Injections on board

[Jared2]

I am looking at taking a cruise with a friend of mine next year. She has a condition for which she needs an injection twice a week. She will have the medication with her, she just needs to have it injected by a nurse or doctor. Will she be able to go down to the ship hospital and have it injected without being charged an enormous fee for each visit?

[Clarea]

I'd call the cruise line for that info.

[nascarcruiser]

Is there a reason she can't do the injection herself?  DH is on injections and self administers?

 

[matj2000]

They are not going to do that.

 

She needs to do it herself

[Grandma Dazzles]

Call and ask and make sure you get answer in writing. They will probably charge a basic office type fee.  They use the same codes as US so she could probably file with her insurance company, assuming she has out of the country insurance, which is always a good idea. Surprised if it’s a routine shot that she hasn’t been trained to do it herself (similar to how diabetics give insulin).

 

 

[smplybcause]

I'd call and ask several times, though even then it's not assured as the on board doctor could decide differently. I'd also make sure the meds I take are unopened and still in the manufacturer's packaging. It's highly doubtful that even if it's something they would do, that they would agree to use an open vial as they could not be assured what's in the vial.

Edited August 30, 2019 by smplybcause

[Jared2]

2 hours ago, nascarcruiser said:

Is there a reason she can't do the injection herself?  DH is on injections and self administers?

 

Self-injection is not allowed for her condition in our jurisdiction (it's not diabetes), plus she is too squeamish to do it.

[bouhunter]

Time to look at vacations other than cruises.....

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

I would ask on your roll call & see if there is possibly a nurse on your sailing that might be willing to do it for a couple of drinks or maybe a specialty dinner. I'm sure they will have to share the condition, medication & maybe even a Dr's note with explanation. But this might be a cheaper option. Just a thought.

[wendychloecruiser]

34 minutes ago, RazorbackIslandGirl said:

I would ask on your roll call & see if there is possibly a nurse on your sailing that might be willing to do it for a couple of drinks or maybe a specialty dinner. I'm sure they will have to share the condition, medication & maybe even a Dr's note with explanation. But this might be a cheaper option. Just a thought.

For the potential risk of losing her/his license?   Personally, I would never do it for someone you don’t know.  

[pcur]

She will be charged an office visit fee, which I think is $100 per visit.  My husband was injured on one of our cruises, and went to the medical facility.  He opted not to go back for a recheck, since they would charge him for another visit, and we weren't sure if our insurance would pay for the follow-up, since it wasn't a new injury/emergency situation.

 

They will give her a receipt for each visit, and she can submit for reimbursement from her insurance, especially if the the injections are required to be administered by a medical professional.  Get that doctor's order in writing before she cruises.

[Marie51]

1 hour ago, RazorbackIslandGirl said:

I would ask on your roll call & see if there is possibly a nurse on your sailing that might be willing to do it for a couple of drinks or maybe a specialty dinner. I'm sure they will have to share the condition, medication & maybe even a Dr's note with explanation. But this might be a cheaper option. Just a thought.

 You’ve got to be kidding. I’m an RN and I would never jeopardize my license by giving someone injections on a cruise ship. I don’t know the person and I know nothing of their medical history. 

[matj2000]

1 hour ago, nathanb2 said:

Self-injection is not allowed for her condition in our jurisdiction (it's not diabetes), plus she is too squeamish to do it.

 

The ship is not under your "jurisdiction" so she can do it.  

 

Probably time for her to grow up and learn to do it herself.

 

Also, why can't you do it if you are going with her?

 

As bouhunter stated.   Maybe time to look for other types of vacations...

 

[nascarcruiser]

2 hours ago, nathanb2 said:

Self-injection is not allowed for her condition in our jurisdiction (it's not diabetes), plus she is too squeamish to do 

Well not sure what your jurisdiction is.  I'm assuming you are not in the US.  I know here injections for diabetes,  arthritis,  crohn's etc are self injectable.   Even certain IV meds can be self administered.   I doubt the ship will do it without a cost.  

