Alessandra C Mitter

Review of North Shore medical center (te...

So angry with my experience in this emergency room...

So angry with my experience in this emergency room. The employees in the hospital outside of the ER were kind and caring but the employees in the ER were horrific. I am shocked that they are employed as medical professionals.
When I got there, it all went pretty quickly and it was clear that the ER was busy since it was a Friday night. I went in within 20 mins and they took blood and urine samples (the bathroom was disgusting which was the first red flag but as I said it was busy and I get it).
After about an hour in a second waiting room, I was (casually) told by a nurse that they had lost my paperwork and were trying to find it. A woman then came in and brusquely told me that she didn t have any space so she was going to put me in the hallway. I sat on a bed in the hallway for another 30 mins as people rushed around, and a nurse even walked by and said someone s gotta come and stick you (I was waiting on an IV).
After these 30 mins had passed, the same nurse who had put me in the hallway asked me where my urine sample was. Since it had been an hour and 30 mins (and I believe a shift change) I had no clue where my urine sample was. I told her and she said, word for word, you better think long and hard because I am not walking up and down these hallways looking for it. I was shocked and I could tell the nurse next to her was shocked too. At this point I was so frustrated with how long I d waited I didn t even have time to process how rude this was so I offered to look for it for her. She rolled her eyes and walked off and I apologized to the nurse that had seen the whole thing. She obviously told me it wasn t my fault, and then said you could ve been out of here by now
The rude nurse then came back and shoved a second container for a urine sample in my hands and walked off without a word. I was so angry but obviously couldn t do anything so I gave another sample. They left me there sitting in a hallway bed with my literal urine in my hand for another 30 mins - it was honestly so degrading that this is when I completely lost confidence in the ER and truly started regretting not driving the extra time to Aventura.
I went to take my CT scan and received iodine, etc. then had an anxiety attack as it was happening because of how overwhelmed I was (I have an anxiety disorder). The nurse was very kind, but she asked me multiple times what was wrong and I was shocked once again at the lack of training in patient care here - she obviously could not recognize the very obvious anxiety attack I was having (literally 30 mins of training could have given her this basic knowledge). After I had calmed down, she nervously handed me the consent form for the iodine that I had ALREADY RECEIVED. I understand mistakes happen but I had already seen so many errors during this single visit that another one terrified me.
At this point, I was beyond done with the ER. I have never received such horrible medical care in my life. Once I got back and was able to verbalize it I told multiple people, including the doctor attending me (I believe his name was Ray Maldonado) that I was experiencing severe anxiety and needed help - Dr. Maldonado said he would give me something for my anxiety and never did. Only one kind nurse offered me a blanket as I lay there shaking from a mix of severe anxiety and cold.
It did not help that the patient next to me was being yelled at and obviously slipped on water and fell and the doctor lied about it and said he lost his balance (which he did, but there was a huge puddle of water on the floor - I heard his shoe slip).
Once I got out of the ER (they held me overnight) everyone was kind and very lovely and I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about all the attending nurses and doctors. However, DO NOT GO TO THIS ER IF YOU CAN HELP IT. I have been to multiple ERs and have never experienced care or treatment this horrible - I can honestly say this was a traumatic experience and if the end of it hadn t been so great I would probably die before ever willingly visiting a hospital again.