"N2 Good Medical Care but Poor Patient..."

Anything else?

My daughter recently had three weeks in the Hallamshire Hospital - much of that time she was on ward N2. The Medical care was good - individual nurses and other ward staff were excellent - a particular thanks to one nurse and the wonderful orderly who platted patients hair before they went to surgery - a wonderful, simple, free and humanising act. Food and drink were fine, and the wards were well run. The main difficulty with N2 is the extremely poor patient and family communication. Every morning the doctors did rounds and would tell my daughter that something would or would not happen (change medication, change operation date, be discharged, be referred, be moved etc), then later the same day one nurse would say one thing - often different to the doctor and then another nurse would say another. This was particularly difficult on the final days before discharge when physio's and occupational therapists had their input and the conflicting information reached a head! As my daughter was trying to plan for discharge back home to me - her parent - I felt especially strongly that information should be clear and needed to be communicated to me to as her main carer once she left hospital. Instead we were both left guessing, upsetting for her and frustrating for me. If I rang the ward in the morning to try to get information from the ward sister I was made to feel like a pain, and if I waited till visiting in the evening the named nurse didn't have any information. This mis-information every day was very upsetting for my daughter - young, poorly, fully of medication and trying to deal with what was going on. I also saw other patients phoning home in tears and upset when visitors came because they were unsure about changes in their care. Good nursing includes patient emotional well-being and working in partnership with all professionals, patients, and friends and family. This really wasn't being considered at this time in this ward. Such a shame as other aspects of the nursing care were very good.