‘Faultless’ Buderim ED experience for retired nurse Nichole
After enduring pain in her head for 11 long days – even after three visits to two public emergency departments in search of relief – Nichole Pinder insisted the ambulance take her to the Buderim Private Hospital Emergency Centre.
A regular migraine sufferer who also suffers from stenosis in her spine, Nichole was beyond her wit’s end with anguish.
“At (one of the hospitals) I ended up on a bed in the hallway,” Nichole said. “I was there for five hours and didn’t see anyone. They told me I wouldn’t see anyone until morning, so I went home.”
When the pain became unbearable for the fourth time in 11 days, Nichole called an ambulance again, but this time insisting she be taken to the Buderim Emergency Centre.
Here, Nichole’s experience turned out to be “faultless”.
To say it was a relief is an understatement.
“As soon as we got there, they put me in a room with a chair and a heat pack and did all my obs. They were prompt and acted quickly,” Nichole said.
“They all just kept on top of everything, constantly.”
In response to the care she received from her treating doctor, Nichole said “she definitely won me over right away with her expertise”.
“The doctor said she knew exactly how to treat me,” she said. “Because the doctor was so bubbly and confident, I felt really positive about finally getting an answer.”
“Her confidence and nature made me feel really calm.”
he Buderim team arranged urgent CT scans for Nichole then and there.
She was also given a combination of medication, which eased her pain and nausea.
Nichole says she “couldn’t fault” the care and attention she received over several hours, by the end of which her pain had finally gone.
“They were checking me all the time and trying everything to help me,” she said. “It was just such a good outcome after everything I’d been through.”
To anyone else deciding whether to seek care at a privately-run emergency department, this retired nurse’s opinion is clear.
“I’d never had that good of an experience, anywhere,” Nichole said. “It’s clean, it’s calm. You just don’t get that level of care or get seen that quickly at other hospitals.
“It’s definitely worth paying the money. I couldn’t fault them.”
