I want to preface this by saying I am an ICU nurse.
It's nicely renovated. The staff is polite for the most part. The wait time was minimal when I went. The procedure was smooth. However, I was really put off by the lack of professionalism from the nurses.
I've been here twice, both times I was about 20 weeks pregnant. My initial visit was several years ago, when the OB was an older Black gentleman, and the procedure took one day. On my most recent visit (July 2022), the procedure was 2 days. I learned that if you are beyond 14 weeks, it is a 2 day procedure with sedation. This review is based on my visit in July.
On the day of, I'm shocked to say that the doctors had excellent bedside manner whereas the nurses left much to be desired. I arrived at 7:40am, and was quickly directed to the area where you change into patient gowns by a nursing assistant (not sure the role because nobody introduces themselves, but he definitely wasn't a nurse). Afterwards, we were ushered into pre-op area where the nurse (I'm assuming because she never told us who she was) inserted an IV and started the Pitocin drip. She was followed by two orientees (Janice and Janine or both had same name).
The nurse never verified my identity. She was orienting two new hires. We could over hear her advice them to "rush" because they are often understaffed and frankly want to get out of work on time. I would never say such a thing, certainly not in earshot of patients. However, I empathized a great deal with having too many patients and too little time so I ended up feeling a bit sorry for them.
I have never had Pitocin. Admittedly, I felt a bit overconfident while reading the consent forms and didn't ask what the experience would be like. Nobody will explain this to you if you do not ask. Soon after the drip was started, I began experiencing painful contractions. I tried my best to cope, but at some point it became unbearable. I was having nonstop contractions. The woman sitting next to me actually noticed that my IV was running much faster than hers (I received about half a liter while she received roughly 125 ml). At this point, I clamped the line and waited for the nurse to return. The problem was that nobody checked on me. I thought this was actually insane, and worse it made me scared. While I felt sorry for the nurse, I couldn't imagine completely ignoring your patients.
Pain makes your patience wear thin, and it took everything I had to maintain a polite tone when I finally caught the nurse (so as to avoid being labeled as a "difficult patient"). I asked for NSAIDS, which she mistakenly heard as 'anesthesia'. Mind you, I was hyperventilating. Luckily I was able to get out "no I meant NSAIDS, as in Tylenol or ibuprofen' before she ran out again. At this point, the anesthesiologist came (only one who told me her name and talked to me as a human being) and explained that she could give me Toradol but that meant she couldn't' give it to me when I went in for procedure. Although they tell you to arrive before 8am, you will be in pre-op for 2 hours. I decided against it since I had 40 minutes left to wait it out. Plus, I know at this point toradol would offer very little pain relief. I was also give misoprostol by a nursing assistant, but did not think twice because frankly what difference did it make who gave it to me at this point.
I felt I was going to vomit. I unhooked my IV, and rushed to the bathroom. I couldn't vomit but I felt an urge to push. I was crying and someone knocked on the door. I was ushered into procedural area. I woke up later, shivering uncontrollably.
The orientee was more concerned with getting the job done, which was understandable because it's her first day. So I didn't mind when she kept telling me to stop shivering so she could get an accurate blood pressure. I kindly explained that I was cold, and asked for a blanket. I placed the cuff on my opposite arm while explaining that frequently recycling bp would just lead to inaccurate reading.
While I waited, I asked the nurse what medications I received in the procedure room. She flipped through a couple of pages before saying "didn't they tell you before? It doesn't matter".
I lost whatever semblance of respect I had at this point. I calmly explained to her the words on the page, which lists the medications that *may* be used, and why her answer was dismissive and unacceptable. She told me she was a step down nurse, and while I understood that she was ignorant about OBGYN or PACU, it was irrelevant to her response. I've worked with nurses like this before and normally I'd be ok except I was entirely alone. I broke down into tears because it's so terrifying to be in a dependent role with ppl who don't care
Working in an abortion facility is depressing, at least that's what I imagine, so I tried my best to cut them some slack. It's per diem, they are just trying to make extra cash. But it shouldn't be the patients job to empathize with the nurse. read more
