Nurses.

[OrlandointheWilderness]

I'm a 3rd year nursing student. There is a thread running at the min which is full of awful, awful experiences with nurses - poor, inexcusable care and mistakes that I hope I will never be part of. It's been a bit depressing as working as a nurse is so bloody hard at times, and I know so many really good nurses who strive to provide the best care they can.

Could we possibly have a thread to balance it? Could I have some anecdotes of really lovely experiences and good care you've experienced? Just to boost things!!! Thank you!

I recently had to go to A & E with what turned out to be a double leg break.

I really couldn't fault any of the treatment I received there:all the staff were kindness itself.
But the Nurse Practioner who was chiefly looking after me was brilliant. She was kind and funny. She explained everything about the state of my leg, the treatment it needed etc. She showed me how to give myself injections.
And was also kind and considerate to my son who had taken me to the hospital. We were made to feel as though we mattered.

So yes that was a very positive experience. Not only of a particular nurse and the staff in general but actually of the NHS itself, which these days gets quite a negative portrayal in the media.

Thanks @Neverstophoping that's nice to hear. That's the sort of nurse I'd love to be! A double leg break must've been very painful for you.

Sorry I've only had awful experiences in hospital and A&E. I was a nurse for 30 years before I got sick and I never treated patients like I've been treated.
I think this is largely a management and staffing problem tbh not the fault of individuals. Nearly every nurse I know is completely burnt out.

Not so much in A&E but I have seen some fantastic nurses at GP surgeries. In fact, I actually request to see a nurse over a doctor as they have more time for me and I generally find them better!

Since hitting my 50s my health has gone downhill a bit and I've had more interactions with hospitals and nurses than I've had my whole life.

Nothing positive really springs to mind, although nothing negative really does either.

It's all a bit mediocre, which makes me lucky I suppose.

Unfortunately there are way more negative experiences than good ones.

I had a mastectomy and the nurses there, without exception, were abysmal but, similar to pp, I've had excellent care from nurses at my surgery. Perhaps it's the badly run, decrepit hospitals that suck the life and soul out of nurses? Perhaps in the surgeries they have more involvement in the patients and their own workload - only guessing!

Some of my best nurses have been African, when I was extremely unwell the amount of compassion that was shown was like nothing I had experienced before.

They treated me like family, shared their lives with me - i knew their kids names / husband's/ ambitions for their children, as did they know mine.

I was in 3 months and it made such a hard time bearable and couldn't thank them enough. Without them, I'm not sure if I would have pulled through as I'm sure I would have given up and not fought.

Their stories of hard times that they shared helped motivate me. Seeing how well they had done, from being in accidents/ other life issues. I feel they went above and beyond with sharing so much positivity.

Had to take my DD to A&E last year as she had broken her arm. I could tell they were very busy but the care we got from all the staff was excellent, also saw the staff interacting with other patients too and all lovely.
From the receptionist who checked us in to the paramedic who had a lovely chat with my DD as we were leaving, under such conditions I don't know how they stay so cheerful.
They are under so much pressure but were all so lovely and caring I was so grateful!

MN loves a good nurse bashing thread, basically all you need to know is teacher = good. Nurse = bad, stupid, lazy and incompetent. You won't get a fair discourse on it here, sorry.

DH has recently been in hospital for surgery. Every one of his nurses were Nigerian. All fabulous, efficient, friendly and kind. They had time for me too, swapping hair styling tips and chatting about our families. Orthopaedic ward.

@ThisHangryPinkBalonz @DreadingWinter that's an interesting perspective- I've worked with nurses from all nationalities. Some of the most wonderful experiences I have had have been working under the supervision of African nurses. They were so warm and lovely, firm but supportive. I always felt for the large amount of international nurses recruited - they are generally young and look ever so lost and some of the English staff members can be so unwelcoming to them. They are generally very well trained and excellent nurses however.
I've also had some absolutely horrific experiences and seen some awful care. Me being me, I will always put my head above the parapet and escalate things (for example staples left in 28 days post op on a hip replacement, resulting in skin growing over them and a bad infection) which has made me very unpopular on the wards. I hope I will always speak up when I see poor care, but I fervently hope I don't need to. I have to believe there are good nurses out there! Compassion fatigue is such an issue in healthcare, and conditions can be awful to work in.

I've had a few experiences this week.
Minor injuries for a wrist fracture my hand was deformed. The trauma nurse made sure I had my xray immediately got ortho to me asap to review xrays. She talked me through the break explained the process for manipulation casting and pain relief. She apologised after the manipulation wasn't in a great place and had to be redone. 2nd was excruciatingly painful but she stood at my side rubbed my good arm and reassured me the whole way through. Saw her a few days later for another xray she told me off for getting a bus up there (2 days post op) and said she'd have collected me. Kept her word and rang me as soon as she had an update from the ortho consultant.

