Renegade Nurse

Dealing with patients and their families, the medical system, insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and the rest of what comprises our medical system, has taught me nothing is set in stone.

I have become a RN...as in Renegade Nurse. Always was, in some respects. I never apologize to doctors for waking them up in the middle of the night when I need an order, they get paid huge bucks to be on call. When a patient gets a raw deal from their insurance company, or if Medicare is slow to approve a needed treatment, I squawk like a chicken with its head caught in a tin can.
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"--actually I'm not mad, but I guarantee you I'm planning to bring up issues that would make most nurses pale. There are so many topics that are becoming apparently intolerable for patients, and they have no way of fighting back, other than through litigation. This is unfortunate as it drives up the cost of health care for everyone.


Here's a hot tip for you. If your doctor has determined you need an operation, but your insurance is denying coverage, visit the ER, often. Let them run up a couple thousand dollars per visit in tests. After a few trips, call your insurance company, have them pull up the records and say, "now wouldn't that surgery have been cheaper?" You'll get the surgery.

In the coming weeks, keep an eye on http://webnurseonline.com I'll be exposing areas of the medical community.