Reassuring to know issues are being looked after
After reading an enthusiastic and illuminating item concerning the NSHA, I couldn’t let the opportunity go by to follow it up with a response, because I spent the Christmas holidays as a patient in Digby hospital where I was treated and released after a few days by all of the new staff members, plus many of those who can say, ‘I’ve been around here a long time’ with a smile.
The reason for my good fortune was, as many veterans know well, hospitals always seem to fill up over holidays when many staff members take time off, so there’s crowding and overloads in ef- forts to ensure that patients are well-cared for. Conditions during these days included wind and snow storms putting the entire heating system under pressure, an unusual inflow of patients that required keeping some of us in emergency several days until rooms became available on the 3rd floor and the necessity of some staff putting in more hours than their normal shift.
Yet through it all, the new members of the clinic staff carried on with smiles and efficiency, as my case required diagnostic attention to determine just what it was I was presenting.
Curiosity as to my precise condition alluded my doctors until I was tested in Yarmouth with an EKG that showed a small clot in the right occipital area, which manifested with a ’weakness’ on my left side. Things I was “holding” in my left hand weren’t acknowledged by my brain, (momentarily) and they slipped to the floor. Other clues of my episode at home were my slurred speech and my inability to manage to get to my feet and use my cell phone. Once I was able to do that I got help, the ambulance arrived and I was transported to Digby Hospital forthwith.
The reason I’m taking the time to write this letter, and it is taking time because my left hand just doesn’t want to hit the right keys, is because of the pleas the item I read sent out, along with including brief interviews with the newest staff members (of the Digby and Area Health Services Centre), and other’s comments regarding their sense of team spirit and enthusiasm for their work. The piece acknowledged the complaints of many patients who, as I do, live on the “islands” as patients are having a tough time, getting appointments with our caretakers when we when we want them, and the efforts attempting to solve them by adding two nurse practitioners. My sense after reading the item with its many quotes to authenticate that yes, concerns are being addressed and improvements are in the works, were very reassuring. I’m relieved to know our “islands” problems are not just our problems – the entire health system is working on solving them. Yeah team! And I’d like to add praise to the VON who attend to me at home as a small injury heals. Joan Riday, Freeport