Do nursing staff not wash patients anymore or change sheets?

[keepswimming38]

My daughter has been admitted to hospital with meningitis. She’s on an infectious diseases ward. I’ve been by her side most of the day for 3 days and despite her not being able to move as she is so weak, not one nurse has asked her if she wants to freshen up, have a wash, change her sheets. I’ve done it for her. Is this usual? The nurses are sat next to their little computer trolleys, or chatting at nurses station, so not all run off their feet I would say.

Sounds really distressing op, the nhs costs an awful lot of money for such a shitty experience for both staff and patients. I hope your dd recovers well and soon.

Barnsley General is a great hospital! I think because it’s quite a poor area still a nhs job is seen as good so better people will work there. TBH I’ve seen great care at several hospitals in Yorkshire over the years, can’t say the same where I live now sadly.

My FIL was recently bed bound in hospital and I had to keep asking for sheet changes/nappy changes/someone to wash him. It wasn’t great to be honest and I did wonder how long the patients without family were having to wait.
Also to those saying you should be doing it yourself.. If I was in your daughters position I would not want my mum/dad doing such personal care, I’d be mortified at the idea of them seeing me in the shower.

I would be extremely annoyed in this situation. Washing bathing, all aspects of personal care , is a fundamental aspect of nursing. Mainly this is usually carried out by hca's but many nurses just see it as their role too. When assisting with personal care it's a great opportunity to talk to patients, & vice versa. The patient may be worried about something and this is an ideal time to share any issues. Personal care is seen as a direct intervention that affects patients dignity, safety and recovery. Whether you are sat with your dd 24 hours a day, it isn't your responsibility. The staff could certainly ask your dd if she prefers you to care for her, but it should not be taken for granted, that you will do this for her. I am so disgusted you are having to ask for opinions, since nurses were required to have degrees , from what l have seen is a great decline in many things. Thats not saying all nurses, but there are some that feel basic care is something a hca can do & isn't their job, it certainly is their job. I would lodge a complaint with PALS, do not worry, they may treat your dd negatively if you do, believe me, it will be the reverse. I hope your dd makes a speedy recovery and is home very soon.

I wasn't very impressed with Barnsley when an elderly family member was in and also had a poor experience with Calderdale with my son but I was very happy with his care once he was transferred to Leeds.

That is diabolical.
Absolutely make a complaint through PALS.
People need to complain through official routes more frequently imo.

That’s one of my serious concerns about my hospital stays, @C152 - they take your regular meds away and then don’t let you have access to them (and certainly not at the correct times). For me, these have included blood pressure and thyroid medications that need to be taken daily, ‘going missing’.

I have had nurses and midwives repeatedly ignore doctor’s instructions on notes, and repeatedly fail to give treatments, set up drips, and follow protocols. I’ve been given food I wasn’t supposed to have; and at other times I’ve been denied food and water.

In one ward I was given more help and sympathy from the cleaner than the nurses.

The contempt shown by a few of them toward me and some older ladies on one particular ward was remarkable. I told the lead consultant all about it on my discharge day in front of them all, and ended up with an apology from some sort of ‘chief nurse’ who was a total wet blanket.

It shouldn’t be luck of the draw like this as to whether hospital care is adequate.

It was definitely a well established proper ward.

Nonsense.

They don’t want to be managers. They want to be clinicians. And they are. They still change sheets and wash patients in every hospital I’ve worked in. It’s also very, very common to be summoned as a
dr to hear a family complaint that the patient hasn’t received xyz throughout admission.
approximately 90% of the time they have, just not in the relatively small (over 24 hours) period in which the family have been
present.

In your case OP is it that you’re doing the care instead? When my father was in hospital repeatedly I did his personal care, as I did at home. It was his, and my, preference. It wouldn’t occur to me to ask strangers to do what he and I were comfortable with. He would have disliked it very much. I assume the nurses realised this.

Maybe one of the nurses on this thread can clarify whether normal wards on longer have buzzers? Surely that’s a safety issue.

