ienotey

[ienotey]

Mr RN

Dear Mr RN,

All I wanted was a band-aid.

I was scared, cold and in pain, and all I wanted from you was a simple band-aid. Why couldn’t you just give me a band-aid?

You had just ripped out my cannula. A cannula which I was having a severe reaction to. You ripped it out in the middle of the waiting room, having no regard for my privacy or the pain I was in. You weren’t gentle. You weren’t considerate. It was clear you didn’t care at all. You plopped the band-aid on and walked away without another word. Leaving me in pain.

Within a few seconds of you leaving, the blood started gushing down my arm. It filled the band-aid quickly, and started flowing down my arm, dripping onto the floor. I had a tissue, which I pressed onto the wound and walked over to the window, simply to ask for another band-aid. After seeing it was me you gave a huff, along with an irritated expression and demanded to know what the problem was this time. Apologising profusely, I asked for a band-aid and showed you the blood dripping from my arm. Instead of helping me and getting a band-aid, you stood there and yelled at me on how to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

It was then that I realised you really had no compassion for me at all. A young 22-year-old in tremendous pain, with blood running down her arm, was asking you for help. You. The person who is meant to help those in pain. You who swore an oath to protect those in need. Instead of helping me, you belittled me in front of an entire waiting room. You saw me as a burden and refused to help me. Dismissing me as someone who didn’t really need help.

But Mr RN, I did need help.

What you didn’t know when you were ignoring me in your waiting room, was that I would be taken into emergency surgery to remove my appendix. I would spend four days in hospital, three of those involved laying in a hospital bed, in pain, while doctors worked tirelessly around me, trying to help me. Nurses made sure I was comfortable, well as comfortable as I possibly could be. All these people were helping me, yet you couldn’t even give me a band-aid when I needed one.  

You knew nothing about me, and you didn’t care enough to help me.

But Mr RN, what you don’t know is that I am a paramedic student. I knew how to apply pressure to the wound in my arm, I had just removed it to show you, the professional. I knew something was seriously wrong with me and that I need emergency medical attention. I wasn’t seeking attention. I wasn’t being dramatic.

And Mr RN, when I become a paramedic, I will always give those in need a band-aid.

Sincerely,

The Patient you Disregarded.

[ienotey]

The thought of you, just standing there in another girls room, brings the loneliest feeling.

C.C