AboutHillarie Speziale Expertise I can answer general questions about ICU care, the frequently used medications, procedures, and life supports. I can also explain many of the diagnoses and supportive measures used for patients with that particular illness. I am familiar with the infectious, cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and gastric problems that can land you in the ICU. I can not tell you exactly how long the patient stay will be, diagnosis your symptoms, or tell you with any certainty that the care you (or your loved one) received was wrong. I can also answer career questions regarding RRT and RN fields. Please note: neurology is not a field I have dealt a great deal of familiarity with.
Experience I have 17 yrs experience as a Respiratory Therapist, and 9 yrs as a critical care nurse. I am familiar with infectious, cardiac, respiratory, renal and gastric diagnoses that can land you in the ICU.
Education/Credentials Assoc. Degree in Respiratory Therapy, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of science in psychiatric nurse practitioning.
Expert: Hillarie Speziale Date: 6/19/2008 Subject: No brain activity
Question My question is regarding married friends of mine. Tom (husband) had a stroke and an aneurysm back in January. Since then he has gone up and down, but more recently down. A few weeks ago he coded and was down for 30 minutes before reaching the emergency room and being revived. He is now on life support. He has no brain activity and it has been suggested that his wife (Debbie) take him off. She will not do it. He has been moved around to different hospitals and nursing homes and now has been moved to a hospital called Kindred Hospital. Debbie is very unhappy with the facility and wants him out but can't get him moved unless another doctor takes over his care and transfers him. She has not been successful in finding another doctor. I should also mention that they are on Medicare. My question for you is...do you have any avenues that we can explore to try to get him out of the hospital he is currently in?
Thank you for your help,
Chrissie
Answer Hi Chrissie,
Unfortunately, the information Debbie has is the same information I'm aware of; transfers to different hospitals generally occur because one facility is not capable of providing the care needed by the patient. Even when this is the case, it's not always easy to find another facility that will accept the patient. It depends on bed availability IN the required unit. Moving a patient for any reason other than medical necessity is much more difficult, and usually requires the family to foot the bill for the ambulance as well. I'm sorry I have no further information for you.
Sincerely, Hillarie
