Two days before the incident with the aggressive patient I talked about in Stories From The Hospital Part 1, I came to the unit to cover my colleague for evening duty. I proposed to work for her that day, while she works for me in another day. I do this to reduce the number of days I spend in the hospital, thus, saving time, energy and cost.
Today's story wouldn't be about an aggressive patient per se, rather, it'll serve as an eye opener for those that prefer to go to local drug vendors (chemists) for treatment instead of coming to the hospital where there are trained personnel.
Upon resuming duty, I noticed a patient that's being prepared for a procedure, incision and drainage. I received the patient and other patients from trh morning duty nurse, and continued management from where she stopped.
On examination, the patient had injection abscess. Almost all of the right buttocks was filled with pus and this greatly limited the patients ambulation. Patient also verbalised transient insomnia related to severe pain from the right buttocks.
The story was that the patient went to a local drug vendors (chemists) for treatment. The IM injection administered by the local drug vendors (who most times are not qualified nurses. We call them Auxiliary Nurses). The medication was not administered into the correct part of the gluteus muscle which led complications.
After intensive health talk, trust me to advice patient to sue this person. However, the patient refused. He stated his reasons for refusal to be that he was friends with the auxiliary nurse.
About 1.5 to 2 liters of pus was drained from the patients buttocks, after which he was adviced to come back the next day for dressing and a review. This patient was quite cooperative unlike the aggressive patient.
So, it's actually nice to go from cheaper alternatives when procuring goods, however, when the discussion is about your health and well being, I don't think it's good to look for cheaper alternatives. What you should look for is professionalism and the ability of the health care provider to actually cure your illness without complications.
Thank you for reading.
Image belongs to me