AIBU to wonder WTF has happened to nursing “care” in our NHS?

[AnnieGetYourPun]

And don’t tell me it’s all Covid/staff shortages/staff illness related.

My niece was eventually admitted to hospital after being sent home twice from A&E (in agony) and is now on a gynae ward. It’s just her and an elderly lady on the ward. The elderly lady was getting agitated as she needed the toilet. The nurse came and said, and I quote “it’s alright, use your pad and we’ll come and sort you out later”. This has really upset my niece who’s dodging sepsis now, on the ward, on massive IV antibiotics/anti-emetics and IV analgesia. She has narrowly avoided a ruptured uterus as there was no one to do a scan on her, after a 12 hr wait in A&E. She is 32.

Nurses now... all of ‘em have degrees. All dead clever. Very few of them have an ounce of “caring” in them.

Fry me on here. I’m past fucking caring.

Should add. I trained in the NHS. Was a student/junior staff nurse/senior staff nurse/junior sister and G grade senior sister before retirement. Never, in my f***g life have I seen such lack of basic care and maintenance of human dignity than I have witnessed in NHS hospitals, in the past two years.

Shove your clapping and rainbows.

It’s often ex nurses that comment on nursing care and say how appalling it is I find. Not as good as it was in their day etc etc. We all have bad experiences and yes there are good nurses and not so good ones, but in my opinion you can’t get any more ‘uncaring’ than classing a whole profession as not having ‘an ounce of caring about em’ . There are many many nurses out there breaking their backs in very difficult circumstances, who have lost many patients and lost much loved colleagues. You’ve had a bad experience, if you’re an ex nurse you know the right way to deal with this is to report it to the ward manager or PALS, rather than posting scathing comments on mumsnet to drum up bad feeling towards your previous profession.

[quote AnnieGetYourPun]@Letsallscreamatthesistene

We HAVE to call out poor care. Your comment tells me you might be someone happy to sit in her own excrement whilst eating her supper. You’re happy with that... good for you. I wouldn’t be.[/quote]
Always call out poor care, always. I hate the hero worship of the NHS in this country and the guilt tripping of anyone who suggests it is not perfect.
I work in the NHS and there is a lot wrong with it and a lot of people working in it who shouldn’t be.

@AnnieGetYourPun

And don’t tell me it’s all Covid/staff shortages/staff illness related.

My niece was eventually admitted to hospital after being sent home twice from A&E (in agony) and is now on a gynae ward. It’s just her and an elderly lady on the ward. The elderly lady was getting agitated as she needed the toilet. The nurse came and said, and I quote “it’s alright, use your pad and we’ll come and sort you out later”. This has really upset my niece who’s dodging sepsis now, on the ward, on massive IV antibiotics/anti-emetics and IV analgesia. She has narrowly avoided a ruptured uterus as there was no one to do a scan on her, after a 12 hr wait in A&E. She is 32.

Nurses now... all of ‘em have degrees. All dead clever. Very few of them have an ounce of “caring” in them.

Fry me on here. I’m past fucking caring.

Should add. I trained in the NHS. Was a student/junior staff nurse/senior staff nurse/junior sister and G grade senior sister before retirement. Never, in my f***g life have I seen such lack of basic care and maintenance of human dignity than I have witnessed in NHS hospitals, in the past two years.

Shove your clapping and rainbows.

The nurse came and said, and I quote “it’s alright, use your pad and we’ll come and sort you out later”

I'm appalled and upset regarding this. Surely this is wrong - why can't the lady be taken to the hospital or even given a bedpan. Do it in your pad like she's a baby. Gawd what is going on.

Three years ago @Crunchymum

Are you asking because like a previous poster, you think I’m out of touch with “modern” stresses and strains and the work is so much more demanding now?

No. I just think the care is not good, often.

It’s not healthy to deny there are issues in the NHS.

@BBCONEANDTWO it could be many reasons but when I worked as a carer yes some people new to using pads would be distressed or who had dementia and would forget they were wearing a pad so telling them it was ok to go wasn't unusual

@Murphs1. Yes, I did make a complaint via the formal channels. The hospital have replied. The CCG has seen it. We, the family, have not been given access to it. Seventeen months later.

