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?

But they're not TiWihara. Not enough.

So going by whateveryone has posted on here I think there is unanimous agreement that the situation needs to change. It can't carry on like this for the nurses or the patients. The fact is many hospital staff are burnt out and compassion, which should be the bedrock of nursing, is no longer high on the agenda. There is no time or energy for it. It is just such a distressing situation

I did put aimed to do given the oppertunity, but point taken

Bring back Enrolled Nurses. They should never have phased them out.

The issue is how it differs from hospital to hospital and ward to ward. However, without more frontline staff the problems are never going to be solved.

Personally, I love the NHS over the past 2 years and can't praise our local childrens department enough (although dont get me started on the GP!). 2 years ago exactly DS was rushed into hospital at 8 weeks old with severe bronchiolitis, spent 5 days on CPAP and 12 days in hospital in total. The staff where amazing and nothing was to much for them. When on CPAP he was on 1-1 care, the rest of the time he was on very regular obs never had to wait when alarms went off etc etc. This is despite the ward being full.

He has had about 8 further admissions with bronchi and more recently the asthma he has developed and plenty of outpatients appointments and still no issues at all.

I don't know what they do differently to other wards, but whatever it is they do it bloody well!

I agree with some posters that of course their are nurses that are lazy and take the piss, i know i worked with enough of them but they are still in the minority number one problem without a doubt is understaffing and then poor nurse training.

A hospital near where I used to live paid to have an efficiency savings person come around and investigate their finances. I can't recall the exact numbers, but they identified say 200k worth of savings... and got paid 250k for this.

I think more nurses is the answer.

Yes, there are bad nurses out there, but actually I think more nurses would help with that too because if 2 of your team of 4 on your ward are rubbish that is going to have a huge impact on your care, if it's 2 of 8, not only is it going to have less impact but it's also going to give the other staff more time to fill in complaints forms etc and actually do something about the fact that their colleagues aren't up to scratch.

or do what they do in one place I've worked, go around with a little stamp that says "food/drink offered" with the time/date, takes no time at all to wizz around with that stamping it on existing charts and if people can do it themselves then it takes SECONDS to ask "have you got something to drink there?" so you can stamp and move along to someone who needs help to drink.

if they can do it (a busy a&e) then I don't agree that it would take PILES more paperwork to do it on the wards

I can't really diss CallMeDave on this one. Like anyone else who's set foot in an NHS hospital any time in the past decade, I can see it's woefully clear that basic standards of care are not being met. For whatever reason.

there are band 4 HCAs aren't there? (NVQ3s?) same difference/grade to ENs?

Compassion is right at the top of my agenda Pocks, unfortunately if I work to my own agenda and not the agenda I'm given by the hospital I'll get sacked. I was once bollocked by one of our Sisters (I'd been qualified a week) for sitting holding the hand of a very frightened elderly lady with dementia (A&E) as she'd forget everything I'd said and go back to being terrified the moment I left her, therefore it was 'not the most efficient use of my time'. I felt dreadful leaving her, as I knew that for the short time I sat with her she felt safe. But the Sister was right, we have to prioritise, and keeping people alive is at the top of the priority list. When you're understaffed and busy, it has to be that way. The only way to avoid this is to make sure understaffing is the rarity, not the norm.

I have to say that i think David is very clever , or his team is . Does he have a point ? sometimes yes i think he does . However things have changed , on our ward with regards nutrition . We have a dedicated member of staff responsible for the nutritional needs of all the patients . We have a red tray system , where patients who are known to be at risk , are given their meals on a red tray. The domestics know not to remove the tray until the contents have been noted . Food diaries are filled in for at risk patients . We have protected mealtimes , where nothing else happens, no ward rounds , no drug rounds , no patient transfers etc , all the staff give out meals and ensure that those who need help get it . Relatives are welcome at mealtimes to assist relatives should they choose to . The nutrional assistant basically hounds anyone who isnt eating enough with biscuits , build up drinks ,toast ,sandwhichs etc until they succumb . Think of the housekeeper in father ted !
As far as caring is concerned ,it isnt rocket science . If every nurse recognised that being in hospital is a bit like camping , in a foreign country, in the rain , whilst simultaneaously suffering from the shits , the world would be a better place .

