I'm a hospital porter.....AMA

[MoveBitch]

AMA

[FAQs]

Is your username inspired by your job 😄

[drinkingwineoutofamug]

Will say hospital porters are the forgotten backbone of the nhs. We couldn't work without you. Thank you

[LadyGardenersQuestionTime]

Do you work in dedicated areas of the hospital or do you cover the whole thing?

[TodaysFishIsTroutALaCreme]

Have you ever calculated your steps per day?

[SallyAnn32]

What is the best part of your job and what is the worst?

[OrlandointheWilderness]

As a first year student nurse- cheers for being so lovely when I have no idea how the beds work, how to connect and disconnect the oxygen, what to do with the mattress and sorry I keep hitting walls! You are awesome.

[dontyoubother]

Do you like crashing through doors with beds and things? That looks quite therapeutic.

[dolphinsarentcommon]

Do the wards still call and say they have a parcel for you to collect?

[MoveBitch]

Is your username inspired by your job

Yes 🤣

Do you work in dedicated areas of the hospital or do you cover the whole thing?

In my hospital as a general porter we cover 95% of the hospital, radiotherapy & pharmacy have their own dedicated porters


Have you ever calculated your steps per day?

20-25k per 8 hour shift


What is the best part of your job and what is the worst?

The best is the people, we have a great team and we're like one big disfunctional family, the worst for me is taking babies or children down to the mortuary.

Do you like crashing through doors with beds and things? That looks quite therapeutic

It really is! There's a knack for getting maximum door slam speed but minimal damage caused by!


Do the wards still call and say they have a parcel for you to collect

We do still be packages for rose cottage, but we used a computer based job system now so everything is just pinged straight over

[MoveBitch]

@OrlandointheWilderness

As a first year student nurse- cheers for being so lovely when I have no idea how the beds work, how to connect and disconnect the oxygen, what to do with the mattress and sorry I keep hitting walls! You are awesome.

When in doubt, always ask a porter!

[Airfriedpotatowitch]

So when you have to move deceased people do you have to wait for a certain time or is there a secret way to go out of public eye or do you just cover with sheet and get on with it?

[Wheresmywoolyjumpers]

Are people getting ruder? Patients and/or staff? Are you noticing more upset patients during your shifts?

[MittensForKittens123]

Do you move people from the operating theatre to the recovery area or do the nurses do that bit?

[SafariPark]

Just. Thank you. So much. Love from the flustered ICU nurse 😅

[CarburyChocolateRules]

I was in resus once and they closed everyones curtains and doors
I presume for a dead body to be removed
Is this protocol?

[SouperNoodle]

Have you ever been scared of a patient you were transporting?

[nocoolnamesleft]

Thank you. Porters are definitely some of the unsung heroes of the NHS. And always know what's going on everywhere in the hospital!

[GreenClock]

How much do you earn?

[ArtVandalay]

Do you like your job?

My dad was a porter pt when a student in the late 60s. He hated it.

[MoveBitch]

So when you have to move deceased people do you have to wait for a certain time or is there a secret way to go out of public eye or do you just cover with sheet and get on with it?

We have a trolley with a cover, people are generally oblivious but we do try to go the least congested routes.


Are people getting ruder? Patients and/or staff? Are you noticing more upset patients during your shifts?

Patients, no. By the time I see them they're just happy to be getting a scan/going to a ward and alot understand the massive struggles we're facing at work each day. You get the odd one who's an idiot but you always did.
Staff on the other hand, yes, people are more short tempered but it's understandable, especially when you've got 35 patients on the ward and only 2 trained nurses! I could never do that job


Do you move people from the operating theatre to the recovery area or do the nurses do that bit?

I do for minor ops/cath lab but main theatres have their own porters

I was in resus once and they closed everyones curtains and doors
I presume for a dead body to be removed
Is this protocol?

Yes that is protocol, to protect the dignity of the deceased and to protect the other patients from seeing. It's not pleasant

Have you ever been scared of a patient you were transporting

Not really, any offenders are always with police and cuffed to the bed if violent. I've been hit by a dementia patient but I wasn't scared and I'm never alone with patients like that.

Thank you. Porters are definitely some of the unsung heroes of the NHS. And always know what's going on everywhere in the hospital!

We get all the best gossip!

How much do you earn?

band 2.....not enough really for the responsibilities we have, but then no one really earns enough in the NHS!

Do you like your job

i love my job, it keeps me active, I get to talk and meet many people and honestly feel like I'm making a difference

[MissSmiley]

I was in hospital for over 5 weeks earlier this year and the porters were amazing, loved the little chats on the way to xray or wherever, really cheered me up

[UnfinishedUsernam]

Is dating the patients a big no? The reason I ask is because when I was in hospital for a few weeks quite often it would be the same porter who wheeled me about and when I came out of theatre he had asked the other porter how I was. I think I could tell he liked me but I didn't want to embarrass myself by asking him out just in case I had misread him 😅 (or get him into trouble). I'm married now but do occasionally wish I had chanced it. He was the spitting image of Ben Stiller 😂

[XenoBitch]

I was a hospital porter for almost a decade. The only female one in my trust.
Had to leave due to health reasons in the end (and my manager was an utter asshole).

[StrictlyAFemaleFemale]

Have you got incrrdible upper body strength? The portor that took me up to the ward after labour was so buff!

[BruisedSkies]

How did you get into it?