This week has been so difficult for myself and my family, our 2-year-old son has been very unwell. By the time we made it to the emergency department, we had already had him home for a few days unwell and took him to see an emergency dentist thinking he may be teething. I had then been berated by an overzealous dentist who accused me of poor parenting, and I was feeling very flat, upset, and guilty about my sick son.
When we were admitted into the emergency department, our nurse, Gary. immediately made me feel at ease. He was so kind and listened intently and really cared. He was naturally at ease with our 2-year-old son. He made him comfortable, which was incredibly difficult as he had a high temp and was in so much pain. He treated me as an equal and included me in all the treatment decisions. Instead of forcing medication into my distressed son he did it slowly and built a rapport. I never felt at any time he was in a rush or that we were an inconvenience even with so many patients waiting outside in the waiting room and so much happening.
We were lucky to be able to go home after a few hours. This experience has really stuck with me, as even though our son wasn't better, I felt I'd been heard. My son had wonderful care and we had a plan going forward.