"Day surgery admission"

My son was admitted as a day case for investigation under general anaesthetic. He was extremely nervous. The anaesthetist that assessed him was great, suggested a premed and the ENT surgeon was very helpful too.

The two nurses who collected him to take him down to theatre were amazing with him and me when I broke down in tears as he was being put under.

Back in recovery the nurses were ok, didn’t really approach us didn’t introduce themselves and didn’t come over to reassure us both when he was still coming round and was quite agitated and teary. I had to ask for a sick bowl for him too.

At break time, there was a hand over and another nurse came over, introduced themselves and spoke to my son and me. They made sure we were both ok and asked my son if he was hungry and did he want a drink. They arranged some toast for him and after that offered him some icecream and jelly. They popped over a few times, also attending to the others in the bay and made themselves available to us all.

The other nurses returned from break and just sat at the wee desk and didn’t interact and kept their heads down flicking through what looked like folders. The hand over nurse had to leave, and said they would be back soon. We were left wondering what happens next, when is it decided about discharge? Does he need more obs done?

After another 20/30 mins I approached one of the nurses who were sitting at the desk and asked if his cannula could come out as it was causing my son a bit of discomfort. They asked me if he had eaten and drank and I said yes and rhymed off what he had taken. they said they were going to check on the patient in the next bay and then come back. They didn’t.

When the hand over nurse came back in they came over and asked my son if he was feeling ok and did he feel like he was ready to go home. What a relief… someone paying some attention and helping. They removed his cannula, was great with him as he was very worried and apprehensive about it coming out. They were very calm and kind and I was feeling quite reassured about his discharge. I noted the two other nurses just sat at the wee desk and didn’t see them participate with any of the other patients, there were 3 other bays with kids in them. 

Suggestions: letting parents know what to expect regarding discharge, a step by step of what happens with some timeframes. It was our first surgical admission with no idea how things run in a children’s ward. 

Having said all that, the majority of the staff were very welcoming, from right at the start from taking us from the waiting area to taking him to theatre for his surgery. 

The doctor came round afterwards too and explained what was found and that my son was able to go home that afternoon.