I am not usually a fan of state and federal government advertising, but I have to agree with the current campaign about people not clogging up emergency departments at our hospitals.
If you haven’t heard it, it is a radio campaign with a female nurse urging us not to go there unless it is an emergency.
Makes sense to me, particularly with International Nurses Day coming up on May 12.
I live with someone close to a nurse, but to be fair I am a bit of a hypochondriac so she doesn’t waste any of her valuable time on me when she has a plethora of wildlife around our residence that, at times, resembles a cross between Australia Zoo and Steptoe’s backyard.
Nurses do a fantastic job that they must love, as they sure don’t get the financial reward.
Strangely, I was reminded of my frequent trips to emergency in Nambour when I was a kid the other day when I cut my finger and ended up at hospital.
I told the admitting nurse that I felt the knife hit the bone.
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After a short wait, I was attended by someone who could have been related to my wife.
She looked at it, in between dealing with people needing care, came back and told me: “You never hit the bone, it was your fingernail. You can wait to see a doctor or I can patch it up and send you home. Your choice.”
“So, I don’t need a stitch?”
Monotone reply: “No, but you can wait and see a doctor. Your choice.”
I said: “So, I reckon you have been around awhile, so I will take your word for it. Patch it up.”
She only smiled once, when she said: “Okay, I will just flush it out first” as she loaded what looked a horse needle, “and this is going to hurt”.
She was right – it did bloody hurt. It didn’t need a stitch and I will probably think twice before I go back there wasting everyone’s time.
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It reminded me of Sister Rogerson at Nambour Hospital in the old days when many of us ended up there after footy, a surfing injury or a fight.
It was scary.
They knew their stuff and would fix you, but boy they let you know if you were wasting their time.
Sister Rogerson was a classic example of someone that was dedicated to the job, could even be described as a saint, but other times Saint Scary, for good reason.
Ashley Robinson is a columnist with Sunshine Coast News and My Weekly Preview. His views are his own.
