Tampa General Hospital

10/12/09

Heaven forbid if you upset your Nurse!

by Tammy Miller at Citysearch

My mother was in a very serious accident about 12 years ago and this hospital is the one that the flew her to. She was in ICU for 6 weeks, and also in coma. After she got out of ICU they started her recovery on a different floor she didnt know who she was or where she was. Well she had to have assistance to get to the restroom and waited nearly 1 hr before she finally got a nurse to help her. About the 3rd week they said that she was extremely hositle and placed my mother in some kind of mesh body bag and left her there for several hours. I was only 12 at the time but when my father would take me to see her I was sooo upset leaving the hospital after seeing that my mother was clearly not happy at this hospital! Everytime that we would visit her she would say that the nurses were very mean if she asked for anything. I would not suggest this hospital to anyone! There are several other issues that I would like to address but I dont feel like getting into further detail. If you care for your loved one I would highly recommend in taking them somewhere other than TGH!

• Pros: none
• Cons: Poor Nurses on staff!!

04/22/09

Do not have your child here!

by rbeglen at Citysearch

I recently delivered my fifth child at TGH. I had been receiving routine care there for several weeks due to problems with my pregnancy, I had always been treated with kindness and respect and expected my delivery and recovery to be wonderful. I went through my induced labor and had a wonderful experience. When it came to recovery though it was a disaster. First I had to wait for a room. Because I am a new to this Medicaid thing I didn't realize that qualified me for substandard recovery care. I was put into a semi-private room with a roommate from hell. There was never any privacy because every time a staff member came in they never closed the door. My breasts were exposed to anyone who wanted to see them walking down the hall. Anytime I asked for something it took hours to receive it. I asked for extra blankets, towels and pillows and it took 5 hours and constant reminders for my nurse to bring it. I was in an extreme amount of pain due to the number of children I've had and the epidural I received during labor. I was told that Motrin and Tylenol #3 was all I could receive even though I know from experience that is a lie. I requested to see an oncall physician or midwife 3 times out of worries that the epidural may have caused damage to my back. I was told that they would be paged. I never saw them. On the day I was released I received a visit from a midwife but because she didn't identify herself when she entered my room I thought she was simply a nurse and was unable to tell her my issues.

Anyway, I don't want to completely bash TGH but I didn't realize that my comfort and care was based on what insurance I had. I would like to thank Ms. Sally Soucy for making my labor and delivery comfortable and for showing me support. To all of you who treated me like s**t in recovery I hope you never have to feel like I did. It is a shame that for the rest of my life I have to remember some of the happiest days of my life were some of the most miserable.

• Pros: Very nice midwives and labor and delivery area.
• Cons: Recovery area is overcrowded/inadequate care.

02/20/09

If it's an actual emergency, you're out of luck

by whatsawhat3 at Citysearch

Tampa General Hospital is the WORST ER I've ever been to and is not reccommended if you have an actual emergency. When I got to the ER at 10:30 pm I was having cold sweats, I couldn't walk straight and when we got to the desk I could barely breathe, they told me I'd be "next" to go into a room to see a doctor and sat me down in the waiting room. I was there for an hour without even my vitals being checked and a friend that had taken me in to the ER went up to ask what was going on since I wasn't getting any better. They responded with "I thought we already took your vitals." They can't keep track of their patients! It was four hours later, I was still shaking and had yet to see a doctor. The nurses don't even come by walking to see if everyone is okay in the sitting room.

We went to talk to patients advocacy and asked why I hadn't been seen yet and wanted to know how they prioritize things, "vitals,pressure." was his answer. Okay, so I might be dying but my vitals and pressure is fine, then what?

Then I got in to see a doctor after complaining for an hour, they did testing to make sure I wasn't diabetic and said they were going to hook me up to an IV for fluids. They put the needle in my arm and left for an hour. For an HOUR I had the "IV" in my arm with nothing hooked up to it. Then my bld pressure started to drop from 103/58 to 83/56, my friend told the doctor and he said "It's not my responsbility, go talk to a nurse." You're a doctor and it's not your responsibility to look after a patient?

After another hour we were told that there was nothing wrong with me and I was sent home. I spoke to the lady that signs the paperwork and she said "You got in here at...." and quickly changed the topic to "Okay, well I hope you're feeling better!" Once she realized I had been there for about 10 hours. She didn't even want to say what time I had gotten in.

Bottomline, if it's a real emergency, don't go here. Take your chances in brandon

• Pros: If you like long waits you're golden
• Cons: Pretty much everything