"Misplaced anxiety"

Anything else?

After attending several appointments as well as being an inpatient at the BRI for my urology problems I was very anxious when I was told that in future my care would be provided at Southmead Hospital. I was though pleasantly surprised to see my anxiety misplaced. My stay at Southmead was on a Urology ward where the majority of other patients had similar problems as myself. This made me feel understood by those around me and also had the advantage of seeing my doctors regularly every morning as well as frequently through out the day. It also meant that when I brought up issues with the nursing staff they had a good knowledge of what I was experiencing as I felt they had seen this many times before. The staff on the ward were very helpful and the day staff in particular made me feel that nothing was too much. This was despite being obviously under staffed several times. While never saying they were under staffed conversations were at times overheard and on one occasion a nurse was being made to go for a break even though she was arguing about being too busy with so few of them there. There was a nice camaraderie amongst the nursing and care staff who had a health sense of humour that made the stay more comfortable. Additionally it was nice as a man to have male staff, especially the carers in white or blue who I felt I could not only talk openly with but also had some personal perspective on my concerns as they have the same equipment. The night nurses in contrast were rarely seen but could be heard as they seemed to have little consideration that patients wanted to sleep. They were often talking amongst themselves in their own language. Rudeness seemed to be part of being a night nurse as requests for pain relief were met with being snapped at about how busy they were, how short staffed they were and it would be dealt with eventually but have to be waited for. The health care assistants on the other hand were similar to the day staff in that they made me feel nothing was too much. Overall my first stay at Southmead hospital is a great improvement on my previous stays in hospital. Food was good. The ward is clean and actively being cleaned through out the day. Relatives treated with the same consideration as patients, even so far as being able to spend time with me outside of visiting times in a day room. Being with other patients who were going through similar problems as myself. Very good communication and understanding of my condition by most doctors, nurses and health care assistants. Thank you for everything.