I am so sorry to hear about your loss.
My mother was only one of the many victims of the negligence, incompetence, and malpractice of St. Luke's Hospital, many of it's doctors, and every single nurse who was assigned to my mother, no exception! As a graduate of nursing from the University of the Philippines, I had the great misfortune of witnessing first hand, the incredible lack of compassion, basic nursing care and professionalism that nursing stands for, as well as the serious lack of basic intelligence from all the hospital's nurses that the St. Lukes employs and tolerates.
The nursing duties and functions that were so simple and basic, and that should have all been mastered while in nursing school prior to graduation and licensure, all turned into major disasters and complications that could have ALL been prevented. These are only a few of the negligent and incompetent acts: (1) bed sores on my mother's buttocks on the third day of admission, not having been turned, moved or changed, (she was actually stuck to the soiled linen from old urine and feces) until I arrived from the United States to change her myself...there was absolutely no reason for decubitus ulcers on a third day, or any day for that matter, if basic nursing care is carried out. She was in a private room on the Geriatric floor where nobody changed patient's beddings for weeks at a time, or until forced to by the family of the patient.
(2) fecal impaction which resulted in acute rectal bleeding and anemia, and subsequent and multiple blood transfusions, plus a stat colonoscopy that required anesthesia of course, in an already compromised patient. I begged for the attending (Sotomayor) to check her bowels DAILY, because she had not had a bowel movement in several days, and only on the 10th day, did I finally get an order in the chart for an INTERN (another incompetent future doctor at the time) to disimpact my mother, which resulted in bleeding and hemorrhage.
(3) misuse of the appropriate antibiotics, having had a urine culture done, the attending ordered Amoxil which was not sensitive to the bacteria in her urine, and a few days later, she became septic and gradually deteriorated from untreated Urinary Tract Infection. This is a disease that we treat in the outpatient settings in the United States, it is basic, easy to treat, if standard care and protocols are followed.
(4) As a Diabetic, drawing blood out of the lower extremity is an absolute CONTRAINDICATION, but the phlebotomists continued to take blood out of her feet when nobody was looking, or intentionally at dawn, when my mother's attendant was sleeping, and before I arrived for a visit. I posted signs all over the wall and bed, and informed the nurses and laboratory supervisors never to allow blood drawing from any other part of her body aside from her arm, but nobody heeded my instructions. My mother died of a Massive Pulmonary Embolus after 45 days of admission at St. Lukes. This clot was a direct result of drawing blood from her lower extremities, simply because the medical technologists were too incompetent and too lazy to find any other vein elsewhere.
(5) Physical Therapist burned my mother's left arm and shoulder while applying the ultrasonic heat, and not bothering to test before using on a patient. I found the burns myself, they were never reported. My mother sustained first and second degree burns that again, were dismissed as "normal and usual effects of being a patient at St. Lukes." That is not tolerated in the United States, would have required an incident report, which was never completed, and would have easily been grounds for negligent action and malpractice.
(6) Tube Feedings. Not a single RN on the floor had the basic knowledge or skill as to the proper use and feeding process of my mother's PEG tube. They practically shoved the container of food as fast as they could, causing abdominal discomfort, unless I stood next to her bed to watch and supervise. Nobody on the floor even knew how to use the feeding tube machine on that Geriatric Floor. We had the supervisor, head nurse and director of nursing in my mother's room trying to figure out how to use this very simple machine that they should have been trained to use properly. Needless to say, because of the delay in feedings, my mother's nutritional status was compromised even more, resulting also in occlusion of her PEG tube, which of course required a replacement. The skills or lack of, in these nurses were pathetic, and unacceptable.
(7) This was rather interesting. At 9 o'clock every morning, a clerk from the business office would knock at my mother's door to hand me the hospital bill, and ask how much I was paying that particular day! It did not matter how much of the expense these incompetent employees were costing me for their negligent actions, all that mattered is that I made a deposit towards the multi-million peso bill that multiplied every hour! And if I did not go down to make a payment, they would call to remind me until I did. At the ER, the hospital refused to treat my mother until my sister made a P10,000 deposit in the middle of the night, when the banks are closed! And on discharge, after Dr. Abraham-Lim's professional discount (the only decent doctor my mother had), we paid a 2 Million Peso hospital bill that did not include the pharmacy and mutiple professional fees.