Annie, what do you actually want to get from doing this post? Most nurses and HCA work very hard for their money and really do care. There are a few that don’t but no one likes working with them and there are some wards that have a bad ‘culture’ . I really think that is the minority though. Poor care is common though because realistically with 9 or more very needy patients plus the needs of the relatives too and only two members of staff to do all the work it can lead to poor care. Very good care is very time consuming and in many countries families help more. Usually when poor care is ‘identified, some genius creates more paper work in order to fix the problem.

[quote QueenPaw]@BBCONEANDTWO it could be many reasons but when I worked as a carer yes some people new to using pads would be distressed or who had dementia and would forget they were wearing a pad so telling them it was ok to go wasn't unusual [/quote]
What if it was for a poo though - surely you can't be expected to lie in that if you've asked to be taken to the ladies?

I wasn't suggesting you are out of touch @AnnieGetYourPun but it is interesting that you mention "the last two years"

How many nurses have you come across post retirement?

I totally appreciate that you had an awful experience with your mum (and I am glad you complained) but do you think your views are being clouded by the personal experiences you've had recently, which whilst wholly unacceptable, surely should not tar a whole profession?

@BBCONEANDTWO yes. If someone is unable to take themselves and they get 4 care visits a day and either need to go overnight or in between visits then 🤷🏽‍♀️ they go
Some used pads all the time, some would use toilet/commode on visits if they could be hoisted and there were two of us

Of course we must call out poor care. Again, and again, and again. However, you cannot say with any seriousness that ALL nursing care is substandard.

Are you going to reply to the posters saying how silly it is to say that? Or are you just going to conveniently ignore it?

It’s not healthy to deny there are issues in the NHS.

This! It is essential to be able to discuss failures in care without defensiveness or attacking the person raising a concern.

Who did you vote in the General Election ?

@QueenPaw...Oh, I see. Well sadly, through the ill health of close family and friends, quite a bit!

One of the worst things was hearing an elderly man being told to stop calling for help as he wasn’t the only poorly person on the ward. He never had any visitors (not whilst we visited which was daily/twice daily) and was blind. I think he was just calling for “company”. When we left often, we’d walk past the nursing station and see them sat chatting about day to day things. I can honestly say, we never saw anyone sat talking to this chap, not a nurse or any visitor, over a period of many weeks visiting.

How did I vote?

It’s none of your business.

What I will say is that this Govt. is a fucking shambles, Jeremy Hunt is the twat who starved health and social care of funds and decimated the NHS LONG BEFORE Covid and I wish I were a mate of Matt Hancock and could knit some PPE for a few million backhander.

That alright, @Jumpintothefire?

I came out of the nhs in part because of this OP

Big shout out to all those who don’t blindly hero worship the NHS. To those who are prepared to come forward and say “this isn’t care; it’s not good enough”.

Without people speaking out we’re at the mercy of dodgy health trusts; shit care; corner cutting; unnecessary deaths; lack of advocacy and eugenics.

Failures in the NHS appear to be because nurses have degrees apparently. Even though nurses have degrees in every country now. The reason for overall poor care is not enough staff on the floor doing the hard work. No one wants to pay for more staff though.

But ALL nurses though, OP? ALL nurses?

As with everything there are good and bad.

When I was in For 4 days after DS all but one midwife/nurse was amazing. They were extremely busy but did as much as they could to help.

When my grandad was in hospital for heart op 5 years ago my mum (only just retired ward nurse from a different area) was appalled at the treatment. No one would empty his bed pan so after a couple hours she took it and placed it in front of the nurses station. The nurses were standing around gassing.

I think the vast majority of nurses are awesome and do a great job. But there are some nurses who really are i the wrong profession.

There are people not up to it in every profession.

DD spent some time in and out of hospital and the vast majority of her nurses were fantastic and went above and beyond.

1 was poor imho. 1 isn't all.

But I thought you said it was all nurses op?

Surely you know that care is impacted by all these things?

I didn’t say ALL NURSES didn’t care. Clearly some do. Read what I said in the OP. The training now requires a degree.

However, for all that study and high achievement, you can’t “teach” caring.

And eugenics?? That is just a ridiculous statement.