"My daughter now wants to be a nurse"

This is rather a long story, as I have a lot to say and a lot of praise for you all. My daughter has been being bullied at school and was driven to an attempt to kill herself.

I brought her to A&E and was overwhelmed with the care we received.

It was 11pm when we arrived and surprisingly busy. The receptionist was kind and polite and told us we would be triaged by a nurse. 

The triage nurse and the student nurse right away focused on my daughter, moving towards her and listening and gently asking her questions. I don't think they are psychiatric nurses, later we saw the psychiatrist and I mentioned how they made us feel, and the young doctor, too.

The triage nurse asked about the overdose and checked her over, and then asked why she had taken it. My daughter finds it really hard to talk to strangers, and we were both incredibly upset, but honestly even weeks later, she talks about how kind the nurse was, saying she was glad she had told someone, and come to hospital, and they would help her. She spoke about bullying and I think you probably don't even realise the impact your words have, because weeks later, my daughter is still focused on and using the advice she gave her. 

When another nurse came to bring us through, she was friendly too. The main part of the hospital was full, much more full than it seemed from the waiting room, with police and all sorts. The nurse took blood tests from my daughter and very quickly a lovely young doctor came to see us. Again she was so gentle and kind, and when she told my daughter that she had been bullied too, I could see the change in her. After she had been examined, the doctor said the blood tests would show if all the tablets had caused any damage but that she could speak to a psychiatrist anyway. We moved to the waiting chairs and immediately another person was moved to our room. Every person that passed us said hello, or smiled, or apologised for how busy it was.

2 psychiatrists came, and spoke to my daughter alone. I could honestly already see the change in her from having been here all night and how well cared for we had been. After a while they called me in, and told me the advice and the plan they had made with my daughter. The young doctor came back to say the blood tests were fine and checked we were OK to go home.

We passed the triage nurse and student nurse as we were leaving and she called my daughter by name and asked her how she had got on. I felt this just highlighted how genuinely caring you are as a team.

You probably don't think much about the impact you have on people. But when there is nothing to do but watch and wait, your efforts are noticed. I wanted to make the point that you can't put a price on caring and compassion, and I was incredibly impressed by the attitudes and standards of your whole team.

You probably wont remember us, but my daughter, who now wants to be a nurse, will always remember you. Thank you.