‘It’s been a nightmare,’ parents say care at Kapiolani is unacceptable due to lockout

HONOLULU (KHON2) — A week into the lockout, parents with children at Kapiolani Medical Center said they are frustrated and they’re afraid to leave their children because the nurses don’t know what they are doing.

“If I’m being honest, it’s been a nightmare,” Tatiana Koki said.

Koki’s three-year-old son has been at Kapiolani Medical Center since May with several medical issues. Since the strike and lockout started, she said his care has been unacceptable.

“He’s not being changed now, like he would before. He’s not being repositioned, he’s not being suctioned. They don’t take care of his trach and G Tube site, which is a big red flag for us, because this is actually the second time that he’s gotten it put in,” she explained. “My son was tangled in his medlines. I untangled them.”

Koki isn’t alone.

Anna Miles’s son is two months old in the NICU at Kapiolani.

“The nurses pulled on my son’s picc line trying to untangle it, and the doctor had to get involved and intervene with that,” she said. “I’ve had the nurse, you know, physically push my hand away while I’m trying to comfort my son while he’s crying during his care times, and that is just, you know, completely unacceptable.”

Another mother with twins in the NICU said the nurses aren’t flushing the feeding tubes after feeding her babies. She said they aren’t being swaddled in their bassinets to keep them warm. She walked in Friday to find one of her babies lying on his stomach with just a blanket over his back.

“At the end of the day, I’m terrified to leave my son,” Miles explained.

But said she has to because, like many of the other moms, she has other kids so she can’t be there 24/7.

“It’s draining. It’s mentally and physically draining because we can’t trust the staffing,” Koki said. “I honestly wish that Kapiolani would put their patient safety first and bring back our nurses.”

In a statement, Kapiolani Medical Center said “any concerns brought to our attention are immediately addressed.” It plans to meet with the nurses union again on Saturday to work toward an agreement.