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Original poster

Was this nurse rude?

223 replies

Littlestdove · 18/02/2023 11:25

I want to preface this by saying I am in pain so that’s not helping but yesterday I went to A and E with pain under my right rib cage- I believe it could be my gallbladder as I have a polyp and both my parents have had theirs removed . It was an extreme stabbing pain that took my breath away. My blood pressure was 170/90 and I just felt awful. No temp tho.

I was given morphine and some buscopan and then told they couldn’t ultrasound my gallbladder until the morning so they’d send me home with strong painkillers and to come back to A and E if my ultrasound showed any stones and the polyp.

So que to this morning, I’ve been up all night in agony trying to make it through to my ultrasound. Ultrasound shows stone and polyp. I rebook into A and E and first thing the nurse triaging says is

”back again? You’ve been in no end lately”

so I said, well yes I was in yesterday and told to rebook in if I was still in pain and my ultrasound showed a stone and polyp.

”You do know you can see your GP for Abdominal issues?”

and I said yes, I realise that however it was a sudden intense pain

”Well I’m just letting you know for further information”

meh. I’m sat here in pain and now just feel like a time waster.

OP posts:
Xol · 19/02/2023 18:00

abmac95 · 19/02/2023 10:27

All I am saying is that I agree with the nurse. I don't think she was rude she was telling it as it is.

Show quote history

How could she be telling it like it is when OP had specifically been told by a doctor to come back?

Justkeepingplatesspinning · 19/02/2023 18:04

You did the right thing to go back to A&E, gallstones in the wrong place (guessing they are from the pain you're in) need sorted sooner rather than later. Hope you're doing okay and pain relief is working.

LadyLolaRuben · 19/02/2023 18:30

Glad you're getting sorted OP and are feeling better x

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General health
Floralnomad · 19/02/2023 19:10

Hope it all goes well tomorrow @Littlestdove 💐

iklboo · 19/02/2023 20:38

Hope it all goes well tomorrow @Littlestdove and you have a speedy recovery afterwards.

78Summer · 19/02/2023 20:45

A sister told me I was over reacting and that there were some ‘really unwell people’ in her ward when I was very concerned about my mum. My mum died two weeks later. Always trust your gut.

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 20:57

ReformedWaywardTeen · 19/02/2023 15:06

Not acceptable, it's not like you go weekly, you followed the direct advice given.

Report her, and tell them you expect disciplinary action. Her behaviour is dangerous, some would feel bad and go home. Imagine she did that to someone who later collapsed or worse?

‘Expect disciplinary action’? No wonder nurses are leaving in droves. Are you trying to make sure there’s no-one left to treat you if you get ill?

WoofWoofBeachLife · 19/02/2023 21:03

@Littlestdove Hope it all goes well tomorrow and you have a speedy recovery. Gallbladder pain is horrendous. Xx 💗

SirChenjins · 19/02/2023 21:20

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 20:57

‘Expect disciplinary action’? No wonder nurses are leaving in droves. Are you trying to make sure there’s no-one left to treat you if you get ill?

Show quote history

She does deserve disciplinary action - patients deserve better than nurses like her. Disciplinary action takes many forms in the NHS - when someone does something that puts a patient at risk because they cba to read their notes properly then it’s absolutely appropriate that there is a consequence.

Sep200024 · 19/02/2023 21:31

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 20:57

‘Expect disciplinary action’? No wonder nurses are leaving in droves. Are you trying to make sure there’s no-one left to treat you if you get ill?

Show quote history

But that nurse didn’t want her to be there to be treated!

We can probably manage without staff like that in the NHS.

abmac95 · 19/02/2023 22:09

Yet another post where someone has asked for opinions and then been unwilling to except anything other than the answer they wanted!

SirChenjins · 19/02/2023 22:20

Accept

And when your opinion is as idiotic as it is then she’s doing the right thing by ignoring you.

Cheshiremamalife · 19/02/2023 22:20

I had my gallbladder removed about 10 years ago. Having been backwards and forwards to the GP for years and diagnosed with pretty much everything other than gallstones, it finally got too much and my husband drove me to A&E. I had a scan, was diagnosed and my surgery was booked really quickly. Having given birth twice and having gallstones, I can honestly say I think the gallstone pain was worse! Absolutely horrendous. Sometimes, A&E is the only option when everything else fails. I'm so glad you've been booked in for your surgery OP!! I suffered for so many years, for me it was literally life changing. Wishing you a very speedy recovery 💐

Sep200024 · 19/02/2023 22:26

abmac95 · 19/02/2023 22:09

Yet another post where someone has asked for opinions and then been unwilling to except anything other than the answer they wanted!

Umm, well she’s had her answer from the doctor that’s booked her in for surgery, I suppose.

Bless you for trying though.

Msmossy · 19/02/2023 22:30

abmac95 · 19/02/2023 22:09

Yet another post where someone has asked for opinions and then been unwilling to except anything other than the answer they wanted!

