Why are some NHS staff unkept looking?

[BoozySuzie]

I don't visit hospitals often thank goodness but I can't help but notice a lot of staff in hospitals are quite scruffy. Surely working in a hospital environment it is imperitive to be spotlessly clean and well groomed?? The Philipino nurses always look clean and tidy it's just our staff.

Tiredmama just you wait until your trust decreases your number of staff and gives you patients that have triple the acuity. Just wait. This isn't happening everywhere but it is happening up and down the country. You will no longer be able to do a good job and "feel good". Your registration will be on the line every day.

I took a lower paying job to get out by the way.

It is our job as nurses to make people aware that it is unrealistic for one nurse to handle 20 something patients and still do a good job. Until people realise this the situation will get worse. And worse. And worse.

Current research is showing that anything more than 1-6 nurses on a medical ward and 1-4 nurses on a surgical ward is dangerous...even if you have the best nurses in the world you will have a high rate of complications, mistakes, and deaths if you go above those ratios. The US, Canada, and Australia are passing safe nurse/patient ratio laws with this research in mind.

This research has also found that it is more cost effective to have these safe ratios because of the decrease in complications, deaths, and complaints.

If we don't band together and make people aware pretty soon they are going to have one nurse to three 30 bedded wards..with the nurse taking all the heat for any problems. This just hurts our patients.

Nurses who "sugar coat" the situation stop us from fixing the undelying problems. Check these out if you have time.

allnurses.com/forums/f100/registered-nurse-safe-staffing-act-one-important-262037.html

allnurses.com/forums/f100/arizona-patient-protection-act-introduced-sets-safe-nurse-patient-staffing -ratios-271740.html

I had 3 children under the age of 5 at one time with no support and I worked shifts. One is autistic. Yes I found it stressful. No it was not as stressful as work can be.

AnneMayesR, everyone handles nursing and the responisibily differntly and so lets just say that nursing wasn't for you and put an end to it. No one is sugar coating anything, some nurses have it harder than others but the bottom line is they all work very hard and do the job the best they can and that's all they can do.

So i should just step away from the thread now and be happy that your not nursing anymore as it clearly made you unhappy.

Tiredmama these are very serious issues. People are dying.

Here is some more articles for you. I have read everyone. I may have left nursing but I have not left nursing advocacy.

www.nursingadvocacy.org/faq/short-staffed.html

We are losing too many good nurses because of abusive and unsafe working conditions and it is completely unnecessary. Too many patients are dying because of avoidable problems.

It is a global problem and as people start living longer with chronic conditions and hospitals continue to cut costs to afford new treatments the situation is going to explode.

This is why I come onto these threads and rant away.

Well I am waiting to start my nurse training in March but after reading Anne's post I don't think I will bother - I don't like the sound of it at all. I will have to think about another Career path now .

oh fgs are you really put off your vocation That easily??well if the mere sight of a contentious post has got you in a flap yes maybe have a sit down and dont be so flappy

Healthcare is hard work - mentally , physically, emotionally But also VVRewarding, intellectually stimulating, academically challenging

you decide

Oh go for it Jeannie. What doesn't kill you will make you strong.

By the time you graduate staffing laws may be in place in this country. I am one of many nurse advocates busting my arse for you guys. Bide your time and wait until a job comes up on a well run ward at a good hospital. Move if you have too.

I am not trying to scare anyone I am just bringing a serious issue up for discussion.

We are losing lots and lots (thousands) of good nurses who love nursing because of the staffing problems and lack of support. They are being held accountable and blamed for stuff that is out of their control. It was good to use Boozy's thread as a medium to get this stuff talked about. Even if only 1 out of 100 people who read my posts get what I am saying that that is a good thing.

im sure youre not "busting your ass" for lil ol' me anna

i am still wounded at being called umkempt

Jeaniejay - Nursing is by far not a walk in the park (not unless you wear rose tinted glasses all the time)... You go into nursing to care for the people who need treatment whether physically or mentally - I agree with scottishmummy - don't let one thread on here make you change your mind about a something that will effect the rest of your life?!

Yeah actually I am nailpolish. The way things stand now legally..your hospital could turn around and leave you with 8 ITU patients if they wanted to and then leave you to hang out to dry if something happened. That is wrong.

There are lots of people that believe that the government is, in a backhanded way, trying to destroy the NHS and privatize it without admitting it directly.

there are ways of coverng your back anna if that happened

ive used them

AnneM- Sorry you've had it so tough but I have many medical professionals in my family and I think the situations that you are describing are quite rare unlesss you were based in a particularly badly-run ward or hospital.
My experiences are London based and while I can accept that nurses are under alot of pressure and are certainly overworked the majority manage to do their jobs professionly without putting anyones life at risk. Most get great job satisfaction too.