I can go on and on with the numerous disasters, these are only a few that stick out in my mind and that I will never forget!
There were clearly several instances where St. Lukes failed to meet the standard of care which directly caused injury and subsequent death to my mother. I made every effort to litigate, but unfortunately, there were no malpractice attorneys available in the country, and nobody was willing to take the case in the Philippines. I tried to publish the detailed scenario of the many terrible mistakes committed that eventually led to my mother's death, but the lawyers of this big corporate institution paid Manila Times and other newspaper publications not to publish my article. I wrote to the Secretary of Health, but got no response. I wrote and sent letters by certified mail, to the President and CEO of St. Lukes and to the Director of Nursing and the Nursing Department, and again, did not get any response.
As a Filipina myself, I must say it is rather unfortunate that Filipinos and others who reside in the Philippines, have to fall victim to the poor and negligent, but very, very expensive medical care at St. Luke's Hospital every day. There must be a way to put a stop to this negligent care!
Best of luck with your case!
Marlene Cataylo Chance, ARNP, MSN, PhD, EJD
Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner
Primary Care Physicians of Pembroke Pines
2488 University Drive
Pembroke Pines, Florida 33324
954-983-9191
My mother was only one of the many victims of the negligence, incompetence, and malpractice of St. Luke's Hospital, many of it's doctors, and every single nurse who was assigned to my mother, no exception! As a graduate of nursing from the University of the Philippines, I had the great misfortune of witnessing first hand, the incredible lack of compassion, basic nursing care and professionalism that nursing stands for, as well as the serious lack of basic intelligence from all the hospital's nurses that the St. Lukes employs and tolerates.
The nursing duties and functions that were so simple and basic, and that should have all been mastered while in nursing school prior to graduation and licensure, all turned into major disasters and complications that could have ALL been prevented. These are only a few of the negligent and incompetent acts: (1) bed sores on my mother's buttocks on the third day of admission, not having been turned, moved or changed, (she was actually stuck to the soiled linen from old urine and feces) until I arrived from the United States to change her myself...there was absolutely no reason for decubitus ulcers on a third day, or any day for that matter, if basic nursing care is carried out. She was in a private room on the Geriatric floor where nobody changed patient's beddings for weeks at a time, or until forced to by the family of the patient.
(2) fecal impaction which resulted in acute rectal bleeding and anemia, and subsequent and multiple blood transfusions, plus a stat colonoscopy that required anesthesia of course, in an already compromised patient. I begged for the attending (Sotomayor) to check her bowels DAILY, because she had not had a bowel movement in several days, and only on the 10th day, did I finally get an order in the chart for an INTERN (another incompetent future doctor at the time) to disimpact my mother, which resulted in bleeding and hemorrhage.
(3) misuse of the appropriate antibiotics, having had a urine culture done, the attending ordered Amoxil which was not sensitive to the bacteria in her urine, and a few days later, she became septic and gradually deteriorated from untreated Urinary Tract Infection. This is a disease that we treat in the outpatient settings in the United States, it is basic, easy to treat, if standard care and protocols are followed.
(4) As a Diabetic, drawing blood out of the lower extremity is an absolute CONTRAINDICATION, but the phlebotomists continued to take blood out of her feet when nobody was looking, or intentionally at dawn, when my mother's attendant was sleeping, and before I arrived for a visit. I posted signs all over the wall and bed, and informed the nurses and laboratory supervisors never to allow blood drawing from any other part of her body aside from her arm, but nobody heeded my instructions. My mother died of a Massive Pulmonary Embolus after 45 days of admission at St. Lukes. This clot was a direct result of drawing blood from her lower extremities, simply because the medical technologists were too incompetent and too lazy to find any other vein elsewhere.
(5) Physical Therapist burned my mother's left arm and shoulder while applying the ultrasonic heat, and not bothering to test before using on a patient. I found the burns myself, they were never reported. My mother sustained first and second degree burns that again, were dismissed as "normal and usual effects of being a patient at St. Lukes." That is not tolerated in the United States, would have required an incident report, which was never completed, and would have easily been grounds for negligent action and malpractice.
