"Experience at the Emergency Department"

I am hypermobile which makes me susceptible to soft tissue injuries, dislocations, fractures etc and I attended Armadale emergency department last night following an injury to my ankle that was causing severe shooting pain up the back of my leg, wide spread pins and needles and making my injured foot noticeably colder than my other foot (which could indicate neuropathy or other issues with circulation in the injured foot).

When I finally made it inside the ED a nurse discussed my pain with me and explained their shift was about to finish but they organise to have an X-Ray done even though I didn’t think there was anything broken, just to rule it out any past fractures that could have healed incorrectly, and then if that came back normal the nurse taking over would continue to investigate what was causing the pain.

The first nurse ended up picking me up after my X-Ray because the new nurse had reportedly complained, asking if they really have to go and get me and can I not just walk back?. The new nurse then asked me a few questions, asked me to walk so they could see my gait. They then told me that my X-Ray was normal and that they would send me home with Panadol because the pain was probably referred pain coming from my back (even though my pain was going up my leg from my ankle and I had just explained that I have chronic lower back pain due to diagnosed endometriosis and adenomyosis and that previous X-Rays and MRI’s have been completed to rule out structural causes for my back pain).

When I requested more tests (eg an ultrasound on my ankle) and to speak to a doctor I was asked why would we do tests like that when you can walk fine, you aren’t in pain and you have a simple injury that is within my scope to treat. When I disagreed and insisted on speaking to a doctor the nurse asked me to walk to a waiting area with my bag to wait for a doctor and then less than 5 minutes later told me to walk back to “my bed” because a doctor was available (and did not seem to have any issue with asking me to do so despite the significant nerve pain I was feeling in my leg - because I was under the impression that they felt I was lying about the presence of pain).

After speaking with the doctor I could also hear the nurse disagreeing with his decision to prescribe pain medications to me and talked about a podcast where they had heard that the two drugs he was prescribing would cancel each other out anyway. The nurse also made a comment of telling me that I might be better off taking ibuprofen because of studies that have been done on these medications - something that I do not believe is within their scope to advise on despite their earlier opinion in treating my "simple injury”.

I do not feel that I was able to access healthcare during my visit to Armadale emergency, I did not feel safe, I most certainly did not feel respected and it almost makes me want to laugh to think about the idea of describing my interactions with this clinical nurse as a “partnership”. I could also hear this nurse talking very loudly and clearly about their feelings about the medications I was prescribed and if I could hear them, I imagine everyone else in the ED could hear them too so I don’t even really feel like I had the right to privacy. Access to 2/7 of my fundamental healthcare rights as an Australian just doesn’t really cut it to be honest. I feel I deserve better.