[Cruiser_1977]

@nathanb2 I think @matj2000 is direct and correct. As someone who has more than one friend that requires medication via injection, I think if this is a long term situation, it's time she learn to do it herself. I am confused as to why she is allowed to have the medication, yet (other than the squeamish part) you say it must be administered by a professional. In my experience, in that type of situation, they won't just give it to you.

Edited August 30, 2019 by JennyB1977

[cb at sea]

She definitely needs to talk to her DOCTOR about this...either she learns to self-inject, or perhaps they have an oral tablet that will suffice for a week or so.

[Bloodgem]

14 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

I am confused as to why she is allowed to have the medication, yet (other than the squeamish part) you say it must be administered by a professional. In my experience, in that type of situation, they won't just give it to you.

I can only speak of my experience but my son has a yearly growth hormone injection. I am allowed to order the injection and to collect it from the pharmacy but a nurse has to give the injection, as it need to be injected into muscle.

However when my son was having daily injections I was allowed to give, as they were given via a pen device.

 

[123funcruiser]

17 hours ago, nathanb2 said:

Self-injection is not allowed for her condition in our jurisdiction (it's not diabetes), plus she is too squeamish to do it.

 

How can any jurisdiction tell a Person what s/he is doing to her own Body in private? 

 

To answer your original Question. Techinically the Nurse and/or doctor in the ships Hospital will be able to administer the injection. If they will actually just do it without Knowledge of the full Story behind this I guess will fully depend on their professionel decision, so I wouldn´t fully Count on it. As for the cost - of Course your friend will be charged for their work. They are on board to work for a Living and so they Need to charge for what they do. It´s just like your dr.´s Office on land. You hopefully wouldn´t expect them to do it for someone Walking up without knowing him/her and without paying for it.

[papaflamingo]

23 hours ago, nathanb2 said:

I am looking at taking a cruise with a friend of mine next year. She has a condition for which she needs an injection twice a week. She will have the medication with her, she just needs to have it injected by a nurse or doctor. Will she be able to go down to the ship hospital and have it injected without being charged an enormous fee for each visit?

Just to add my two cents, first if she has it done at Medical, there will be a charge. "Enormous" depends on your definition, but it'll be significant.  And I would certainly contact Royal Caribbean to find out if they'll even do it. 

If this isn't a controlled substance, then like others have stated, she needs to learn to do it herself or you do it.  If it's a controlled substance, it might be tough to even get Medical to do it. I would certainly take as much documentation as possible from her Doctor.  Can she be "ok" if she misses?  You have to consider the possibility that once on board, she could find out that Medical won't do the injections.   This seems pretty unusual (I've never seen a post with this question) so I'd just be prepared for all possibilities.

Good luck.  Let us know how it comes out. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by papaflamingo

[spookwife]

short answer:  anything that involves going past the reception desk down in Medical will incur a fee.  you can typically ask questions , and the few times I have gone down there myself,, there has been a basket full of  'common' ailment  treatments( throat lozenges, analgesics, etc)  where you can grab one or two and be on your way.  

 

I was once on an injectable medicine.   while I prefer the pen,  I did once erroneously get the syringe.   it's a twenty minute lesson to learn how to  inject with either device.  I guess I am just not clear on  'jurisdiction' and why she is not allowed to self administer.  I agree with the others that are not just going to agree to do squat  without further information( and possibly a detailed letter from her   regular physician)  

[Snit13]

Since you are in Europe, can you call Special Needs like we can in US?  They should be able to contact the ship and get an answer for you.  I have had various Celebrity & Royal agents contact ship to get answers to questions ship specific over the years.

 

I self injected allergy medication for years.  The first time it took me 20 minutes to try but once I did there was no issue at all.

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, Snit13 said:

Since you are in Europe, can you call Special Needs like we can in US?  They should be able to contact the ship and get an answer for you.  I have had various Celebrity & Royal agents contact ship to get answers to questions ship specific over the years.

 

I self injected allergy medication for years.  The first time it took me 20 minutes to try but once I did there was no issue at all.

 

This email works:  special_needs@rccl.com.

