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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Best behaviour you've encountered on a hospital ward

179 replies

amymel2016 · 13/04/2018 21:31

Just to offer some balance this evening...

I've had some amazing care from the NHS recently. Everything from the HCA who saved me a bed next to the window after I'd had my DS to the Consultant I saw last week who put my mind at ease about my most recent illness.

I also love the dinner lady who slipped me an extra ice cream!

OP posts:
marymoosmum · 13/04/2018 22:45

Not as good as others here but the midwife who believed me when I said I needed to push, checked me and saw my DD was crowning.

wentmadinthecountry · 13/04/2018 22:46

The staff at Canterbury Hospital who were so lovely to my dad last year - his consultant was amazing. The people who brought his food, nurses who remembered him from one visit to another, others who just chatted to an old man. He had his bladder removed aged 88 - oldest in the county! He is still enjoying a fantastic quality of life. Thank you!

StylishDuck · 13/04/2018 22:46

The midwife who came in and gave me a big hug when I was in being induced with DC1. DH had just gone home for the evening and I was a bit emotional/scared at being left on my own. He said on his way out to her that I was emotional and she made her way straight to me and reassured me. Brought me a cup of tea and some biscuits. It was a small gesture but it meant a lot.

StylishDuck · 13/04/2018 22:49

Also the anaesthetist who explained everything that was happening when I was having an EMCS with DC2. He was my hero that day. So lovely and reassuring and I honestly felt like I was in the best possible hands.

Shizzlestix · 13/04/2018 22:49

The consultant who took one look at me and quietly but very angrily ordered the ward sister to get me cleaned up and dry. I was unable to walk, using a bedpan for which I’d had to scream as I didn’t want to wet myself.

The lovely nurse whose injections I didn’t feel.

The other lovely nurse who explained how to unhook the suction machine so I could get myself into a wheelchair and use the bathroom.

CaptainNancyoftheAmazon · 13/04/2018 22:50

At 23 I had majory surgery that also raised the possibility I might never have children. The lady in the next bed would not stop talking & it really got on my nerves. We ended up being moved to the maternity ward due to bed pressures. Not the place to be if youve just been given the news I had.

My blood pressure was so high I couldnt be sent home. Prior to the next bp test the woman who had been annoying me so much arranged for her & another lady to give me a facial and hand massage. They got me so relaxed I was able to go home. It was just lovely

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/04/2018 22:52

While I was waiting for a blood test , a man,woman and their (I presume) adult son who appeared to be quite distressed ( Learning Difficulties) took their ticket (next number after mine)

There was a heck of a queue......another man came up to them, took their number ticket and swapped with his own , so they only had a few minutes to wait.

There are good people out there Smile (And I work in the NHS so I've met my share of Saints'n'Sinners)

Bluelady · 13/04/2018 22:53

The orthopaedic consultant who called my dad "sir", operated on his broken hip on the afternoon of a bank holiday Sunday and made his day by telling him he was the sharpest 99 year old he'd ever encountered. That man was pure gold.

starlightmeteorite · 13/04/2018 22:54

I'd ike to thank the over worked nurse who went out of her way to track down a doctor to get a script for liquid pain killer. I was waiting for surgery after a nasty fall and wasn't allowed tablets. I said not to worry as she was so busy, but she gave me a kind look and said 'but you are in pain...'

Also the nurse who found me ear plugs when I was on an emergency care ward and had been kept awake for 36 hours straight by another patient who shouted all night and slept all day. I was so grateful.

Also the midwife who stayed over an hour past the end of his shift as wanted to be there for me until ds arrived. That's commitent.

So much kindness.

DinoSn0re · 13/04/2018 22:57

The ICU nurses who looked after my wonderful, and much missed, grandparents. The patience and kindness they were shown will always be remembered.

The midwives who showed nothing but compassion and guided me through the sheer panic I felt during a challenging labour, and the HCA who didn’t give up on supporting me when I was desperate to breastfeed DD1 and it wasn’t going to plan for the first few days. Two years later, my DD still breastfeeds and I appreciate that it’s down to the wonderful support I received when I was emotionally exhausted and lost and had no idea what I was doing.

FranticallyPeaceful · 13/04/2018 22:57

I’m pregnant and they kept slipping me food whilst I was staying with my son with meningitis a couple of months ago

Purplefrogshoes · 13/04/2018 22:58

I had a terrible time after major surgery but the HCAs were amazing! As were the physiotherapists and the occupational health workers. I felt at my lowest point ever and every single one of the helped me see I wasn’t alone and things would get better.

CoolCarrie · 13/04/2018 23:03

I had kind, compassionate treatment from two nurses in Johannesburg when I lost our baby. They cleaned me up, held my hand and gave me hot chocolate.

Muffinbutton · 13/04/2018 23:12

The kind nurse that washed my hair after I'd been flat out for a week with a broken back. It's amazing how something so ordinary can make you feel so much better.

colabucks · 13/04/2018 23:14

My boyfriend has cancer, and has stayed on a young people’s cancer ward twice since his diagnosis last year. The nurses, HCA’s, caretakers and charity staff that we’ve met on this difficult journey have been nothing short of incredible. Especially the nurses that have dealt with me and my feelings and worries as well as my boyfriend’s; they care immensely for everyone there, not just the patients. They make an absolutely horrendous time just that bit easier. It’s not often you feel a pang of sadness when you or someone close to you is discharged from hospital, but I genuinely miss seeing these wonderful members of staff regularly!

