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?

RoyalWelsh, I agree he's a sly, slimy fucker, isn't he?

I might have a look in Bon Marche then Thanks.

Now you've noticed RoyalWelsh, you'll notice it everywhere. Anyone who costs the stae is a piece of scum don't you know. The jobless, disabled, you name it.

I agree with BadDay at 23:35. Either all this is a perfectly deliberate strategy to force the message that Britain Is Broken, we're all a load of worthless shit and that's why he's selling us to the Chinese (or whatever the ultimate outcome) ... or he's thick.

I sometimes wonder. Yesterday he was posturing about "health and safety nonsense" (his words) and seemed to be saying there's no point in taking care of our health & safety. Today it's lazy nurses when everybody knows they're under-funded so, once again, it's fuck your health and fuck the people who try to maintain it. You're all crap.

He hasn't said "There are too many ambulance-chasers, we're going to reinstate the ban on for-profit legal advertising" or "Nurses have to do too much paperwork, we're going to give them all handheld terminals to log their remarks instantly." He's just said "You're all crap."

We need more health workers to Froth, by the way.

Wow Sauvignon that's impressive we get three for full time and two tunics one pair of trousers for part time.

Geez where on earth do you work RRR?

So many unkempt nurses who keep sitting down and drinking tea?

I can see this is what really focuses you and is your main bugbear.

Are you a senior sister or ward manager? If so, to my mind it is really concerning that you feel untidy nurses and drinking hot drinks are the two main issues facing the nursing profession in 2012.

well no bon marche isn't my usual stomping ground, but I don't wear white tunics or flat black shoes in my time off either neither are my chosen style but for work it's not really about my style is it?

I'm bank so I get 2 tunics and 1 pair of trousers even though I do 5 days a week . And yes I have put my issues with this in writing I don't just moan about it

no drinks are allowed to be consumed on the wards in my current trust apart from the water coolers. Noone drinks at the nurses station any more, blanket ban. Its spreading.

My staff get as many sets as the number of shifts they work a week.

We always used to have cups of tea and chocolates at the nurses' station when I was training. The patients were still well cared for though. I don't see the link between cups of tea and poor care tbh. If it's a question of appearances, then people need to get to the root cause of poor care rather than just pretending that everything's hunky dory because it looks nice.

no I'm not a manager and while they are not the main issues they are examples of symptoms of the culture in modern nursing.

It rolls on to more serious things, not everyone wants to, but in many places ward staff know they can rock up looking rough and keep their jobs.. it goes downhill from there... speaking gruffly to patients and keeping their jobs.. and on.

I'm not allowed to find the lack of professionalism wrong though because "its a hard job".

again that's great SB. Even if you're FT ward based I've never worked anywhere that gave the same amount of trousers as tunics, always less - so what are you supposed to only have a clean tunic?
FT is 3 tunics and 2 trousers. Dresses are an option though which eliminates the trouser problem (but they are quite see-through )

The drunk kept her job too There's a pattern here.

..LEAVING FOOD AND DRINK JUST OUT OF REACH of poorly patients and keeping their jobs...

Here here hiddenhome!

In fact I'm sure this is a feminist issue [most nurses are still women]. So long as nurses look neat and are compliant and self sacrificing they are seen as "good".

Their needs, views and expertise is ignored and the focus instead is on how worthy they are. This is assessed by how presentable their appearance is and how they are never seen with a cup of tea in hand

its the OPPOSITE actually isn't it?, my opinion is clearly not popular, whereas the mainly male (50/50 at best, but often still mainly male) teams of doctors are expected to be very well presented if they want to get on. But we don't expect that from our nurses.

professional image + hard work, mutually exclusive? in nursing apparently so but in other professions they're seen to go hand in hand

It's beginning to get right on my wick BadDay! somebody told me the other day that they tax pensions and savings too - which blew my mind. The more I learn and the more of this 'kick the poor/vulnerable/female while they're down and where it hurts' attitude, the more scared I become. He's busy turning Joe Public against each other while still allowing all the big businesses to use the tax loophole that enables them to never pay tax. I bet if he made them pay their share there would be enough money to fund more staff in the NHS.

I have to say as well, the number of people that think it's unreasonable for nurses to expect breaks and have hot drinks appalls me. Why exactly should 'downing a cup of water' be seen as acceptable? Or eating. Sandwichwhile they fill out paper work?

RaPaPaPumPumBootyMum You have hit the nail upon the head!

That relative also calls me "love"

Doctors are smarter because they have been properly brought up Reduce, everyone knows that Middle class types you see

in general employers seem to be of the opinion that if you can't be arsed to scrub up then you probably cant be arsed to be conscientious in the job

but its the other way round in nursing is it? It's not possible to care how you appear and care?

but how does rapapa's arguement work? considering I am in the minority.

You can't sack all the scruffy drunk nurses Reduce. Who are you going to replace them with?

Again though RRR I wonder where it is where you work that you see so many unkempt nurses?

I really can't say that I have ever worked with any... [unless my personal standards of hygiene/neatness are too low to have noticed!]

I still feel this is a minor issue compared to the chronic understaffing on the wards. Also the lack of respect shown to nurses and nursing in general.

Although I wonder if perhaps when a profession is undervalued in society it transfers a lack of pride in the role and appearance of some of it's members?

hiddenhomes would take their place maybe? or one of them at least.

not firing them because they're here is another false economy

Its not necessarily the shite nurses that end up burnt out and leaving, its often the good nurses who have to work with them. I've seen wards where the crap ones have systematically got rid of all that didn't fall into line. You know the one, the one that all the bank nurses turn down!

I don't know where you work Reduce, but 'scruffy nurses' not complying with uniform policy is not an issue where I work. We're all gorgeous.

What is at issue here is the goverments stupid attempt at solving the current lack of actual basic nursing care because of staff shortages and a nurses extended roles. They do lots of jobs now which previously would have been done by junior doctors because it is cheaper for them to do it. Add to that increasing amounts of documentation, administration, form filling, box ticking and data inputing, there really is very little time to do basic nursing 'care'.
It appears they've had no input from the actual professionals themselves but their PR men and give sound bites of what the public want to hear whilst undermining the profession by slighly that they're neglectful, lazy and need to be told by the goverment how to do their jobs.