Warning - this will be long...
Catching up on the thread and dumbfounded at the statements written here. This IS a legal medical malpractice forum. Correct? Why then does the information conflict completely with that of our hospital attorneys?
A statement by someone here implied that the legal seminars are probably just trying to scare the nurses into being overly cautious. Like "lya," I too took offense. Our legal seminars are based on authentic malpractice cases. It's a slap in their face to say the attorneys are taking liberties with the truth, and a slap at the nurses that they would NEED to! Surely, we're all above that.
But there's many other statements that I also found offensive. First the portrayal of the OP as a troll. It's very easy to understand why she didn't return. Look at how she was treated! Note the date and time of her posting. Just eleven minutes later she received her first reply and was told she had NO case. End of story. (Obviously based on a thoughtful and respectful perusal of her case. Yeah, right.) The next three replies were within the hour and they ignored the OP completely. They simply chuckled and high-fived each other. Nice...
So she's sitting there on HER side of the computer, feeling the condescension and ridicule. (Mentally ill people get a lot of that from others.) She decided there would be no help for her at this forum, and saw no reason to stick around for more abuse. She never dreamed someone would come along with a different perspective. So she left. That does NOT make her a troll. It makes her a hurting human being who still had some dignity, despite this forum's blatant attempts to destroy it.
I didn't read her post until the 10th. As I said, I got angry at the wrong replies, so I registered and voiced my opinion. Apparently, she's never read any of it which makes me sad for her. Because she is still not aware that she DOES have a case. And it's NOT false hope. If this happened to one of my loved ones, I guarantee you there would be recompense.
The hospital was liable and nothing can negate that responsibility. They had a legal obligation to keep her safe after she voiced suicidal ideation. She came to the hospital for HELP to prevent self-harm, not to end up nearly dead, in ICU on a ventilator. This is NOT standard of practice for a suicidal psychiatric crisis. Hospitals MUST provide staff for a suicidal patient. Not a legal excuse that you're "not staffed" for them. Too bad. You're still legally responsible.
This is my area of expertise. It happens often on my unit. I don't always have the staff either. But I call the nursing supervisor and she finds the help. I don't have to badger her or explain it either. She already knows the legal issues!
I DO know what I'm talking about here. No, I'm not an attorney. I don't know the other legal areas. Don't pretend to. But I DO know the psychiatric legal issues.
The OP did suffer negligence. She does have damages. Please don't insult my intelligence by suggesting she has no case for pain and suffering due to being unconscious. Being unconscious is NOT a normal state of being. Having an ET tube down your throat, and hooked up to a ventilator to breathe, is NOT okay, no matter how much you'd like to minimize the whole situation. (And yes, most everyone here HAS minimized the suicide attempt!)
By the way, I reminded the OP of other possible injuries b/c she may very well indeed have suffered them and not been aware that they were caused by the ET tube. I doubt if the hospital would volunteer that information if she was having trouble swallowing. Therefore, she may not have any idea what really caused it.
It was pointed out by another that she could have poked her eye out with her finger and the hospital would not have been liable. Okay, I'll grant you that - to a point. As long as she hadn't been poking her eye PRIOR to the gouging, then yes - the hospital would be on safe ground. (They still would have been required to provide immediate intervention though. It would not be okay to have her eyeball found on the bed by her partner! That wouldn't fly either.) However, IF she had been poking at her eye repeatedly before the gouging, then YES, they'd be absolutely liable for her injuries. They have a legal obligation to prevent her from self-harm. They may not like it but that's the way it is.
If a patient tries to harm him or herself, we are required to take measures to prevent it, including restraints (with a physician's order.) There is a case that was recently in the headlines of a mental health facility that allowed a patient to bang her head repeatedly over a hundred times. They did not restrain her. Did not notify her doctor to get an order for it. Several people in the chain of command, including some of the top brass, lost their jobs and are facing legal issues.
Oh, yeah. The debate about memories, hypoxia, and retrograde amnesia. I'm not a neurologist. I AM a nurse who has sat at the bedside of countless number of patients who have come to our unit from ICU, rescued from near-hangings, carbon monoxide poisioning, plastic bag over-the-head incidents, and horrible trauma. They have shared with me their devastating and detailed memories of the moments prior to their attempts. Are they lying? Trying to impress me?
In my experience, most of the patients with very foggy memories have drugs and alcohol in their systems at that time. They often don't even remember the day it happened, much less any of the moments around it.
That's just my experience. Not always one way or the other. Just things I've noticed. Which makes me believe that, absent alcohol or drugs, the emotional trauma alone is enough to etch the memories in stone for them.
By the way, someone took umbrage at the fact that I used Sept 11th as an example of emotional trauma. That person lost a dear friend and felt I was being insensitive. Well, I am sorry for their loss. I lost a dear friend then too. It was a horrible day and none of us can say we have cornered the market on that day of grief. A little understanding goes a long way...
The most surprising and abysmal statement of legal ignorance though I read here was by several people who said it was entirely the OP'S fault that she nearly died and ended up in ICU. They think she should pay her own huge medical bills, resulting from the suicide attempt. Righteous and indignant, they want to know where she gets off even trying to claim a case.
Folks, hello? She's mentally ill. Normal people do NOT try to kill themselves. Get a clue. Please read up on the legal issues of the mentally ill and the liability involved by the providers of their care. (NOT just hospitals!) It is my fervent hope though that if you really ARE attorneys that you never take on a client with mental illness. You could not do them any justice whatsoever. They are already so beaten down by the world in general. Please don't add any more torment.
Sorry to be so down about this forum but I'm completely disillusioned. I expected more.
Still wondering too why no one said what they would do in a similar situation. It seemed to be conveniently side-stepped. Don't say it can't happen either. We've had attorneys on our unit too. Mental illness does not discriminate - it affects all socio-economic groups, all ages and both genders.
I realize I'm not welcomed with open arms here. That's okay. But I just want to remind you that IF you or one of your loved ones ever DO need psychiatric help, you are going to be so thankful that people like me are there to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves...
Sorry for the lengthy post. I felt I had to address many various issues. Got to go to work now though. It really IS an important job I do...