My wife is currently undergoing cancer treatments at Georgetown and part of her treatment plan is…read morechemotherapy in their infusion center. While the nurses and staff in the check-in center are very friendly and warm, the nurses and staff in the infustion center, where I think friendly, warm and caring is needed most, do not have the best bedside manner. As my wife's caretaker, I sit with her for hours while her chemotherapy is administered. Today, we were there for four hours for a treatment that was to took 2.5 hours. Waiting for the nurse to change the IV was a lot of it.
Usually, when patients undergo chemo infusions, food and drink are made available for consumption. This includes various chips, cookies, yogurt, sandwiches, tea, coffee, water, sodas, etc. The last two times, the staff and nurses in the infusion center moved the sandwiches out of kitchen (no notification was given to patients) and put them somewhere else, so they are no longer readily available. My wife, is diabetic and must eat lunch. We bring our food as well, but we don't expect to be there as long as we have been on some days, so some days, she asks about sandwiches. When I went to the nurse's station and asked if sandwiches were coming, since my wife was sitting with an IV in her arm, the nurse replied while in full stride, "I doooooooonnnnttt know" and kept it moving. Eventually, one of the techs walked around a cart with the sandwiches on it asking if my wife wanted a sandwich. At that point we were told that these items were available for patients only, not for caregivers. In my opinion, that is ridiculous. We are sitting there the entire time, going to get bottles of water, coffee, tea, etc. that the patient may want, so still providing care. I have witnessed the staff eating the snacks, sandwiches, etc., so that's ok? This policy needs to be reviewed. There is an abundance of snacks, sandwiches and drinks delivered, so I'm not sure why the restrictions have been put into place.
Georgetown needs to review this policy and make it known to patience when sandwiches are available to patients.