Any other nhs staff who are sad how how public treat them

[godimdone]

Working in nhs and I shocked at how passive aggressive and rude pts and relatives are to nurses. I work as a cleaner on a set busy area of my local hospital and know the staff on the ward very well. They are a good lot and care about their pts but have noticed many nurses getting verbal abuse. When the patients are on own absolutely fine with nurses but when family visit seem to criticise staff and then nurses get a lot of verbal passive abuse. It's awful. They seem to take it all and when drs come even if pts and relatives not happy they moan at nurses but pleasant to drs. It's not nice to see. Last week one of nurses had returned to work after losing her dad and didn't have breaks as so hectic and off late and all I could hear throughout shift pts and reliatives speaking to her in a very bad way and not seeing rest of what she was doing with all other work.
Anyone else seen this.
Any other nhs staff experienced this.
I'm worried as my niece starting nurse training as not sure now after seeing this treatment and disrespectful way public are with staff.

There is no excuse for abusing staff.

But you don't seem to be thinking about the patient's perspective. It is very disempowering being in hospital. If you're not well it's hard to ask questions about stuff you're unsure about. It can be scary. So obviously when people's family visit they feel a bit more confident to raise their doubts, concerns and questions with them. Because the patients need support and reassurance. And sometimes their care will be less than perfect - that's just how it is. And sometimes that will matter for their health. So patients have a right to get their family's support without being judged for it by the staff.

Oh I didn't think of the men that aren't mentally fully aware, that's awful. I am so sorry that happened to you. I was imagining being at the dentist or a waiting room etc 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

People are in a really stressful situation with sick relatives so I'd expect people not to be on their best form. And when you are in hospital yourself, if you are ill you will be upset and worried, and likely lacking in sleep as it's hard to get any rest on most wards. Also standard of care can really vary between different wards. I had to advocate for my dad sometimes and was always polite but also had to be assertive and difficult. Some people see any kind of disagreement at rudeness.

I'd always be polite in the first instance and the vast majority of nurses I've come across do a great job. But I'll speak up if something isn't right.

OP just to say everyone has mental health. You’re meaning mental health problems/illness.

I totally think about pts perspective as have had many family members and myself in hospital.
I am just telling you what I have observed.
The nurse who lost her dad recently worked two hours over
No breaks and was one hundred percent for her pts but even though we know pts are vulnerable there is a way to speak to nurses and what I have observed is the different in way nurses to way drs are spoken to is very noticeable. The nurses are generally verbally abused and same questions asked to doctors in a totally different tone.

Yes
You are right

The red card system in A&E is a joke as well.

Yes but remember the nurses are in a multidisciplinary team so speak to drs and physios and it and me as cleaner and pharmacist in same polite way.
I observe a lot of abuse aimed at nurses.

Re : the thread about the 15 yrvold at the doctor's... delightful post saying "all GPs are shite now to be honest"
I really hope that poster doesn't need a GP anytime soon and I'll think about her when I'm working tonight until midnight in the out of hours service reassuring parents with sick children etc .. dealing with scared, unwell elderly, sorting out palliative care medication so people aren't in pain...but hey it's ok that people think we are all shite

Yes disgusting
Some of these people are thick

Yes. It’s certainly getting worse.
i was physically assaulted by a patient 6 months and was left with a long term injury. There’s very little protection for staff. My occupational health have offered a lot of support but NHS injury pay is only 85% of salary and no pension contributions.
all the signs up everywhere saying verbal and physical abuse is not acceptable. But it’s tolerated. Little action is taken.

The matrons must enforce

The relatives asking nurses rather than waiting for Dr's, I can actually get behind and prefer it that way. It recognises that nurses do have a lot of knowledge and are not merely handmaidens to Dr's. It just becomes irritating when people who know they are from large families want individual updates - nobody has time for multiple repeats. That's when we ask for a nominated information disseminator, but this is often complicated by dysfunctional families that don't get on.
You'll get patients who have 3 phonecalls in the space of 15 minutes all asking the same questions and hoping for detail - we don't give details over the phone, it's very basic due to confidentiality unless we are 100% sure they are NOK.
The chances of a relative being able to time their visit to a Dr.s ward round is slim, so it wouldn't be practical to have visitors waiting around for one to happen as there is never a set known time, due to Dr's needing to respond to unforseen emergencies. It's actually more difficult to arrange Dr updates as families look for a specific time, and get impatient when they don't turn up, as they are again difficult to pin down to a time due to dealing with emergencies.
What people don't see is the vast amount of paperwork/computer data nurses have to fill in. That's why they are not always as hands on as they used to be back in the day.