Alittlebitofthat · 13/04/2018 23:16

The registrar who sat on my bed holding my hand as he watched my sons heart rate dropping, disappearing and then coming back on the monitor. He patted my hand said I’ll be back in a second Alittlebit, he was literally gone for a minute and came back chatting away until the curtains where wheeled back and I was rushed to theatre with him jogging along beside me. He’d ordered an emergency c-section @ 33weeks and had organised for my husband to be contacted as well without panicking me. My son owes that man his life!

PonderLand · 13/04/2018 23:18

I ended up in hospital with my toddler again this week after so many issues with him (& the hospital!) But this time they were just fantastic and went well beyond what I would of expected. They've sorted out constant access to the children's ward (no more a&e!) and the nurse stayed over 30 minutes past her shift to pick up his discharge meds and make sure his paperwork and referral to another hospital is all in place! She didn't trust anyone else to do it properly :) and I wouldn't of either, she was so lovely and just the nurse we needed after some bad experiences these past few months.

It's nice to be able to have my faith restored in my local hospital.

bonzo77 · 13/04/2018 23:19

The a&e phlebotomist who managed to get blood from me when I had very low blood pressure and dehydration (turned out to be sepsis). The nurse later who respected my wish to have the fluids drip turned off. The dr had ordered them to boost my blood pressure, which by that time was up to normal for me, but very low by most standards. The excess fluids were making me feel terrible and vomit profusely.

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 13/04/2018 23:20

When I was struggling to breast feed my second baby the ward sister knelt down on the floor and positioned her and stayed, on her knees, on the floor for 15 minutes while she fed even though she was suffering from a degenerative spinal condition that would leave her in a wheelchair within a few years.

The midwife who said she would deliver my baby and stayed two hours after the end of her shift - even though her daughter had just returned from a school trip to France and was desperate to see her mummy.

All the nurses on the palliative care ward who cared for my dad for the last couple of weeks of his life, especially the nurse who looked after my daughter. My cousin had brought my two older girls - aged 20 and 17 at the time - to say goodbye. The younger one who had always been very close to her grandad held it together as she kissed him and told him she loved him but when she left his room she could barely stand. The nurse and my cousin held on to her and hugged her as she wept and the nurse walked with them to the lift telling her how very brave she had been.

It was the worst few days of my life but the care from the whole team helped us through it.

Ollivander84 · 13/04/2018 23:21

Neurosurgery ward. Brought me extra food as I was so hungry post op Blush and were delighted I liked the food (anything I don't have to cook is like gourmet cuisine!)
Nurse who made me hot chocolate with cream at 3am as I was so wired after the GA
The amazing surgeon who operated as quickly as he could so I didn't lose use of my legs/bladder

Not NHS but the physio I was referred to via work. Appointment 5 she looked at me walk in and said "I'm stopping. You need an MRI, and you need it now" and sent me for one. I had a 15mm herniation of my disc compressing all my nerves which later turned to cauda equina hence the op

CurlyBlueberry · 13/04/2018 23:34

When my son was about a week old he was readmitted to hospital with jaundice and stayed on the paediatric ward. I remember one HCA who was just amazing. I'm so sorry I don't remember her face or her name, I wish I had so I could have sent a card but I was so overwhelmed with everything at the time. She was just so kind, she must have been so busy but she sat with me while I cried endlessly. We were in for a few days, and she came round at the end of each of her shifts to say she was leaving now, be back on X day/time, that it had been lovely caring for us, and that the night staff would be in to take care of us and she hoped DS got better soon etc. It made me feel really valued, that she came round after her shift had ended - because we'd had a human as well as a professional interaction and it seemed right to say goodnight/goodbye.

As a student midwife this is something I have now taken forward into my own practice and apart from a couple of occasions (night shift confusions / other events) I always make sure I go round to say goodbye to all the women I have been caring for. Rather than forge a connection and then just leave abruptly without mentioning it. It meant so much to me and since, as I say, I can't recall the HCA's name or any details to thank her, "paying it forwards" seems to be the best thing I can do.

feelingfree17 · 13/04/2018 23:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Gudgyx · 13/04/2018 23:36

I love this thread and have a few of my own to add.

Andrea, the lovely lovely nurse in the high dependency ward. Thank you for being so kind, and treating me like the young woman I was, instead of just another sick person. And for washing my hair after 5 days in a bed. That was like heaven!

The other patients in high dependency. My first time trying to walk again after major surgery, they were calling encouragement down the hall at me ‘keep going you can do it’ ‘you’re getting there hen’ etc

The young student male nurse who came in and held my hand and comforted me during and after having a drain pulled out. Worse pain I’ve ever felt.

The utterly marvellous man Mr Downey, my fantastic surgeon who has saved me on more than one occasion. The man is my hero!

Wishaw General Hospital, my second home and a place miracles happen, thanks to the wonderful staff.

Phase84 · 13/04/2018 23:39

To the maternity staff at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport. Its the small things like offering me a brew at 1am. And helping me to the shower with my stuff. Just all lovely.

DeadButDelicious · 13/04/2018 23:44

When I lost my first daughter I was looked after by a lovely young nurse. She sat with me while I cried, shed a couple of tears with me and made sure I was as ok as I could be. That same nurse spotted me when I was in for my 12 week scan/tests with my second daughter and came over and gave me the biggest hug. She remembered us and our girl. That meant the world to me.