"Head injury experience"

I attended the Emergency Department having suffered a head injury following a fainting episode and displaying symptoms such as vomiting, confusion, slurred speech, memory loss and photophobia. I am a nurse in the Trust myself and have always noted the excellent care given when I have attended the department previously.

On this occasion I arrived late afternoon and expected a long wait as the department was very busy. At this stage I was 8 hours post injury.

The triage nurse was rude and sharp and made a comment about me wearing sunglasses (it was incredibly bright, worsening my symptoms). My blood pressure was taken on my forearm through a thick jumper - so I suspect not particularly clinically accurate. I sat in the waiting room from then until after midnight with worsening symptoms of drowsiness and confusion. In the end my friend who is also a nurse went and flagged down a doctor to express her concerns about my presentation & lack of monitoring, at which stage I was finally prescribed painkillers/anti-sickness - which was given an hour later by a senior nurse who was sharp and blunt & again made a remark about my photophobia. At this stage because of these attitudes I was starting to wonder if I was wrong to have attended ED and was wasting their time.

An hour later, 10 hours after arriving, I saw a doctor who was absolutely excellent and finally did a neuro exam which identified some issues, another hour later I’d had a head CT. Initially I was told I could go home with severe concussion but then it was decided I would be admitted to identify cause of my collapse and early that morning I was moved to Orange Zone where again the doctors were great and I had multiple other tests identifying an infection before I was able to be discharged later that day.

As a nurse myself I left feeling disappointed at the attitudes of many nurses in the department who came across rude, short and dismissive, not one nurse introduced themselves to me by name or wore a name badge, except the Sister (in red uniform) in orange zone who was lovely. Whilst I understand the incredible pressures these nurses face and how hard they work, it is not the standard of care I would give my own patients. I have cared for many people with head injuries and doing a set of neuro obs regularly is an absolute basic. I was vomiting and my BP was high which could have indicated a serious injury. I was vulnerable and very concussed and it was only for my friend advocating on my behalf that I could access painkillers - after over 8 hours in the department.