If your wrist is completely shatter should you be sent home from the hospital?!
Question: If your wrist is completely shatter should you be sent home from the hospital?
is this COMMON PRACTICE now a days?!
oh and btw the accident was before noon so its not like it was at 8pm when perhaps an orthopedic surgeon wouldn't available. (besides shouldn't one be on call 24/7 for cases like this?)
and others have said "its just a broken wrist of course she was sent home". please don't say that cuz its NOT just a "broken" wrist. there are 8 bones in your wrist that connect your hand to your arm and those are now in tiny pieces. its not like you can pop a cast on and bam you're fine in 6 weeks. this is a serious injury that needs surgery and pins and screws to basically recreate her wrist and this is why i don't understand why the had her leave without su much as an orthopedic dr looking at the x-rays.
Answers:
I worked in the Emergency Room for years and I can't remember ever doing anything like you have described. A broken wrist and a shattered wrist are two different things. Depending on the amount of damage she will more than likely require plates with screws in her wrist.
Tell her to call the surgeon as soon as possible in the morning. She does need to keep her hand and arm elevated and also tell her to do not remove the splint they put on her wrist for any reason.
When she sees the surgeon tell her to ask why she was sent home from the ER with so little treatment. I would be interested to know why myself.
Added:
If her fingers begin to swell and the splint feels like it is cutting her circulation off to her hands or fingers she needs to return to an Emergency Room as soon as possible.
Nurse for 30 years.
what...? that doesn't sound right at all.
seriously hospitals are kind of pathetic now a days.
they don't really take you seriously it seems.
life
were you told to call the orthopedic surgeon and forgot about it?
Medical care in the United States can be different in areas of the country. The first person you should contact is the Administrator of the Hospital and make a formal complaint. Ask these same question and demand to get answer.Make sure you call the surgeon. Here is another question you might want to ask, why wasn't your sister referred to an Orthopedic Hand Doctor instead of a surgeon. The outcome of her wrist can be very different. I am not sure about having an Orthopedic Doctor on call24/7. Some hospitals are so small and are not required to do that even though they are licensed as an Emergency Room. Often times, hospitals are so strapped for money that they cut corners that hurt the patient, I hope this all get straighten out and your sister get the care she needs.
Nursing Degree