Member-only story
Nasty Nurse
There’s always one, right?
There’s a first time for everything. This is my 18th day in hospital and I’ve had nothing but excellent care from everyone: nurses, doctors, physios and ancillary nursing staff. That is — until last night.
My night nurse was bossy and I didn’t take to her at all. This is not like me. She was gathering my normal night medications from my drawer and I was helping by telling her which ones I needed and describing the packet they were in. She told me to “butt out” not in those words but that was the tone. I was affronted but just shut up.
Then I got up to go to the loo using the “rollator”. Now, I’ve got this down to a fine art — I’ve been doing this several times a day for almost two weeks, but according to her I was doing it all wrong. I reached for the rollator and go into trouble — I’m not supposed to stretch to get it. I have no idea how I can bring it closer. Call it like a dog, “here, boy!” or pull out my magic wand?
She made me keep my eyes focussed on her eyes whilst backing into the toilet. I really wanted to look where I was going. But I obeyed. Then she instructed me to clean my teeth. When I mentioned I clean them in the sink near my bed, she shook her head and collected my toothbrush and toothpaste from the room. I had to clean them in the bathroom. I was not comfortable doing so.
The last straw came when I walked back to my bed. I swivelled round so I could sit on the bed first, but apparently, I swivelled anticlockwise, when she wanted me to swivel clockwise! I completed the movement my way and was on the bed before she could get a chance for me to do it her way. She shook her head, tut-tutted and walked away. I was a lost cause.
