How can I get the hospital staff to take my concerns seriously?
In asking about communicating effectively with hospital staff, you seem frustrated that they don't seem to be taking your concerns seriously. It may not be that you have failed to communicate well with them. It may also be that they aren't communicating well with you.
You know your mother and what is normal for her better than anyone there. Sometimes when a person is recovering from surgery, the focus is solely on the surgical procedure and the rehabilitation afterwards. The other medical problems a person has are not front and center, and can be overlooked.
First, I would ask the treating doctor at the hospital for a consult for evaluation of your mom by a lung specialist, called a pulmonologist. While mom is in the hospital, it is sometimes easier to access these specialists who can come to her. If you insist and persist, remaining courteous in your requests, you are more likely to get what you want for mom.
If the treating doctor in the hospital is unavailable or doesn't respond to you, you can try your mom's regular MD, letting him or her know your concerns and asking for a referral to a lung specialist to visit her in the hospital. It is easier for a doctor to refer to another doctor than for you to try to find one on your own.
In addition, consider whom you are approaching in the hospital with your worries. The CNA has no authority whatsoever and can't do more than pass on the CNA's interpretation of what you said to someone else. Don't waste your time. Go straight to the registered nurse in charge on your mother's unit and be brief and clear in your request. If that doesn't work, try the head nurse, or director of nursing. Keep going until someone does take your requests seriously.
I suggest that you keep a small notebook with you (or a smart phone) and log in all the people you talk to about your concerns, when you speak to them (dates and times), with their names and titles. The record of how many times you make your request can be important and can help you impress the next person up the "chain of command" in the hospital when you have a complaint about your mother's condition.
Finally, you are mom's advocate now. She is recovering and needs your voice to be there to get the attention of a physician. Keep speaking up, several times a day if necessary, until you get results. Keeping emotion out of your complain is essential. A calm demeanor will get more results than a critical and emotional one.
If she needs further monitoring or treatment, you should be able to find that out from a reliable source with the needed expertise. If she is really ok, and doesn't need anything further, at least you will get that reassurance from a doctor, and can then put your worries aside. Don't rest until you are satisfied that she is getting proper care for her COPD.
My mom was diagnosed with COPD by one doctor and when seen by another doctor it was determined that she was CO2 retentive and too much oxygen was bad for her. If you don't find the answers you need, seek out another physician. Right now my mom is on 1 liter of oxygen all day long but on a bipap machine with 3 liters of oxygen during her nap and overnight to remove any CO2 build up. She is looking a whole lot better than she was.
The doctor that determined that mom was CO2 retentive was not a pulmonologist but her GP and then we took mom to another pulmonologist who agreed with the GP and mom's cardiologist. Sometimes some doctors tend to band aid older patients and forget that everyone is different. The pulmonologist that mom had at the hospital was the only pulmonologist in our town and all of his associates agreed with him. So we went out of town to another pulmonologist and that most likely saved mom's life.
