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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Death of 2 Nurses

79 replies

shirleybanister · 05/04/2020 11:56

Am I being unreasonable to think that nurses, especially those with dependent children, should not be risking their lives, caring for Covid 19 patients, without adequate PPE?
I can’t tell you how sad I felt to hear of the deaths of two nurses, both working in acute medical units, both with 3 children.
A weekly round of applause isn’t going to help bereaved families come to terms with their grief, nor is it going to help pay their bills.

OP posts:
Beebie2 · 05/04/2020 12:04

YANBU It’s an absolute disgrace.

NewYearNewJob123 · 05/04/2020 12:08

Who on earth do you think is going to say you are?

IhateBoswell · 05/04/2020 12:10

No one will find you unreasonable 🙄

WhatDoIDooDIoDtahW · 05/04/2020 12:10

It is awful, it’s so so sad. I sit here with my 3 month old feeling almost guilty that I’m sat here doing nothing but spending time with her when there are women and men on the frontline risking their lives, leaving children behind. It’s such an incredibly hard situation and I can imagine how scared these doctors and nurses (and all other key workers really!) are, yet they still get up and go to work everyday for us.

I like to do the clap, it’s nice to hear my whole village come together and support them, and us together. Differences aside, we’re all our clapping for the same reason forming a semi union. It’s a nice gesture, no matter how insignificant people deem it to be. I have nurse friends on my social media who post about how emotional they feel hearing people clap and how it makes their job so much more worth while to hear the appreciation everywhere they go.

We all just want it to be over Sad

Theresnobslikeshowb · 05/04/2020 12:15

It’s not just nurses, it’s healthcare assistants and doctors. Even 5 bus drivers now who help transport people to their jobs daily in London.

It’s so God damn scary! And I say this time and time again, but some people will only sit up, pay attention, and do as they should, when someone they love is affected. By which time it’s too late. It’s a ‘it doesn’t affect me so I don’t care’ attitude, and they are the killer attitudes.

Emmas85 · 05/04/2020 12:15

I completely agree. Both of my sisters have children young children and are both nurses working on acute wards, one of which has a confirmed patient. They're doing all they can to keep their families safe but are in tears everyday because there is just not enough PPE. It's heartbreaking to hear and to think about what could happen.

Helenshielding · 05/04/2020 12:16

No one should have to, children or not. Every one is important. The government needs to sort out the ppe situation.

SentimentalKiller · 05/04/2020 12:20

Who is going to do the care if all the nurses and care staff with children can't do front line work?
What we need are proper procedures and equipment to keep them safe. The government needs to be held to account after this is over for any death in the care sector
I see 5London bus drivers have also died 😢
It's not good enough. Anyone working with the public needs proper protection but our government left it too late to secure supplies. There used to be a pandemic task force but it was disbanded because of austerity

Sparky87 · 05/04/2020 12:24

No, they shouldn’t. But what choice do we have? I’m isolating away from my children because we don’t have the PPE we need to keep our families safe. I’m being torn apart for daring to miss my family on another thread. I’m being told I have no empathy because I’m encouraging people to follow the guidelines and stay at home. I just feel so empty. I want to read my kids a bedtime story and sleep in my own bed.

startrek90 · 05/04/2020 12:38

YANBU. My mum is a healthcare worker with the elderly and didn't have any PPE. She has now just been diagnosed with covid 19 Sad it's ridiculous that the front line staff are not being protected and the government doesn't seem to care.

DontStandSoCloseToMe · 05/04/2020 12:40

2 probation officers have died in the last week they have no PPE at all and the government have just announced they're going to release another 4000 prisoners early without testing them. Who do you think will be seeing them? Police and social workers have little PPE provision either

ohtheholidays · 05/04/2020 13:01

Sparky87 I am so sorry anyone on here or anywhere else has dared to be a cunt towards you I really am! Flowers

I can't imagine what you and your family are going through I really can't it must be so bloody hard to have to do such a hard job in such a shit situation and to then not be able to go home to your family after an awful shift must be unbearable.

How the fuck anyone has the cheek to accuse you of not having empathy I don't know.

