"I would have be admitted to this hospital again."

What I liked

The night nurse who took care of me showed caring and professionalism. I felt cared for and felt that she cared for me as a person. The surgery went extremely well and the scar is neat and tidy with sign of infection.

What could be improved

Unfortunately the night nurse was the member of the nursing staff that showed care to me as a person. I received lots of information about what my hospital visit would be like. I found that the information brochures were not what happened. A series of small things and big issues happened that could have been avoided by a little thought and care by the nursing staff. The first small thing was my arrival for surgery. I was given instructions about what to do and I followed them exactly. When I was shown to my bed, the nurse stated "where's sample" This was not part of the instructions so I asked what to do. They told I had to have a sample before I went to surgery. They did not return. They came to take me to surgery and I mentioned the sample. The nurse returned irritated and asked why I didn't give them one. I stated that they had not given me anything to put the sample in. Being told off before surgery is not the best start. After surgery I was put on the Jasmine ward with a PCA for pain relief. The PCA worked once and then started beeping an alarm. I took the nurse but they did not fix the machine or stop the beeping but told me to press the button, which is useless due to the fact the machine was not working. I called the nurse to the beeping alarm three more times without it being taken care of. At this point the pain became sever and I could only take shallow breathes and was in sever distress. I was told off and told to push the button, which was still not working. I was also told that I could breath and my oxygen sat was fine. I felt I was being told off for saying I couldn’t breathe. The machine finally got fixed and I was moved to another ward (Jasmine ward closed over the weekend). The pre op brochure said the PCA would be in for the first 48 hours. The nurses took it out 12 hours after surgery. The two IV sites were not flushed during the day or evenings shifts and were nonfunctional by the following night.

Anything else?

The nursing staff did not help me move in bed, sit up or walk in hall as I was told to do. I didn’t get the shower as per the pre-op brochure but a chair in front of a small basin and told to “wash” without help only 14 hours after major abdominal surgery. Catheter was taken out and the day shift did not record input or output. The evening nurse noticed it and asked me questions and filled in their bits. The nurses from the Jasmine ward did not seem to care about me as a person or as a patient just after major surgery. My bed did not have controls for me to lower or raise my head and there were no bed guards to use to raise myself in bed, so the only way to move was to use my abdominal muscle which caused pain. I was experiencing severe pain again and asked the nurse for help several times over a two hour period. I received medication and an injection due to the IV site being blocked as I mentioned earlier. I talked to a Matron on the second day about my concerns and was told they would talk to the nurses, but I received no follow up. My third day, I was mostly ignored but did get a shower. The nurses were moved all the patient back to Jasmine ward so were not concerned about patient care and patients as people. I was sent home for six weeks to recovery with medications and another brochure. No help about possible problems or helpful exercises. I arrived home feeling that I wasn’t a good enough for the nurse to care about and traumatised by the experience. I called PAL but they did not follow up either. I would never allow anyone I care about to go to Yeovil Hospital. I have woken in the night unable to sleep since leaving the hospital remembering the two severe pain episodes and the lack of caring from the nursing staff.