"Treatment by nurses"

I was referred by my doctor to Ninewells Surgery admissions. 

I was in agony, my clothes touching my skin was painful.

I was seated in a waiting area with a couple of other patients. A nurse came in and spoke to one of the patients, then came back moments later with a jug of water and a cup. I just thought that meant we were only allowed water after we had had certain tests taken. 

Around an hour after I arrived a doctor assessed me and took some blood, It was painless . The doctor was very professional, and very patient as I explained my pain and recent lack of sleep. I returned to the waiting area and was told that somebody would check on me intermittently. Over the next 2 hours, a few nurses came and went; checking on other patients in the waiting area.

I had been trying to cope with the pain because I knew it was only a matter of time until it would get sorted, but I was really struggling, so I went to find a nurse. There were about 5 nurses in the ward next to the waiting area, I said excuse me a few times until one of them met my eyes. I asked if I could please have some painkillers. The nurse told me to go and sit down and someone will bring me something. So I returned to the waiting area, shivering with pain and at this point I had not had anything to drink for about 4 hours.

40 minutes later,  I returned to the nurses and begged them for some pain relief explaining that I had made the same request 40 minutes prior. I was told to be patient because they were very busy. Two minutes later a nurse appeared with two co-codamol, a jug of water and a cup. This lead me to believe that they had ignored or forgotten my first request.  I took the medication. Sometime in the next hour, as the pain eased, I noticed a whiteboard on the wall opposite me which read amongst other things "please help yourself to water until you have been fully assessed". And I realised that there was no reason for me or anyone else to be sitting dehydrated. There should have been water available at minimum, because if it takes over 40 minutes to administer painkillers, how long it would have taken had I requested a drink?

The specialist who ended up treating me and the nurse who aided were both fantastic and very sympathetic about the pain I was in as soon as they saw the affected area. They both apologised for how long I had been waiting. 

I feel that some of the nurses on the ward that I encountered misread my pain as rudeness. I begged for help and felt that I was treated like a pest and told to be "patient". I am sure there are plenty of conscientious nurses working at Ninewells. I just felt it was important to give fully honest feedback.