I live close to Stevens and when my kidneys failed that's where I was taken. Over the course of the last four and a half years, I've had quite a few stays there (some of the nurses and doctors joked about having a wing named after me). I would say that it wasn't fun and I didn't like spending anytime there ... but that's because staying in hospitals in general isn't fun, and kidney failure blows. As far as the hospital itself and the staff ... most of the people there are pleasant and knowledgeable, and the facility is alright. I've never been to Providence, so I couldn't compare the two for you. Hope what I've said has been somewhat helpful.
OK, so the address for Steven's is technically Edmonds. But in my book it will always be Lynnwood. That should be the first red flag.
Unless you were looking to have your baby sent home with their own blue eye shadow bucket. (Make sure you specify "Not Found In Nature - Only In Lynnwood Blue")
Nope - just one Stevens in Edmonds. There's a Providence in Everett, but not in Lynnwood. There really is no actual hospital in Lynnwood, besides the Virginia Mason building, but I think that's more of a clinic.
I've noticed that a lot of people in this area like to complain that [[fill in name of health care group]] is deadly dangerous and can actually do more harm than good. The most popular is saying "Group Death" because OMG THAT IS SO WITTY I'M SO WITTY FOR THAT PLAY ON WORDS LOL
These people are all trained medical professionals.
For the record, my cousin is an anesthesiologist at both Stevens and Northwest.
True, but there is something to be said for the bedside manner, expediency, and policies of a particular facility. They are all trained professionals, but a lot of places are just so poorly run and managed that you can't help but have a terrible experience, even if you end up having had adequate physical care.
largely true, but the administrative staff is a different issue. There are certain facilities I'd avoid like the plague given their propensity for misplacing, losing, or not forwarding medical records. When a hospital loses your MRI film you're screwed. I've even seen a case where a patient had a terminal case of cancer and nobody followed up on getting him in for treatment because the organization was just that bad.
My very strong recommendation would be to avoid hospitals all together, and at the very least go to a birthing center. Any place that would be far more likely to listen to you, as the mother, and not do a bunch of unnecessary crap. You're going to find that at any hospital. I do not recommend them. If in your own home with a midwife is a bit much for you, there are still much better places to go than hospitals.
I do have a friend who birthed at Steven's and had a bad experience. It's possible that she might see this and chime in. We've had this very discussion before about giving birth in a hospital, and she wouldn't do it again in a hospital, especially that one.
I'm not trying to infer that you haven't, but pllleeeease look at all your options. I also regret that I birthed in a hospital (UWMC), and there's no way to take that back.
Thirded. Even the best hospital is going to be, by definition, higher intervention than the average birth needs. Birthing centers are much more likely to respect the mother's birth plan, and they are usually perfectly well suited to handle emergencies if they should occur.
Not only were they unable to get an IV into my arm without me bleeding all over myself, the bed and the floor, once in, they decided to try to pull some blood through the same tube. I was horribly dehydrated (which is why I needed the IV in the first place) so it hurt a lot, and I started to get dizzy and freak out. So as they were drawing the blood (and it took two of them to do this for some reason) I asked for a glass of water, which they refused to give me. I begged several times and they tried to give me a cold cloth instead. So I barked at them and finally they gave me a glass of water. and after that, the nurse was VERY rude to me. even when I apologized for barking at her. She told me I should tell my mother how sorry I was. Which I thought was very rude of her to say to me. And it was a damn good thing they gave me that glass of water, because about an hour and a half later, my mother noticed the IV bag was still full, so she questioned them about it. Turns out they had fucked it up and I wasn't getting any. Which is why I
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Ack. DO NOT PISS OFF THE NURSES. They run emergency departments. Your experience will be much better if you keep them happy. Cookies help. That said, the ED at Stevens sucks goat balls through a straw. Northwest, on the other hand, is one of the better ones around. From what little I've seen of it, the Swedish campus in Ballard's pretty decent too.
A few things: It's normal to draw blood when you get an IV start so as to avoid poking you even more times, and some people are hard sticks -- especially when dehydrated. Not letting you have anything to eat or drink until a doctor's 30 second eval is standard practice everywhere.
oh, I've had blood draws via an IV many times. But not when I have had nothing to eat or drink in a few days. (my throat was pretty swollen) I guess my family doctor had a chat with the head of the ED or somebody up there and was told they should not have done that, especially since I had just been into the Lab at Steven's less than 24 hours before that to get blood work done and they had tested me for everything under the sun, so it wasn't needed. And that they should have given me water if I asked for it, since I was so dehydrated
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But in my book it will always be Lynnwood.
That should be the first red flag.
Unless you were looking to have your baby sent home with their own blue eye shadow bucket. (Make sure you specify "Not Found In Nature - Only In Lynnwood Blue")
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These people are all trained medical professionals.
For the record, my cousin is an anesthesiologist at both Stevens and Northwest.
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I do have a friend who birthed at Steven's and had a bad experience. It's possible that she might see this and chime in. We've had this very discussion before about giving birth in a hospital, and she wouldn't do it again in a hospital, especially that one.
I'm not trying to infer that you haven't, but pllleeeease look at all your options. I also regret that I birthed in a hospital (UWMC), and there's no way to take that back.
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A few things: It's normal to draw blood when you get an IV start so as to avoid poking you even more times, and some people are hard sticks -- especially when dehydrated. Not letting you have anything to eat or drink until a doctor's 30 second eval is standard practice everywhere.
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