"Nurses skills, expertise & patience"

My son had to be treated as he had stepped on two rusty nails. GP had advised to go to minor injuries to have wound checked. Despite the pressures that NHS staff and indeed the service as a whole are experiencing currently, we were triaged quickly. Another short wait and we were then seen, the nurse introduced herself to my son, who at 10 years old was nervous about what was going to happen. Within seconds he was at ease and chatting and giggling with ‘his nurse’. The care he received was nothing short of exceptional. Obviously having his wound cleaned out was painful but Gaynor could not have done anymore to distract him. It was decided that an X-ray would be required to ensure there was no remnants of metal etc in his foot. This was all explained to my son which I loved. 

Quick X-ray, literally no waiting time, and then back to his treatment room for results and further cleaning. As some dirt remained and the procedure was going to be painful, Gaynor offered a local anaesthetic which my son gratefully agreed to. Whilst this too would be painful Gaynor chatted to him about music and having decided they were both Queen fans, she sang along to Bohemian Rapsody with my son whilst administering a local anaesthetic. Job done, pristine wound and a bit of head banging for the best part of the song! We all know THAT part. I couldn’t have wished for a more lovely lady to treat my little boy. I felt 100% at ease with her glaringly apparent skills and expertise and her patience talking my son through absolutely everything was commendable. 

The singing wasn’t yet over though - in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak - she and my son washed their hands to Happy Birthday - twice! Lots of giggling and even I learned of the parts of the hands that people may accidentally omit in their hand washing regime! 

Curious as kids are, my son asked if he could see his X-ray - I immediately explained that the staff were very busy and it wasn’t going to be possible. I was wrong. Gaynor took him to the nurses station because he had been so so brave and he saw his ‘foot skeleton’ and Gaynor even took the time to explain about where his wound was on the X-ray and about growth plates and how his bones at 10 would indeed change as he got older and fuse. Sometimes you cross people in life and immediately realise why they do the job they do. They just excel at it and go over and above. Gaynor is an absolute credit to our NHS.