Nurses eating on shift...

[PatsyAndEddy]

Just back from hospital visiting a friend who had her tonsils out today. She had to fast from 10 pm last night and didn't get taken for her op until 2pm, that's a long time without food for anyone!

She missed dinner on the ward but they got her a sandwich but she's really sore and hungry!

On the ward her bed is right next to the nurses station. She said they were sitting munching on a large bag of kettle chips in front of her between the three of them. She commented on how she thought that was a but mean, they snapped back saying 'well we have to eat' at which point my friend reminded them that's what they're breaks were for.

I don't think she's flavour of the month in the ward! She can be a bit of a grump at the best of times but starving, sore and groggy I think she reached her limit!

We're the nurses being unreasonable, eating on shift?

I'm not saying I like it. I'm not saying nurses don't deserve breaks. All these professions do. I am saying that lots of people work significant hours doing hard work with minimal opps for food. That is not a nurse only phenomenon. Sad. Definitely. But they are not alone.

Never heard of multitasking Patsy?!

The parents on our ward will buy loads of cakes, chocolate etc when they leave. It is at the nurses station & it becomes a very popular place to be.

I would say that those parents are probably encouraging us. The bastards.

I agree it isn't appropriate but I think in a lot of places in the NHS it is inevitable unless you expect people to starve. Whenever possible people go to the staff room for five minutes and eat a sandwich but there are some days when the only thing they eat is a couple of chocolates from a box on the desk and who would begrudge them?

I do think some areas have great staffing, I worked with a midwife who trained in a unit where the midwives would stop at 11am for tea and cake. I was I have spent my entire career in London in units where if you get a 15 minute break in 12 hours and leave on time its a good day. I am so glad not to be doing that job now because yes the sickness was sky high and the turnover enormous

married I am sorry that you had a bad experience with DS. That sounds really awful and scary. Handing our lives over when we are vulnerable requires lots of trust, if someone damages that then it leaves a really bad taste.
Though perhaps a little unfair to judge all nhs staff the same. But I guess we all make judgements based on our own experience, that is human nature.

I wasn't insulting or attacking your son. I had read some of your previous posts and thought Hooray! Someone is raising their child with some fabulous values, a work ethic and supporting their child without spoon feeding them. Parenting I aspire to. I don't really register many posters on here, but the odd post sticks. Your judgemental remarks surprised me I guess and IMO FWIW I just said that I hope your DS doesn't isn't as detached from the ground as you appear to be. I'd be over the moon if my own child had the same aspirations and independence as yours. I wasn't attacking him. I am RG educated, I have also worked and lived in some of the most deprived communities in the UK. It's easy to take a political and ideological view when you are not living that life.

Anyway, going off tangent.

I actually agree with quite a lot of your opinions, I just don't think they are fairly placed, that's all.

Secretaries not getting a break ? Really ? Doing 14 hour shifts in what world is that ? Cleaners not getting breaks ?
Have you done these jobs or do you know someone who does this and regularly works for 13+ hours without a break ? This is absolutely not my experience.

Some sites are huge too, depending on the job. Like the windmills he was installing, 15 minute walk from the van, no facilities. Not exactly conducive to eating on the job.

Call centre workers clock in software and out for toilet breaks and food. These are allocated in the systems. Failure to take designated minutes or over the designated minutes is very strict.

My secretarial people used a very similar software package.

I asked my nurse friend about her breaks the other day... she laughed!

Good God, where had the humanity in the workplace gone?

Well Pasty if there is no where to wash your hands before eating or after going to the toilet that is a massive health and safety risk surely. Sounds awful, I assume he has an employer given the rigity of his breaks, he should take it up with them.

Certain areas do have better staffing - any area that involves outcome that can be measured.
ICU, Trauma and Oncology typically.
Care of the elderly are usually worst off

Yes but they do get breaks....not saying working in a call centre is preferable to being a front line hcp (I love my job). But being told you have 20 minutes after 4 hours is completely different from not going to the loo for 10 hours because it is 3 minutes walk away and there is noone to cover and you think there is a real chance the patient will die if you leave the bedside.

Here we go with the competitive shift bollocks. 'Grafting'. Now the true colours appear. Some people have nothing better to do but moan about FA and be rude twats.

Sub contractor through agencies which is pretty much the norm now unless you were lucky enough to get on the books with a firm who has weathered the storm which is rare.

Conditions have always been awful in construction, there's been vast improvements but things are sliding again, especially with remote sites (not your new build by barret or whoever, your large scale projects like railways, wind farms etc).

To be honest breaks are the least of their concerns. The health and safety is a priority, we're talking safe use of dangerous equipment.

Expat I was asked, people have asked for comparisons, comparisons are coming. That ok with you? You seem irritated.

What's FA expat?

I think this all a non sequiter. As I said up thread crisps at the nursing station wouldn't be tolerated where I work I think Sagfold has it right let's just all have bit of humanity.

Patsy yeah, I know it's not just nurses in those conditions, construction workers have a gruelling time to. Luckily for them though, they aren't on the receiving end of public hate and don't have to deal with rude, aggressive and insulting people every day.

My nurse friend told me she went to the vending machine at her break (works in A&E) and as the change came out the machine a lovely member of the public said. 'You can leave that for me, you lot get paid more than enough' Friend had not had a break for 7 hours and only had time for a bar of chocolate on the run. In which professions is it routinelydeemed to be o.k for people to be spoken to like this?? And people like married expect Nurses to be saints upholding mother teresa like standards day in day out??!!

And pasty and Eddies DH seems to have a really tough job...

I cut my teeth in a call centre, took more than my fair share of abuse.

My dad's a bus driver, has been hospitalised once through an attack and been spat on twice. Despicable.

No one should be getting abuse at their work.

As a dinosaur of nursing I have seen many changes. Started as student nurse in 1973. We all got meal breaks at the canteen [including during the night ]. No one ate at the desk then and no need to. Patients were a mix of acute and about to be discharged . Doctors did the high tech stuff . So as second year student I was left alone for an hour at night as normal for the time . Bleep the department sister if worried was the answer if anything went wrong. Looking back it was so dangerous . Can you imagine that now? My memories of neuro surgery ward are etched in my brain.

My last years were so different. No canteen or any food available in the hospital other than vending machine. No breaks ever and food and drink snatched when you could . The doctors were even more hungry and thirsty as they over ran clinics in satellite hospitals and careered back late to start another one . I carried bananas and cereal bars in my bag all the time to help my fellow colleagues . Made illicit cups of tea at high speed .

I left . My mental health in tatters .

OP, I couldn't give a shiny shite about your DH's luncheon provision and cannot see its relevance to your Nurse-bashing thread about your rude friend.

I have to say after being in hospital for six weeks and several days/ a week fasting, people are very precious about "not eating". I wasn't allowed food for days and yes, it sucked but got on with it. Others didn't eat for a few hours and were so rude and obnoxious to the nurses. Maybe we are so used to being over fed we can't cope with a little bit of hunger.

Also saw many elderly people left for days on end. Their "loved" ones would show up after a week, demand hell and be outraged, stay 30 minutes then leAve again. Nurses on the whole, amazing.

I'm answering questions posed about other people's working conditions. Did you miss that part?