"The extra care"

Unfortunately, I suddenly felt very unwell and knew l needed to see a doctor so got myself to the Derby WA Hospital Emergency Department. Unexpectedly l found myself being admitted to the isolation area in the General ward later that evening. Now this was definitely a new experience for me but my goodness! That night l was so glad to be in the care of people looking after my well-being and treatment by receiving IV antibiotics.

My symptoms were Covid-like yet it wasn’t, as RAT tests and 2 PCRs in ED returned a negative result. I was tested thoroughly for all possibilities later to learn a Strep bacteria infection had been confirmed. To my relief l started to begin to get better the next day but found myself having to continue my stay a few more nights to let the antibiotics do their thing and surrender to the process.

Being isolated has its advantages and disadvantages in a busy area of the hospital but it had less distractions and allowed me time to reflect on the care l was getting. There was a young male nurse, only a few months out of training I believe, that it was easy for me to tell he has a bright career ahead of him. Despite juggling lots of work in the overly busy ward, I felt Chad did his best to try and keep me up to scratch for meals, medications and information needs. I felt for him every time having to don the full suit of PPE to enter the room but the way he kept to the strict protocol continually was impressive. His efforts really deserve a mention in this story.

I could tell that the hospital was short on nursing staff so the nurses were always busy. Which hospital isn’t these days! Despite this, my care from all the nurses was very friendly and good, one even brought me an extra cuppa before she knocked off shift. The normal food and drink service staff never entered the isolation area and l had no option to do this for myself so l was reliant on nurses for receiving my meal requirements.

There was another nurse, Jenny, who blew me away with her amazing friendly patient care. Jenny came across from the Maternity ward to help out by assisting when she was asked in to apply my fourth cannula. I obviously have bad veins. Jenny was able to immediately identify extra things l had been going without and promised to return again after cannulating to rectify this by providing clean linen and toiletries. Her level of experience was obvious to me and l appreciated the way she took it upon herself to go above and beyond her requested requirement to give me excellent patient care. That little exchange made my night. It was special for me when l was lamenting not being back home already as l had hoped. Her friendly gesture provided me with a smile.

Nurses are having to assist from other areas displaying great teamwork to keep the whole health system operating while being understaffed and extra busy. My aim in writing my story is to provide a shoutout to the wonderful nursing staff everywhere. l want to say a big thank you for looking after our health needs under conditions that are less than perfect. You’re appreciated.