AIBU to think that Cameron is telling nurses to do things that they already do?

[MyNameIsNotNurse]

Or aim to do given the oppertunity.
Link

David Cameron's 'ideas'
Hourly checks on patients to make sure they have had enought to eat/drink and are comefortable.
Isn't this just basic care?
Also to have members of the public doing spot checks on their local hospitals, isn't this just going a bit too far?

I would really like him to do a 12 hour shift on a busy ward, with sick people needing more than just the hourly walk around to make sure that things are ok.
What about the patients who are in need of 15 minute observations. Patients with poor mobility who take more than 30 seconds to get to the toilet and needs assistance every step of the way. What about the drug rounds? Then multiply that by 30 pateints for 2 staff nurses (some with little experiance) If 1 patient is really ill thats 1 nurse down so 30 patients beeing looked after by 1 nurse, and maybe 1 or 2 HCA.

Why does he not discuss the staffing issues, which most wards have the mountains of paper work which each and every nurse has to get through every shift which takes away from the care of patients.
Most nurses I know stay behind to finish paperwork, turn into work when they or their family is not well, go without breaks, work 12hours a shift, do extra shifts and Given up our measily 3% payrise over 3 years.

He's just making a lot of noise saying we should do things we already do in order that the public think we're not doing them and we lose support?

good for you agedknees, where do you send e mails to I would like to do the same!
my mum trained in 76(I think) and was frequently left in charge when she was training

agedknees, I did the same yesterday, let's see if either of us get a reply!

Errr YABVU sorry I think nursing care in this country is dire and what lets down the NHS which I think is fab.

Far too much chatting round the nursing station and nowhere near enough actual nursing.

I've had the unfortunate experience of witnessing nursing care in geriactric,childrens ,gyn and post natal in different hospitals in different areas. Dreadful,totally dreadful.Fab care in the op theatre and on a day case but actually on a ward dreadful.

When I was on my gyn ward despite being told/reminded by the consultant several times my urine was not measured hourly.My bed area was never cleared,cleaned or checked.Nobody ever came to even speak to me ever even though I was in there for days having lost my IVF embryos and had been rushed in seriously ill.Bar medication they had to give out at certain times(that I had to remind)that was it.I was on a ward next to a teenager having an abortion and a patient suffering from severe morning sickness.Next to me was a girl suffering from an ectopic.We cried ourselves to sleep at night and nobody came,not once.This was a leading teaching hospital.

Post natal.I had to drag myself down the corridor having had a c/s the day before to deliver my twins just to get food.The night after I had my twins even though I buzzed nobody came at times to help me bf.I had to keep buzzing.Nobody came to lift them back into their cots.They never cleared my room,I had to beg for STs and paper pants.Nobody once asked how I was feeling.We begged for dp to stay the night to help with lifting,getting me food,they refused.I lied about my pain so I could get home asap.

2 of my children have had ops.I don't believe anybody could leave their dc alone in hospital because the care is so bad. They rely on mums doing the nursing.I had to clear,clean,remind re medication,talk to my kids. Nobody ever came to see us ever unless they were giving drugs-how scary would that be for a child on their own?What if they fell out of bed?Alarms continuously went off on the SEN child in the neighbouring bed.He was told jokingly to keep the noise down,hollered from the station.Lets just say nobody actually ran to check up on him.

I could go on re my grandma and my other experiences but you get the picture.

The NHS is fab but the standard of nursing lets it down (bar the odd gem worth their weight in gold).I think things need to be tightened up.There needs to be a bare minimum of care. Score sheets on every bed for patients to fill out on discharge so nurses can be kept accountable.There should be people in charge/accountable of wards with the ability to kick arse when needed.The gems you come across should be rewarded.Nursing needs a total shake up.

Wow MrsH you've certainly had some terrible experiences, it saddens me to read your post.

As a mother of 3 as well as a nurse I have also experienced diabolical post natal care but only with one child, my other 2 experiences were great.

After nursing in the NHS for 10 years I decided to join the RAF. OMG what a contrast - still caring for NHS patients but in a military hospital, now sadly closed - bloody marvellous. We had enough staff to sit and talk to our patients, we had resources readily available, it was amazing and very very rewarding. Working in the NHS was a slog.

I have been out of nursing for a few years now to have my children and was considering going back but I just can't face it in the current climate. (The bottom line being I can't afford it as it will cost me £1000 for the course and then 200 unpaid hours of work plus having to pay for childcare on top of that.)

You have had some crap experiences Mrs H. The nurses I have seen did not have time to stand round the nurses station never mind chat!

And I say that as a relative who has witnessed good and bad aspects of nursing.

I don't doubt it happens but goodness knows where - most places are too busy.

Have a read of the blog linked to further up which might give you some idea about what nurses are up against.

I had my tonsills out in an RAF hospital 30 odd years ago,the contrast between that and what I experienced when my son had his out last year was staggering.

