So my niece has been at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for about a month now. So far I am not at all impressed with the care they have been giving her. Unless your vent alarm is going off they take their sweet ole time getting to you. Her roomate needed her trache to be suction and for her to be coughed. KAyla goes through the same stuff and when this doesn't happen in a timely matter she feels like she is choking. Well, her roommate called for her nurse twice within a ten minute period to be suctioned and no one came. I ended up going to get someone. Kayla told me that it happens to her all the time. She calls for someone (mind you, neither Kayla nor Regina can speak) and no one comes. OF course I'm upset because I heard such good htings aobut this place and things are happening that are making me very angry. Like one morning they forgot to feed Kay breakfast and another time she was getting some medince and it was administered very fast and Kayla's eyes rolled into the back of her head and a team came in and had to bring her back.

So through all these complaints and concerns I am wondering if anyone on here has been to the Rehabilitation Institue of Chicago? They are the number one rehab center in the country and I think it is worth a shot for Kayla to go there next. Do you think it would be best for her to go straight there from the Shepherd Center or should she go be at home for a bit first?

Kayla's situation is a little tricky... well, very tricky because the woman responsible for Kayla's injuries is her neighbor and is now facing criminal charges.

Wowzas! This is long!

I appreciate any input! Thanks!

Kirsty

I live in Illinois but am not familiar with the SCI Unit in Chicago.
I went through the Shepherd Center for my initial SCI care (2003). I experienced some of the same things. I had a trache, felt like I was drowning all the time, had to have suction constantly. In my case they had a monitor on me all the time and there was a nurse monitoring it. I do remember there were times that it took forever for them to respond to the call light. Not a pleasant experience.
Keep in mind, they will not always give suction because it can cause damage if done too frequent, I know there were many times they would not give me suction and wanted me to work through it.

Overall I thought the care at the Shepherd Center was one of the better ones available.
If your niece is having problems the Shepherd Center is very good about listening to your complaints and tending to your needs. Your niece can change teams if it is a team issue.

In my experience with SCI units, unless extreme emergency, the response time from call light to attendance is not immediate. Most are short staffed and very busy. SCI care is pretty demanding for the staff and not easy care.

Perhaps you should contact the Shepherd Center's Risk Manager. Or, the floor supervisor. But I do agree with TOP (Most are short staffed and very busy. SCI care is pretty demanding for the staff and not easy care)

Hang in there & best wishes for your niece's speedy recovery!
Stella

Thanks guys for your replies. We have contacted the Charge Nurse multiple times with our concerns, but little to no has been done. Some people are great wiht Kay and others are not. I understand it is a demanding job, but this is all part of the job. Kayla's vent is connected to an alert system. I guess it is jsut so hard for me to see her in need and me being inexperienced am unable to help her with all of this. It is jsut frustrating when we call for someone and they showe up thirty minutes later. Kayla is havingg a swallow test done today so lets hope it is successful!