Banner Del E Webb Medical Center | Sun City West, AZ | Meeker Blvd. — Local services in Sun City West

My brother was nearly unresponsive when he was taken to the ER at Banner Del Webb last week. He was diagnosed with Stage 5 kidney failure, a mean arterial pressure of 53 and was transferred to the ICU where he received a blood transfusion. He was confused, in severe pain and mostly incoherent. My husband and I flew in from Hawaii to advocate for his health, since my mother was still fragile from losing our father 4 months ago and my brother was confused and suffers from cataplexy (when emotional, overwhelmed, etc.).

Having begun my nursing career at Del Webb (3D) over 12 years ago, i felt comfortable with my brother receiving his care at that facility. On the evening of 10/4/24, change of shift report was not done at the bedside. When the CNA came in take my brothers vitals at the start of her shift, i informed her that my brother had a change in condition and was having difficulty breathing and anxiety. His blood pressure was 165/101 and HR was 135. His oxygen was 95. The CNA retook his BP and it was 160/99, she stated that she didnt have to inform the nurse since it wasnt over 160. She also said his oxygen level was fine so he was “good”. She then told my brother that she would return at 11:30pm to check on him (no more hourly rounding?). The RN arrived at 9:15pm, saw my brothers condition and called the DR. She put oxygen on my brother and said that she would call for something for anxiety. Once my brother was stable, we left for the night. When we arrived the next day, the nurse (Roxanne) was extremely rude and condescending to not only the family but the patient as well. She was angry that she was asked to empty his foley catheter container and argued that there was “still room” for more urine in there. She could not or would not tell my brother anything about why certain medications were being administered or where he stood from an oncology standpoint (he was diagnosed with lymphoma the day prior). My mother asked if there was any idea when he would see the Oncologist. Every question was a battle. When i asked to speak to her outside, she was hostile and combative. Roxanne informed me that “all the staff” was talking and agreed that “too many” family members were visiting and the staff felt “uncomfortable” providing care in front of us. Roxanne stated that she was very busy and my brothers care was not her priority because the person in the room directly next door had a mean arterial pressure of 50 (HIPPA violation) and was “sicker” than my brother and getting a blood transfusion. She stated that she knew that i asked to speak to the Charge nurse twice and i dont want to do that because the charge nurse is going to “make you guys leave” and the staff WILL treat my brother different once they find out i spoke to the charge. She said we would be labeled as difficult for advocating for my brother. I told her I was an RN and would hope that isnt true but I did let her know that i would be escalating my concerns to the Charge, unit Director, the AZBN, state and his insurance company. When i spoke to Ashley, the charge RN, she listened, was empathetic, thoughtful, informative and compassionate. Ashley was exactly what you would expect a leader to be. She did not throw her employee under the bus, nor did she dismiss the concerns. Roxanne was my brothers nurse today and was completely different. She was educating my brother, explaining things (as a nurse should) and was receptive to his needs.

I understand that everyone has bad days, but NO PATIENT should have to suffer because of it. I understand that family members can be intimidating to staff, but we were in no way rude, menacing or hostile. We did not warrant the behavior we received and we will NOT apologize for showing our loved one support at this time. A cancer diagnosis warrants prayer and lifting up of the individual. If the staff was doing their job properly, it shouldnt matter who is in the room. And if there is no policy against family being in the room, then expect family to be there. Behaving unprofessionally can get your RN...

