Donna Fahy
May 2021
Donna
Fahy
,
RN
Naseby B Ward
Kettering General Hospital Foundation Trust
Kettering
,
Northamptonshire
United Kingdom

 

 

 

I was only in the care of Donna for 2 days when I was in the hospital, but she really helped me feel better not only physically but mentally.
After I was admitted to hospital through A&E, I was placed on the new Naseby annex after spending some time in MAU. This is where I first met Donna; this lady is a genuine reincarnation of an angel! I was one of the first patients in the new Annex I arrived there at night, and I was in a little bit of a bad way. The night staff were lovely and took good care of me. The next morning Donna and the morning staff took over and immediately I could see the other patients moods start to pick up and spot smiles. She came over and introduced herself and the whole team and told me the ins and out of the ward and that I was a bit of an odd ball in the way I was only 25 and it was and elderly care unit but nevertheless she would take good care of me.

I’d been going through a really rough time mentally, physically, and emotionally; before I was hospitalized I was in a really fragile place. I’d also previously had a not-so-good experience in the hospital before so as you can imagine I was on edge anyway. I was only in the care of Donna for 2 days when I was in the hospital, but she really helped me feel better not only physically but mentally. Nothing was too much trouble; she was brilliant, she chased up my scans, got my missing medicine re-prescribed, and made sure I wanted for nothing as well as looking after 5 other patients. She also spoke to the doctors for me and explained some things to them that I didn’t really know how to do. When she was giving me my medication or talking to me about my care, she’d always have a chat and ask me how I was feeling and who was coming to visit or just a general chat and I’ve got to say, she did that while always on the move and not only for me, but she did also that for all of her patients.

Donna encouraged the whole ward to talk to each other. I even noticed she cut her tea break short so other staff members could get a break as the ward was so busy. I noticed a few of the HCA’s cut their breaks short too because the ward would become busy and there was no extra staff to help out. It was genuinely lovely to see.

I remember on the first day Donna was looking after me, there was an elderly man next to me and I overheard he might have suspected dementia. Donna was doing observations and noticed he had become very upset; she stopped what she was doing and went over to him immediately and asked him what was wrong. He couldn’t really get across what was wrong and was confused. Donna knelt down to his level, held his hand, and rubbed his back, and told him everything would be okay, and he was not to get upset be she was there to look after him. She stayed with him for a few minutes comforting him and reassured him everything would be okay, she got him a cup of tea and he calmed down and began to smile again. This may not sound like a lot but when you take into account she was ran off her feet and noticed this out of the corner of her eye and immediately went to his aid, that adds great value for me.

I saw all of this from my bed, and I cannot describe in words how much care and reassurance she gave to the other patient! It actually bought tears to my eyes, because of that way my loved one I want him to have the next level of care Donna gave that patient that day. She not only gave this level of care for them, but she also gave it to me as well as all the other patients on the ward! I really can’t stress enough that what Donna and the Naseby annex HCAs did will stay with me forever! Donna is an absolute credit to KGH and the NHS.