I always, always make myself look nice for work. Make sure uniform is clean and tidy and not gone grey in the wash! Even in scrubs i dont think i look unkempt. I reapply my lipgloss at every available opportunity. However, if its a bad shift i often look like a tramp at the end of the day.

maybe anna worked at the worst hospital in the UK?? i have never heard of nurses working in the condtions anne describes - either than or she must be exaggerating big time.

jumoing in a bit late here but just wanted to add my twopenceworth

my dd1 was 3 when she had a reaction to some farm animals that had been at her nursery, by the time the ambulance arrived she could not breathe. the female paramedic who treated her was not only fat but she stank a bit of b.o [shock horror]

howerver seeing as how she saved my little girls life (and god knows how many others in her time) i was willing to overlook the fact that she had not taken the time to have a shower before coming into my house

i am sure this woman really was a angel in disguise, not only did she sit with me and calm me down when we arrived at the hospital but she came back once her shift had ended to see how we all were.

her green jumpsuit was not the most fashionable or flattering thing she could have worn but she could have been dressed in a bin bag for all i cared that day.

Imho nursing is the only profession that sets you up to fail, then takes zero responsibility when it does. I say this having sat here for a good 5 mins trying to think of another.(I am not saying there isn't one, but I can't think of it)

Ok the thread seems to be lost. The op asked why some staff are unkempt.

1. Lack of time due to high patient ratios and lots of manual work for long shifts ensures that hair and face cannot be restored on duty!
2. Overweightness due to the stress of high patient ratios and lack of time to eat at sensible meal times. Need to eat quickly due to very short breaks.
3. Trusts provide all white uniforms/trousers and tunics, however, the most you get is 3 sets. You are not entitled to replacements unless they are seen as ripped or don't fit.
4. Pay affects this as well. Shoes are often worn until they fall apart because pay is poor and shoes are a luxury when a mortgage has to be paid.
5. The nature of the job means that nurses tend to get splashed with bodily fluids at some point in a shift so will be dirty.

I am a mum. I now CM and am a trained nurse. I took a career break to look after dd. I have also worked for supermarkets, as a groom, steam cleaning lorries and valeting cars etc could go on. However, there is no matching the stress encountered as a nurse. This is not to put anyone off nursing and I emphasise none of the jobs have been as rewarding. I intend to go back to it once dd and bump are at school. I loved nursing. I was forced to change jobs because I could get no help with childcare costs, nor a cm who could take on shift workers for an under 1yo. I cleared about £500 per month after tax, NI and childcare. As a cm looking after nowhere near the amount of children as I would patients I clear £700 pm.

the OP is a wind up merchant who has been on the table wine me thinks dont care how the nurses look so long as they are

Clinically capeable
responsible
Able to provide safe interventions
Registered and accountable
emapthic
...shall i go on

FWIW I trained in the NHS and believe me when I say that for most medical wards what Anna describes is fairly typical. My friends who I trained with report the same things. I left and joined the RAF for better conditions and pay. I saw the same situation 6 years later when I returned to the NHS. I have not heard of theatre staff generally having the same problems because the surgeons take lunch unless the list is planned for all day, however, the wards have the problems Anna described very regularly.

As I said in my earlier post, I work in the operating theatre, I always make sure that I have some make-up on and my hair looks nice, even though it is going under a hat, and my face is behind a mask. But this is something I always do, to make me feel presentable.

Does this make me a better nurse? NO
Does this make my patients feel better? NO
Does this make me more caring? NO
Does this make the visitors feel more confident in me as a care giver? NO
Does this mean I am more capable than other colleagues?NO

FWIW Boozysuzy, I'm also a size 12. HTH?!?

currantbunmum - I have every sympathy with NHS employees who don't look "smart". The working and living conditions of NHS employees are largely unacceptable IMO.

However, I do think, contrary to what you believe, that people's perception is that well-cared for nurses (or doctors, or other staff) will be themselves better carers - both because people who take good care of themselves are perceived to be able to take good care of others, and also because organisations that take good care of their staff are also better equipped to take good care of their customers (patients).

Very true Anna8888

er excuse me my living conditions are very acceptable, thanks very much

When I'm ill I don't really give a rat's arse what the caregiver looks like as long as they're doing their job and trying to help it go away.