(6) Tube Feedings. Not a single RN on the floor had the basic knowledge or skill as to the proper use and feeding process of my mother's PEG tube. They practically shoved the container of food as fast as they could, causing abdominal discomfort, unless I stood next to her bed to watch and supervise. Nobody on the floor even knew how to use the feeding tube machine on that Geriatric Floor. We had the supervisor, head nurse and director of nursing in my mother's room trying to figure out how to use this very simple machine that they should have been trained to use properly. Needless to say, because of the delay in feedings, my mother's nutritional status was compromised even more, resulting also in occlusion of her PEG tube, which of course required a replacement. The skills or lack of, in these nurses were pathetic, and unacceptable.
(7) This was rather interesting. At 9 o'clock every morning, a clerk from the business office would knock at my mother's door to hand me the hospital bill, and ask how much I was paying that particular day! It did not matter how much of the expense these incompetent employees were costing me for their negligent actions, all that mattered is that I made a deposit towards the multi-million peso bill that multiplied every hour! And if I did not go down to make a payment, they would call to remind me until I did. At the ER, the hospital refused to treat my mother until my sister made a P10,000 deposit in the middle of the night, when the banks are closed! And on discharge, after Dr. Abraham-Lim's professional discount (the only decent doctor my mother had), we paid a 2 Million Peso hospital bill that did not include the pharmacy and mutiple professional fees.
I can go on and on with the numerous disasters, these are only a few that stick out in my mind and that I will never forget!
There were clearly several instances where St. Lukes failed to meet the standard of care which directly caused injury and subsequent death to my mother. I made every effort to litigate, but unfortunately, there were no malpractice attorneys available in the country, and nobody was willing to take the case in the Philippines. I tried to publish the detailed scenario of the many terrible mistakes committed that eventually led to my mother's death, but the lawyers of this big corporate institution paid Manila Times and other newspaper publications not to publish my article. I wrote to the Secretary of Health, but got no response. I wrote and sent letters by certified mail, to the President and CEO of St. Lukes and to the Director of Nursing and the Nursing Department, and again, did not get any response.
As a Filipina myself, I must say it is rather unfortunate that Filipinos and others who reside in the Philippines, have to fall victim to the poor and negligent, but very, very expensive medical care at St. Luke's Hospital every day. There must be a way to put a stop to this negligent care!
Best of luck with your case!
Marlene Cataylo Chance, ARNP, MSN, PhD, EJD
Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner
Primary Care Physicians of Pembroke Pines
2488 University Drive
Pembroke Pines, Florida 33324
954-983-9191
17 comments:
so disappointed with the Filipino health professionals.. they ca't be caleed professionals either.. they're so embarrassing!
so disappointed with the Filipino health professionals.. they can't be called professionals either.. they're so embarrassing!
hmm.. so disappointed with the Filipino health professionals.. they can't be called professional either..so embarrasing..
I understand your predicament. I can be of help. We can raise the Filipino consciousness on patients' rights. I am a lawyer and writing books on health and law in the Phils. I wrote books entitled Nursing Law Jurisprudence, and Professional Ethics, Community Health, etc. I am writing Medical Jurisprudence with a focus on patients advocacy
Thanks
wooohh!!! that was so horrible! I am a nurse too, but as I read this article, I really feel so ashamed of what they've done.St. Lukes is the most leading hospital in the Philippines, they should have the best health care services. They should really train their staff; really hard! They should also do something about it...
i would like to know: if a patient that was admitted to hospital has acquired bedsore, should the hospital be responsible for that?
Here in US, bedsore injuries are considered hospital negligence and they can be sued for that.
I am concerned about a family friend who has had bedsore while in one of the largest hospital there in the Philippines. The patient is in coma, he is not moving for almost 2 months now. And is developing large bedsores in his back. Family thinks that it is just normal because their father is now incontinent. But could it be preventable if the hospital has given the patient good nursing care?
