{"id":12185,"date":"2019-05-29T08:31:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T12:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=12185"},"modified":"2022-10-09T07:33:37","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T11:33:37","slug":"rather-than-treating-homeless-woman-hospital-staff-labels-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/rather-than-treating-homeless-woman-hospital-staff-labels-her\/","title":{"rendered":"Rather Than Treating Homeless Woman, Hospital Staff Labels Her"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You wait, thinking that it\u2019ll get better.<\/p>\n

You do what you can until that time comes when you just can\u2019t take it anymore. It doesn\u2019t matter what they say \u2026 I need a doctor\u2019s attention, I know something is wrong.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t work that day \u2013 selling the paper, standing, smiling and waving. The heat was pretty bad, the temperature outside was 93. It felt like it was in the 100s. I could stand for only 10 minutes before I felt like I\u2019d pass out. Sweat rolling off my brow \u2026 maybe I needed hydration? No, I\u2019d been hydrating all day. I waited for a little bit longer. Then it seemed like the only logical thing to do was to get an ambulance. I couldn\u2019t stand up without feeling like I was going to pass out. It wasn\u2019t my blood sugar and it wasn\u2019t a heat exhaustion thing \u2013 it was something else.<\/p>\n

Arriving at the ER, the nurse comes in and starts asking me questions about my medical history, most of which is at this hospital. She takes my blood pressure and temperature, then says, \u201cThe doctor will be right in\u201d and leaves. I hear walking outside the door. Maybe 40 minutes later, I hear a familiar woman\u2019s voice say, \u201cShe\u2019s homeless and a frequent flyer.\u201d I hear a man\u2019s voice say, \u201cdrug shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfairly Labeled Due to a Stereotype<\/h4>\n

Without even seeing me, without even asking me a question, it\u2019s been assumed I am shopping for drugs. I\u2019m not even complaining of pain, and I\u2019ve been labeled a druggie all because I bare the label of homeless.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The doctor orders blood work and a chest X-ray. He even asks if I\u2019m in any pain, of which I\u2019m not, and out the door he goes. Two hours later, the nurse comes back with discharge papers. No diagnosis, no explanation as to what\u2019s going on. The papers just say to follow up with family doctor \u2013 I tell them I don\u2019t have one. The nurse looks puzzled and points to where I need to sign.<\/p>\n

I had the shingles last summer. That was so painful with the sweating, the burning and the itching. I didn\u2019t ask for pain medication because I was afraid of being labeled. That doctor knew the pain I was in and helped.<\/p>\n

Another time I was transported via ambulance to a Nashville hospital where I was seen for passing out on the bus. Again, blood work and an X-ray were done. The doctor stated I passed out because it was \u201ctoo cold outside.\u201d I listened to this but, held my tongue with what I was thinking.<\/p>\n

Was the care I was given poor because I am poor, or did they just not feel like doing their jobs?<\/strong> <\/em>These are the very individuals that have taken an oath to care for the sick, not just the insured; people who are supposed to care and they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The Same Care, the Same Respect, the Same Dignity<\/h4>\n

I get it that many health care professionals do care. But so many slip through the cracks, the same way the homeless do<\/a>. Health care professionals should get additional training to learn how to deal with homeless people, to help them physically and to simply listen.<\/p>\n

Too often, homeless people arrive at an ER and are immediately labeled \u201cdrug shoppers\u201d or \u201cfrequent flyers.\u201d We are people and we need the same medical attention that those with insurance get. We deserve the same care, the same respect, the same dignity.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You wait, thinking that it\u2019ll get better. You do what you can until that time comes when you just can\u2019t take it anymore. It doesn\u2019t matter what they say \u2026 I need a doctor\u2019s attention, I know something is wrong. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":12188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8730,354],"tags":[10272,10270,1075,10273,832,515,10271],"coauthors":[9896],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19693,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12185\/revisions\/19693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12185"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}