[Viva] STIGMA and JUDGMENT by HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Sat Jan 5 12:40:38 PST 2019

Hello again,
    I took a really sick HIV / HEP C POS friend to Surrey Memorial
Emergency .
          I was with her when the women at the admitting desk asked her how
she was infected.  I explained the only time it is important to know is
when you are first diagnosed and there are others that need to be informed
of exposure . That is it .
           She was coughing so I had to leave her to get some water because
they weren't. As soon as I stepped away from he they asked her again and
proceeded to say of she didn't tell them that she would be waiting a very
long time for . She told me of this when I arrived back with water. She
didn't tell them and I immediately drove her to St Paul's to get the care
she needed.
             Roberta.

On Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 12:28 PM berta vezina <bertavezina333 at gmail.com wrote:

> Hello Denise ,
>      Recently I was in a lab to get bloodwork. I could see two nurses
> speaking with each other intensely .  They were both looking at me  the one
> had my chart and as they were talking she was shaking her head no then the
> other nurse took my chart got some gloves on to take my blood . What that
> suggested to me was that one absolutely did not want to take my blood
> because I was HIV HEP C pos. Some may think I was reading too much into
> this. I've had so many of these experiences over the years and am not .
>
> On Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 8:49 AM Charlene Anderson <pickles4 at shaw.ca wrote:
>
>> Hi Denise. Last year I was waiting for a cardiac CT scan and I saw that
>> very clearly marked on my chart it said that I was HIV positive, I could
>> read it on the counter from the bed I was laying in. The nurse felt the
>> need to yell across the room to make sure the tech doing the test knew I
>> was”HIV”. I said excuse me but there was no reason to yell my health issues
>> across the room as I’m sure everyone who needed to know knew I had HIV, I
>> also said I had HIV and that I wasn’t HIV.
>> Char
>> Over the years I have told various health care people when that have
>> asked “how I became positive” that if it doesn’t have anything to do with
>> what’s wrong with me then it’s irrelevant.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jan 4, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Denise Wozniak <deniseswozniak at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Oh my gosh.. that is so so sad and terrible Anne. Total BS.
>>
>> Thanks for replying.
>>
>> Denise
>>
>> On Fri, 4 Jan 2019, 12:13 pm anne bonner <thewoodbuffalo at gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> 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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