Nurses watching tv/surfing the internet

[UB40fan]

My daughter was recently in hospital. While there we witnessed nurses watching an hour long tv show and surfing the internet. It was quiet in the hospital at the time. I was stunned by this. The nurses were quite open about this, as in this was obviously allowed. Am i the one behind the times or is this now normal?

BumandChips

That's horrific.

They tried to do that in a ward I worked in Bum, it was an elderly male Dementia care ward so very heavy ,and hard work ,I don't recall the exact sequence of events ,but the union got involved and suddenly all talk of not being allowed even a glass of water was dropped.

Yeah you’d be shocked if I said where it was.

Prob Birmingham children's

Wow. Nurses lives are mostly hell on earth. No time to eat or pee or drink. God forbid they should be seen sitting down. Shock horror. If no needs being neglected then cut them a break.

I bet the managers were allowed to make a drink whenever they wanted Bum?

"OP who hasn't worked for 30 years complains that other people don't work hard enough"

^This

Go get a job and start contributing to the NHS and the Government and no your husband's salary should not let you off the hook, how lazy. What a drainer.

There are good and bad Nurses, just as there are good and bad in any profession. I have worked in Hospitals for over 25 years and have seen some pretty shocking neglect in one ward and then the most incredible Nurses in the next.

I’m stunned they would have time to do that - I’m not a nurse but work in a hospital, no TV on our ward except in patient bays and a relaxation room which would definitely be out of bounds for staff (except on Christmas Day when we close it for an hour and have a buffet for those working, half hour each!). No radio or music allowed at nurse’s station and no phones either. I know a couple of previous posters mentioned using them to check things, nurses have to use an ordinary calculator not their phone and there are laptops for checking anything online. Half hour lunch breaks, water bottles kept in staff room.

If there was nothing needing done, all patients were happy and with no immediate needs, what’s the problem? It’s a rare moment that happens, let them bloody enjoy a bit of respite whilst they have the chance. What would you have them doing instead?

Picking on the easy targets as usual. As a nurse and midwife, its we can be working flat out without a break but on a quiet shift we are chastised - its all very tiresome.

The other thing is that they could have been doing online mandatory training.

Not only would there be no time to do this in our busy teaching hospital the IT systems block any access to outside websites and you couldn't access the TV. We often work through lunch breaks and stay late. We aren't allowed to drink at the nurses station so going to the loo is not so much of an issue. Where is this place?? Most of the nurses I know work on wards with insufficient staffing and are still expected to be more productive and find was of saving money. It is hard graft.

To be fair most nurses work their behinds off most of the time & in the very rare times when they’re on top of everything & no one is in immediate need, who would begrudge them some time to relax & bond as a team?

Seriously unless you work in healthcare it’s very difficult to understand the pressures. I work as a healthcare professional & previous career was office based. I promise nhs clinical work is x 5 demanding & stressful compared to office work.

It’s no wonder the NHS is haemorrhaging Drs & Nurses. And posts like this really don’t help.

The odd hour like that is a small miracle & is much needed. Esp when staying late & working more hours than you’re paid is exponentially more likely!!

If I’m being treated in a hospital I’d want my nurses to be in the best mental health possible, so they can provide the best care and also for their own wellbeing. Part of having good mental health is having time to relax, not being stressed etc. And yes, I don’t see any problem with this taking place during a quiet shift.

As long as they are responsive to patients’ needs I’d much rather be treated by a nurse who has spent the last hour Mumsnetting or watching tv rather than one who has been on her feet for 12 hours, needs a wee and has 10 other urgent tasks to do after they treat me.

When my mother was in a hospice in a four room ward, the woman opposite was dying and a nurse was sent to sit with her. She didn't draw the screens round the bed. I think this was because this nurse and one other sat watching Coronation Street and actually turned up the volume to cover the sound of her patient's laboured breathing. It was horrific but I didn't feel in a position to say anything since my mother was so ill and reliant on their care. I have often wished that I hadn't been such a coward.

Lol.....it wasn't the dark ages y'know .....

They do a fantastic job,it's very hard constantly being in the public eye.
Don't judge them.
Thank them for the very difficult job they do day in,day out.

And you know that for a fact ? they are nurses not prison warders .and "huddled around a snack machine" well in our hospital there are no machines allowed on the ward they are in rest areas .......silly me nurses can't be seen to need a break ....and fyi nurses meal breaks are unpaid !

In our hospital Costas is where you can nearly always find a manager....

There’s a reason why 40,000 nursing jobs in the UK are vacant!

Company I work for has restrictions on what you can surf. Often you end up using your smartphone because websites that you could use for work related queries are blocked. System is so slow it’s almost like dial up so you’d never be able to watch tv.

I did a return to nursing course and did a few days on a ward. I started at 7.30 and did not have a drink or use the toilet until 3.30 as I was so busy. It made me realise that my health and well-being was too important for that so I chose a different type of nursing. Such a shame as I loved the experience I got from the ward. Wards are so understaffed that everyone’s health/needs are compromised. If indeed those nurses did spend all that time doing what you say, I’m sure they have many unpaid hours in the bank to justify this.

I bet the managers were allowed to make a drink whenever they wanted Bum?

Of course. But God forbid nurses are seen drinking out of a water bottle.

I’d be surprised about nurses watching TV on a computer, firstly because we barely have time for a wee, and secondly we can’t access the TV on the computer due to firewalls. How do you know they weren’t doing their E-learning which you can only do online and is mandatory and something else we get penalised over.

We shouldn’t be watching TV during the day, reading magazines or looking at phones. I have told students off for thinking it’s ok to sit at the desk and look at magazines. However on nights, it’s different, if patients are asleep and all jobs are done, that’s the time nurses get to know each other! We chat, we play cards, drinks cups of tea, read, whatever. Why not? As long as patient care is done.

That said I have on a day shift, filled a bay with chairs so all parents and patients can watch the World Cup, done karaoke with children on the hospital radio and sat and watched the X factor final with several patients.

There’s a reason why 40,000 nursing jobs in the UK are vacant!

I'm no expert in these matters, but according to this it's a bit more subtle than that - though TBF the figures are only up to 2017:

fullfact.org/health/number-nurses-midwives-uk/

"It’s been estimated by the RCN that there are around 40,000 vacant nursing positions in England (as of December 2016). That isn’t the same as the number of nurses NHS England needs, it’s the estimated number of vacant posts it has funding for"

They would have you spring cleaning literally everything in sight. Stocking up trolleys, draws, Sluice room, etc etc.