"Respect and professionalism by Box Hill Hospital emergency nurses"

I visited Box Hill Hospital emergency room with a family member, who was having abdominal pains. It was quite a busy night and the triage area was filled with people waiting to be assessed. Unfortunately one patient was being very rude to the nursing staff in the waiting room, calling out obscenities and demanding to be seen quicker. The female triage nurse had to come out and sternly talk to this patient a few times about their language and behaviour. Unfortunately it just seemed to get worse and eventually this patient parked their wheelchair in the entrance-way to stop other patients from coming in. The triage nurse, who was already under enough stress from a packed waiting room, called for assistance because a male nurse then began to talk to the patient.

I was impressed by all of the staff who had to deal with the awkward and I believe all-to-common occurrence, however the conduct of this particular male nurse was exceptional. He was faultlessly calm and respectful with the patient, who in return was threatening and using awful language toward him. He offered to take the patient outside so they could continue the conversation in private (this was all quite loud and in front of everyone in the waiting area), and explained that they wanted to treat the patient, but in return they needed to be polite and respectful toward the staff and everyone else. Eventually the male nurse called for security to come, but instead of strong-arming the patient, the nurse continued to talk to this person calmly. He gave the patient options about what they could do and eventually they went outside with him.

My family member had blood tests done and was given medication to ease their nausea and pain and was eventually diagnosed with GORD reflux and discharged with plans organised for follow up management with their GP - it was all very smooth, at every step explained to us by the doctor and nurses.

I cannot express how impressed I was by all the nurses and doctors I met during our visit to Box Hill Hospital. But I was particularly impressed by this male nurse's handling of a really difficult situation. He was faultlessly polite to the patient, despite their own behaviour toward him - offering the patient options, privacy and the opportunity to air their grievances, all in a really public place. I feel it clearly demonstrated that this kind of thing is not uncommon, but also the professionalism of the Box Hill Hospital nurses.