Boston Medical Center – Brighton — Attraction in Boston

This review is 2 years, 8 months and 17 days in the making. If you are a woman of color, Please, I repeat, please do not go to St. Elizabeth medical center Labor and delivery. I gave birth in this hospital twice and it was a good experience back then. so when I was having my 4th child, 17 years later I decided to return to St. Elizabeth hospital because of Dr. Karen Poley, Who I always have a great experience with, she always listens and always take the time to explained and comfort me and since my 4th pregnancy was complicated I decide to go back to someone I could trust. On April 15, 2021 I had a doctor's visit with Dr Poley unfortunately, my blood pressure was high and she told me I needed to deliver that day, I was giving magnesium to induce labor. it took several RN to put in my IV in, after several failed attempts someone from the emergency room was called to successfully insert my IV Then a catheter was painfully inserted into my Urethra. I had two bags of bloods and urine before it cleared up. after several hours of being in labor things got more completed, my inside were beginning to swolled or something like that I can't quite remember but I needed to get an emergency c sections. I got on the surgery table my stomach cut wide open, baby about to be pulled out. The nurse and my partner sitting side by side. I felt my lips beginning to swolled up. I look at the nurse and I said something is wrong with my lips they feel like they are getting bigger. She said no your lips were that big. I turn over to my partner who was sitting by my head and said, my lips feel like it's getting bigger. He looks at me and He said to the nurse sitting next to him. Jokingly, I know she got big lips but her lips are swollen, while she is disagreeing with my partner. I feel like my throat is closing up and before I can finish my statement I passed out. (now if my partner was not there the outcome would have been different.) I don't know what happens afterwards only what my partner told me. He got kicked out of the room. Doctors running in and out and no one is telling him what is going on. Obviously I made it and so did my sons. They said I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. I was just grateful that my son was fine. after my delivery I was in a nice comfortable room, they kept giving me shots in my stomach with no explainations. I was urining without having the need to go no warning just what felt like a water ballon getting pop Then the next day I was told I was changing room, I said why the lady told me my partner requested it. I was send to a very smelly urine infested room. I ask them to mopped and it did not help. I felt like the were listening to my conversations, because every time I complain to my partner about something the would come and fix it. I think they were afraid of me suing, which I wasn't going to because I was just happy I had a beautiful healthy baby boy. For the next two days I stayed in that duty room with shots being administer in my belly and urinating with very little control, when the pain meds ran out urinating became extremely painful and for three weeks every time I urinated I was in tears, It felt like I was urinating rocks. They gave me pills for UTI I didn't have a UTI and the pills did not help. I think the was a lacerations when they force the catheter in me. My recovery was terrible. Now on to my son we end up staying an extra day just so he can get circumcis, The surgeon kept changing the time on when he can come and do it. My son fail the first hearing test and no one really explain what to look out for and problem that may accrue. He passed the second one with an 8. Currently he is speech delayed and stilled exploring why. He also had Jaundice which again was not explained to me properly. The RNs were rough with him when squeezing blood out. Take what you want from this review, in my opinion I didn't have to go through what I when through. I am not in the medical field but I know I didn't receive the best care. my concerns were ignored and...

