ER nurses true gems

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Posted 3 months ago

On Friday, Oct. 30, our son received his H1N1 flu shot from our family practitioner.

On Saturday morning he started showing what we thought were side effects. He woke up feeling very weak and as the day progressed he developed a high fever and a

headache that felt like his 'head was splitting in two'.

We administered Advil. After spending a sleepless Saturday night, we decided to take him into Barrie's Royal Victoria Hospital to have him checked out, because of the persistently high fever and the terrible headache that accompanied it. The Advil didn't seem to help.

We knew there would be a long wait at the hospital to see a doctor, and we went prepared. We packed water and crackers.

Once we arrived we were seen by a triage nurse within 10 minutes. We were also made aware of the wait time, five to seven hours, via a sign posted immediately across from the triage waiting area.

Once our son was assessed, all we had to do was 'hurry up and wait', which is exactly what we did.

Unfortunately, there were a few people who wanted to make it known that they weren't happy with the wait. This letter is not about them, though, it's about the nurses in the emergency department.

They were awesome.

One even went as far as calling on a volunteer to 'bring sandwiches and juice' to the department. She then proceeded to ask if anyone was hungry and needed to eat or drink, reminding all the caregivers that we must keep up our strength. She also handed out frozen icy treats to the patients. When there were some left, instead of having them melt, she handed them out to the others.

Shortly thereafter the charge nurse came in, introduced herself (Maureen) and instructed patients who came in with flu symptoms (such as our son) to follow her to another waiting area to help 'streamline' the process.

Within an hour of the clinic she set up, we were treated by the doctor and sent on our way.

I believe we were there for about five hours, but as we didn't watch the clock and simmer over it, I can't be sure. However one thing we are sure of is we're very thankful for the nurses who at times, I'm sure, feel as though they are in a thankless situation.

Thank you.

My son is on the mend, after being prescribed Tamiflu. It was not determined if it was H1N1.

A. M. Webb Angus