My mother wasn't allowed to stay when I had mine out,she didn't really need to to be frank although I missed her dreadfully.Oh my god you need to stay now on a regular NHS ward. There is noway you could even consider leaving a child for an hour let alone over night. The difference in care was immense.Maybe the RAF could give DC some pointers.

I have to say there wasn't much slog going on on my ds's ward.There was so few kids in they'd closed half the ward down.Plenty of nurses,just no buggar interested in any of the patients,far too much action going on at the nurses station.Also we did come across a couple of gems.If they were able to do a good job everybody should have been able to.

I bet all the nurses were sat on their arse having a riot and endless cups of tea

Was this an NHS or Private hospital LeQueen?

I suspect it was NHS because you would probably have had more hand holding and practical assistance if it had been paid for privately.

Unfortunately it is my experience that busy NHS maternity wards generally have only the staff and resources to make sure mother and baby are clinically well, not to offer the support and reassurance which would make for a far better experience.

That's where the private sector is often far superior to the NHS.

I had a similar post c section experience. My catheter was removed and because our babies couldn't be left unsupervised and the toilet was at the end of a long corridor I waited until DH arrived to wee as no one would help me before. Then because I passed too much urine they threatened to re-catheterise me as I clearly wasn't feeling the need to urinate!!!! I have to say though my lack of care was most definitely down to the ward being short staffed and not nurses/midwives sat at the nurses station drinking tea.

Tbh i think the only chance nurses will get to talk to patients more is when they don't have to do so much paperwork because they are terrified of being sued.

When i worked as a hca we had 40 bed units, were understaffed majorly and the nurses were too busy having to do paperwork all day and drugs rounds and the real patient care was done by the healthcare assistants. and there were not enough of us to go around.

and i would have given anything to be able to just stand and chat. i certaintly never did and ended up working over my hours most of the time to get things done.

I really do think nurses get a raw deal now :(

Rapa all I ever experience from nurses when in NHS hospitals is drug giving,literally.What else actually do they do?They don't make sure you're clean,comfortable,fed,happy or in need.They never, ever come round to check up on you let alone ask if you need anything are ok.

Hand holding you're having a laugh.

Nurses have lost the ability to care and nurse basically they need to be taught again how to do it.

Jersey did you have a "time back" book? - you know the one where you write down all the extra hours you've worked so you can claim them back when the ward is less busy

Mrsheffley what a massively generalised pile of shite

Sadly not.

Just my experience on every hospital stay I've witnessed over the last few years.One shite experience and you can say generalisation but numerous in different hospitals in different areas sorry not so.

There have been articles re the need to teach nurses to care more and quite clearly there is a problem.I've lost count of the amount of family/friends who have experienced very similar and actually don't know anybody who has stayed in hospital and hasn't moaned about ward care.

You have been given examples from nurses such as myself, of what we do. your implication being that nurses generally do not much at all

'nurses have lost the ability to care'

would that not have read better as 'some nurses have lost the ability to care'

i for one bed bathed my patients daily and often held hands so don't you dare make assumptions about nursing as a whole

Some people want to bitch and nitpick because they wouldn't have the guts to do such a hard, relatively low paid job themselves

Sorry I've had several hospital experiences in recent years and can count on one hand the nurses that actually came to my or my lo's bedside and asked if we were alright or needed anything.That's shit and unacceptable but not different to what many people complain about.

Only one of my birth experiences was bad the other 2 were great (both c sections). My grandmother passed away 2 years ago and was given fantastic care right until the end as were we as the family. My mother has had a hysterectomy and was very well cared for. I had an ovarian cyst removed when i was 18, brilliant care.

As a nurse I have a stash of cards and letters of thanks written by patients and relatives so we can't all be bad eh?

Boglach I'd don't give a monkeys what other people are prepared to do.Nurses are paid to care and nurse end of.

Nurses are paid, for what? Sometimes I wonder myself. Quite often, we're prevented from caring and doing the job we trained for.

Hidden but some manage to.It doesn't take much to ask a patient how they're feeling or to make sure water is in within reach as you walk past.

Sorry if everything is ticketyboo not sure what anybody is afraid of re Cameron's plans.

Sorry MrsHeffley but I think you are wrong to categorise nurses in general as having lost the ability to care. And this is not something that can be taught anyway.

In my experience most nurses care very much about their patients and their standards of care. But they are only human with one pair of hands.

I think this comes back to my argument about idealising nurses as angels and saints. The public feel let down when nurses don't display superhuman endurance and angelic kindness. They are held up as an idealised symbol of the great and revered NHS. Other professionals such as physios and Drs are not given such an impossible mantle to carry. Noone ever complains that physios and Drs have lost the ability to care and need to be taught how to do it.
But that's probably because they are seen primarily as professional people and not as some romanticised notion of the angel of mercy who has time to sit with a patient and mop the fevered brow whilst simultaneously giving a bed bath and cleaning out their bedside locker.