[Viva] STIGMA and JUDGMENT by HEALTHCARE WORKERS

[anne bonner]

I once was in for a LEEP procedure (cone biopsy on my cervix) at the
Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. I had my appointment at a certain time but
was waiting for a very long time. I finally asked the receptionist what was
happening and why I had been waiting so long. She dutifully informed me (in
front of other people) that because I was HIV positive, that I was to go
last "because of the vaginal juices". There was a big post-it note on top
of my file that said HIV+. They expected me to wait all afternoon. I was
mortified/horrified/angry and had to interrupt her from speaking or else
she would have just gone on. I told her to please stop talking. I waited a
bit longer, steaming, and then told her I was leaving, that they should use
universal precautions, and if there was a chance of infecting other people
through the hospital then they had a real problem. Also that this was total
bullshit, and that she was an asshole. I should have reported her AND that
clinic to the hospital.
This was more than 5 years ago so it's kind of an old story. Maybe things
have changed?



On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 12:37 PM Denise Wozniak <deniseswozniak at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi everyone:
>
> This talk is not until April and so anything you can give me in the next
> two months would be great and I can start working on the talk.  Perhaps
> think of what you would like to be treated like and how you were treated or
> talked to.
>
> As an example, when I went to see a new doctor I was told "i don't know
> anything about HIV, you will be getting that care down at St. Paul's" - I
> had to wonder how many cancer patients he said that to!!!
> Another case was a nurse who was in pre-op asking me if the surgeon knew I
> had HIV. I had disclosed to the surgeon but was horrified she felt she had
> to defend him!
>
> Denise
>
> On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 12:21 PM berta vezina <bertavezina333 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>      Happy new year everyone!
>>
>>     Hello Denise,
>>       How much time do I have to forward some experiences to you? The
>> reason I'm asking is I dont have time right now and wanted to know when is
>> your deadline is for input .
>>       Thanks,  Roberta.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 3, 2019, 11:35 AM Denise Wozniak <deniseswozniak at gmail.com
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Ladies:
>>>
>>>
>>> What do we want when we go to a healthcare provider? To be treated with
>>> caring and interest, whether it's a doctor, a homeopath, a hospital, a
>>> psychiatrist, a clinic.  We don't need  aggressive and inconsiderate
>>> comments. we just want to be treated like any other patient who has come
>>> for treatment.. not asked a bunch of inappropriate questions or receive
>>> rude comments.
>>>
>>> I have an upcoming speech to healthcare workers on stigma and
>>> discrimination. Most of us have  faced it and it makes it incredibly
>>> difficult to feel confident in going for care.
>>>
>>> I have a few incidents I've run into myself but does anyone have any
>>> healthcare examples they would like to share that I would keep as anonymous
>>> and that I could use as examples of how we need change?  I'm looking
>>> specifically for incidents in the last 5 years.
>>>
>>> Thanks for taking the time to do this for me.
>>>
>>> Denise
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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