I think its sad when nurses can't make time for the patients like they must want to.

I remember one point when I was in tears because DS couldn't be discharged like we thought he would be. The ward sister stopped whatever she was doing when she saw me and spent a good 20 minutes calming me down and just generally chatting and cheering me up. The next day when he could go home she went to pharmacy herself to get the meds rather than waiting hours for them to be sent up so we could get home sooner. That level of compassion should be the norm not something that is seen as extraordinary.

As a former nurse DCs comments make me see red.

It is to my mind another example of someone in a position of power trying to micromanage what nurses do and what nursing is with no real understanding of the issues and difficulties which nurses face.

Nurses in this country suffer from being seen either as self sacrificing angels or cruel witches.

They seem rarely to be seen as professionals who may just be the best people to consult as to why nursing standards in some hospitals are not being met.

Oh no, we need DC to state the bleeding obvious and treat nurses as being in need of his ignorant "guidance". Just soundbites and public pleasing guff without any real understanding.

Reminds me why I left nursing and retrained in another profession where my expertise and experience is sought and valued.

And one where I can actually expect a tea break and ringfenced admin time to complete necessary paperwork!

NHS nurses I salute you. It is indeed a thankless job.

When I worked in A&E we used to have housekeepers to give people food and drinks but it could take 30mins to find them and they had very little initiative. The problem is they reduced the number of nurses on duty and added housekeepers and support workers instead but as the qualified nurse it just makes your job harder because you also have to people manage. Sometimes I would be in a team with a support worker who didn't know their arse from their elbow and a newly qualified nurse in a busy city A&E this meant I had to do the nurse bit to some seriously I'll people and some abusive ones, teach and manage all at the same time. It was physically impossible and over 3 years the situation just got worse. I could tell some awful stories

Not all nurses are caring and consiencious (sp). Some go into the profession for the wrong reasons imo.

Well said Bootymum
It pisses me off so much that their from the top down management style patronises and belittles tasks we are being asked to do with no real idea of the implications to our working lives and impact on patient care.

They should be getting rid of several tiers of management, employing more frontline workers and getting them to run things. Would be so much cheaper and more efficient.

the defensiveness you see on this thread demonstrates exactly why nurses need to be managed and targets are brought in

"no no no we MUST NOT be pulled up on not doing A, B or C because we DO do X, Y AND Z, we will NOT talk about how wrong it is that we don't do A, B and C in a constructive way that will change it, cant you see how hard we worked on X, Y and Z?"

You ask where the incident forms are. "why?", you tell them, "it will take too long", "I'm finished my shift, I'll do it!", they still huff and tell you not to bother, you stand your ground, you write it stating that, say, the fall happened because you rang/called for help but noone came. They take it personally instead of seeing that we NEED this kind of evidence. Sigh.

what are the wrong reasons, may I ask?

I'm with you on that one reduce if you dont have hard evidence of why mrs x fell then nothing will get done about it.

I have filled in forms about being short staffed but still nothing is done, you are expected to get on with it.

The glamour, long breaks and good pay?

The fact that no-one stops you being a bad nurse if you fancy being one?

I was thinking the exposure to infectious illnesses which you then take home to your family!

Well, yes, the long-term sick pay...

unfortunately MNINN, they are not done more often then they are, if more of us did them then ours wouldn't look quite so much like isolated incidents that could be ignored!

IMO if you don't do them then you have no right to complain when it happens again for the same reason. But yes I do know how depressing it is when you DO and things continue, but at least IMO you then have a right to be pissed off about as as you are not consenting to it through your silence. Does that make sense?