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.

Yes, because many people think nurses are thick! I’ve had quite a few cases where a patient has left my clinical room with a clear diagnosis and treatment plan, then marched straight out to reception demanding to see a doctor because they didn’t believe me. Our doctor will see them if she’s free, and we’ve not had a case yet where she has disagreed with my diagnosis or plan! The patient then comes out of her room smiling and happy, with an identical diagnosis and plan of care that was only acceptable because it came from a doctor

Or the 1000 occasions where a patient has come to see me and it’s transpired upon history taking that their GP has put them on an enzyme inducer for epilepsy alongside completely incompatible contraception, but when I’ve explained why it’s an issue, they are usually very rude about it, often saying something along the lines of “I think a GP knows more than a nurse.” Most GPs are fantastic (mine is the best ever), but they are not specialists. I am a specialist nurse so often I do know more about contraception and GUM than a GP, which is why I train GPs

MY DH has spent the best part of the last 18m visiting the local hospital for weekly venosection. He has been gobsmacked by how rude and aggressive fellow patients are - and commented that the older ones have been the worst and I’m to shoot him if I catch him every behaving like that (we’re in our 50s).

Our 16yo wanted to study medicine until recently (slightly disappointing GCSE results but nothing insurmountable if he really wanted to train) and I am quietly quite relieved he will not now be gong into the NHS. Am sure it is very rewarding in certain specialisms and in certain areas, but the stories my DH came home with were shocking. It’s why he’s currently pissed off that train drivers/guards have got wapping payrise but NHS staff are massively under-appreciated and underpaid.

Ozanj
Nurses aren’t perfect and where they don’t deliver even adequate care they should be called out.

Fair enough; but they shouldn't be subject to physical or sexual abuse, and that's what this thread is about.

I can't think of many professions where you can be videod at work doing your job and then immediately shared to social media with no nuance or context whatsoever

No she’s talking about complaints. Read the OP

Yes, but from the other side (and I’m never rude or abusive), I was angry and upset at how some hospital staff had treated my late DH.

I wrote a coherent letter of complaint and his poor treatment was acknowledged. I wasn’t interested in “compo” so that was it.

But it can work both ways.🤷‍♀️

I think they are complicit in promoting a system that willingly lets people die through a toxic culture. I don't see them as heroes nor do I want to abuse them as individuals. I would never, ever use the NHS though so it's unlikely to be an issue.

It's not just human hospitals where those needing to use the service are vile. I work in a charity veterinary hospital and every day we get people shouting, swearing, accusing us of wanting their pets to die. I was physically attacked and we have had to call the police numerous times.

People need to realise that the more foul they are to the people trying to help them, the more staff will leave and the worse things will get for everyone. Society is becoming utterly feral.

Anyone else seen this.

I saw the two sons of a cancer patient hold a male nurse against the wall, one of the sons with a spread palm tight against the nurses throat, and threaten him with death. All because another patient had complained - very politely and only to the nurses - that it was too much for the father patient to be calling his family at 4am every day to start prayer, barking instructions down the phone for 45 minutes. Then again at 8am and midday, 4pm etc. The sons who then started visiting decided that their father's wishes overrode the staff and other patients' rights. The patient had come from an African state via Sweden intending to arrive at a specialist hospital in the UK to receive treatment. His sons had followed after him. Later when they had been told to use the family room, I saw one son spit in a female nurse's face and tell her they were making the two patient room their room.

This was a major well known hospital in south central England.

The polite patient was moved into a different two person ward. He was an elderly man, receiving cancer treatment, out of his zone and several nights later decided to go for a walk at 3am, fell down, hit his head but managed to get back into bed by himself. He died before 6am. His wife had no issues with the hospital at all confirming that her husband and she always took responsibility for their own decisions and she thanked the staff for the love and care they had given him.

Culture differences played a big part in this story.

I volunteer in a hospital, I know what you're talking about. It's OK for me, I can and do tell people where to go, they can't exactly sack me, but some of these nurses and health care assistants are spoken to like they are dirt and can't say anything.
It must hurt.

I was having a similar conversation with a colleague about this a few days ago. She used to be a senior sister in an A&E department in a very deprived part of the city - she was abused most days but fortunately for her she is very tough and thick skinned. Me on the other hand, I have been qualified for 26 years this year and cannot recall ever being abused. I have always worked in the community though and this is the obvious difference. Yes I have had arsey patients and relatives but never ever been abused luckily.

Think you should reread the OP. Patients winging, yeah, but abuse is the main subject in the OP.

It sounds like a horrendous situation. I work as a midwife and have never tolerated disrespect against me or any other colleague in my presence. I have told patients that I won't be providing them with care if they don't treat me wirth respect. In fact, when I had a caseload, I "sacked" a couple of women from my care because of the way they were addressing me and disrespecting my time, and gave them a choice of other midwives they may choose instead.

I don't know how it works in the UK, but I definitely can decline care to a patient who is being disrespectful or abusive. And a patient who is not mentally disabled/unwell and tries to physically or sexually abuse me better be ready for me to dish it back.

Yes just type #hysterocopy into Twitter to see how women are treated,

I hope you reported that. People who have had strokes can exhibit unwarranted sexual needs, usually due to their stroke. It can warn the other staff that they should visit in 2s.

Boundaries are great things. It is within your right to say that you are not happy to hear accusations against your colleagues. It is ok to maintain your boundaries.

Some patients think we are here to serve them!

I would suggest getting someone who could give you supervision sessions.

