or a church associate to help you.  ask for a copy of the patients bill of rights and also to see a social worker.  some hospitals will let you stay with your spouse in during their stay.  please know that you are in my prayers and thoughts and so is your honeyl..call me when you get the chance and let me know how it is going.  stay sweet.

Answer 2

Well the smartest and safest thing to do is to go to a doctor, get medical and professional opinions other than that i have never heard of this before but you can search at www.webmd.com  I'm not sure and its a great medical website that could possibly answer your questions...

HOPE YOUR HUSBAND FEEL BETTER AND GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 3

Your husband needs to sign some documentation giving you the legal right to talk to his doctors . . in some cases this is called healthcare proxy or to go further its an Advance Directive. An advance directive allows the patient to appoint a caregiver to make decisions about their health should they become incapable of responding. The same advance directive gives the caregiver rights to talk to the doctor.  Ask at the hospital for the Advance Directive for your husband . . and hopefully your husband will be able to sign it. I am surprised with your husbands current medical condition that he had not already signed this legal documentation.

Advance health care directive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_hea...

Answer 4

Due to Hipaa you won't be able to get any medical information from any nursing staff. Please keep in mind that the nursing staff is not doing this to aggravate you. This is done to protect your husbands privacy. The best way to get information is to be at his bedside and request to talk to his Physician and or attending nurse. Take a deep breath and try to remain calm, any diagnosis given by the ER doctor will have to be confirmed by further diagnostic testing. You can panic when an oncologist starts talking about treatment options for your husbands condition.

As next of kin and most likely his medical proxy you should be able to get any information about his medical status from the nursing staff as well as from the medical records department. Unfortunately you will have to show ID to prove that you are his next of kin.

Answer 5

You will almost never get medical information over the phone any longer due to the HIPAA  privacy laws. General rule, regardless of who is calling or seriousness of the situation is to never give out information over the phone. I know how frustrating that must be for you. Given the scope of your husband's problems the only way to get accurate info is to go to the hospital and befriend your husband's shift nurse. Find out their names for each shift. Then you can call them directly (or however else they prefer to be contacted) or call the nursing station for updates. Once you have been down there to the hospital and they know that you are his wife you will have much less problems getting updates on his condition.

all the best to you both

Answer 6

First, if your husband is competent, they wont talk to anyone else about his condition without his specific expressed permission.  Doesnt matter that you are the wife, unless he has specifically told them they can talk to you, they wont.

They only way they can bypass that is if he is not competent.

Next, nurses legally cant tell you anything.  They are nurses, not doctors.  Its kind of like the ultrasound tech....   they know exactly what they are seeing, but they cant tell you because they are not a doctor.

And for the most part, no one is going to tell you anything over the phone because there is no way of verifying who you are. Its a HIPAA violation to do so without the specfic expressed permission of the patient, and even with that most people wont give anything out over the phone.

And, unfortunatly, it is true the best time to get a doc to talk to you extensivly is during morning rounds.  They are so busy its really going to be the only time you are going to have their undivided attention.

Sucks you dont have a car.  Could you stay at the hospital?  Most hospitals have family rooms or whatever and I have frequently seen family and guests sleeping over night in those rooms so that they can be there early when the docs come through.  Or a cab?  Or a friend?

Answer 7

actually acording to law unless you have a legal document stating you are his health care proxy we are not allowed to give any infomation to you.  It's the law. or if he is competent to tell the nurse to let you know information then they can tell you.  doctors like to run many tests before they even say the word cancer cause if they are wrong they will have scared you for no reason so they don't give a definite answer until the tests come back... you could also ask the nurse to write a note to the dr asking him to call you when he comes to see your husband so you can talk to him.  being there and showing your face helps too...if you have the money pay for a private room so you can stay with him at night and talk to the doctor when he gets to the hospital.

Answer 8

I'm not surprised nurses and doctors don't want to give out this kind of information over the phone. Think of it from their side, it could be any one calling and they're not allowed to give this kind of information out to just anyone.   If you know for certain it's not an identity issue then you may have to go to the hospital and just be firm (but not rude). Tell them you haven't been told anything about what's going on yet. If your husband is in a state or goes into a state where he can't decide anything or sign anything himself, it is then that you get that kind of power, and it is then that they'll tell you everything that they would have told him. Because you are his wife, if you were there in person, I would be shocked that a doctor wouldn't be open with you about it. But over the phone, if I were a nurse I probably wouldn't either. Sometimes doctors and nurses get really busy and a patients spouse or kids need to be firm to show them that they can't just ignore you.