Jefferson Stratford Hospital — Local services in Stratford

Passed out in their lobby and told the nurse I needed to get seen right away- she didn't find passing out an urgent matter. This place needs serious help. Lobby is way too small. Nurses in the triage are either confused or don't care- plus are rude. Reported it to the head nurse manager who made excuses for the nurses & did nothing. Unless you have something they can see on the outside, they won't take you seriously. Vomiting all over wouldn't get me a bed. I was discharged & went to Virtua- guess what? They said I almost died. Now I have a lawsuit on my hands & will be calling lawyer soon. Kennedy had me waiting for 5 hours in a tiny lobby where I ended up catching the flu due to random babies coughing all over me. This was a result of their lobby being small. Overheard others saying that Kennedy is the worst place you can go. I'm only lucky to be alive because I went to virtua. When I finally got checked out in Kenn, they dismissed me as having something else and did not run the right tests. Said I looked healthy blah blah blah. Left there and went to virtua- whole other story. Never will I go back to Kennedy. The nurses simply don't care. They also are very rude. If the receptionists in the front see you pass out or have a seizure they will DO NOTHING to get you back sooner. They'll just say "that's not my job". Umm hello you WORK for the same place, you can still communicate when someone is dying whether it's your job or not. A good worker goes above & beyond and would definitely make sure to alert that someone passed out regardless of what their job entailed. Cuz when I passed out guess what happened? Not a damn thing. They didn't draw the right lab tests and didn't do the ultrasound that found the issue. Please take this as a warning. Worst part though is their lobby. I swear if you go in there with a migraine (and btw I suffer from migraines and have been there 2 times in the past for migraines), you'll leave there with a worse migraine. They keep the TV blasted with music in the background. Who does that? A hospital that has tons of people coming in for headaches and migraines and you're going to have no quiet room? I asked to sit in a quiet room and I was told ummm what is that? No hospitality at all. Asked for a blanket 3 times- was told okay hold on- never came. Also, horrible note-taking there. I noticed my notes when I got my records stated that the patient had a HOARSE VOICE when in reality I had been throwing up and that's why it was hard to talk. I wrote that on paper but the nurse said that if I used my paper to write on she was going to send me to the mental side of the hospital. Instead, I said nothing. My notes also stated that I got certain tests that I did not receive. I also have pre-existing conditions that the medical staff needed to be aware of. Well I tried telling them. They cut me off mid-sentence and walked away. Huge communication issue here. People there are lazy. Not sure if it's due to lack of incentive. The entire place needs a re-vamp and ALL new employees. There are only a few employees that I can say are decent. I've been here at least 5 times. All 5 times were NIGHTMARISH experiences. It will drive a perfectly sane...

The RN Delores should be fired. (She has shoulder length blondish hair, with bangs, thin, probably about mid 40's, and white. When i find out her last name this week I will be adding it to this. Totally incompassionate, Rude with a capital R, condescending, talks down on you, not nice, does not want to be bothered with any questions you may have, is quick, does not listen, cuts you off mid-sentence then degrades you by basically insulting your intelligence all because she does not listen thoroughly to what you have to say, got snappy not just with me but with the patient next to me, then finally insults you worse by being ignorant to medical issues that I have that she did not understand. Told her and she called me names, saying all sorts of bad stuff about me. Totally UNPROFESSIONAL. I don't care how much the patient gets on your nerves, but I was not disrespecting her at all, and she disrespected me 100% just because of my disability. Totally judgmental. Not very knowledgeable for being an RN on top of it all. Her license should be revoked. I bet I'm one out of the many complaints on her. Just flat out rude. Preyed on me bc I am meak and vulnerable and very sick, and was alone. Bullied me. If I had someone to stick up for me there, she wouldn't have been like that. Oh, and top of it all? She had a bad cough/ cold, and literally watched her cough all over the place, right next to me in my direction, without even covering her mouth. Then, she went outside the room and was still coughing, and did not cover her mouth. She was handling lab work right after coughing and did not wash her hands too. Just horrible RN and I hope I never have to deal w/feeling so degraded ever again in my life! I've been to the ER before and never had an experience like this-- that should tell her something. If she is fired I will change this one star to a 5 star. This hospital should not be tolerant of rude people like herself. Of all professions to be rude in, an RN is NOT one of them!! RN's should have compassion-- it should be a pre-requisite. And instead of assuming stuff, which she did, she should ask questions, and then have enough patience to listen for the answer. And if she was too staffed to answer q's, it doesn't give a right to be hostile, assuming, and rude. The rest of the staff is really nice for the most part. We all have our bad days, but there was NO excuse to how she treated me and belittled me. NONE. I hope the managers see this. I will be filing my complaint this week, and then I will never be going back to this hospital unless...

Once I arrived at Kennedy, I was treated poorly by the 2nd nurse. Aside from that, I was rather impressed in terms of the time —but realize now that it was because no one was in the waiting room and there were no other patients...

For the most part, I was in the emergency room for no more than 10 minutes. It’s important to note that the 1st Nurse was very polite and accommodating. The doctor who came in for less than a minute asked me several questions, but never examined me; he said they were going to draw blood. When the 2nd nurse came in and attempted to draw blood, I told her as she was sticking me—I was a hard draw and if she couldn’t get it on the first try not to stick me. She attempted to stick me again—and I repeated myself. She became very disrespectful-- got angry and walked out of the room, yelling to the other staff for someone else to help me—to try and get my blood and said—“because apparently, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Although in excruciating pain, I pulled myself together and got up to leave. I asked where the ambulance was —as I wanted to go home. I was told by the security guy that the ambulance only transports to the hospital. I had no money with me and felt totally lost—particularly being unfamiliar with the area. I walked outside for about 10 minutes and returned. I asked if there was a phone and the security guy took me back to the room to use a phone; however, the nurse who was totally disrespectful told the security guy that I left the room so I could not use the phone. The security guy told me to use the phone in the waiting area. I called several family members until I reached my son—who had to come over to New Jersey from Philly to take me home.

I was totally disrespected by the nurse who attempted to draw blood. At no time was I treated for my pain. At no time was the staff in a position to provide a diagnosis as to why I was in pain… And-- to receive a survey where I am expected to complete it by filling in the dots—well, that is not the way to address the fact I was treated like an animal.

New to Jersey-- and love it. I was warned about Kennedy and...