Does anyone find sobbing nurses etc in The News every night, in any way helpful?

[Miljea]

.... or does this footage rapidly lose its impact?

I sort of feel 'Yes, we know, and if the first months of footage failed to shock and awe, this won't!'. If anything, all it does is to numb people.

Ditto the non-contextualised rolling statistics.

Do you think it's an actual strategy, to bombard us with this? If it is, I fear it's not working.

FTR I'm coalface, Covid facing, full PPE NHS, tho not ICU.

But I have got up and personal with Covid that is killing people. Including in ICU.

But I don't think the News' blanket slightly blurry footage of HCPs all kitted up going about their business, interspersed with interviews with sobbing nurses- really helps. I have even heard the 'for God's sake, it's their job' remarks (at the hairdressers, when they were briefly open, TV on).

That person was argued with by her mate, but I do wonder whether too much of this sort of coverage makes people weary of it.

There are still quite a lot of selfish not isolating and or socially distancing people out there (including my neighbour), so anything that might possibly help to persuade them to behave is worth a try.

It’s a hideous job nursing atm with the extra burden of risking your health and family health to keep others safe. Even their children are affected. I think it’s totally insensitive to complain about how their working conditions being reported and outrageous to say that it goes with the job. Hospital workers (Its not just nurses suffering) have my complete sympathy and can rant as much as they like.

I totally understand, some people however don't watch much news or read the statistics and daily death toll. I think this may be more aimed at them. I understand it may have list some of its impact now, people have become complacent, but,often people respond to more humanistic stories than stats. You are doing an amazing job, sorry if this is upsetting you in any way but it might change the minds of a few individuals

@Nearly47

I think they should publish daily the age of people in hospitals and dying. I think people that don't have elderly relatives don't take it seriously enough. Show how many under fifty are in ICU might give some focus

I don't know the stats for people in hospital with it... however I read today that 98% of deaths are in those aged 50+

I agree that politicians lie but see no reason on this earth why the vast majority of doctors, scientists, virologists and epidemiologists would willingly collude in a lie on this scale for... For what, exactly?

The government doesn't want us to be in lockdown. They want the economy working. What possible reason do they have for 'scaremongering' or manipulating us into fear?

No one ever answers this question.

Have you heard of Occam's Razor?

That.

I think part of the problem is that - in completely good faith - the NHS cried wolf last March/April. There was lots of ‘this is as bad as it could ever be’ and ‘we need to stop all other treatments so we can focus on Covid’ etc.

And now - again in good faith - the message from the NHS is that things are so much worse than April last year. I don’t doubt the truth of what frontline medical staff are saying now but you can see why some people might not take what they say at face value.

Sorry, that was to @wanderings

Well it must be worse than last lockdown...I've hardly seen any choreographed dance routines from nurses and doctors this time round...

They didn't 'cry wolf.' I'm so tired of that tired old trope being reeled out again and again. To cry wolf means to make something up.

They did not make up the fact that they were overwhelmed last spring. They were overwhelmed because many other treatments have to be cancelled. And they are not lying when they tell us it is even worse now. Capacity has expanded, but there are almost double the amount of patients.

WookieWoo
"Those of you who think it's unnecessary....please come and spend a day with me.

I will introduce you to my colleagues who are living what you see on the tv. The very same images that are annoying you.

We are breaking and you need to see it. It's not just about covid. It's about every cancer operation I've had to cancel because it's too high risk for the patient needing ITU afterwards and we don't have any beds left. Better to let the patient live with cancer than risk them dying due to post op complications and lack of ITU beds.

The reality fucking stinks and we all need to shoulder that burden. Thank your lucky stars that, for you, it's merely in the form of an annoying news item."

No one is denying the awfulness.

My OP is entirely regarding the futility of showing effectively the same images on TV news, over and over again; night after night; the sobbing nurse, the mortuary tech, the grave digger.

We get it, those with the wit to 'get it'. Those who don't, never will, while risking compassion fatigue among the first group.

Isn't a definition of stupid doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result? Like the endless footage of 'life in ICU' somehow suddenly inspiring a change of heart.

It does not diminish my respect for the actual 'frontline' (ICU), because I know what it looks like in there, first hand.

In the kindest possible way, & as a nurse myself who has dealt with death in all clinical settings from stillbirths, babies, mothers, elderly & unexpected deaths - get a grip, it’s what you signed up for, it comes with the territory, pandemic or not. As a nurse you develop a thick skin as a coping strategy otherwise you wouldn’t last a day.
The public need to feel reassured by those caring for them.

Yes I have compassion fatigue. It’s like the adverts with the abused donkeys or the kids in Africa - I just switch over. I give to charity and there’s nothing more I can do, so no point getting upset watching a sad advert. It’s the same with the COVID fear campaign - I know it’s happening, I following the rules and there’s nothing more I can do so what’s the point of watching? I don’t even watch the news anymore, I’m sick of all the doom and gloom and ignorance is bliss.

