"A smile goes a long way :)"

Too many times have I sat in a waiting room at the doctors or more recently (due to sport injuries) the emergency room at the hospital only to feel like another number...

Then when I finally get to see a doctor or nurse, I feel like they haven't listened or just tried to write a prescription & get me out as fast as possible to get their numbers up for the day.

This doesn't exactly make me feel my health is being cared for when I think of health care.

Just recently I broke my finger while playing oz tag at the Australian Championships. The first time in 17 years of playing oz tag I'd had a major hand injury. But pretty minor as I didn't need surgery. Firstly when I'd done it I had no idea I'd broken it so I played on & 1 week later decided to get it checked.

The scan showed it was clearly broken & they sent me to the Sydney Hand Clinic to get it treated. I honestly couldn't think of anything worse than having to go to a busy hospital in the city & have to wait for ages while I could've been making money at work.

My appointment was scheduled for 9:20 am. I only waited for about 20 minutes which was already much better than other hospitals I had been to.

When I was called in I realised how minor my injury was as there were others much worse off than myself (car accident, falling down stairs, etc.) & felt silly to be there for something so minor.

I was greeted by Ronald who first got to know me & then asked me about my injury. He took time in looking at the x-rays & determining the extent of the injury without making me feel rushed at all & I felt comfortable knowing exactly what had happened. As I wasn't too familiar with these injuries Ronald explained to me the time frame I would be out of action for & what the injury actually is so I could take care of it properly & the do's & don't's. He told me that I would next need to get a plaster made to keep it straight & in place so I went back out to the waiting room.

Again, my wait was short & only took about 10 minutes until I was called in to another room to get a plaster made.

This time I was greeted by Natalia who also took the time to understand what had happened & how best to treat it. Again, there were others in there who had much worse injuries than mine so I would've understood if they were fast & wanted to get to the next person ASAP. Natalia was patient and made sure the plaster fit perfectly & was comfortable & made sure I knew the proper way to wear it & the correct exercises to strengthen my finger.

Not only was Natalia's bedside manner commendable, every doctor/nurse in the room at the time was dealing with their patient's exactly the same way - with a great attitude & it was the first time I had truly felt cared for in a hospital. I also remember the patient next to me in a lot of pain while the plaster was being made & the doctor/nurse (unfortunately, I wasn't able to get her name) tried to get his mind off the pain my talking to him about music & again showed that she cared.

I work in the customer service industry as a travel agent & understand how important it is to show you care & provide service which stands out from the rest. I also understand how important it is to let people know when they have done a great job, instead of telling them only of negative feedback.

On this occasion, I genuinely felt cared for & it has changed my opinion of the health care system. Please pass this on to Ronald, Natalia & the other nurse working alongside Natalia. Amazing service!

But the one thing that stands out more than anything, is they all smiled. A smile can go a long way!