Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital — Attraction in New Brunswick

failure of Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and associated staff to give even adequate care to an admitted patient diagnosed with Covid 19.Over the course of my fathers treatment , there were numerous incidents of neglect and mistreatment. From simple care, to assisting him when he was having trouble turning himself, to not addressing a critical health emergency that ultimately lead to his death.My father went to the er. He arrived having tested positive for Covid 19. He was 70 years old with Stage zero CLL. he was placed in a unit where the nurses came into the room twice a day with rare exception. There would be a visit from the nurse once in the morning and once in the evening. Over the course of his admission, My father communicated his problems and concerns to the nurses, and they were ignored. As the days went by, he basically stopped eating and when the nurses were asked if someone could help him, they said “he could do it himself”. On 12/18 it was noted in the medical records that he was severely malnourished. He was not assisted at all with moving from side to side or being helped into a prone position. Further attempts to have him assisted were met with the same answer when questioning his nutrition, that” he could do it himself.” From the 18th through the 21st, he started complaining of abdominal pain and constipation. It was also during this time that he complained of a “bubble” on his lower abdomen that turned out to be a hematoma caused by internal bleeding. His lab work showed that his hemoglobin was 9.7 on the 16th, which was stable from admission, however, it began to trend down, with lab results of 8.6, 8.1, and 7.5 from the 18th to the 20th. There was no lab result for hemoglobin on the 21st, however, considering his hematocrit dropped from 26.6 to 22.9, there was clear evidence he was even more anemic. From the 20th, the medical records indicated that there was a suspicion of bleeding. Dr. Nissenblatt made that note at 10:35 am. By the 21st, he had worsening abdominal pain, had increasing weakness, he had a large hematoma on his lower abdomen, and he had upper leg pain. This all pointed towards internal bleeding, and specifically a retro peritoneal bleed. This was finally noted as a suspicion at 12:54 pm on the 21st and that a CAT scan would be needed.Considering he was on a therapeutic dose of blood thinners, as well as his obvious pain and distress on the morning of the 21st, which was very “out of character,” this should have been considered a critical medical emergency. Yet for the rest of the day he sat in pain with his condition worsening. my father Face-timed my mother 12 times while in agonizing pain. He couldn’t move his leg, he could barely move at all without severe pain, he was shorter of breath than he had been, and he was having chest pains. There were numerous calls to the nurse’s station by the family.They blamed it on “anxiety”. In the late afternoon, the family finally managed to reach Dr. Jalil by phone and relayed how much worse he was doing. We asked if My father could be transferred to ICU. The doctor’s response was that he did not need to be placed in the ICU, and again his severe pain and distress was dismissed as anxiety. Dr. Jalil said that there were much more sick patients in the hospital. The doctor also said that maybe my mom should not FaceTime him so much. At around 6:30pm while on FaceTime, a nurse entered the room and said to My dad, “We are going to take you for a CAT scan, ok?” At that point He was in such anguish that he was flailing his arms around and at first said “no.” My mom immediately said, “Anthony, you need to get the CAT scan, “and then he said “ok, yes” to the nurse. First, it must be made absolutely clear that he and the family had both consented to the CAT scan. Secondly, it is the responsibility of the hospital and staff to recognize the mental status of their patients and make every effort to perform necessary procedures, especially those literally critical to the patient’s survival. he coded on FaceTime. Internal...

