"2014-02-24T00:00:00"^^ . . "4"^^ . . "0"^^ . "6"^^ . "We chose Banner Good Sam b/c it's so close to our house and they are covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield - PPO. \n\nStayed on Floor 7 which had private rooms in Pod D and Pod C. I noticed that in Pod D the DAY nurses are a little less attentive and slower to respond to the remote control caller button than the night Pod D nurses were. \n\nPod C nurses were nicer than Pod D nurses overall, and many of them are friends with each other and attend the same church and even quietly sung some of their church songs together on the night shift, which was very comforting in my opinion. Pod C nurses were very attentive, quick to respond, were very \"real\" when speaking with me and answering questions, and knew all the ins and outs of getting you the best care from the doctors. They visited with each other while at the nurses station, that's true, but they rarely got to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time because it was always time for some patient to get some type of attention and it NEVER, EVER ENDS. \n\nSTOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW AND REALIZE THAT NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF NIGHT IT IS -- THE NURSES AT BANNER GOOD SAM ARE GETTING OUT OF THEIR CHAIRS CONSTANTLY TO ATTEND TO SOMETHING A PATIENT NEEDS AND MONITORING THEIR CARE FROM THEIR COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND ARE IN CONSTANT TOUCH WITH THE DOCTORS BY PHONE, GIVING THEM UPDATES. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CAN KEEP ALL THE CHANGING DATA IN THEIR HEADS FROM ALL THE CHANGES WITH EACH PATIENT. It truly is a constant thing around the clock and I know because I was a day sleeper while I was there and I was awake at all hours of the night, getting my ice chps and walking with my walker for exercise and I saw those nurses constantly attending to the patients at 1:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. IT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.\n\nI agree there is a neverending string of visitors wanting blood, taking blood pressure, dispensing your meds, asking you questions, etc. that starts about 3:00 a.m. and goes thru to about 7:00 a.m. I almost felt I should \"hold a meeting or press conference\" and have them all appear in my room at once and answer their questions and allow them to poke and prod simultaneously and get it over with so I could go back to sleep.\n\nThere could be better housekeeping efforts in the private bathrooms by the cleaning staff.\n\nIf you find yourself staying at Banner Good Sam for 1 or more nights and are in need of any kind of pain medication (other than the morphine self-pumper - limited of course), then take a tip from me and self-monitor the timing of your doses so that if you are supposed to get your pain pill(s) every four (4) hours, START getting the nurses going on dispensing your meds about 20-40 minutes before that four (4) hours is UP, because it takes them that long to go through all the administrative medical hoops to actually hand you the pills. If you WAIT until your four (4) hours is UP to ask the nurses for your next round of pain meds, it can take them 20-40 minutes to get it to you by the time they make all the phone calls they need to make, and by then you could be in trouble with PAIN. I'm surprised that the nurses don't realize this themselves and start getting your next round ready 20-40 minutes BEFORE your four (4) hour interval is up -- but, alas this seems to be up to the patient. Pod C was better about this than Pod D was BTW.\n\nI only met one Nurse Ratchet, and she was sort of a Semi-Nurse-Ratchet on Pod D -- can't remember her name, but she had that familiar cold stare.\n\nI like the layout of the pods with their circular nurse stations -- they can really keep an eye on the patients that way and they are always at hand, and when you need to do some walking with your walker or IV pole, you can go in circles and still be close to the nurses. They know which patients haven't done any walking yet, and they congratulate and encourage you when they see you finally up and about! Also, the ice chip machine is a great find and it dispenses FILTERED water and ice chips -- a Godsend when you are on ice chips and no food for days. I think the nurses have a running joke about \"Whack-a-Mole\" which describes their constant interruptions during their shift from their patients that surround them in the circular pod. Being in the center of the pod, the nurses in their nurse station have nowhere to hide from patients! Those nurses really deserve all our respect and adoration for the CONSTANT care and interruptions they endure with such grace."^^ . "0"^^ . .