Nursing should be re-named?

[SunshinePie]

Was pondering over this recently, is calling “nursing” is a bit old fashioned? You now need a degree to be a nurse, and they often are pretty much doing junior doctor jobs. Calling it something else that recognises it’s academic demands, and also more inclusive to males wanting to work in the field…something like Healthcare Medic / Healthcare Practitioner/ Assistant Medic…. Or similar, you get the idea….

-YABU, it should be kept “nurse”, it’s traditional and has roots in “nursing an infant” ie breastfeeding (that reflects the caring nature)

-YANBU it’s old fashioned, insulting to people with degrees and esp males.

@lameasahorse yes that's the impression I too would have given you.

Im so proud to be a nurse.

Its insulting that you think we should be insulted by the term nurse!

Where did you gain such a wide range of medical knowledge? Are you a Dr?

Such a depressing thread.

im glad I work in a supportive speciality where we all value each other irrespective of “hierarchy”.

Hardly. Starting salary around 23k isn't it? A good wage for a 22 year old outside London and the SE and the average pay is over 30k so more than average.

I think parents/friends/partners of the patient being there during ward round is something that should be highly encouraged if the person want to be there and if the patient consents.

Some patients, especially vulnerable ones, can feel/act a bit passive during ward round so I think it would be a really positive thing if they could have someone there with them to ask questions and advocate for them.

Such a ding dong of a thread.

All I'd like to say is that all the hand-wringing on here of titles, degrees, status, diagnosing status etc means absolutely nothing to me any more .

Just want to know what kind of nursing / caring went on when my mum was in hospital for eight days following a fall.
She barely ever saw anyone. The bells were constantly ringing on her ward. She was hungry and thirsty and left the hospital with pressure sores that a community HCP spotted when she came home.

My mum said that she could see the nurses at the desk just outside her ward. They were always talking, laughing, on their mobiles but hardly ever went in to the ward.
The poor HCP was running ragged.

There's something wrong in basic nursing care in hospitals.
Have such similar stories regarding my late in-laws too.

Nursing, as a verb, doesn't seem to happen much.

But if the doctor did it often, would that be OK. In most countries, smears are done by gynaecologists.

the accurate term is REGISTERED nurse aka qualified
Whilst nurses primary duty is care they also have to observe & do ongoing tests & report ongoing changes - they have to know about anatomy, physiology, medication etc because that is part of their remit. they may need to urgent treatment (resuscitation or diabetes for a start!) & if, for instance, thrombosis occurs or gangrene. & far far more than that
I know this from training over 40 years ago & these duties have only increased

This thread gets better. No Dr has even given me a smear... its always been a nurse. I didnt know that's what Dr's routinely do smears!

Yes, I'd like to see the stats for this.

There's confidentiality to consider also though. You can't have everyone's relative and friends attending ward round! Fair enough of you have a needs but you can't invite everyone. Its not some type of social gathering on hospital.

Patients sometimes can't rest because of relatives.

You can't just breach confidentiality to that level!

They don't routinely in the UK, but I have had one done by a gynaecologist and in other countries this would be normal.

I'm a registered Nurse and very proud of my title.

Indeed

23k for being in charge of a 20 bed unit - you can earn more and less stress working in retail. The responsibility is overwhelming for some, we don’t just walk away end of day and switch off, I bumped into a relative several years after discharge, she was amazed I remembered names, you don’t forget all the input and longing for people to get better for the long term patients there’s is still a lot of compassion demonstrated by the majority of staff.
The pp who mentioned pride was so right, at the risk of sounding like an oldie - I feel there isn’t as much pride and professionalism - difference in training maybe- I don’t mean just nursing, the junior drs also there are noticeable difference in how work is approached now. I guess the senior staff might have said this 20-30 years ago too !
this thread isn’t showing the nhs staff in a good light but there is still so much good and it’s up to us to train and support the newbies.

Sorry wasn’t clear . They’re a lot of compassion for all patients not just long term patients of course, missed a , in the sentence !

Nurse isn't a pejorative term! I am proud to be a nurse. While nurses may completed a number of tasks done by doctors in the past or in different countries, that doesn't make us "sub-doctors" in any way. Our professions and skills are different, we are colleagues who work together.

"23k for being in charge of a 20 bed unit - you can earn more and less stress working in retail."

Management retail you mean? It's not what a shop assistant earns. I did specify that it's a good wage outside London and the south east. I understand that it may not be in some areas. Secondary teachers start on something similar and many of them can buy a house in their twenties.

I'm afraid that's been my experience too. A former colleague of mine died a horrible death-he had a specialist diabetic nurse, a specialist tube-feeding nurse and a specialist stoma care nurse. He had minimal nursing care, was in severe pain, became septic from his bed sores but at least his blood sugar was maintained.

My terminally ill father received more support and care from the domestic cleaner on his ward than anyone else. His room was adjacent to the nurses station and he was kept awake night after night by loud, endless chatter and gossip, and he was close enough to hear that none of it was actually about patients. The hospital where he died was graded as "needs improvement" by CQC and nursing quality has been an ongoing issue. The response to our letter of complaint was "sorry if you feel upset."

£25,655 is the starting pay for a Registered Nurse with no weighting additions. After 5 years, pay is £31,554. Published pay scales are easy to find. So no Registered Nurse earns £23,000 when in charge of a ward in 2022.