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Originally Posted by GeorgiaMa'am

It's ridiculous and scary how hard it is to get a bed in a hospital now. I'm so sorry to hear about your grandparents' difficulty, Kenna.

I heard a story on NPR about how one of the reasons beds don't turn over more often is because the nurses drag their feet on completing discharge papers. When they are understaffed and so many patients need them "right now", it's hard for them to find 45 minutes to do one patient's discharge papers. I have no idea how accurate this is - it sounds like blaming the nurses for the hospitals poor administration to me.

You are exactly "spot on".

Having two recent back to back experiences, I was told at 900am, okay, you can go home today. I know that it takes a bit for "paperwork", etc etc. BUT at 800pm, to be told, "oh, you aren't going til tomorrow". My wife now had an hour & a half drive in the DARK, alone. I was so pissed.

For what it is worth, I recently presented to an ER, in acute distress, sat in a very crowded waiting room for THREE hours, then in an ER room, another 5 hours BEFORE an MD saw me. Then another 4 hours to get a "diagnosis", and an "admission to wait on a room. I spent 13 hours BEFORE getting a room. NOT A THING WAS ONE OR ME.

MY particular nurse3 had a max of 5 patients each day, 3 of us went home on my discharge day, NONE before 230pm!!

I read where 1 out of every 4 admissions will have some type of error made in their care. THAT! IS! NOT! GOOD!

Someone somewhere certainly does drag their feet!