"Lack of information on what to expect"

I had a terrible experience in hospital some years ago, which left me with PTSD type anxiety which has never really left me. However since becoming quite seriously unwell i have had to rely on hospital specialists who have been excellent and restored my faith. Thanks to cardiology, infection diseases physicians and the OPAT services; truly excellent care. Recently I have spent a lot of time in various different hospitals and have had the time to compare them with each other, and I actually was feeling very lucky that Forth Valley was my local hospital. 

Last week I was admitted to Forth Valley again but I had never been in a surgical ward with a complaint about abdominal pain before. Overall the medical and nursing staff were excellent, especially considering the whole Covid19 situation, all the new measures added to a hospital keyworkers already busy day.  I was treated with respect and care. I had various procedures that were new for me and the majority were well explained.

However there was one procedure where the information was severely lacking with the result of complete humiliation and distress for me. I feel embarrassed to be sharing this story but, it is an experience that could easily have been made more compassionate and less traumatic for me. I had to have an enema which I have never experienced before nor had any knowledge about. Prior to and during the procedure, which was actually fine and not as bad one might imagine, I asked questions about it to the nurse. The procedure itself was explained very well at the time but they omitted to explain what would happen after it was administered. This omission led to me going through unexpected pain and then the humiliating experience of soiling myself and my clothing on several occasions until I had no clean clothing of my own. I then sat very upset in soiled clothes because I had no other option. Some time later an auxiliary nurse saw my distress, pulled the curtain for privacy and compassionately explained that it was very common occurrence. They immediately brought me fresh hospital clothes, incontinence pads and prepared my bed in anticipation for 'an accident'. I immediately felt better and less degraded, although I was still very emotional about it all. Now I just feel stupid that I didn't realise how the enema would work.

Please🙏 🙏🙏🙏 could you fully prepare your patient for consequences of any procedure/treatment that you do where there may be unexpected symptoms. Not all patients may want to know but in this case it would have been far less traumatic and degrading for me. I was in a shared room with 3 other patients so the humiliation was even worse, me a 50+ year old lady quiet and anxious, sitting in soiled clothes and probably smelling a bit.I was very, very upset and writing this I am actually crying again so this needs to be taken seriously and addressed. I would not wish someone else to feel this way. It is an easy thing to rectify, staff administering an enema just need to explain all the things that can commonly happen afterwards. The auxiliary nurse and night staff nurse both agreed my symptoms were common and normal and helped with my pain and my upset. I have not made this post to get any one single staff member into trouble but just to have this highlighted and cascaded to staff members carrying out the same procedure. Let us be informed and thus dignified. A little explanation would have made a hospital stay more memorable for the correct reasons; that NHS staff work tirelessly for the sake of their patients and are true heroes.