I had to stay in hospital for a week after I had my first and I'd say it depends on the staff. One midwife always tried to change my sheets but she was heavily pregnant herself! My husband had to insist she let him do it. Other staff basically ignored me.

Have you actually had a conversation about this with the staff on the ward OP? If you’re there constantly with your daughter they might assume that you prefer to administer her personal care but unless you talk someone you’ll not discover what their normal is will you?

Maybe she doesn't want her mum washing her.

are you a nurse and do you actually know anything about nursing ? Doesn’t sound like it to me. It didn’t “go to pot” after becoming a degree . Nurses are highly trained professionals and there is a lot of specialist knowledge required for the job not to mention a huge amount of responsibility.
there is no excuse for someone not being offered a wash when they are sick but that doesn’t mean that nursing shouldn’t be a degree. However it is clearly poor nursing care . Doctors also provide poor care such as not washing hands before giving needles etc and no one ever says it “shouldn’t be a degree” when you hear about poor medical care . People love trotting this out about nurses for some reason. I think there is some misogyny behind it whether conscious or unconscious because it’s a female dominated profession.

I'm not a nurse but my son was in intensive care plus 4 different wards over 2 hospitals only 2 years ago and each and every single one had buzzers.

All paeds wards/icu as he was 8 at the time but I'm assuming if paeds wards/icu had buzzers then it would be the same for the adult versions?

Maybe the staff should check!

My df was in hospital for two months during lockdown. When we got him home he had long hair and a beard, curling nails, grime in his skin creases and was skin and bone.

@MyDeftDuckyes I’ve had this conversation as I said upthread

What the hell? Seriously? This is basic care- of course a member of staff should be doing this. Would you suggest the same if your relative was incontinent or had weeping wounds?
Perhaps we should also be feeding our relatives in hospital as well….

Is she the most senior nurse on the ward today? If not then I would raise your complaint higher.

If you are in peads, they seem to expect you to do the nursing. Change sheet, feed and wash your child and ensure they get their medication. Its been like that for years now and its shocking.

when I was working as a nurse I was supposed to work 12 hour shifts with half hour breaks but sometimes you would end up doing a 14 hour shift with no break at all particularly on nights and you don’t get paid for that . If you tried to complain to managers you would be told it’s your own time management that’s the issue . The managers weren’t around in the evenings and on nights and it wasn’t our own time management .. literally no one could actually do the amount of work required in the space of time provided . I went home from shifts at ten o clock at night sometimes realising I hadn’t peed since 6 am . Looking back on it it was just absolutely awful. I don’t know who these nurses are who are supposedly sitting around eating cake and chatting . That never happened in my day anyway that’s for sure

Ive just got out of hospital and healthcare assistants changed my sheets daily. When I was on bed rest they rolled me side to side. Thry helped me wash my back and checked for sores and gave me a bowl of water and soap to wash myself.
The second i was able to get out of the bed they expected me to use the bathroom.

Im sp sorry your daughter isnt getting the care she needs. I hope she recovers quickly.

I was a nurse. I am often asked if I would like to re-register now and this is honestly one of the reasons I wouldn't. I can guarantee that when I was working every single one of my patients was offered water/help/a bed bath and clean sheets for every single day shift (and if needed on a night). It's so much more than just washing someone- you can assess their pain, their skin, their mobility, their breathing, and have a chat about their home set up. I cannot believe that this basic nursing care is no longer provided. Well done for saying something- I would also suggest complaining to PALS. When did this lack of care become acceptable?

my dad was in hospital for 2 weeks with a broken hip at 88, did not get offered a shower,just a bowl and wipe to do, we shaved him and brushed his teeth . All the patients in ward were looked after the same by visitors. I did ask a nurse if they could shower him and she nearly died. So I did it myself for him

What’s shocking about feeding your own child and washing them ? I certainly wouldn’t expect staff to do that for my child in hospital nor would my child want it (I would expect them to change the sheets though). Different for adults .