That sounds like a nightmare!!! Sympathy like. I'm so glad I never encountered that with either of my parents. When my mom was in the hospital (her blood pressure dropped dangerously low for no apparent reason...she was undergoing chemo and radiation, but it didn't seem to be related), we could call any time and get information. There was ONE time I called and the nurse didn't know who I was and wouldn't put me through to her, but the next time I called, I let mom know and she chewed that nurse up one side and down the other that her children were to be patched through no matter what time it was. And then when we went to visit her, they knew we had driven all day to get there in snow, had gotten a flat tire and had to drive 75 miles on a donut to get to the closest town which just happened to be one of the 2 largest towns in Wyoming...we had called ahead and they kept a garage open just for us to get the tire replaced so we could drive another 150 miles to get to the hospital (Thank you Casper Sam's club garage!!) so we got to the hospital LATE at night and well after visiting hours, but those nurses were AMAZING. Visiting hours did not apply to the Osborn children. We were allowed to just sit in her room all night and mom's favorite nurse had such a great sense of humor. She was teaching a first aid class the next day and had a CPR dummy out on a bed in a room down the hall. We went and raided the nurses lounge for a styrofoam cup and turned it into a party hat, used toilet paper for a tie, and put a pair of my husband's broken sunglasses on it. The nurse thought it was hilarious. I suppose it depends on where you are...this was podunk nowhere...tiny little hospital with only a couple of halls and a small staff who had all seen us numerous times when we came with mom for surgery or chemo treatments. It wasn't anonymous like a big city hospital would be. But even with my dad and his strokes, I could call any time and the nurses knew I was calling from overseas. Even though that was in a much bigger hospital, they were always VERY helpful. I'm sorry your dad got stuck with an idiot. I really do think most nurses are great...they have a hard job, but she should have understood someone being hard of hearing. And sticking him in a wheelchair for 4 hours??? What were they thinking?