I disagree OP.

I live in a popular and very sociable city and still know hardly anyone whose had it or had it badly, although many friends of friends have now been getting it.

There was also a thread on here in early January about what symptoms to expect with a lot of people saying "you are overwhelmingly likely to be absolutely fine". So it is very easy to end up thinking it's someone else's problem and start to relax your own rules.

Regularly seeing footage of hospitals under pressure and patients really struggling is a timely and necessary reminder of what's really out there IMO.

@Madhairday

They didn't 'cry wolf.' I'm so tired of that tired old trope being reeled out again and again. To cry wolf means to make something up.

They did not make up the fact that they were overwhelmed last spring. They were overwhelmed because many other treatments have to be cancelled. And they are not lying when they tell us it is even worse now. Capacity has expanded, but there are almost double the amount of patients.

Glad you said this before I had to. Of course it wasnt crying wolf. Imagine going through it again

I am amazed that some people dont realise how bad it got and how bad it is

It does all seem staged. I just watched a ‘handover’ - he’s on a lot of oxygen and a lot of cpap. I know the public won’t understand if they actually gave numbers but don’t film something just for the sake of tv. It’s just weird. It’s like watching casualty which fills me with rage at the things they’re doing wrong.

Sorry, maybe I was unclear - I said they cried wolf but in good faith - meaning that last March/April they truly believed this was as bad as it would get for the NHS in terms of Covid. Of course this has since been proved wrong and the NHS is now even more stretched than it was last year. I was simply saying that some people will look at the claims being made now, think ‘but you said this last year’, and take them with a pinch of salt.

I think images strike it home to people, more then figures and charts and Boris droning on.
Hopefully those that are complacent, may identify with a clip of someone their age or looking like their mum, being shown on tv, wired up in ICU, and think shit that could be me/ my mum etc.. giving them a kick up the arse..
Maybe i'm being too optimistic, but i'm thinking surely a reality check via these clips, can be more effective then some posh suited wanker standing there spouting guidelines and rules?

I'm non-nhs and it works for me. I'm in my 50s and those images scare me enough to manage another week alone, and then another. Enough to get me up and food shopping at 6 tomorrow. But I watch when ds isn't listening now.

@Graciebobcat

No, I thought it was vile and have resolved not to watch the news again for a very long time, I don't watch it very often anyway. There was absolutely no balance and it felt like propaganda.

It isn't propaganda....its the truth. AND it will only come home to you when someone close to you dies or you and/or a family member needs hospital treatment and all the beds are full and there's nobody to fix your problem. THEN suddenly realisation will hit. 400 of the 600 beds in the Royal Free have Covid patients occupying them so other crucial treatments are being delayed. WAKE UP PEOPLE!

It might be the truth but it's not balanced. The BBC seem disturbingly under government control. They question virtually nothing. It is a bit weird.

Feel like bbc have lost the plot

I wonder how someone who just finished their shift would feel reading this. We owe them so much and right now they are bearing the brunt of this every single day so we don’t have to.
Maybe it’s not just about us seeing it on tv and our reactions, but that nurses and doctors, all the staff affected know it is being shown- for them to know it’s being covered... and it’s utterly horrendous right now, it’s happening to people of all ages, be careful, respect the rules, listen, take care of yourselves and please do what you can- which is frankly not asking for much at all compared to what we are all ask the NHS and frontline staff to do.

which is frankly not asking for much at all compared to what we are all ask the NHS and frontline staff to do.

TBF, you don't actually know what it is asking of people individually.

No of course I don’t know, nobody knows that but here, on forums or calls with family or whatever, we can share our individual situations with others. Can they? I was referring to people in general, what we are all being asked to do during lockdown, to stay at home and stay safe as we can, it’s not much to ask really.

Some people need to see this just to drive home how serious the situation is, also be reminded that these nurses and Drs are not robots, they have emotions, feelings, yes a job to do, but to see so much suffering and death at one time, no one can train for that, there are no hard and fast rules, its human tragedy, we need to see it and be understanding.

I agree with @Jourdain11 and other pp's that it just doesn't seem balanced.
It's been raised here before about showing the other effects of lockdown and yes, we have seen people interviewed who are losing their businesses but not loads of them every night, Night after night.
But what really gets to me is they can't "do a piece" (or whatever the term is) about the really ugly flip side of all this.
Look atvworkers in children's services, looking first hand at what we have to deal with fighting for the most vulnerable people in society who are largely forgotten by this.

16 to 18 year olds living alone in "supported accommodation", the self harm, the suicidal ideation, the neglect and abuse....that's just for starters.
It all just seems like an abstract concept to these people, they see "a rise in abuse and neglect" on the news and see it in numbers. A handful of people. Collateral damage for the greater good. They have no idea of what that actually means for these children and those who support them who are at absolute breaking point too?
We see nurses and doctors cry night after night but where is the sympathy, empathy and compassion for the tears of our children?

Not sure if that makes sense, didn't sleep well last night.