"Feeling Ignored in the Misericordia ER"

I was brought in by ambulance for extreme abdominal pain. I was triaged and then left on a gurney for 5 hours. A nurse took my vitals when they put me in the hallway and then I was not checked on again. When my dad asked how much longer and the charge nurse said it could be 20 hours. We felt they were an embarrassment to the nursing community. While waiting we heard an elderly person was calling for help to open the vomit bag and another time to go to the washroom. I observed the nurse look at the person and then leave them there.

We overheard a nurse say they were treating the acute injuries first to clear them out as soon as possible. My dad looked at me and said I don’t think they should be saying that.

When my dad went to the desk to see what was going on he was given a card with a phone number to call and complain. Having had a mother with renal failure on dialysis for years, my dad and I were not strangers to the ER or hospital. After 5 hours and no one even checked on me. I got up, dressed only in my housecoat and purse and started walking out the door. One nurse asked where I was going… my response was not pleasant.

My husband drove me to the Fort Saskatchewan hospital. By this time I was vomiting everywhere. I was triaged, in CT and booked for surgery within an hour. They didn’t have any post surgical beds but the surgery couldn’t wait until morning - my appendix already ruptured. They had to use a labor and delivery room. I was told my abdomen was full of pus and green stuff. I believe this happened to me because a nurse didn't do their job.