UAB TouchPoints

Mar 2023

I should have listened to the reviews on Google. If it wasn't for the few very friendly and knowledgeable staff, this ER would most likely get 1 star. I was there for 12+ hours with 8 of those hours waiting in the waiting room. The way they run the system is horrible. Instead of assigning rooms as soon as they become available, they would automatically assign you to a specific room, and you would not be called back until everyone else assigned to the room were done. So, instead of like more important emergencies first then trickling down the line, it would be whenever your turn came for that one specific room. A lot of nurses spent most of the time laughing and cutting up. When I was told to go to their station for check in, they tried to speak to me and I told them I was deaf. They said something to each other and started laughing then left the room. I had no clue what was happening. No one communicated with me until they finally decided to do their jobs. But they kept goofing off while doing so. Then halfway through my wait, a male nurse came out who acted very incompetent. He was looking for me, but he kept going to the guy next to me. He asked if we were together and we both said no. Then for some reason he thought the girl that was with that guy next to me, was me. Even though 2-3 nurses at the main desk kept telling that male nurse that he had the wrong person and kept pointing at me to let him know I'm the patient he was looking for. He just could not comprehend that and kept talking to the guy. After a few minutes, he finally figures it out and comes to me. Then freaks out when he discovered I'm deaf before getting the monitor for an interpreter. I had to tell him twice, in two different ways, I didn't want an ASL interpreter as I barely know any ASL. He still called an interpreter anyways, then as soon as the poor lady picks up and starts to say hello, he just mashes the hang up button cutting her off. After he gets my information, he just gets up and walks away without a word. Instead of dropping off my paperwork immediately, he proceeds to goof off with the nurses for a few minutes. Once he was done, he just starts randomly walking around the ER with my paperwork and information in full view for several minutes. Like, my social security number is on that very first page where anyone can see it. It took a while before he finally dropped off my papers. The rest of my time in the waiting room was watching the incompetent nurses. One guy came out, barely able to walk and very disoriented. He passed out and smashed his face into the chair next to me and busted his head causing visible injuries. The nurses just ignore him and leave him laying on the floor. Eventually they came and got him in a wheelchair, then just rolled him out the exit. I found out later that he had collapsed in the hallway on the way out and they did nothing. Did not assist him or anything. Just let him get up and keep walking out to the waiting room. Other people would come out at different times barely able to walk and were struggling to keep from falling over. Where were the nurses? Either gone or goofing off behind the main desk. They would not help anyone. Once I was called back, things did not get much better for me. They could not put an IV in and I've never had anyone have trouble putting an IV in me. I was very hydrated and had just gotten my blood drawn at a doctor's office prior to my ER visit without any problems. The guy who was my nurse could not hit my vein right. Instead of searching for another spot, he just kept jamming the thing deeper and deeper, destroying my vein. He had to go get somebody else. The girl that came was worse. She decided to poke the spot where I had already gotten the blood drawn earlier. Since that spot was already bruised, she caused an excruciating amount of pain jamming the IV in and digging around. I have never felt that much pain before from a needle stick. I almost swung my arm to get away from her. She finally gets it and leaves. I look down to see blood had gone down my