General Chat

Sue
Thanks.
Morale is so low these days within the acute sector so it's really appreciated.

Di

Thanks Sue; that's a nice comment but are you not human ?????
Joan

Joan,

When you are tearing your hair out with boredom and feeling totally depressed and not knowing when you are going to get a definitive diagnosis - you feel more like an exhibit!

When a nurse sidles up and says "fancy a push outside for a ciggy or I'll take you up to the restaurant for some decent food" that's when I felt human again.

When you can't sleep and a nurse comes and sits on your bed for a chat and bringing a cup of tea too at 2 a.m. without asking first - human again.

I'm not saying that all my consultants have been unfeeling (my neurologist is brilliant) but many SHO's need to be educated to understand that the patient isn't just an illness or disease to be discussed with their team and/or med students.

Plus my greatest bugbear - that they consider patients are not informed enough to understand what is being discussed by the team before they pat your hand....aaargh! Nurses who then come back and go through the notes with you ensuring that you understand all the procedures - human again.

It's hard to put into words but I hope this somewhat explains the difference friendly approaches make when you are at your lowest through ill health.

Sue x

Hello Sue
You seem to have found nurses who do care and for that I am glad. I believe that the doctors who walk in, talk and walk out again haven't got the commumication skills to reach inside and become involved. The best part of my job is to sit and really talk to the patients because I think that if the patient is informed and aware of what, when and why then your team work begins.
Being aware of how to position someone in pain, or anticipate their needs is a skill and as you say humanity.
Best wishes to you and remember, you only need to ask, it's your human right
Joan x

Just had 9 days in CCU of local infirmary with first few days permanently wired up to monitor as I'd had a heart attack 23 May. Had angiogram and then Monday moved by ambulance to Northern General, Sheffield for angioplasty and stent fitted in heart artery.

Nurses great, I was well looked after, had plenty of laughs, CCU I was in was subject to intense cleaning throughout every day.

Consultants pretty good as well and the 'heart' team doing the angioplasty and stent work were mad as hatters pre the op' and I joined in the banter but cool and very professional once work started.

Now got 6 weeks 'light duties' but at least I've PC to help keep me occupied.

As for memories - had Scarlet Fever as young child and during stay in hospital in 1940s had a large boil on me bum. Irish nurse took off her watch, which had leather strap and gave it to me to bite on the strap whilst boil was lanced and cleaned!

Army wise - at age of 17 and half had to go into a mil hospital for an op'. Soon as walked thro ward door was given "Orders for Dying" ie lie straight in bed with arms at side etc etc. All good army humour. Imagine any nurse giving a patient that sort of thing these days in these PC times.

We owe nurses a lot

I am loving this thread but no one ever answers me! ;-0(

I did ask, why you had to boil the urine??

However following on from Sue, I have had some amazing nurses.
I'm quite a chatty person .... as you will all know... and my times in hospital, have been like holidays to me.
OKAY..... they cut me open, and washed me after I had said NO, to their "would you like a nice wash Deanna ?" ;-0)
But they were fun. I heard about their children, their boyfriends... their nights out, their telephone bills.. run up by errant teenagers...
They were amazing... and they all made a point of saying goodbye to me when I left.
They were replaced by a group of district nurses, who treated us as if we were the most important visit of their day.

Ir was a young male nurse who saved my son's life by arguing with a doctor.... doctor told him that!!
But the sting in the tail... there is another male nurse, and being a lady.... I will say NOTHING!!

All of you coming up, and all of you still their. thank you for the future treatment you may have to give me!
And for all you who have left the profession, thank you for all the past help.

NOW.... tell me.... why do you boil the urine?????????????????

Deanna X

Deanna
Thanks for sharing your experience as a patient.
AND NO I don't know why they boiled the urine. It was before my time!! lol

My experiences as a patient varied. In my own hospital a few years ago I had a laparascopic Cholecsyectomy (gall bladder removed via key hole surgery) and while waiting for the acute stage to settle I was in for a week. The hand washing of one staff nurse was appalling and some trained staff stayed well away from me being as I was trained too, but the Health Care Support workers were wonderful.
I was even considering making a board to put at the foot of my bed asking if staff had washed their hands as I was so scared of getting an infection in my tiny incisions. However after reporting this particular person to their manager I was pleased to see she changed her practice and I was fine post -op.
All other admissions was treated extremely well.

Di

We boiled the urine because the tests we did required it hot to mix with the chemicals we used. There was a whole pharmacopea of chemicals .It was so much easier when the test strips came in. Jean

Jean - not me but we had several Psychi secondee students in our PTS and what a scream they were.
I had one who was asked to look after a bay where we had 4 young males and one was worse for wear one morning when she was delegated to collect urine samples. She asked him to urinate into a bottle for her. I can still see her now rushing after him as he tried to pee in the ward bay sink! Her manner was not what we accept as appropriate today.

Calling all nurses!

Please look at my sarcoidosis update thread, thank goodness for community nursing teams.

Sue xx

Good to see this thread is still going.

Did any of you have a Hospital Ball, we did and all the consultants and wives went and the sister etc----gossiping who was with who???
Those were the good old day's

I remember the Ball or hospital dance, got hair done and dress on , waited patiently for my escort, a friends boyfriends friend , though he wasn`t going to turn up but he did. Drunk so much -just made it to my room and vomited in the sink !!!
Ros xx

Thanks Jean.... was quite a simple reason. I thought there was some amazing disease to be found by that method!!

We learn something everyday!! ;-0)

Deanna X

We had a Christmas Concert,from Senior Consultants to Porters,quite a lot of talent as well..then we had the dance after that..The senior staff really let their hair down but we never saw them drinking too much...

On Christmas day the consultants dressed up and carved the Turkey for the patients,all the wards were decorated with a theme---usually a jokey skit at the medical staff,then taken down on Boxing Day----in case of infection!!!

No more memories then????

btw

any of you that work for the NHS

you can get 10% off in dorothy perkins and in nando's all you have to do is show your id badge...not many perks for working for NHS so grab em where you can

xx

We get reductions for local chemists and when I showed my card to the assistant she said "Where did you get that ?"
Ros xx

I can remember being given discount in Boots years ago, just from being recognised by the assistant as a nurse at the local hospital. I didnt know it was possible. When I was astudent there were always tickets to local dances or films on the notice board, first come first served. Black stockings often gave you away too. The embarrassment of being named on screen at the pictures and asked to report to the entrance where a driver was waiting to take me back to gyne theatre when I was on call! The cat calls when I stood up to go were blushmaking. Jean

boil urine?.....never heard of that before!!!.....