"Rude staff member but otherwise efficient care"

My Fiancé has a medical device in his abdomen to treat a digestive disorder. This gets changed every year and it's not uncommon for it to get infected afterwards, these infections can become serious really quick so we don't take chances.

Well after this year's change it was showing signs of infection and he was in a considerable amount of pain so he saw his GP. The GP then referred him to the ambulatory clinic.  We were prepared for a wait once we got to the hospital but in the rush to get up to there he missed a does of paracetamol and was in agony not long after we arrived. We told the student nurse at his admissions that he would be due paracetamol very soon and that he was in pain scoring a 3 out of 4. 

About 20 minutes after we arrived, he walked up to the desk to ask for some pain relief. He was told they would be in with it very shortly. At this point he was clearly in agony, he couldn't get comfortable sitting or standing, and was hunched over gripping his side. He told me he was now at a 4, maybe even a 5. Never one to fuss he didn't want to press the buzzer because he didn't want to be a bother. 

After about 20 minutes I couldn't watch any longer so got up and stopped a nurse in the corridor and just explained he was in a significant amount of pain and had asked for pain relief but never received it. They told me rather sharply that it was being dealt with but that they have actually unwell patients to deal with and were busy, then walked away. That left me furious, we wouldn't have been there of he wasn't unwell. The utter lack of empathy was astounding. Yes the wards get busy but never busy enough to talk to someone the way I was spoken to.

The pain meds my fiancé asked for never arrived. I managed to give hin some relief by filling a glove with warm water to act as a sort of water bottle but it clearly wasn't enough. 

About an hour after that we were seen by the most lovely advanced nurse practitioner. It was such a refreshing change to speak to someone who had actually heard of my fiancé's condition, we were taken seriously and listened to. I could not fault her, i wish i knew her name so we could thank her properly. 

I'm glad to say he is recovering well, even after just 2 doses of antibiotics there is a difference in him. I want to think our interaction with the staff nurse was a one off and they maybe having a bad day, but it was a downer on otherwise excellent and efficient care.