"It only takes one."

My spouse recently had surgery at Osborne Park Hospital (OPH). I used to work as a senior healthcare worker, so had high hopes for the way my spouse was going to be treated by staff.  Almost all of the surgeons, medical staff and nurses looked after my spouse really well.  Especially the admissions nurse. He was friendly and fabulous in his manner (especially considering my spouse was very nervous as they had never had any surgery before).  I understand that this particular nurse is a mature age nurse graduate and we just wanted to say thanks.

However, there was one nurse when my spouse was being discharged the next morning that in our opinion, made us both feel like we were naughty children. She spoke to me in what felt like a very terse and patronising manner when I asked about the medication routine my spouse was prescribed. I felt she was very quick to jump down my throat and say that I as a consumer should be asking these questions from my pharmacist in regards to how my spouse needs to take their medication.

I believe she could have said this in a much nicer way instead of talking to me like I was a child and stupid. My spouse could hardly remember what they were told by the doctors that morning, as when they walked in my spouse was still asleep and woke up extremely groggy.  I wasn't there to ask questions as I was told to come in after 9:30am to pick my spouse up and if I had any questions I could ask the staff on duty. As I would be the person who would care for my spouse once we were home, I know I have a right to ask these questions of nurses and medical staff without feeling disrespected and spoken down to - in my view, as if I was a nuisance. 

As someone who has worked in hospitals for many years,  I believe some nurses in the health system are tired of their jobs and this definitely seemed to be the case with this particular nurse.  In my opinion, she had no people skills and made us feel terrible. So, I just want it on record that our experience at OPH was great, and my husband is doing really well.  But, I believe as usual it only takes one person to ruin an experience for a patient and their families. I feel that nurses who don't like interacting with patients and their families should reconsider their workplace, as this is their job. I think if they are on the front line working directly with people then they need to have good people skills.