I had to have surgery on my arm due to a dislocated elbow and a fractured arm and I have to say it was very hit or miss. The nurses were very incompetent and somewhat rude with the exception of a few that were really excellent. The doctors seemed to be really nice and professional. My biggest concern was when I had surgery they had me on a pain medication and after surgery I was having difficulty breathing. At first I just had difficulty breathing, but as the hours progressed I started to get pain in my chest area. I had never experienced this before so I knew something wasn’t right and brought it to the staffs attention and they did absolutely nothing for about 9 hours (from around 3pm when I mentioned it until 1am when the doctor came to check on my issue). About 9 hours later at 1 AM the doctor came and did a chest x-ray (they also did a chest X-ray when I first got to the hospital-before surgery) and said everything looked fine. The next morning he came back again after working very long hours and checked on me and I told him I had no progress and it was still difficult and painful for me to breathe and he took me off the antibiotics as I had noticed the pain started after I had the antibiotics, but I wasn’t sure if that was related to my issue or just a coincidence. Later I told one of the head nurses that I was still having difficulty breathing and that the doctor said the chest x-ray was fine. She went an extra step further and compared the x-ray that I took when I first came in with the chest x-ray that I had recently taken and she could see something was not right with my lung. So she decided to take me off the pain medicine at the same time that I expressed to her concern because they were going to send me home with that same pain medication and gave me a pamphlet which showed one of the side effects was difficulty breathing. I literally almost went home with the same pain medication that was causing me to have severe difficulty breathing which was very concerning if I had not read the pamphlet and the nurse had not made this decision to take me off of the pain med which was not a pill, but a liquid that was coming through a feeding tube near my neck. This particular pain medication is used to numb the area that is having the surgery done and it’s not supposed to affect the rest of your body, however clearly it was affecting my breathing and I just hate to think what would’ve happened if I went home with the same pain med. They also should’ve been aware of this being a side effect of the pain medication as it mentions difficulty breathing. I won’t blame the doctor because clearly he was the same doctor that had been there when I first went in on Thursday and he was still there come Saturday morning so I’m sure he was overtired as he is only human. The ER also had lost my first urine sample that I gave and also could not find the first EKG results that I had done. They had to redo both tests which was concerning. Other than this I have been dealing with the orthopedic clinic and they all have been fabulous, especially Vivian and Dr. Ross and the surgeons (Dr.Sagebien). I am very pro union and I know this hospital is a unionized hospital so I am happy that that’s the case, but it also seems like some people have this mentality like they can just have attitudes with anybody and treat them less than professional, but then you have others who go above and beyond for you so it’s very hard because some staff I would give five stars to and other staff I would give zero stars to so that’s why I gave 3. I can only imagine it’s hard for the professional hard workers here who are professional to work with much of the lazy staff. It is obvious that some of the staff see this as their professional career and others see it as just a job. Unfortunately, the patient is the one who experiences this disparity at a...

I only wish I could put negative stars. The worst experience I have ever had with any medical provider, ever. My mother was admitted to RWJ Hospital New Brunswick for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. When she was admitted, she was completely independent, even being the sole caregiver for her 81 year old roommate who had Parkinson's. She lived with the roommate in a large two story home and was taking care of every aspect of daily living for herself and her roommate. She was also the person who handled all financial matters for her older sister who is confined to a nursing home. By the time my mother was discharged six weeks later, the hospital had thrown away her cell phone so she was unable to contact her family and friends (this was during Covid and visitors were prohibited- and how many of us can recall anyone's phone number off the top of our heads anymore?), a needle or other wire was left in her chemo port, which then became grossly infected and resulted in her being unable to receive chemo at all, an enormous bedsore was allowed (due to negligent nursing care) to develop at the base of her spine (the bedsore required specialty treatment, including debridement and never did heal prior to her death months later) and she was unable to use the toilet, walk, or even stand independently. And this woman, who was taking care of herself and another woman, who was walking up and down a 15 step staircase twice a day (or more), was billed for physical therapy assessment and gait training just two days after she entered RWJ. When she needed it later, after six weeks of bed confinement, the daily PT ordered by her doctor within the week before her discharge took place only three times. She was discharged on a Friday (notorious day for dumping patients), without warning to my care. I know nothing about how to care for a bedsore or infected chemo port, much less a bedridden patient. It should have been clear to any competent nurse, doctor, or hospital that she was not in any condition to be discharged to home. We waited about five hours for the aide and the wheelchair that was needed to take her downstairs. At no time during our wait was my sick mother offered any food or drink. When the wheelchair finally arrived, the aide was a frail man older than my mother. He could barely push the wheelchair empty, much less with a person in it. When we got to my car, he offered no assistance in getting my mother into it. I had to heave her up from the chair and basically drop her onto the back seat.

Months later, I received a bill from RWJ for her co-pay. It was a summary bill and didn't list the various treatments and medications she received. I had to request an itemized bill at least three times. It finally arrived -- accompanied by a bill for the bill! A review of the itemized bill also reveals multiple charges for identical procedures on the same day -- did these really happen or did someone's finger hit "enter" too many times? Why was a woman being billed repeatedly for PT and gait assessment nonetheless released from the hospital in a completely non-ambulatory condition?

I was flabbergasted by the total lack of caring shown by the hospital and the nursing staff. I am stunned that RWJ thinks a patient should pay a bill for a bill. This hospital was beyond horrible. I wouldn't take a dog there. Avoid it at all costs. The people there...