Putting people first is what we do every day, and our efforts are making a meaningful difference in the lives of our patients and their families. The following letter was written by a grateful daughter to our VGH friends and colleagues.
I’m writing to you as the daughter of my elderly father who was admitted to VGH via VGH emerg on an evening in August 2012, and discharged 5 days later. My father has lived in VCH Residential Care since January 2012. He developed a very high temp and a white count and was appearing septic. We never did determine the source of the infection; however, he – happily – returned to his better health and was discharged home.
I am writing to you because this particular experience in VCHA was so positive.
To begin in the emergency room… We arrived by ambulance. We were seen quickly and efficiently in the emergency room. There seemed to be a sepsis protocol in place which meant cultures were done immediately/quickly and antibiotics were started. He and I were treated respectfully. The emerg was quite busy but I felt people took the necessary time when they were in the cubicle with Dad. We were to the ward by 4am, about 12 hours after we arrived which I thought was reasonable even given my father’s acute status at that time.
The care on ward 10C was truly outstanding. I was so impressed with what we experienced! The physical space was clean. Proper infection control precautions and technique (to protect others from my infectious father and to protect my father from bugs he did not yet have!) seemed to be followed carefully by all the providers as well as housekeeping and food service staff.
I really would like to highlight how outstanding I felt the nursing team were. The nursing team was truly fantastic. The nurses were very competent and very compassionate. I really appreciated how they were appropriate toward my dad (not talking down to him because he has some dementia as many tend to do). They were supportive of me. They were timely in their interventions and care even though I could see they were very busy on the ward. They had a plan re how they executed their shifts and were able to be flexible as new admissions arrived on the ward and yet still did what they had to do. They weren’t scared to role up their sleeves for the “dirty” jobs and never once said to dad or me that we needed to wait for a care aide to help with that more personal task if it needed to be done now for reasons of his care or comfort. They were all fantastic.
The care aids were helpful and also knew their roles and were very capable in their tasks. They all seemed to work as a team. I could tell that handovers had happened and that correct information was transmitted. I really appreciated that there was consistency in their assignments so that we had some continuity across the days – for example, having the nurse Dave for three days in a row was very supportive of us. I also appreciated that those who did not directly “have” dad on a subsequent day still popped in to say hi to him and me and to just check in when they were back for another shift. What a great group.
I hesitate to name names of those with whom I was so impressed with as I am sure to miss someone but they include: Sarah, Dave, Jennie, Darwin, Kyle and Sharon and care aides Claudia and two others whose names I have sadly forgotten. I should note that I have not deliberately left anyone with whom we spent time off the list.
The medical team on the CTU , under the direction of Dr. Nagi with his residents, were accessible within what I expected given their loads. They were great and responded to my requests, as obviously I wanted to be kept in the loop. I also thought they were on top of their investigations and were providing great care to my dad.
Across all the team members, perhaps one of the most important aspects to highlight is the fact that my father was treated with such dignity. I felt he was never discriminated against for his age and was treated fairly, ethically and appropriately. I am very very grateful for this.
In summary, this was a very positive acute care experience. I certainly have enhanced admiration for the acute care system in Vancouver as a result of this particular stay.
I just wanted to share this with you. I do not know what the correct “level” of the VCHA organization to which this note should be directed – but I really wanted to be sure that my positive feeling and experience gets passed on appropriately.
Thanks for listening. And thank you for the care, on behalf of my father and myself.
A grateful family member