My father was recently admited to the ICU for resp issues. Now, I was on the phone with the staff several times everyday. Every day I got a different answer as to what was going on with my father. I got he is critical but stable, he is unstable he has this is has that , but not 1 time was I given a diagnosis. Even after asking several times. I asked specific questions, is he sepic, have his labs come back? What is Chem. Panel ? Never a straight answer, not even from Dr. KIM in the ICU! AND BEFORE YOU SHOUT HIPPA, I had MPOA! My father lived in AZ and my sister and I live on the East Cost. Dropping everything is not an option, I need to make arrangements with work, care for animals and so on. Trying to get information from your staff is atrocious! Not to mention the fact on 4 separate occasions Dr. KIM tried to get my stepmother to make my father a DNR, because cpr would hurt him..... Now, let me fill you in on a bit of information, my self, my sister and my father all worked and volunteered for the fire department. I have been a Paramedic for 30 years, my sister prior to becoming a 911 Paramedic was a critical care paramedic, and my father was an EMT. I find it appalling your Dr. Kim in the ICU, attempted to get my step mother to change my father's final wishes, by scaring the living hell out of her!! HOW DARE HE!!! She said no once and that should of been good enough, but it was not! He even wrote my father as a DNR and my step mother had to call him and have it changed. I flew out with my family and we all arrived with in a day of each other. Once in the hospital up on the floor, we were advised, he was on 4 different meds to keep his BP up. He was on a feeding tube ( no one is sure when he got that because we were never informed) and as far as we knew he was still sedated and paralyzed. He was intubated. I went and looked at the meds. No sedation, no paralytic, no antibiotics, no steroids. Just lopressor, levafed, and 2 others and 25 mcg of fentanyl. Which is nothing. NEVER, NOT ONE TIME WERE WE EVeR TOLD HE WAS REMOVED FROM SEDATION, ANTIBIOTIC, OR PARALYTICS. Then we were told he will need dialysis because his kidney were failing, ok but why? Was it because he had rabdomyossis from laying in the same spot and has a high lactate from muscle breakdown? WHY are his kidneys failing? No answer, nothing! After getting my mind right after that shocker. 4 bags of pressors, that means he is in shock! I NEED YOU TO TELL ME WHY IN THE HELL I HAVE TO FIGURE THIS OUT???? This is not my job to play ICU DETECTIVE! Not 1 damn time did anyone ever state my father was in uncompinsated shock. He was pulled from sedation and paralytic 2 days prior, we were never told. He was in cardiogenic shock. You know when we were told? again we weren't I figured it out after reading the meds hanging. (4 bags of pressers hanging to maintain a blood pressure of 80 systolic, tells me those meds are all that is keeping him alive. His sat on a vent was 88%. YOUR EVERYDAY PERSON IS NOT GOING TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.) He was not responding to pain. He was shunting blood from extremities to the core, hands and feet were cold and blue. I finally got a hold of his Chem panel, and noticed he was in reapitory acidosis, hight lactate poor spao2 etco2 crappy. As well as the rest of his labs. (MY SISTER AND I HAD TO PAINFULLY ATTEMPT TO EXSPLAIN THIS TO MY STEP MOTHER AND THE REST OF THE FAMILY) Which let me just tell you, I will curse you hospital until the day I dye! I could mot even come in and say good by to my father, I had to do your Drs job and tell my family was was going on! IM SORRY, BUT THAT IS GOD AWLFUL TO DO TO A FAMILY AND IT IS PAINFUL! It was clear after doing all this on my own and obtaining information that should of been given to the family, up front and straight foward was not! We got no formal diagnosis, no straight answers from your Dr. kim Why do I have to come to your hospital FROM THE EAST COST and DIAGNOSS MY OWN FATHER? HERE SIR, IS MY DIAGNOSIS Stage 5 RP- 2nd to radiation for SCLC. People take...

I was in the emergency room a couple of nights ago, it was awful. The waiting room was just hysterical 🤣 people sick next to people injured 😒 completely packed wall to wall, the wait was excruciating. I had taken over the counter meds for what I thought was a kidney infection, I was not planning to go the del webb but the urgent care center was also at capacity so they recommended E.R. so then I am sitting in a dirty waiting room for approx 7 hours. They did care while I waited a girl named Nora took my blood when I asked for pain meds, she laughed and said "everyone wants pain meds that's why they come" which did sound like a blanket statement about people just wanting drugs. I told her I was in pain and I might be a little groucy, she responded with a tone "I am really grouchy" another nurse came by and offered to get her a snack so she looked at me and stopped my care to say "I am gonna run out real quick" she came back eating, I told her I felt very sick and my condition felt like it was worsening to which she replied "you are talking to me, you know where you are and nothing about the way you are presenting concerns me." I thought wow, what a bih So I decided to try to wait this out even though it hurts so frigging bad. Finally, I get to a back room and a chair (the chair was broken and the arm kept falling off) I have this total Nazi Nurse who was named Dawn, by this point all meds from home were gone so it hits this frequent urination and I mean like every 5 minutes, I saw the nurse was irritated that I kept getting out of my (broken) chair, not listening to me that the pain was becoming unbelievable unbearable, at this point I had asked for a charge nurse for the 4rth or 5th time, no charge nurse ever came. I asked Dawn to please try to get my labs because I knew something was badly wrong. She said she was gonna go tell Franklin (my Dr? I never met him.) So she and her partner nurse at the desk looked so similar, same uniform same color hair and in my pain and illness I had a hard time telling them apart. I went and asked the wrong nurse if she saw my labs and she pointed her finger at me and said "Step Back!" I sorta started to realize this isn't the same nurse. I went back to my broken chair. So then my nurse Dawn came in and waves her finder in my face and said "I just told you I was going to check you labs! Who gives you the right to bother my associate (so right then I knew the other nurse complained about me) she also said "The doctor said you can have your percocet!!!!! Don't you want your percocet?!?!?" To which I said no, I am done I want to go home. I left. So I went back to urgent care and was seen in 20 minutes they found the problem, gave me a shot and a prescription and I was out of there in 45 minutes. Here is the funny part, maybe because they wanna get paid. When I went to pick up my meds from urgent care Dawn may have been trying to cover her tracks because there was a prescription from the hospital, ain't that a bih talk about trying to cover you A. So a doctor I never met wrote me a script after literal (my opinion) patient disregard from his nurses and never having met me it only took 8 hours for me to give up dang. I refused their meds because I was never in Dr. Franklins care. I am still waiting for the hospital to call me for 2 or 3 days now (so I could share my experience) I decided to share my day of terror in delwebb here with a review hoping this will get their attention. The only way I would return would be an ambulance. We have dignity hospital on bell road and another hospital next to winco on bell road. I will vote with my feet and walk into any other hospital from now on. Still waiting on a call about. Patient dismissal by Dawn and Nora. Maybe this review will get their attention. Yall please go to dignity instead it's small but they can do alot, they can transfer to another hospital if it's over their trauma level. Try not to go to del webb unless you can take a lot of bad treatment by the nurses....