Our poor NHS nurses

[onehorserace]

Having just spent a week on a ward I am horrified by the things I have seen nurses having to put up with. I have always had respect for nurses but with today's attitudes their job is so much more difficult.

Why do so many patients act as if they are in a private health system? Demanding to see THEIR doctor right now.. shouting and butting into other patients' time with the nurse? Talking to nurses like shit .

Why do so many patients question absolutely everything they take apart from the lithium and the oramorph?

Why are relatives gathering in their hoardes invading wards from 8am when visiting times start at 10? Also talking to nurses like they are shit.

Why are so many patients in denial about the damage THEY have caused their body by their own behaviour with alcohol and drugs and blame it on everything else? Eg the antibiotics

Why do some patients go walk about for hours on end then to come back and complain they haven't had their meds and then have a major meltdown at 10.30pm when others are in bed - seriously ill people. They treat hospital like it is a hotel.

The amount of money I have seen burnt this week by ungrateful sods is beyond belief. Sadly this " entitled" lot don't seem to appreciate what we have here.

Our poor nurses!

My grandad had to intervene when the patient next to him kept sexually assaulting one of the nurses. He reported it twice but no one seemed to do anything.

He wasn't the most patient or tolerant soul 😆 so the 4th time it happened, he got out of bed, physically pinned the man down and told him very calmly that the next time he heard a peep out of him, he would kill him. Was quite specific as to how, too.

It's shocking what they have to put up with.

Absolutely question the pills every time. Iv been overdosed and underdosed more times then I can count.

This is 100% my experience of hospitals. I literally could of written.

It's not common in psychiatry anymore either
It's a very old medication.

Patients have a right to understand what medication they are taking. If it needs to be changed, that should be discussed with them. Do you really expect people to just blindly ingest whatever you hand them or not question what you want to give by injection? Have you forgotten the concept of informed consent?

Was this a gastro ward by any chance? Sounds like one

I didn’t realise OP meant the n word, I thought she meant the c word! To me, as a woman, it is the most offensive word.

How about the direct racial slurs to their faces? I'm thinking of a friend who was almost in tears last night. Apparently there's nothing anyone can do as the dickhead lacks capacity. Still has the capacity to specifically reserve that word for Black staff though.
Yeah, that word.

Really?

It’s awful. Many of the complaints about the NHS that I see on MN are essentially complaints about the general public.

Sad but true.

It's awful isn't it. Hope you're okay

I worked in an Emergency Department for many years and unfortunately you’ve hit the nail on the head perfectly

Haha, was just about to ask if you were on my ward?..............I work in a GI ward!

Because the general public are extremely entitled and know all their “ rights”. They seem to be less concerned about their responsibilities though! I worked for the ambulance service for years and the levels of time wasters and abuse of the service would astound you!

Not true at all. How long have you worked on the frontline ?

Me too! Almost 30 yrs now and we do get alot of mental health issues wrapped up with the drug and alcohol problems.
What has pissed me off this week though is my patients asking for painkillers then buggering off for a smoke before I get back. I mean we are talking about heavy duty controlled substances....not Smarties! Don't flipping ask for it unless you need it and if you need then stick around for it.

Also our staffing is almost all non white and none of us put up with racist bullshit, even if the patient is confused they can still be told their behaviour is unacceptable.
Pet peeve though is patients who act out, shout, scream, insult you then try and apologise afterwards like its a 'get out of jail free' card. I always refuse to accept any apology and tell them what I actually want is for them not to do it in the first place!

As an AHP who worked in the NHS for 20 years (now thankfully private!) it is absolutely not disgusting to ask nurses to do their jobs. I have met far too many in my time who are frankly useless, work shy and couldn’t care less about the patients. Sometimes being the squeaky wheel and advocating for yourself is the only way to get looked after. Patients should feel and are entitled to good care!! Unfortunately standards within the NHS these days are shockingly low and the general public have come to accept + excuse this rubbish because ‘it’s free’

Well said 👏

Why do they allow patients to go out for hours on end then waltz back in when it suits them ?

Yes while I agree that some staff members are lazy and don’t give a shit about their patients there are plenty who do, who are taken for granted and work crazy hours a week. There have been times where I have seen staff verbally abused and some physically attacked by patients and their family members when they are doing their jobs and what has been asked of them by the higher profile staff, look at the Covid situation, all we got on a Thursday was a clap 😂 a fucking clap when multiple people with children and families were working front line and were at significant risk of getting it, nhs staff are over worked, under paid and not at all appreciated by the majority of the public, I found it wrong how nurses, doctors etc saved lives and got a clap during a pandemic. The nhs are short staffed constantly and it’s a constant stress and pressurised field to work in, things need to change ASAP. The reason for the shortage of staff is because of the work load and the pay oh and the crazy hours you have to work. If anyone is to blame for the falling of the nhs it’s the government and not the staff.

The reason for the shortage of staff is because of the work load and the pay oh and the crazy hours you have to work.

It really isn’t. There are thousands of recent nursing, AHP & even medicine graduates sitting unemployed, physically unable to get a job within the NHS as there have been recruitment freezes in most trusts. It’s dire for them having been sold what should be an incredibly employable degree and dire for the wards who are crying out for more staff.

@dontwannadothisI think the OP meant librium..

Because they aren't prisoners?

My son was in hospital for 10 months. We were out and about between his meds and treatments as soon as he was well enough and when he was close to discharge, we even spent 2 days (separate times, not in a row) at home and then just returned to the ward for treatment before bed.

It was brilliant for all of our mental health, not to mention the benefits of fresh air etc.

Sorry yes you are correct!

@Kirbert2 I get that but it's the ones that abuse the system - gone for hours smoking outside and eating chips then creating an almighty fuss when they come back because they have missed their meds and puking up all over the place. Coming back into a quiet ward at 10.30pm and then creating with really ill people there. I would be locking the doors.