Remember people the nurses and doctors who look after you have lives, homes, sick relatives, illnesses, feelings.
Just think next time you speaking to a member of staff of how you speak to them.
They come into work for rubbish pay, their choice to be in profession, but they work very unsociable hours and the whole shift is dealing with unwell people so emotionally very draining for them.
Don't dehumanise them or treat them like robots.

Very true

Family members are very rude!

I’ve been assaulted multiple times. The police do nothing and the patients have no consequences so nothing changes.

It is getting worse and I don’t think it’s just in healthcare, people in general are angrier. No one deserves to be assaulted at work no matter what your job is (I’ve had colleagues say that abuse comes with the job!).

Until people begin to be prosecuted we won’t see any changes imo.

Honestly the shit we get from families is unbelievable. We are all just doing our best.

I agree with the poster who said it's got much worse since Covid.

I understand that people are often at their most vulnerable when in hospital, but the way some people talk to hospital staff is absolutely disgusting.

It is
I have witnessed staff crying behind scenes.
A nurse last week was in one room and spent half hour with pt and wife
Pt next to them got jealous and when his visitors came in slagged off nurse ward care everything even though I had witnessed nurse say to him ask if he needed anything. It was horrible to witness.

If I was the head of the NHS I would put a security guard on each ward & terf out nasty, fowl mouthed louts.. “ the relatives”
I have nothing but praise for our nhs staff, including our dentist Simon- had all our ops & dental treatment all through Covid.

I have seen it, two male patients effing & blinding to each other, across the ward, about the lack of care by the nurses.. nurses stood by looking uncomfortable 😣

There is never a place or excuse for abuse, or violence from anybody, in any form.
I do understand the frustration for a lot of patients/families, as the NHS is in such a state, understaffed and on it's knees. There are so many temporary nurses, health care assistants expected to work above their grade, put on shifts without information, seeing patients for the first time daily, and being expected to be responsible for far too many patients at once; mistakes are bound to be made, it is inevitable. They haven't even had a chance to read the patient's records, let alone understand their needs. They are put on the spot, with distressed family members with seriously ill relatives asking them for updates. When my df was ill, I got told a different thing from different member of staff, because through no fault of their own they didnt know the situation, and had to piece together ambiguous, sometimes outdated information from his notes on the spot. It got to the point where I was told on the phone that my df had improved, was doing well, eyes open eating and sitting up. This was untrue, he couldn't open his eyes, hadn't since he was admitted, couldn't swallow and was days away from death. He had only deteriorated further. Nobody knew what was going on. I would leave hospital not knowing what was wrong with him. I was promised calls from doctors, who were too busy to give updates, and was left in a state of turmoil.

I don't blame the hardworking pushed to the brink staff, who were doing their absolute best under such stressful circumstances for a low salary. I blame the neglect of the government which has gone on for years. I pity the hardworking nurses, and front line that have to deal with this shit show. It isn't the nurses on fault, they are the ones that take the fall, and are on the receiving end all of the frustration from the public, which is always completely unacceptable.
There are some staff who I did encounter that definately shouldn't be in the caring profession, no compassion at all, and just didn't suit it from a personality and dury of care point of view. I do wonder why they picked the vocation they're in. However no matter how frustrated membersof the public are, there is no excuse for abuse, and they need to follow the complaints processes in place if they're that unhappy.

Sorry about my typos, my edit option has expired 🤭

Slightly off topic but @Theredjellybean please don't give that poster any of your head space. It's so hard not to let comments like that get to you, but this person is talking nonsense.

There are so many truly excellent GPs, going way beyond expectations every day because they care about their patients. I'm not sure I'd even be alive today without my GP and I'm so grateful for her and for people like you.

Is this just a hero worshipping virtue signalling post so that we can discuss how great nurses are? I’ve found the opposite to be true, the ridiculous displays during covid for example. They are human beings, with a job, and there many human beings out there, some bad and some good. As for poor treatment of nurses, again there are many human beings out there, some bad and some good, some who treat others like shit and some who don’t.

I'm not disagreeing with you but I think it goes the other way also. Some staff can be awful towards members of the public with their rude, dismissive, and resentful attitude towards people who are suffering and vulnerable. Feeling overworked or underpaid should not be an excuse for this. No respect shown either way.