[MaskedTurtle]

Someone here mentioned seeing if a nurse would be onboard, and that got me thinking...do they have Good Samaritan Laws at sea?  Do they go by whatever state the ship departs from?  Do they go by wherever the company is based out of?  Also, are there laws that cover non-emergency assistance?  As a nurse, I would want to help, but not at the risk of my license or a lawsuit.

 

For those saying she needs to learn how to do it, if she lives somewhere where self-injection is not allowed, than learning how to do it is not necessary, because she isn't allowed to do it anyway.  Besides, if it is not allowed, her doctors, nurses, etc. are most likely not going to teach her.  Also, depending on what type of injection it is, and the patient's condition, she may not be physically able to give it to herself.

 

I think even Cruise Critic members who are medical professionals would need more details before giving any advice or suggestions.  For example, what type of injection is it?  What are the patient's physical limitations, if any?  Does the patient have any specific parameters to go by when using this medication?  

 

Speaking with the cruise line ahead of time is a good idea, but as we all know, you can speak with 5 different people and get 5 different answers.  The patient needs to be prepared for all possibilities.

[MommaBear55]

On 8/30/2019 at 7:00 PM, nascarcruiser said:

Well not sure what your jurisdiction is.  I'm assuming you are not in the US.  I know here injections for diabetes,  arthritis,  crohn's etc are self injectable.   Even certain IV meds can be self administered.   I doubt the ship will do it without a cost.  

I'm in the US and get a monthly injection for my asthma. Because it's a high risk injection, I have to do it at an infusion center, I cannot do it myself. The charge for preparing the injection and the administration is $850, the charge for the medication is $4400. In my case, I cannot carry the medication. I certainly hope the ship doesn't charge $850, and I hope the person's insurance will cover it. 

[123funcruiser]

14 hours ago, MaskedTurtle said:

Someone here mentioned seeing if a nurse would be onboard, and that got me thinking...do they have Good Samaritan Laws at sea?  Do they go by whatever state the ship departs from?  Do they go by wherever the company is based out of?  Also, are there laws that cover non-emergency assistance?  As a nurse, I would want to help, but not at the risk of my license or a lawsuit.

 

For those saying she needs to learn how to do it, if she lives somewhere where self-injection is not allowed, than learning how to do it is not necessary, because she isn't allowed to do it anyway.  Besides, if it is not allowed, her doctors, nurses, etc. are most likely not going to teach her.  Also, depending on what type of injection it is, and the patient's condition, she may not be physically able to give it to herself.

 

I think even Cruise Critic members who are medical professionals would need more details before giving any advice or suggestions.  For example, what type of injection is it?  What are the patient's physical limitations, if any?  Does the patient have any specific parameters to go by when using this medication?  

 

Speaking with the cruise line ahead of time is a good idea, but as we all know, you can speak with 5 different people and get 5 different answers.  The patient needs to be prepared for all possibilities.

 

I agree with what you said. I don´t know if there is Good Samaritan Laws at sea, but I would say in this case it doesn´t come into Play anyway, as that would be for emergencies and not for finding a way to save on Dr. ´s cost as has been suggested to the OP.

 

While it´s Always better to talk to the cruiseline ahead of time I´m not sure if it will be of much help in this Situation. Even if the Special Needs Department tell them it´s OK, they will do it OnBoard, I would say it will be up to the individuals OnBoard (Dr./Nurse) to make the decision if they are OK with applying this specific medication and the given time to the given Person. This is a medical decision that won´t be driven By some sort of Company Policy or re-assurance By the Special Needs Department. Contacting the ship would only work if it´s the same People still OnBoard when the OP sails.

 

It might be helpful to have their medical history written By a dr. in English with them and make sure their dr. at home would be available to be contacted About this and being able to communicate in English with the ships dr.

 

It´s hard to make a call on this without more information, but it seems like a lot of headaches and better to skip the idea of cruising.

 

On a second thought, Maybe the injections could be timed for days at ports of call and a dr. ashore could be found and contacted for These. In that case everything could be pre-arranged much easier than for OnBoard.