"A&E unprofessional nurse"

I attended QEUH A&E as advised by NHS24 due to severe lower abdominal pain. This was several months ago but something similar happened to a friend and it jogged my memory.

I was not triaged for over two hours. When I was seen, the nurse triaging me basically didn’t believe me and told me I must just have period pain.

At this point I mentioned I am a nurse myself and I had noticed I was displaying symptoms of appendicitis. I explained that I was concerned about that and also that NHS24 were worried about that too. The nurse asked where I worked and I said I worked in community nursing in a different health board. The triage nurse then muttered under their breath well that doesn’t count.

The nurse then sent me back to the waiting room where I sat for over 6 hours before being seen as I felt I had been put me to the bottom of the triage list. No pain relief, no observations, nothing. I had appendicitis.

Now listen, I get it. I get that the hospital staff are over worked. I get that it’s a stressful job. I get that this nurse was possibly burnt out from working through a pandemic. I see burnt out nurses on a daily basis at my job.

HOWEVER. 

As a nurse I would never dismiss my patients concerns and I would never tell them that their job doesn’t count for anything. I couldn’t believe how unprofessional this was. This member of staff's demeanour was cold and  dismissive, despite my concerns being valid.

I was extremely disappointed with this nurse’s attitude to me because I didn’t nurse in a hospital. Surely in the height of a pandemic, nurses (and all key workers really) should be trying to support and encourage each other, not tearing each other down? Goodness knows our job is tough enough without these attitudes from our own colleagues?

I can only hope I caught this nurse on a bad day and they don't speak to all  patients like that all the time, or colleagues either!