08-11-2016, 12:39 AM
1
What a sad state of affairs
Not sure if this should be on 'Health' or 'Discussions'?I have just been reading about the standard of care - or lack of - in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in South London.
I shall quote:
(Quote) "Those nurses who made patients wait 2 MONTHS to have their hair washed because "it wasn't their job" aren't fit to care for the sick.
The official report which exposed that travesty at Queen Elizabeth Hospital also revealed patients were left to lie in their own mess all night long because nurses were "too busy" to help them to a commode.
So if helping sick people with their personal hygiene isn't a nurses job, whose job is it - the cleaners, the lady who comes round with the tea urn, the surgeons?
Nurses aren't just there to fill in forms or tick boxes - they are there to help patients do the things they can't do for themselves.
And if they're too busy or think they're too good for that, they should go find a different job." (Unquote).
It made me think of one particular unpleasant ward my Mum was on once. I had to ask 4 times for a commode for her and Mum was desperate.
I had to ask repeatedly for water for her, and they 'lost' an entire months medication - including morphine - that I had taken in with her - gone, never to be seen again.
I know there are good and bad in any profession, but I think it so sad when people are very ill and cannot do things for themselves, then they are neglected to add to their troubles.
I can't imagine how degrading it must be to have to lay in your own poo all night.
I really dread not being able to look after myself.
08-11-2016, 08:01 AM
3
Re: What a sad state of affairs
Thats terrible, my nephew reckons its because they all have degrees and dont come in at the bottom of the job like they used to. He briefly went out with a young lady who was a newish nurse, chatting to her i can well imagine what you say. She was absolutely shocked coming in from university what she was being asked to do daily, she thought from what she said it woud be far more like a doctor role, standing at bottom of bed offering advice and prescribing.
08-11-2016, 08:20 AM
4
Re: What a sad state of affairs
That is very true, Julie.At one time student nurses were trained on the ward. Certainly they had all the unpleasent tasks to deal with - issuing bed pans,cleaning up vomit or washing patients who had soiled themselves - but it taught them humanity, it taught them to treat with dignity those who were vulnerable and frightened. They worked their way up through the ranks - state enrolled, state registered, staff nurse, to sister and they learned valuable skills along the way. It was definitely a vocational job.
These days they are taught in universities using dummy patients, with minimal time spent on a real ward. They enter the world of real patients with a 'know it all' attitude and hardly any communication skills at all. I saw a lot of changes in my time with the NHS - some were good - but an awful lot were not.
08-11-2016, 08:42 AM
5
Re: What a sad state of affairs
This is, once again, a way of saving money. They give nurses a university qualification, which nurses never needed in the past, and then expect them to do some of the work that doctors used to do.Nursing is a caring profession where, with some training, they relate to peoples needs and do what they can to help. Why do people always think that, if you have an academic qualification, you do the job better? What makes a good nurse is somebody who has care and understanding for their patient, not letters after their name!
08-11-2016, 10:53 AM
7
Re: What a sad state of affairs
The one nurse who always sticks in my mind was a male. I'd had gall bladder surgery and in them days was always violently sick after GA (now all held at bay with proper drugs!). He not only patiently sat on the bed beside me, holding the paper receptable, but also held me against him, to comfort me.Mum was most impressed.
They would let me go on for hours and hours, being sick, even blaming me for getting anxious. I had it twice in Harlow after nose surgery (deviated septum correction), in my local after appendix out, and again when I had an 'inspection under GA'. All the staff just left me to be sick, eventually calling for help from doctors or someone else after 10 hours or so.
That one male, in the North Mid, stood out amongst everyone else.
Oh, and one bitch in Harlow once bitchily said 'there's nothing wrong with your legs', after a marathon of being sick and I was weak and shaky. I was not in a position to answer back. Put her in front of me NOW...well, stand back lady!
08-11-2016, 10:59 AM
8
Re: What a sad state of affairs
That is so awful Jazzi.Like others have said, passing exams can't give them a natural caring instinct.
It is not only some nurses either, it happens with so-called carers, whether in care homes or visiting people in their homes.
So sad. They must only do it for money, not because they have a caring nature at all.
08-11-2016, 11:05 AM
9
Re: What a sad state of affairs
A bit off topic but I`m sat here thinking back to time passed.Who remembers flowers being banned in hospitals? My mum used to flower arrangements and she and her friend sold them to raise money for the hospital. That was stopped for `time and hygeine` reasons. Many nurses thought it dreadful as it only took a couple of minutes to put them in a vase,cheered up the ward and the patients.
08-11-2016, 11:18 AM
10
Re: What a sad state of affairs
Yes, flowers certainly brightened up a ward as well as the person they were intended for.However, in a way I can understand why they were banned.
No doubt sometimes vases of flowers got knocked over, water everywhere, or perhaps bugs and insects were brought in on the flowers - I'm sure they wouldn't want earwigs and caterpillars crawling about - as well as the inconvenience of having to store loads of vases of differing sizes.
Possibly some patients could be allergic to the pollen as well . . there are a few reasons really when you think about it.
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