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Review of Shore Medical Center

I went into the ER because I am eight months pregn...

I went into the ER because I am eight months pregnant and was having trouble breathing with chest pain. When I went in one gentleman working there provided me with a wheel chair and escorted me to another room somewhat quickly. Another worker there (not sure of the official titles, everything happened so fast) was very good to me and was very soothing as he was explaining what he was going to do, such as hooking me up to ekg, taking my blood pressure, ect. To make a long story short at one point in the room there were 4 or 5 workers assisting me and things started getting hectic because there were two people asking me questions, I was being set up to different machines and during what I felt like was a pretty overwhelming situation one of the nurses inserted a needle into my arm without telling me she was going to do so. I was already alarmed with having difficulty breathing and I hate needles, so this set me off into a panic and I jumped up, since I was not expecting to be stabbed in the arm, and started to hyperventilate. Everyone started screaming at me to calm down and breathe (as if having a bunch of people scream at you is relaxing lol). Soon after this the same nurse who put the needle in my arm came back in and to summarize she made rude comments such as if I can't handle a needle how can I handle labor (this is comparing apples to oranges, obviously labor is A LOT more painful than getting a needle, but that doesn't mean that I have an extremely high pain tolerance and enjoy being stabbed unexpectedly either) and another comment such as how can I be a mother being a nervous wreck (I had every right to be nervous I was having a hard time BREATHING and I feared something was wrong with my unborn child). I am making this post in hopes that perhaps the medical staff will realize that their judgemental comments are not only completely unnecessary, they also escalate an already serious situation ... I may have been having a panic attack and for this nurse, who is supposed to be a professional, to judge me while I am already in a vulnerable state is not only unethical it is completely cruel. I feel as though she is a good nurse who knows how to do her a job, especially in an ER, but needs to keep her judgmental comments to herself and should probably inform patients she is going to insert a needle into their arm and not just stab them and then yell at them to calm down and stop being nervous. Everyone else was extremely professional, ethical, and excellent at their job.

UPDATE: Kathleen from shore medical center reached out to me about my experience and I am very grateful that she did so. She ensured me that what happened to me was not acceptable and that something was going to be done about it and was extremely empathetic and professional when listening to my story. She was also very assuring and asked if I wanted to have a follow up call after action was taken and I just wanted to publicly express my gratitude towards her.