"Dog bite"

My partner had been bitten by a dog and we were attended to at hospital with the understanding that if the infection spread we were to report to the nearest hospital. We were on holiday from overseas.  

As a nurse I noticed that my partner had a fever that night which had settled down on the following day but it was obvious the infection was spreading with redness moving up their leg.

My partner was feeling tired and lethargic and cold but because my partner's vital signs didn’t alarm them they didn't assign them to a doctor for more than 3 hours.

I asked if my partner could be reassessed which they did- their temperature was low.

At that point we were assigned finally to a doctor who immediately mapped the infection and advised admission with IV antibiotics.  My partner has a history of infection spreading quickly which was reconfirmed to me by their sibling who is a GP.

I felt that the frontline staff felt we were exaggerating the problem and weren’t interesting in initially progressing our care even though we were paying more than AUD 400. They said others were worse and we were way down the list. 

Vital signs don’t always tell the complete picture. Very disappointed to have sat all that time with no action. I think I aggravated them because I mentioned I’m a RN. Well I have bronchitis now after sitting amongst the unwell so there’s my penance.