She asked if the nurse was being rude not whether she should have gone to A&E or not. Stop trying to give people medical advice on the internet, it's dangerous.

Sadlifter · 19/02/2023 22:33

PacificallyRequested · 18/02/2023 12:00

I don't think she was rude. Of course she should point out to people that they maybe don't need to be in A&E!

Of course she shouldn't!

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 22:34

Sep200024 · 19/02/2023 21:31

But that nurse didn’t want her to be there to be treated!

We can probably manage without staff like that in the NHS.

Show quote history

No we can’t. If you fired everyone who wasn’t happy doing their job all the time or who occasionally made pointed remarks then soon there would be no-one left and then the entitled whiners really would have something to moan about.

Should the nurse have said those things? Obviously not, knowing what we know and with the benefit of hindsight. Should she be fired? Only if you don’t actually want an NHS.

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 22:45

SirChenjins · 19/02/2023 21:20

She does deserve disciplinary action - patients deserve better than nurses like her. Disciplinary action takes many forms in the NHS - when someone does something that puts a patient at risk because they cba to read their notes properly then it’s absolutely appropriate that there is a consequence.

Show quote history

Why? Because we pay their wages? I’d say we’re getting exactly what we deserve then.

SirChenjins · 19/02/2023 22:49

Giving out incorrect medical advice because you cba to read the patient’s notes is indicative of incompetence - if you’re not able to do that simple task and put the patient at risk then you shouldn’t be in the profession.

And ‘we’ don’t pay nurses or any NHS worker.

SirChenjins · 19/02/2023 22:50

Oh - and there’s a range of disciplinary measures we use in the NHS. I doubt very much that she’d be fired, so you can relax.

Xol · 19/02/2023 23:04

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 22:34

No we can’t. If you fired everyone who wasn’t happy doing their job all the time or who occasionally made pointed remarks then soon there would be no-one left and then the entitled whiners really would have something to moan about.

Should the nurse have said those things? Obviously not, knowing what we know and with the benefit of hindsight. Should she be fired? Only if you don’t actually want an NHS.

Show quote history

But we don't actually know any more with the benefit of hindsight than that nurse knew or could have known. She was told that the doctor had said OP should go back to A&E if the scan showed stones and/or a polyp, the scan had shown both, hence OP was back. That was literally all the information that the nurse needed, and it would have been there in black and white in OP's notes. This wasn't a matter of someone who wasn't happy doing their job and made pointed remarks, this was someone who just didn't do her job, and could have put a patient in serious danger if she had succeeded in turning OP away as she wanted to.

Xol · 19/02/2023 23:07

abmac95 · 19/02/2023 22:09

Yet another post where someone has asked for opinions and then been unwilling to except anything other than the answer they wanted!

I assume you mean "accept" as "except" in this context is close to the opposite. But what answer do you say OP should have accepted? That the nurse was right to try her best to put her off going to A&E? Because that would have meant the OP should have ignored what the doctor had told her, which would have been ridiculous.

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 23:16

Xol · 19/02/2023 23:04

But we don't actually know any more with the benefit of hindsight than that nurse knew or could have known. She was told that the doctor had said OP should go back to A&E if the scan showed stones and/or a polyp, the scan had shown both, hence OP was back. That was literally all the information that the nurse needed, and it would have been there in black and white in OP's notes. This wasn't a matter of someone who wasn't happy doing their job and made pointed remarks, this was someone who just didn't do her job, and could have put a patient in serious danger if she had succeeded in turning OP away as she wanted to.

Show quote history

She literally just said that you can see your gp for abdominal pain and that's it, as far as I can see from OPs post, and this is presumably before she had a chance to check the notes by the sound of it. It also sounds like she had her confused with someone else when she said that OP was always there, when it was only her second visit in two years (I think that's what OP said anyway). That isn't 'not doing her job'. It's also not trying to turn the OP away either.

Presumably it's just a bit of the frustration at all of the time wasting morons the NHS sees during the average day peaking through. Not appropriate and of course the OP was not wasting anyone's time but still - a litte empathy wouldn't go amiss - it doesn't always have to be only the nurses that show it.

Mumof3teenagers · 19/02/2023 23:21

Didn’t read through thread.
You did need to be in A&E with gall bladder pain and had been sent there by a doctor.
She was a bit rude but, in her defence, a lot of people do use the A&E services when a gp visit would suffice. Maybe she was having a bad day, they are under- staffed and under extreme stress in most A&E departments.
Cut her a bit of slack maybe. Hope your pain settles soon.

WheelOfFish · 19/02/2023 23:23

SirChenjins · 19/02/2023 22:49

Giving out incorrect medical advice because you cba to read the patient’s notes is indicative of incompetence - if you’re not able to do that simple task and put the patient at risk then you shouldn’t be in the profession.

And ‘we’ don’t pay nurses or any NHS worker.

Well good luck getting anyone to work there or having any staff left in that case, if you think this is a sackable offence or you don't accept anything other than perfection. Do you hold yourself to the same high standards in your own job?