Nurses Are People Too

A perfect example of how NOT to treat your NHS staff

My Aunt went to hospital today with a suspected blood clot in her leg. I took her to the doctor in the morning because she’s been suffering with severe pain when she’s still and when she’s walking. In the end, four physicians examined her, and they decided that it could be arthritis, or it could be a blood clot, and there was no way to be sure without her having a blood test and possibly a scan.

I had an appointment in the afternoon, so my Mum took her to the hospital, where she had a blood test which showed a positive result, so they ordered a scan.

My Mum got home a little under an hour ago, and what she told me made me so angry. My Aunt was treated well, and the scan showed no blood clot. She was discharged and is now home safe, but while they were at the hospital, another woman was there with her son. He was in his late teens/early twenties, my Mum thinks. Anyway, the nurse called him in, and said that they would call the Mum when they were done.

At this point, the woman started cursing and swearing, using all kinds of vile language, insisting that she had to come in, too. This was all directed towards the nurse who was trying to help her son. The names that she was called, made my Mum feel sick and upset my Aunt a lot.

In this country, we have a National Health Service. Free healthcare, that many countries don’t have. They aren’t paid nearly enough for the job that they do, and to have to deal with this abuse is just absolutely disgusting, and that woman should be ashamed of herself. I know that worry can make people behave unreasonably, but there is no excuse for the sort of abuse my Mother heard.

It scares me the way some people seem to think that they can treat people. This woman, if the nurse was to actually speak to her in the way she was spoken to would be up in arms and would probably make a complaint, so why is it ok for her to treat someone else in that way? What happened to “treat others how you would like to be treated”?

As someone who has dealt with hospital staff in a number of situations, I can say that I know they’re not perfect, far from it, but they are only human, and as humans, they deserve just as much respect as anyone else.

So, the next time you’re at a hospital, give the nurses a smile. They work hard, looking after our loved ones at a time when we can’t, and they deserve our respect and just a little bit of common decency.