"Surgical Day Unit"

I was admitted onto the Surgical Day Unit and North Tyneside General Hospital in late August for a laparoscopy. I arrived at 7:30am where I was greeted happily by the Nurses and Care Assistants who were very polite, and was then lead to my room. I was very nervous about this operation and the staff all helped calm my nerves by constantly re-assuring me. I was accompanied to the hospital by my Mam and Dad who were allowed to sit with me before and after surgery even though I am not under 18 years of age.

I was then taken to the theatre reception by one of the Surgical Day Unit Nurses where I met a theatre nurse who was going to be looking after me during and after my surgery, they explained and answered any questions I had. As I entered the theatre I was greeted by again lovely and polite staff who were all smiling.

The next thing I knew I was awake in recovery where the theatre nurse was sitting next to my bed waiting for me to wake up, they assured me that the operation went well and asked if I was in any pain at all and if I needed anything. They took me back to my room after I had come around a little more, where my parents were waiting for me.

I was very sleepy and cannot remember much but from what my parents have told me they kept coming in and checking up on me asking if I needed anything. And although they did not need to they sat and talked to my parents for a while as well.

As soon as I had properly woken up I was asked If I wanted a cup of tea and something to eat. I asked when I could go home but my blood pressure was very low, so one of the nurses sat with me and talked to me about the current situation I was in with my medical problems; this was very comforting to talk to someone other than my family and I felt this really made a difference to me. My blood pressure went back up about an hour later and I was allowed to go home, I was given a booklet with the numbers of the wards highlighted in if I needed to call them to ask any questions as well as notes of side effects I may experience from the general anaesthetic. When I left the ward all of the staff wished me well and one of them wheeled me to the front of the hospital in a chair.

Being a student nurse myself I know how demanding the job role of a nurse can be and that is how I know that these staff where not only doing their job, but they were going out of their way to provide the best quality of care possible.

I have previously been treated unfairly by some medical staff in other hospitals and had almost completely lost faith in the NHS, all of these staff helped restore that and reminded me of the type of nurse that I hope to become when I graduate university.

Overall I just want to praise the Nurses and Health Care Assistants for looking after me on that day as they were absolutely fantastic!