In the future there will be no hospital stay at all. They’ll just mail the instruments to you in a box, you operate on yourself on your kitchen table, and send them a check.
My only hospital stay was for pneumonia the year before last, and I was in there for nine days. All I can say, is I must have been one hell of a lot sicker than I thought.
My wife had her gal bladder removed in an outpatient procedure. When she woke up she could barely walk because of the pain. One of the nurses was trying to shoo us out, but my MIL took her into the hallway and came back a minute later saying “You’re going to stay the night.”
(Don’t make my MIL angry, you wouldn’t like her when she’s angry)
I had surgery on my eye one time and even though they accidently almost stopped by heart I was gone as soon as I was concious.
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In the future there will be no hospital stay at all. They’ll just mail the instruments to you in a box, you operate on yourself on your kitchen table, and send them a check.
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Might as well, since they’re already doing cardiac diagnostic tests by mail. Wear the small gizmo for two weeks, then drop it in the mailbox like a Netflix DVD.
When I had a colonoscopy a few years back, they gave me a sedative and then wouldn’t let me go for an hour although I felt fine. This was in Montreal where the hospitals are all non-profit and the medicare is provincial.
Colonoscopies are outpatient procedures in the States, too. I’ve had two. Prep the day before, lovely little Propofol nap, then someone to drive you home.
The OP was discussing outpatient surgery. Yes, money is a factor. But most outpatient procedures don’t warrant a full night in a hospital bed–unless something has gone wrong.
I recently had a cataract removed. They insisted someone be there for me, drive me home & stay the night. I didn’t have general anesthesia but the IV they gave me didn’t wear off immediately. Taking Metro home or driving would have been a very bad idea.
But they are far more likely to describe it as “idiopathic” to the patient and their family. A handy catchall for many mistakes as well as failure to diagnose.
What, no random stranger on the internet doing the procedure?
Can be, my brother just died - 4 weeks ago he was fine, just a bit of a chest cold. Doc dx him with pneumonia and sent him for chest film. Chest film showed a small mass in his lower right lobe so the next Friday they got him in for a biopsy and to drain a liter of fluid from his lung. Tuesday he asked me to call him an ambulance, and the next Tuesday I was calling the funeral home to arrange his burial. We didn’t even get the cytology back to determine the best treatment for the mass in his lung.
I’ve had both mine done (at different times). I turned up mid morning and joined, 8 or 10 others waiting for the same op. We all got eyedrops and had to wait for them to become effective. After a couple of hours I was led to theatre and given a local anesthetic. A nurse held my hand while they operated and I had to move my eyes around when the consultant told me.
I could see pretty well to walk to the car, but it was a sunny day and I was totally dazzled due to the drops. No way I could have driven.
I am so sorry.
They send us home from the hospital so we don’t get sick.
Ok.
That’s awful, so sorry for your loss. My brother saved my life by dragging me to the hospital, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose him.
My wife just had a bout of pneumonia, and they pushed her out after three days. Luckily, I was able to be there for her and, make sure she got all her drugs at the right time and her lungs are clear now.
Thanks. Some forms of pneumonia can be treated, some can only be supported until the body resolves it on its own. I have had both kinds over the years.
For those saying this is about money - seems like the hospital would have far more to lose in a lawsuit if a groggy patient got hit by a car.
Like everything else, it is always about money.
But, having said that, there is no real reason for a person to be kept in the hospital a long time after surgery. I had a double inguinal hernia surgery a couple of years ago, and I was sent home the next day. I had no trouble coping with that. I would have been sent home the same day, but the operating room was running late, and I hadn’t stabilized yet to go home.
The same year, I had angioplasty, and it was supposed to be outpatient, but they kept me overnight, because they make a release judgment according to the vitals and recovery of the particular patient, not a flat schedule
People have gotten accustomed to being babied in the hospital. Go home and get over it.
That’s why they require you to bring a driver, and often they have you sign a form saying you’ll have assistance/supervision for the next X number of hours.
If you show up without a driver, they’ll reschedule the procedure. They don’t play around. Many places won’t even allow taxis, Uber, or medicars. Has to be a person who will be responsible for you.
It’s money. It’s all money. It’s true that nosocomial infections are a problem, but that’s not why they’ve changed procedures. It’s the insurance policy, not the doctor, that too often determines length of stay.
Well, please Bijou Drains let me know when you are going to be in hospital so we can dress all sexy for you, maybe put on some makeup and fix our hair. Push up bra and heels; will that make your overnight stay better?
Did you know that in most places now in the USA and Canada the entry to practice for Regustered nurses is a Bachelors Degree? Education and training and a license that must be maintained yearly and we have to report any infractions other than parking tickets to our regulating college or association? Do you generally hope other professionals with who you interact are good looking, and that above all will influence your opinion on length of time spent there? “Oh I hope my architect is a hunk of burning love” sounds stupid doesn’t it? Why do you think looks has anything to do with competency?
Moderators, I am sorry for the hijack. But it had to be said, it’s 2016 and even as a joke, that is some lovely pervasive sexism sneaking into a General Questions thread.
But my real answer us money, and also recovery time. People get better when they are active, and moving around. But mostly about the cost of bedspace staff etc. I’m in Canada so I don’t generally think about cost the way American nurses do, but we all know that good care is not cheap.