"Terrible post op care"

Orthopaedic surgery at RPH — I felt it was absolute terrible care provided by ward nurse. Other than a few sleeping hours, they were my only assigned nurse. I am from very remote WA and aside from leaving a young family at home while I travelled to and from Perth for surgery, I also needed to arrange the flights and hotel accommodation near to the hospital for both myself and a support person (required as I was unable to walk or carry out basic activities without assistance). The entire situation was already stressful, and unfortunately, the care on the ward made everything significantly worse.

I felt the nurse was easily distracted and overwhelmed by the full room (four beds) and patient requirements. They had an air of being unflustered and confident — however, it seemed was completely unable to stay on task with any of the four patients, including myself, at any time. Tasks were left half-finished or forgotten altogether. Medication was often forgotten, and worse, already recorded in the patient file at a certain time, thus resulting in the file being incorrect regarding medication received and taken. This alone was quite worrying, as the file should be a true and accurate reflection of care provided and received.

I felt the nurse was unprofessional and tactless in talking about patients to other patients without permission. When I was feeling quite unwell, stressed, and concerned about my recovery, they simply indicated the patient next door had it worse, pulled back the curtain, and started to condescendingly tell them ‘why’ I was so upset. That patient was also of the opposite gender to myself, and they made these comments in a way that minimised my distress — outright commenting that I had not had surgery before, implying that my concerns were invalid or exaggerated. This situation is even more unacceptable given I had just explained to them why I was so stressed about my recovery: because I was so far from home and unsure if I was going to be able to leave or fly as scheduled.

At handover to another nurse, they laughingly said in front of me, 'Oh there you are, they're a lot, this one.” I found this incredibly hurtful. The nurse would interrupt every single sentence, whether it was a query or a simple comment. They made jokes about my support person being so helpful and attentive of my needs, stating to them that I was “quite anxious, aren’t they?” and asking if they would be “giving me a massage later.” The nurse complained to me about a colleague, advising that they were arrogant and that they don't like arrogant people. The nurse advised I shouldn’t be feeling pain with my cannula — however, when another nurse saw me during the night, they explained why they can hurt when medicine is going through and not at other times. That nurse was kind and knowledgeable, and I appreciated her clear explanation.

The nurse in question needed constant reminding about tasks they had said they would undertake but had forgotten. When reminded, they would interrupt to say they knew and that they were getting there — only to thank me later for the reminder, having clearly forgotten. My distress grew from none at all immediately following surgery (due to the amazing care by theatre and recovery room staff) to extreme distress as I kept questioning sensations I was experiencing. The nurse continued to be dismissive, without explaining why they didn’t think I had anything to be concerned about — simply stating everything “seemed ok to them.”

The list just goes on and on of their unprofessional, uncaring, and alarming conduct. The patient next to me — who the nurse “introduced” me to in an attempt to give me some perspective — agreed their behaviour was extremely concerning and requested to be discharged as soon as they could. That spoke volumes.

After the surgeon, ward doctor, OT, and physio had all come by the next morning to see how I was recovering and noted that I was able to be discharged that day (as tentatively advised prior to surgery), they then advised the doctor was busy in the ortho clinic and unable to see me for some hours. They said they would arrange for me to leave and come back when Pharmacy had completed the medications I needed (seven items). I was so concerned at this point about the nurse being able to actually facilitate my discharge and medications without messing it up that I pulled another nurse aside to go over the seven medications I needed. The original nurse then did a handover with this nurse, promising me they would “tell Pharmacy to have it all ready” despite the doctor being unable to liaise with them prior. The nurse then showed my support person how to inject me with an anti-clotting medication in the stomach that I required that night. By this stage, both myself and my support person felt I was probably going to receive better care with them at our hotel than in the hospital.

Me leaving the hospital was instigated due to the requirement for beds, and all staff advising I was fit to go ‘home’ — given I was staying very close by in a hotel. I left the hospital without signing anything or any staff completing any official paperwork to release me.

After not hearing back from any RPH staff that day, I called them late afternoon and was advised Pharmacy was unable to dispense medication as it was “too late.” However, I was told that if I presented to the ward again, they would “admit me for the night” so that I was again a patient and able to access the medication required. I was pretty concerned at this point about how the ward and various areas of the hospital communicate and what their protocols are — as I was never officially discharged, yet I needed to basically sneak back in to an empty bed, even though I did not require any actual medical care or supervision, simply to access the medications that should have been prepared for my preplanned discharge almost 12 hours earlier.

About ten minutes after this phone call, I was phoned by the ward to advise that rather than me stay the night, I could present to be given enough medication for the evening and return in the morning for the rest. So we Ubered again to the hospital — as I could not walk from our accommodation — to receive enough medication for the evening, and we again left the hospital and were told to come back in the morning for the remainder before our early afternoon flights home.

The next morning, I received a phone call from the original ward doctor who had seen me after surgery. They advised they were sorry — that they  should have prioritised my medication requests to Pharmacy — but that unfortunately, now that I was no longer there, they would not release any medication to me. They asked if they could please email or text me QR code scripts and I could purchase them myself. It was outrageous to me that seven forms of medication were being withheld by Pharmacy to a doctor for a patient who was discharged incorrectly (as I was later informed by the Acting ward nurse manager).

I advised that this was unacceptable and I would be immediately heading to the hospital to sort it out. Another Uber and unnecessary travel cost later, my support person and I sat in the ward where a senior nurse apologised profusely for the nurse’s actions the two days prior, advising they had not followed protocol and was quite alarmed at the two or three comments we repeated that they had said during my 24 hours there. The Acting nurse manager was absolutely wonderful and genuinely upset at the treatment I’d received. They encouraged me to make a formal complaint and said they would personally speak to Pharmacy and let me know ASAP what was going on.

A Pharmacist came to speak with me and ensured I understood what medications I was receiving and how to take them. She asked if I had any questions and was very thorough in ensuring nothing was missed. She advised it would take about ten minutes and they’d be ready. In the meantime, the doctor who had seen me after surgery walked past numerous times avoiding eye contact. The Acting nurse manager kept checking in, instructed another nurse to follow up with Pharmacy, and even rang Qantas and stayed on the line to discuss flight options when it looked like we might not make it to the airport in time. She then ran to Pharmacy herself to try and pick up my medication that never arrived.

It was a fitting debacle to the end of a short 24-hour stay that felt like three days.