Exceptional My week of hell Hospital from Hell by Aussie Share Your Story contest entry

I am no stranger to hospitals. Having worked as a nurse for many years. I always tried to give love and care to my many patients. My, have things changed since the old days of nursing. The trainees are taught by videos and now, our local hospital is staffed by Registered Nurses. I think they got their Diploma out of a Cornflakes box. June of this year, the pain in my abdomen was getting worse. After scans, I was referred to a specialist who told me he had to operate as soon as possible, my bowel was perforated by a hernia. The hernia was initially caused by a previous surgery where I was cut through the navel. I was taken by ambulance to our major hospital in the afternoon of the 3rd of June. I sat there until midnight wondering what the hell was going on. It's no joke being in a waiting room without pain relief...alone. At the stroke of midnight, the short and fat nurse and wardie wheeled me up to the OR doors. Normally, a patient would be prepped for an operation, given a pre- op injection and the radiologist would have listened to my breathing. None of these procedures were followed. The nurse stripped me of clothing in the corridor and said "shouldn't be long now," I felt like I was waiting for my burger to be cooked. I don't remember much else, must have fallen asleep from hunger and anxiety. I woke up in a stupid purple gown (felt like the Purple People Eater.) Surrounded by purple curtains and feeling like I had been hit by a bus. My best friend sat beside my bed and told me that I had assaulted a nurse! "Is she always like this?" said nurse. "Only if you don't feed her," said my friend. Her joke went straight over the stupid women's head. Apparently, after the operation, a so-called nurse had given me a double dose of morphine. I do take morphine for chronic pain, she decided to double it. The anaesthetic was still rumbling around in my system. No wonder I tried taking the nurse's arm off. I'm also a diabetic; day after day a nurse grabbed my hand and whacked a needle in my finger for glucose reading. She could have asked me. The slop they were serving (called breakfast) looked and tasted like baby mush, every day I went without breakfast. Lunch was great, it was called soup. It looked like muddy water with peas floating in it. Instead of suturing the wound completely, they decided to put metal clips in. The clips were taken out so roughly, I had two holes in my belly. The holes squirted fluids every time I moved. I had to wear heavy dressings to absorb the fluids. All I wanted to do was leave this dreadful surgical ward and go home. During the week, I had one bed-bath, yes, I did say one bath in a week of lying in bed. It was easier for them to slip a plastic sheet under me and give me a wash. I am an amputee and it would have been fun and games trying to turn me over, so they didn't bother. Near to leaving the ward I was asked "would you like a shower?" Would I what! After getting me up and into a bath chair, they wheeled me into the bathroom and ... left me there. I was cold and scared and my bowel was in a dreadful mess. I felt so alone and embarrassed. Finally, one nurse came back to get me, after an hour. What happened to looking after and not leaving patients to fend for themselves? "I'm sorry about the mess on the floor," I blushed. "Don't worry, the cleaner will fix it," the nurse said. Christ help the elderly. I am not a youngster at age seventy-two. Disabled but knowledgeable regarding hospital practices, I thought about putting in a report to the Hospital Supervisor. I didn't, no one was interested anyway. I couldn't take much more of their rudeness and being cut off from the outside world. We were treated like a bunch of bananas laying in beds. There was no tender loving care. I decided to catch my surgeon when she was doing her daily rounds. "Excuse me?" I called her over. "What's wrong, are you alright?" She smiled automatically. "I want to go home," I said. "Do you feel well enough to leave?" Another automatic grin. "Yes, If I don't get out of here I will go nuts," I tried a smile Dr Lye signed me out. I asked the nurse to arrange ambulance transport and she told me that would cost $800. I wasn't about to argue with Nurse Robot. So finally she called me a Limo at the cost of $65. I came home within the hour and recuperated slowly in my own surroundings. After three weeks of visiting my own doctor and having the holes in my wound-site dressed, I was on the mend. It has taken from June till now for that wound to close so I can do what I want to do, my favourite pastime is swimming. Being a coastal community, we rely on the major hospital for many things -especially emergency care. I am just so pleased I made it home without infection. This may sound a doom and gloom story; it is true, I am now well and back to writing again. Not all hospitals are like the one that unfortunately, I was admitted to. Author Notes A contest entry: this is a true account of my stay in Hospital. I can't say never again, who knows when they will have to stay in the Hospital from Hell. Hospital name withheld for obvious reasons.

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