pslewis

I see the Nursing Profession is bleating about first-line cut-backs .... well, to be perfectly honest Nursie, whenever I have been to Hospital there are a lot of you wandering about talking about last nights boyfriend and drinking tea and coffee ..... on the whole, you don't seem to be doing a great deal!!

There. said it!!

tony de wonderful

Like GP's are worked to the bone doing part time hours and £200k a year thanks to Labour chucking borrowed cash at 'em?

Yeah awesome 'investment' in the health service.

scud8

iTrader: (1)

My auntie works as an auxiliary and says exactly the same about the "real" nurses. Now that they are allowed to administer medications they seem to think that the caring part of the job is beneath them so they spend most of their time sitting in the nurses station chatting about Eastenders and drinking tea.

alphaj12

Saw them on the news tonight moaning, as I always say about public sector workers they need to do a few years in the private sector and get a taste of the real world.I wish I could moan about every aspect of my job and have everyone hang on every word. Anyone fancy marching for my rights some time

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

The headlines always quote "under pressure nursing"

The simple fact is that every single ward in the country is different in terms of staffing numbers, what the nurses need to do and basically how busy they are.

There will always be a proportion that are worked off their feet, but equally there will be those that have more time on their hands. Nursing is no different to any other profession in that respect.

Staff numbers are usually based on models that cant predict perfectly how the ward will actually run and how busy the staff will be.

Of course, everyone's perspective of being "busy" is different aswell. I've seen some astonishing variations of that in my work-place.

Leslie

I can only say that having had three serious operations on the NHS, the care and help from the nurses was beyond any criticism. I was extremely well looked after and they all had a good sense of humour as well, thats a bigger help than you might expect.

Les

stilover

If you'd gone with Bupa, they might have w.anked you off during the Bed bath.

pslewis

They probably needed that seeing you naked

Iain Young

I think it may depend on the hospital. We had exactly the opposite experience when my mum went in (and sadly died) a few months ago. Terrible treatment, rude staff, doctors with such think Indian accents that you couldn't understand a word that was being said. We had to tell them what her pills did!! We went as far as raising an offical complaint, but it never really went anywhere.

I have an extremely low opinion of the NHS.

LC Geezer

Me too. When my mother was in hospital, we witnessed terrible abandonment of patients who couldn't look out for themselves. One poor old dear was totally senile. They put 3 meals a day in front of her and took them away again, untouched, an hour later. She had no idea if it was food, a Boeing 747, or Gandi's right flip-flop. Nurses didn't seem to give a flying f@ck. I ended up spoon feeding her myself.

Leslie

I was hardly in a fit state at the time! Thats an expensive way to get that sort of service though!

Les

Leslie

Well just for once I have to agree with you Pete. We did have a good few laughs though. The specialist I have been seeing for the last five years for ongoing checks has the best fund of Rugby jokes I have heard. Just what one needs during the embarrassing camera episodes!

Les

Leslie

I think you are right. My mother had such terrible treatment from the hospital she was in in Surrey. They could not care less.

Down here in Sunny Devon the attitude is 180 degrees different. The hospital staff have pride in their job and you could not expect better attention.

Les

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

Id rather get rid of the NHS, not pay NI and go private.

Last week I went to pay for a prescription £7.00 girl behind the counter offered me the same item paid for £2.79 WTF how is via NHS more? such a joke.

michaelro

Exactly

While I'm sure plenty have quiet days, I wouldn't want to do their job for the pitiful pay they get.

Wife is a childrens nurse on a ward which is never staffed correctly (dangerously low at times) and almost never gets a break during a 12 hour shift.
If not nursing, they are expected to help clean the ward

The Private Sector comment is laughable as I don't know anyone who works in anything like those conditions for the money given the qualifications and training they have to go through.

The NHS is badly run, but don't blame front line staff....

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I find it all quite sickening TBH. Because one day I'll end up in a hospital be it through accident or illness. I dread the day....not from the ailment but from the care.

From my experiences before, I port the proportion of good staff vs bad at 50:50.

There are some that work to the bone day in day out, doing thankless tasks and running round like headless chickens trying to keep on top of everything. Then there are some who have built up so much apathy that they couldn't give a flying f**k about anything regarding patient care, and are beyond words of describing how poor they are at doing their job. I don't know if these are agency staff or what, but they don't care, end of.

In the end its the good nurses that end up running round sorting out the problems and backlogs caused by the other bunch not pulling their weight or doing their job properly.

And therein lies the issue.....who wants to be a nurse? Seriously. Its already a thankless mentally and physically draining task that sucks every last bit of humanity from your body and soul. So the kind of people fully capeable of handling such a role is already a rarity, then they are put under even further pressures to mop up after the ones that are employed purely to make up the staffing numbers.

Now I'm an manufacturing/control system engineer by education, and one thing I learnt: A production system is only as good as its slowest or most unreliable workstation. Now applying that theory to the NHS; It is only as good as its weakest link. And in nursing care, then the care levels are only as good as the worst nursing staff.

So IMO, the NHS needs to identify and swiftly get rid of the ones unabe to do the job, and replace them with ones who are capeable enough to do it and support the remaining good staff, which will bring care up to their levels rather than drag it down. Easier said than done.

Leslie

The NHS has always been admired worldwide and Attlee's government is to be praised for instituting it just after WW2.

Les