"Thanking the staff at Musgrove Park"

I have recently had my first experience of a hospital as an inpatient. I was admitted to Musgrove Park via the A&E department on a Sunday evening. I'd gone over the handlebars of my bike while riding off-road. Initially I thought that I was just bruised and battered, but when I started to pass blood in my urine, I realised there might be more to it.

I was probably in A&E for half an hour before being seen in triage. I had an x-ray and did a urine sample (it did seem strange to have to walk though the patient waiting area with a transparent bowl of very bloody urine to hand over the counter to the receptionist). I was then called into a cubicle and told that I didn't have a broken collar bone, but that was the least of my problems. I was put on a drip, but not told much else until a surgeon turned up to say that I was going to be admitted.

I went onto Ward 2, which I later found out to be a surgical admission unit. I gave my details to a few more people and was told that I was going to be monitored as they tried to flush out my kidney. From the start I found the nurses to be very caring and it was the doctors who were rushing round. The nature of this ward meant that people were coming and going 24 hours a day and it was difficult to sleep for any length of time. After four days, I was moved to another ward and did wonder if I would receive such good treatment elsewhere.

As it happened, I was only on Ward 4 for a couple of days before being sent home. But I needn't have worried about the treatment, as the nurses seemed equally nice there.

I found the nurses on both wards to be very caring. They managed to show enthusiasm for moping up bodily fluids at any time of the day. The student nurses even looked cheerful when they weren't talking to you. The doctors did seem slightly more pressurised. Sometimes they weren't sure what was happening, but I guess that is to be expected.

Some of the other patients were less impressed by the doctors, but I found them to be professional and honest.