"A visit to A&E with my 5 year old"

Following a fall at school, my 5 year old ended up with a rather nasty bump to his head.  He said he was feeling 'wobbly' and couldn't see properly so we popped up to A&E to get him checked.

After a short wait (and play in the play room) we were seen by a nurse for triage.  She spoke directly to my son and showed a genuine interest in him.  She explained to him what she was doing at each stage and helped him to understand what the various pieces of equipment were for.  This helped to ease his anxiety and made it much easier for her to assess him.  She reassured us that he seemed ok but she wanted him to receive a further check.

We were then seen by another nurse, Kevin, who performed some further checks.  Again, he spoke directly to my wee boy and immediately put him at ease.  He showed genuine compassion and made the whole process easy and fun. 

We left feeling reassured and confident that our son had been thoroughly checked.   Just as importantly, our wee boy left having had a positive experience and feeling very comfortable about visiting the hospital again should he need to.

We have had to visit A&E several times over recent years with various bumps and scrapes and our experience has always been positive.  I asked my wee boy if he wanted to add anything and he said:

'I felt very sad when I hurt my head and I was a little bit worried about going to hospital.  The people I saw were nice and made me laugh.  They were kind to me and made me feel better.  I even got a sticker!'