If every Filipino non-health or health professionals who are trained and working abroad have the courage of at least finding a way to go home at least once or twice a year to teach and share their expertise, have affiliated to each hospitals here in the Philippines then maybe soon we can solve our problems instead of always comparing ourselves to the ways of americans. We are still Filipinos no matter what and we still have to be responsible to our country and the rest of the Filipinos.
If every Filipino non-health or health professionals who are trained and working abroad have the courage of at least finding a way to go home at least once or twice a year to teach and share their expertise, have affiliated to each hospitals here in the Philippines then maybe soon we can solve our problems instead of always comparing ourselves to the ways of americans. We are still Filipinos no matter what and we still have to be responsible to our country and the rest of the Filipinos.
Maybe Khaye is not a Filipino That is why she stated "The Filipino health professionals"
i agree with dlsmcbatch2004. we need to do something to improve our medical and nursing services...complaining and distancing ourselves wouldn't help. our families would have fared better if we took care of them ourselves.
ahmm.... hi... i am from a small hospital near pajo maynila... when i read your story, my hair at my nuchal stood up!!! i am also a nurse, first year. but i do understnd your situation... '' db nga sabi ni Florence nightingale, wag lng tumingn
sa mismong sakit, dpt alm din ang mga posibleng ibubunga nit?'' basic info lng un,....
panu daw kaya sila nging DOC at RN? kung basic di nila alam?
hay.....
again, i feel sorry for you...
condolence..
Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon reaction from distraught family members who feel they have been a victim or wrongdoing, however, I have to say this is a very inappropriate and unprofessional blog entry. Coming from a Filipino doctor-to-be, I am incredibly disappointed that Ms. Chance is brandishing other healthcare professionals in this manner. If a person, specially a healthcare professional has a problem with his/her colleagues, he/she must take up his/her concerns with the proper authorities or anyone trained to deal with the problem. This may or may not have been taught in nursing schools, but it is prevalent understanding that members of the medical profession must exercise self oversight with the universal belief that we are capable of handling this types of problems within our circle partly to: (1) avoid miscommunication of facts and truths and (2) to prevent triggering hysteria and misconceptions among the public about healthcare professionals. This is a very delicate balancing act that we hold dearly because patient trust on his/her healthcare provider is one of the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of effective patient-physician relationship; of course you can extend this relationship to who ever the patients entrusts her care. I hope your employer sees this blog and for you (Ms. Chance) to be REPRIMANDED yourself for your unprofessional conduct.
Future Filipino Doc
Medical Student
Houston, TX
I am student nurse searching for cases like this. i was dismay about St. Luke's Nurses, they committed errors that are somehow commonly committed by students like us. i hope the government can do something about this negligence and malpractice so that we can prevent this really horrible acts.....i give my support and prayer to you and your family.
I was also searching for some cases on medical malpractice.
To FlipMD, Ms. Chance resorted to legal avenues but came back empty handed.
How else can she seek justice but getting public support for reforms.
How can we raise the consciousness of our citizens if cases such as this will always be covered up.
This should be a wake up call not only to the medical profession but as well as to the nursing profession to raise their standards and ethics higher since after all, lives are at stake here. With the number of nursing graduates every year, what may have happened to the quality of their training and education??
I never really thought this would happen.. I'm so sorry about this. I'm a nursing student from manila doctors college, and because of what i've read here,it's a wake-up call for me to strive harder to be the competent nurse that i can be..
to FLIPMD, reina was right, if cover- ups will always be the actions taken by the authorities, negligence will just be a hobby of some professional nurses and doctors out there who often make mistakes that puts the lives of people at stake. Yes I agree,as professional healthcare professionals, we must strive to protect the integrity of our profession, and one way to preserve it, is to correct any wrongdoings that are actually destroying the lives of people we vowed to take care of and improve the quality of life... MISTAKES should always be exposed, so we can find solutions on how to prevent them from occuring over and over again, bringing the precious lives to WASTE..
I'm so sorry for your loss... I can't believe i will read something like this from st. luke hospital. I'm a nursing student from laguna. If it's ok i'm going to share this with my classmates and my clinical instructor by a lecture when i rotate being a head nurse.Thank you for this wake up call. I'm so sorry about your mom... I'm so sorry.
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