I would have given 0 star if I could... So this is what happened: I was taken to the ER at St. Elizabeth in Brighton due to a strong acid burn that happened at work that day (basically I splashed acid all over my chest.) We called the hospital ahead of time and warned them about the incident and the amount of acid that i splashed on myself. About half an hour later, I got to the hospital. the staff took their time, asked me what acid and how much (the process was really slow considering it was the ER unit and that my skin was burning). They basically asked all the same questions that i was asked before again and then took me to an ER unit. After half an hour Dr. O'Neil walked in with 2 nurses (clueless of what the acid is and how dangerous the situation is), he patiently looked over my chest, asked what acid it is (did not know the acid) so told me that he had to leave to call the poison control). Problem # 1: They knew which acid it is an hour before since we called in advance, so they could have at least looked over the safety sheet of that chemical or call the poison control before I was arrived. After an hour a nurse walked in (apparently Dr. O'Neil was still on the line with poison control) asking how my pain is, I said 8/10 (I was a 6/10 an hour before.) She asked if I need an pain relief, I said no cause I didn't want to cover the pain, I wanted to know what was going on. Problem #2: They should have had me take a shower (for ~20min as the protocol is for all chemical burns) at the hospital, instead of having me sitting on the bed waiting or them to decide. Finally I asked if I can have a wet paper towel to put on my burn to cool it down a bit- I could still feel the acid on my skin. They left me again for another 30-45 min, the Dr. came in (at that point I was there for 2 hours already) and told me that they cannot do anything and I just have to go home and wash it with soap and water (this was common sense and I would have done it anyway). They did not give me any referrals until I asked for a dermatologist/ a burn center where I can get the burn checked by professionals. He walked out and came back with 2 referrals and mentioned that they are probably not available for the next 6 months (WHAT?!! I expected him to call them and asked for an earlier availability, since my case wasn't just a simple acne scar to wait 6 months for). Then they asked me to go home. They basically did not help me in that 2-hour period, did not have me shower, and some nurses were afraid of touching the burn since they thought there was still acid residue left -- well then they should have washed it off... This by far, has been the worst hospital (and ER place) I have been to. Do not waste your time going there. They should have been more prepared for chemical burn or else should have asked us (when we called them earlier) to bring me to a burn center straight instead of wasting my time. PS: Dr. O'Neil were smiling the entire time (like this is no big deal) and he mentioned that I'm lucky it didn't splash on my face.... That...

I had spinal surgery on 10/23 and 10/24. After my surgery on 10/23, I was put on 7East. The receiving nurse said to me “but you can walk right?” 2 hours post op. I could not bear weight at all. The transport staff ended up transferring me from one bed to another because the nurse stated she was unsure how. My BP cuff was left on and running through the evening causing significant bruising on my arm as well. She also brought me a spirometer when she meant to bring me a nebulizer. When I asked if I needed both she said “no I brought that by mistake”. Shift change happens at 11 and my new nurse asks why I’m not using my spirometer. I explain the previous nurse said it was brought by mistake. My new nurse is clearly frustrated and hands it to me to use. She provided incorrect instructions and told me to breathe out to move the ball. I obviously could not get that to work because you are supposed to breathe in. When I asked for help she said “well it’s not like I am putting my mouth on there so you just need to figure it out”. I repeatedly needed to hit my call button when various alarms would sound prompting no nursing or aide response. I also had to repeatedly ask for my medications. Possibly the worst part was that I had not eaten in 24 hours. The nurses were instructed to provide me food until midnight as I had surgery the following day as well. They did not. So I had to go a full 48 hours without eating due to an error. I even asked for food and was told no. I was then moved to 6CMC after my second surgery.

You may be wondering why I provided 4 stars and the reason for that are the following staff members: Heather, RN on 7East, Theresa, RN on 6CMC, Olivia RN on 6CMC, Faye RN on 6CMC, Karen RN on 6CMC, Howard MD and hospitalist, Lauren PT, and my OT who I unfortunately do not recall the name of. These staff members encouraged me when I felt I couldn’t ambulate, made sure I had everything I needed, stayed on top of my pain, helped me on and off the commode without rushing me, kept me laughing, and were the epitome of professionalism. They exemplified what patient care should be.

Special shout out to Maria, RN in the PACU who helped me wake up from anesthesia on Monday and although she was not assigned to me, came to see me after my second surgery. Waking up to a friendly face rubbing my arm saying “I heard you did great honey. Wishing you a speedy recovery” was so sweet. To go out of her way to do that shows what kind of nurse she is.

I am a board certified case manager and social worker who deals with many people in and out of the hospital. The level of care I received on 6CMC should be the baseline for care. I heard rumblings of staffing shortages, needing to reallocate staff, and the stress regarding keeping up with everyone’s needs. That energy never entered my room and all of the aforementioned staff members made it appear effortless.

Thank you to the staff at SEMC who cared for me and truly helped this 31 year old complicated...