I hope you stay safe and that it won't be to much longer until you can be back with your family,I for one really appreciate what your doing,we as a family are doing what we can(which really doesn't feel like anything)by staying indoors and we haven't seen our 3 oldest DC or our baby Grandson for weeks now as we won't mix households.

Potionqueen · 05/04/2020 13:29

A third nurse has died. Only in his 20s. He was at work and has symptoms, fever and cough. They would not leet him go home as it would have left them short staffed.

He went home after a 12 hour shift, took 2 paracetamol and died.

Sparky87 · 05/04/2020 13:31

Thank you @ohtheholidays. That means a lot xx

Potionqueen · 05/04/2020 13:34

Sparky87, this is Mumsnet. Ignore the twats spitting venom at you.
Keep safe.

Seaelf · 05/04/2020 13:41

Those "in charge" are playing with the lives of doctors, nurses, care workers etc, the lack of ppe is shocking. We have been promised delivery of ppe for about 6 weeks now. First from usual suppliers, then the army were to deliver, now it's gone to a "hub". Repeatedly being asked what we need & made to complete yet another version of an order form for it not to arrive. Public Health changed the ppe guidance on Thursday, a pointless, arse covering exercise when those it's directed at can't get basic ppe, never mind fluid resistant face masks, googles or face shields.

foreverhungry2409 · 05/04/2020 13:42

Of course yanbu! In my opinion, enough is not being done for all these NHS workers in the front line. It's unbelievably sad for their families and kids who didn't even get to say bye.

The government needs to understand that failure to provide NHS workers with PPE will result in them catching the virus and inevitably some of them will die. With the way the country is at the moment we simply cannot afford for some of our most valuable workers to die unnecessarily when simple PPE would have protected them.

And can I just add, I am SICK TO DEATH of people flouting lockdown rules! These rules are in place to protect us yet people do not understand that. People don't understand that you can have the virus in your system with none of the symptoms and pass it on to someone so easily who could genuinely die.

Hope you all stay in good health, and hugs to you all going stir crazy, in with you 😫

Selfsettling3 · 05/04/2020 13:44

All healthcare professionals should have adequate PPE although apparently 15% of people on this poll don’t think so 🤔

Potionqueen · 05/04/2020 13:46

15% of people on this thread are moronic idiots. Or Jeremy Hunt clones.

Nurse2020 · 05/04/2020 13:47

NC as potentially identifying.

Whilst we don’t have adequate PPE by any stretch of the imagination, please do note that Aimee, one of the nurses who passed away, was my colleague and she contracted Covid-19 in the community, not from work.

JanMeyer · 05/04/2020 14:15

No one will find you unreasonable.

You would think wouldn't you. But I bet the person who started the thread the other day saying those who wanted to should be allowed to go to work and carry on as normal would be also be the type of person to say YABU.
Some people give zero fucks about other people, as long as their life can carry on as normal they're happy. It's depressing to see just how selfish some people are. Equally depressing is seeing people who you know voted tory now clapping for the NHS. And they see no contradiction between the two.

People are dying, medical professionals are dying, yet some people still think we should carry on as normal. Apparently some people can put a monetary value on human life.
I did hope that with time people would realise it's not only the sick and elderly are at risk of dying, yeah, still waiting.

CarmonEileen · 05/04/2020 14:23

@Nurse2020 this is so sad! Aimee was a very close friend of my husbands family from Margate, in fact you probably know them yourself (one especially who worked with her! Its so very sad for the girld and her Dad.

Sparky87 · 05/04/2020 14:37

I’ve now had several messages suggesting I am not putting my family first because of my line of work. I’m happy to screenshot them if anyone would like to see the abuse the nhs is getting

Helenshielding · 05/04/2020 14:38

I did hope that with time people would realise it's not only the sick and elderly are at risk of dying, yeah, still waiting.

Exactly. Some of what is being said about just letting the old and vulnerable die is sickening. Another poster on another thread has just said boris is prioritising older people because he needs their votes Hmm

Helenshielding · 05/04/2020 14:40

All healthcare professionals should have adequate PPE although apparently 15% of people on this poll don’t think so 🤔

I would suspect the 15% are actually saying YABU because the original question was more focused on people with kids not doing these jobs. Having kids should make no difference, it doesnt make you more loved or more worthy. We are all equals in this. A life is not more expendable because you dont have children.