I'm not a nurse but I recently had a stay in hospital and I was appalled at how some of the patients spoke to the staff. Absolutely no need for it.

@B1rd no, sadly I didn’t as I was a student and went with what my mentor said. I wish I had now.

I have to say I see both sides. My experiences in hospitals and with nursing staff and doctors has not been good. There is very little information given, long waiting times often in awful conditions. Disinterested, dismissive staff . This is not always the case but sadly it is most often the case. People who are ill or visiting patients feel frightened and sometimes angry. They feel disempowered. Once upon a time nursing used to be a respected professional job with proper supervision and high standards. It really isn’t anymore. Wards aren’t even clean these days. The decline in standards has had a lot to do with training , staffing and money. It’s a vicious cycle. There is no excuse for aggression and rudeness though.

I think you get good and bad everywhere, just because you're a specialist nurse, or a consultant for example doesn't mean you're competent.
I had a specialist nurse talk over me, for me, make assumptions, and dismiss my side effects of a new drug I was taking. They were common side effects of anxiety and agitation, even listed in the leaflet, and by the consultants yet she apparently knew better, and they NEVER HAPPEN. Apparently these were not side effects, it was a separate issue I was to see the GP about, despite the effects coinciding exactly with the drug. The GP would have just passed me back to neurology.

I was told to go and pump myself up with hormones by getting a coil/injection, I had explained at my age that this wasn't right for me, my husband has had a vasectomy, they don't agree with me. I got abruptly told I need to record my cycle, and they "alway" try this first before issuing a nother tablet. There was no acceptance of my right to choose what is 'right ' for me, or acknowledgement that I'm not doing this, when I don't even know my hormone levels to start with. Then I was referred to women's health, with a progesterone injection again barked at me. Would men be treated this way? I think not!

When I finally got a word in, I told her I already knew and had recorded my like clockwork cycle, as my uncontrolled epilepsy had been going on years. The other drug I had been on for a long time, was more likely to cause bad mental health than the new one, but then in the next breath "it is a mood stabiliser." She disagreed with everything to try to be "right." I came away from the appointment really upset, at a time I felt unwell.

It is frustrating when they just don't listen to you, ask questions and just assume. She messed the letter up, said I had agreed to things I hadn't (because she agreed with these and that was 'her' plan. She got the names of the meds mixed up, and tried to lower the dose of a powerful drug in one, I had to ring up and query it then got told it was wrong by ovely receptionist, and she would need to adjust the letter. Had I followed through it would have put me at risk of seizures.
This is people's lives, yet you're made to feel like you're making things up, and given incorrect advice.

Yes ! They are awful, I left the NHS to work abroad.

I have found it varies by department eg oncology very rarely any aggression but general surgery, acute medicine and cardiology patients and families were rude, entitled and demanding.

It happens. I work led on a cardiac surgery for a time, every male patient would look me up and down as I did my work. Often sneery and smutty comments . Had this revolting man kiss me on the neck once.

I don’t know where you work but in acute medicine in London everyone gets it 🤣

I’ve worked in the NHS since 1996 and I deliberately went for a non-patient facing career (nursing was my other choice) so I have not had to deal with patients or their families/friends. I think it’s shocking that nurses are treated this way and I hadn’t realised this was a more regular occurrence these days. They should be respected for what they do. I’d have the families/people giving the verbal abuse barred form visiting, if I could. People need to be more considerate and respectful towards nurses, who do a bloody fantastic job with limited staff/resources, and the public need to remember that they, and their family members, are getting FREE healthcare. That could change in the future.

This is an increasing problem sadly. We are having to recruit internationally like never before and the way some of the global majority nurses are treated is appalling.

What is alarming is that these staff members are much less likely to report rascist abuse. I was reduced to tears on finding out how a patient had spoken to a colleague from India about her ‘filthy black hands’. 😡

Saying Matrons should enforce is not as simple as it sounds. We need consultants and hospital managers to support nursing staff in combating abuse, internationally recruited staff to feel safe in reporting incidents at the time.

The majority of known racial abuse incidents I have been made aware of have also involved patients with complex MH needs thus complicating the Zero Tolerance approach.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I have always supported the NHS, and always will, and that I have friends who are nurses and doctors in the NHS who I respect enormously for their work.

But I was recently subjected to 13 hours in A&E, and I was shocked to the core by the appalling attitude of a good number of the staff there. There is no excuse for abuse or for aggression, but people in hospital are often anxious, in pain, etc and if they are treated with blatent disregard by staff they are very likely to respind with anger and frustration.

I fell and severed a finger. I live alone and I am severely disabled. It took SIX HOURS for an ambulance to attend to take me to hospital, during which time I was told I was allowed nothing to eat or drink. I arrived at the hospital at 5pm, and was literally dumped in a wheelchair in a corner, and by 9pm, in agonising pain, hungry and thirsty, I had a complete melt down / panic attack and was crying and screaming that I wanted to go home and didn't care whether I got treatement or not for TWENTY MINUTES whilst nurses and doctors walked straight past me. Finally someone called a doctor to me. He asked to see the hand and then SHOUTED at me for having left it so long without treatment! Did I answer him back after TEN HOURS waiting for an ambulance / treatment - you bet. Did it take another hour to get pain relief, yes it did. I finally got out at 6am the next morning.

Respect is not something anyone is entitled to - it is earned and it is two way. I am just grateful that I know that those staff are not representtaiove of many NHS staff, but I an sorry to say that since my ordeal I have spoken to many other people who have had similarly dreadful experiences at that particular hospital.