Children's of Alabama - Emergency Department

They say Childrens hospital is the best for the children but in many cases it absolutely is not. From the poor care of nurses, 9 hours waiting to see a doctor ( asthma, covid, throwing up blood and loss of consciousness), lack of cleanliness, imaging was “ forgotten” for 5 hours and failed to provide the CORRECT medical treatment. Please use any other ED available for your kiddo. All ED can take children!

I have been living here for almost 7 months. These nurses are a complete joke. They care about nothing but the paycheck they are going to get next! They don’t clean the rooms just take the trash out once a day. They continuously tell you that they want you to feel at home in your babies room but as the pictures show they are constantly doing disrespectful things like knocking his arts and crafts, that come from his older siblings, into the floor and leaving them. I purchased my son a short nipple pacifier from Amazon for $26 and where did it end up in the floor under his crib. This is just the beginning of 1 review stay tuned for more pictures and part 2 it gets much worse.

Wednesday, 9/5/2022 @ 3:30pm My son Lincoln, who is 3, came in for head wound from falling onto a root/stick from a bush that was previously cut down in our backyard. He ended up getting 3 sutures. The triage women were super nice and helpful. I wish I had gotten their names but I did not. Ashlyn and Sarah (hopefully I’m getting the names right) were the nurse/doctor helping with Lincoln’s wound to his forehead in room 49. I love that Ashlyn came in and explained how everything would work to Lincoln. She said that she was basically the hospital’s teacher. This is HIGHLY IMPORTANT in proper care with children. This should be done before any treatment in all doctors offices and ER’s. Patience and explaining everything before hand. She let him touch and use the tools, showed him how they work and how they would take care of his boo-boo, what sutures were and what the Dr would do, etc. It helped EXTREMELY. Made him feel confident and safe and trust his caregivers. Sarah did the sutures and even went and got another male doctors second opinion to make sure she was giving the best care and that was really awesome to see! They offered an X-ray just to be sure there was nothing in the wound, even though we ended up not doing it. Which was another thing I loved- being included in decisions like my thoughts as a mother mattered. (I forget his name but he was very nice also and explained everything so well.) They LISTENED to me as the parent and didn’t give me one bad attitude. They didn’t act like they knew more than me and I was dumb. Didn’t make me feel stupid for questions. Ashlyn even stated, “Only you know your child the best, since you’re his momma.” And that was really important to me. I said I didn’t want Lincoln held down and to wait and see if he could do it on his own. I talked with him a bit before they came back in and he declared that he was going to be still and not cry, and I said okay. They just patiently gave him time, explained everything to him, and he sat and got his sutures on his own without moving. Ashlyn brought in the iPad and books and play dough and was so very helpful. She held the iPad til her arm was giving out. He watched the iPad and even watched the string bandaid going in and out. He sat still while Sarah cleansed his wound and she held the towel under so water would not fall in his eyes because he doesn’t like that. I helped her hold it and Ashlyn held the iPad. Lol Sarah was so gentle and knowledgeable. Ashlyn super sweet and just meshed with Lincoln’s personality so well. Just everything a hospital, ER, and doctor should be! I left Gardendale UAB to come here after being in the lobby for less than 30 seconds and being treated so rudely by security who rolled his eyes at me. Literally asked me what I was there for.. No one even acknowledged us being there in the lobby with my 3 year old’s face dripping with blood all over him and blood all over me and our clothes… I just got up and left and came straight to children’s. Very thankful I did. Dad, me, and big brother were able to stay in the room with him and they gave brother things to do as well. (Definitely helpful in a stressful situation not to push one parent out or give a limit to visitors) It helps the child to have more confidence in their surroundings, as they feel at home with their family with them during treatment. There were no tears, no bad moment, it was like being with friends and just dealing with the issue so simply. I just really appreciate being listened to and respected. I really appreciate the loving care that was given to my baby boy. I think these women are doing amazing!

I have no problem with the care or treatment my 2 year old had to have because of a near drowning accident. What is unbelievably shocking to me is one of the nurses there at the time. No saying names but she gave out private confidential information to someone who was not involved in any way and that could have caused harm to my child. Further actions will be taken. Police are getting involved as she broke hippa law. I still believe children’s is a good hospital just be careful about the nurses.

This is a good facility, they will take good care of you children, they bring a few nurses to check in and make sure your kid is okay. They might take 15 min the most to check again but it's a good facility overall.