Gynae nurse had no issues helping me put compression sock on id done one and she couldn't understand why I hadn't asked for help. She tied my gown and made sure I could get up slowly and safely to the toilet after my anaesthetic. She was so caring and considerate of my arm as well as the reason for my op.

Paediatric nurses especially those training, really lovely people when my son was ill.
As for me, I've only had bad experiences I'm afraid but there was one absolute gem of a nursing auxillary. I was a pathetic, weak, mess post surgery, the nurses kept snapping at me and had too much to do so I was left for a very long time unable to clean myself with a drain that had leaked all over me. She was just so kind and cleaned me up, she wasn't particularly well herself either. I wanted her to be my mum haha.
Midwives must get a mention, I've never come across a bad one. Good luck with the final year, you have the right attitude it seems and I'm sure you will help lots of people.

I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable about the mention of nurses from specific countries, as anyone posting about negative experiences would probably be called racist or xenophobic. So it would be rather one-sided.

I live in the most multicultural part of London there is, and like everyone else I've met lovely nurses, awful nurses and mediocre nurses.

I couldn't pick out one country or race that stands out, which is the way it should be really.

Had a hysteroscopy earlier this year and the nurses were so lovely. They were so easy to talk to and supported me throughout. Also had an endoscopy and nurses were very reassuring and supportive there too.

Nothing but good things to say about the nurses at the hospital my son is at. We’ve been here for 6 months as he’s been incredibly poorly and was then diagnosed with cancer. He’s spent time on PICU, a surgical ward as he’s had 5 bowel surgeries and now oncology.

They’ve become almost like a 2nd family at this point.

We were in children's A&E last week for 8 hours or so for monitoring. The nurses were absolutely fantastic, all of them were so kind and so helpful and could not have done more for us.

I’m a doctor . Last night the nurses I worked with were so brilliant. There was an expected patient death due to bleeding . The nurses were efficient getting pain relief and making them comfortable. They were calm , cleaned up all the mess and made the bed with clean sheets . When the family arrived the nurses were super kind to the family , made tea , gave the relatives hugs and supported each other.
I am so lucky to work with utterly brilliant nurses.

I’m a nurse and it’s the best job ever. But the system grinds you down. I love my job but the stress of being overworked and understaffed means it just not always possible to provide care that you wish to. It is rewarding but also exhausting. It has changed so much since I started in the 90s. Treatments have changed, people stay alive longer meaning they have complex medical problems. Basically, the nhs has outgrown itself. It’s become a victim of its own success. People expect nurses to just provide the fundamentals of care (washing, feeding etc) but nursing has now become so much more complex that there just isn’t time. Whilst I am sure there are bad nurses out there, sometimes the ones that you think are lazy and incompetent are actually carrying out complex care and dealing with really sick patients. There is paperwork and protocols for everything and the fear of making a mistake is real.
Nurses rock. Thank you for stating this thread.

I've been a paediatric nurse for 20 years. I bloody love it. Wouldn't want to do anything else. Yes it's hard work. But I'm realising from doing agency in district general hospitals, that we are incredibly cosseted! My trust is also paying for me to top up to a degree. It's a boring as hell and not my voice of course. But it's a free degree!

Thanks everyone for your input. It gives me hope! You are welcome @QueenCremant - we do indeed rock 😂

I find nurses some of the loveliest people I've encountered, in the NHS or anywhere!

My experience as a nurse myself albeit retired is that the Practice Nurses at our GP's are lovely. Sadly can't say the same of any hospital nurses I have met in London or East Midland hospitals. And before anyone says it I didn't tell them I was a nurse myself.
Comment re foreign nurses- good and bad in all races. I was reduced to tears by an English HCA after i had my son years ago. She was a bitch.
Years ago the nurses with the best reputations were Irish , English and Aussie. Sadly I doubt that's true now.
So general consensus is that GP nurses are the best. I was one myself and prided myself on good care.

DH was in an acute ward for 3 days recently with kidney stones. Nursing staff were all excellent, caring, friendly and efficient. Our hospital has an awful reputation so our experience was far better than expected, right through from A&E to discharge from the ward. It was very obvious how stretched they were but also that every one of them was doing their best to make up for that in terms of patient care. It's not the review I expected to write having heard some real horror stories about our hospital but I can only speak as I find.