I try not avoid hospitals at all cost. The moment I walk in I feel as if I am already being contaminated with something. Regardless, my nephew was having chest pains the other night and I had no choice but to brave the deathlands of the ER. Upon arriving it was drastically busy and we got him checked in right away. The counter admin was nice, no complaints, after waiting about 15 mins he was called back for vitals and they hooked him up to the ekg machine. Then was we sent back to the waiting room to what for the doctor. After about 35 mins we were on our way to our room for further testing. Here is where we waited forever. The nurse we had was nice so no complaints relating to her but boy was the wait long. I understand they had to wait for imaging but in total our visit was about 5 hours most of which we were in the room waiting. Another downside is that the waiting room and rooms as well seemed dirty. Not like things laying around dirty just old and dirty. Like even if you tried to clean the floors they would remain dirty. I think a good face-lift (buff and re-watch the floors and a fresh coat of paint) would be great. I understand this is all cosmetic and not needed to save a life but if your going to have patients in there for 5+ hours, at least make it somewhat enjoyable. But with that being said, the entire staff we meet with was great and helpful. They didn't find anything wrong with my nephew but sent him home with two perceptions, one for pain and another for inflammation.
Oh and one more thing that really turned me off. There was this girl in the waiting room I can only assume had the flu. She had a bucket she was throwing up in as well. She looked like death. She was there before we got there and was still waiting there 2 hours later. I felt so bad for her because she was just sitting there, periodically throwing up and not once did a nurse go over and at least offer her a glass of water or something. This poor girl who had to have been in her early 20's was alone with no one by her side. Had we not been called back so soon I would have offered my help. I just think that as a nurse you should try to make patients feel cared for. Sure you are limited to what you can do but showing compassion I would hope is not outside your abilities.
All in all it was a fair experience and if I ever have to go back to an ER I wouldn't mind coming back to this one.