Trish Caldwell, HIPPA Officer and Maxi-Pad Police.

If you hadn't already realized it from reading the title of this entry THIS ONE will be A LOT of TMI.

Read at your discretion.

OH and by the way if you haven't read my last several entries PLEASE refer to the link list entitled "Psych Hospital" on the right.. Things will make more sense that way.

Once I took the Ativan I began to calm about 30 minutes later. I took a nap and was woken at 10 am and told to go to group. I go where they tell me and we sit. No one is there to lead group. We all sit looking blankly at each other. One lady was pretty much catatonic and they set a breakfast tray in front of her. Then walked away.

Not the catatonic lady but a good representation.


The woman just sat there...not eating and no one was feeding her. After about 10 minutes another patient went up to her and tried to feed her. A few moments later a tech came in and yelled at her for doing that and said DON'T FEED HER she's a choking hazard. I immediately wondered why they gave her a breakfast tray then?

I finally went to the desk and asked who was leading group. I was told "Audrey" was. A few moments later Audrey came in. One of the other patients asked her if she was doing group. She said she was not sure but that if she was supposed to be she couldn't because she had a family waiting for her. Then she just walked out leaving the ten psych patients to sit there and wonder what to do. I went to the desk and asked who was leading the group and they didnt seem to know either. I said well if there is no one to lead group I'm going to take a nap. I was told not to do that....someone would be in to lead group. No one ever came until the last five minutes. An orderly came in and basically said to make sure all kept taking our meds even if we felt better.....

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Is this what I just went through hell for?

I want my money back.

Anyway, group after that was much better but that particular therapist did it again later in the week except this time she was 20 minutes late, had no topic to go over and wanted us to come up with something to talk about.

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#didntrealizeiwasgonnadoherjobforher

#doessheknowmyoldshrink?

That evening I realized I was getting close to CD1. For those confused CD1 is commonly referred to in the infertility world as the first day of your period.

OH GRAND!

I debated about this entry too but when I thought about it rationally I said "Trish you are a 34 year old grown woman.......everyone knows you have a period....get over yourself.

So I did.

Anyway.

I realize I'm going to have to ask the assholes for maxi-pads......


While disturbing I thought this appropriate. A dancing maxi pad. Yes Virginia, you can find ANYTHING on the internet.


ugh.

I get up that morning and actually felt chipper. I put makeup on and did my hair for the first time in a long time. I went to the desk and said to the nurse "I need to speak to a female staff member privately please". She gives me a strange look and says okay. She says to go to my room and wait. #suddenlyifeel10

The bitch comes to my room pulls the door WIDE open and says "What do you need?" In the meantime people are walking by the room door, male staff and patients alike. So I tell her I want to talk to her in private and to please close the door.

She tells me no.

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I asked why and she said it was against policy.

I told her I understood why male staff could not close a door with a female patient (as I found out the night before when a male nurse took me into the game room with other patients walking about to go over my entire history and physical I said I want a room with a door and he refused citing "THE POLICY.") but I DID NOT UNDERSTAND why she wouldnt close the door as we were both females.

She reiterated the policy. I told her I was appalled at how BLANTANTLY she was disregarding my right to privacy. She was breaking every HIPPA law there is and THEN some. I went on to say that EVERYONE there had broken confidentiality rules and I did really wonder HOW they got away with it.

With that she said the only OTHER option was to get another female nurse to come in WITH her. I said "That's fine, let's do that." She gives me a SHITTY, smart ass grin and in a CONDESCENDING tone says "Sure I'll get someone for you RIGHT NOW." Then she walked out.

I BECAME LIVID.

I again was shaking and anxious. I couldn't believe how blatantly rude this woman had been to me ALL BECAUSE I simply needed her to get me FREAKING MAXI-PADS and it was the ONLY way I could get them. Believe me if I would have handled it myself I sure as hell wouldn't have bothered that bitch.

After pacing in my room and thinking about it a few more minutes I decided I would go down to the desk. I didn't have a plan of what I was going to do or say. I just knew I had to say something and also REALIZED the good part of being a mental patient in that moment. If I went down there and screamed at her for being the huge bitch she was, they'd just dismiss it because I AM CRAZY YOU KNOW!? I might even get a nice nap from some chemical sedation and a padded room.

WINNING!


When I approached the desk the bitch was standing with her back to me bitching to her co-worker that SHE WAS NOT going in a room alone with me and I just wouldn't listen.

I stood quietly until she turned around and I just shook my head at her and said "I heard everything you JUST said (I hadn't heard everything but I sure wanted her to think I had). You should be ashamed of yourself." Then I asked who the supervisor was. One of the techs said she would be in and he would let her know I need to speak to her in private.

I went back to my room...fuming mad. I paced again and then "Carlton" came in and said the supervisor was ready to talk to me.



I asked if she was going to talk to me in private or not. He said she would.

I got to the desk and she asked if I was Patricia. I said yes and she said follow me and took me into the same room right across from the nurses station WITH NO DOOR.

I stood outside the door, shook my head and then rolled my eyes.

Then I said "What part of PRIVATE do you people not understand.....THIS (and I outlined the missing door frame) room with NO DOOR is the OPPOSITE OF PRIVATE!" (I was really working on that padded room/chemical sedation combo).

Doesn't it look COMFY? lol



She came out of the room and said well we just don't go in a room alone with a patient Ma'am.

sigh


Then she went back to the nurses station while I bitched about how none of them knew what HIPPA was and that I'm shocked no one has ever reported them. A new bitch, (we'll call her Big Flower Head or BFH for short) decides to put her two cents in. Without even looking up from her paper work she says "We just don't go into rooms alone with patients, it's our policy." I said well your policy is against the law. Then she continued to explain...while NOT looking at me and continuing to write, that things have happened in the past and they have to keep staff safe.

At this point I understood her urgent need to keep staff safe because I wanted to jump over the desk and smack her hard enough to make the big flower fly out of her hair.

Okay it wasn't THIS big but it was close.


I told them they all needed training on how to treat patients, then suggested that they should all be on the other side of the desk so they would learn how to treat people. BFH then said "you shouldn't worry about other patients here, you need to worry about you and your recovery."

WHAT?

HUH?

That doesn't even make sense as a reply to what I had just said.

So I said well if you were listening I said YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO TREAT PATIENTS, I didnt say I was worried about anyone else.

I finally looked at the other nurse and said "FINE, I guess we'll go in the stupid room with no door and I will whisper my private business to you......you know like we are all in kindergarten."

I walked into the room, shaking and annoyed, looked at the nurse and said "I should be getting my period any second now and I need some damn maxi-pads."

Her entire demeanor softened and she apologized for everyone acting like they were. I honestly had felt like I was back in high school and they were a bunch of mean girls.

She said she would have one of the techs get them for me.

A few minutes later while standing at the desk in line for meds the idiot tech openly handed them to me in front of about 10 people. The next day another tech did it in the hall (you only get two at a time so I had to ask multiple times....SERIOUSLY.)

I wrote the incidents on a patient advocate form and I'm hopeful they do something about the lack of ANY PRIVACY in that place at all.

And YES I realize that I went through all that hell to keep my period quiet....then I blogged it.....so sue me.

So that's my story on how I became a Hippa Officer and yes THE MAXI PAD POLICE.