As part of the “Four Thought” series (a collaborative project between the RSA and BBC Radio 4), Columnist for the Independent newspaper, Christina Patterson discusses her own experiences of nursing care. She asks why we keep making excuses for bad nursing when good care is so important, and maintains that whatever the pressures on them nurses always have a choice about how they behave.
Four Thought combines big ideas and evocative storytelling in a series of personal viewpoints – speakers take to the stage ready to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.
Recorded live at the RSA in London, these talks are unscripted, thought-provoking and entertaining, with a personal dimension.
Sylvia James says
Two and a quarter years ago I thought my husband was the only patient who was being cruelly treated in hospital. I kept a diary on my computer & it is around 30 pages long. I also have some photos which I took on my mobile phone of how I found him on occasions.
My husband had a revision hip replacement April 15th 2009. He also had Parkinson’s Disease. I visited him 3-4 times every day, & I even took my inflatable bed & slept one week on the floor by his bed.
He was virtually helpless, & unable to feed himself, or call for the nurse, or even communicate a lot of the time. He was never free from very severe pain. This pain was only amateurishly treated, & the pain relief he was given was quite inadequate. This caused massive hallucinating & aggression, something that none of our family had ever seen before. We were all very frightened. He was eventually stationed about 6 metres from the nurses desk, but if I called for assistance, for pain control usually, or the toilet, the staff deliberately looked the other way. I had several heated talks with Sister & Matron, & a meeting with the Chief Executive. But there was no difference in the standard of nursing.
I wrote (& included pages of the diary), to the Ombudsman,(daft name),to PALS at the hospital, & to the Health minister. I had the material returned & stamped to say they had had it, but no action was taken by any of them. They were all useless. Where do you turn for help?
The photos I took are of my husband in his bed, with the dressing completely off the long wound (about 8 inches long), & bedding stuck to it. This was a regular occurrence. Anyway, the chap in the next bed had MRSA, so it was not a surprise that my husband got it. Since then he has been in isolation.
Eventually he was moved to our local hospital for the elderly, where he has slowly progressed. He has been bed-ridden for a long time. The wound has never quite healed, & at the moment it is causing concern. At last he is having regular monitoring for pain management & control. It is morphine patches, increased in strength when necessary, & oral or injections for extra relief. The quality of nursing here is absolutely wonderful. The staff are like having angels around.
I still visit him once a day. But life has changed completely for me. Life on ones’ own has meant taking out Power of Attorney for my husband, changing our banking things, learning to do DIY in the home, etc. It’s all very time consuming.
Experiences like this should not happen.
Maria Robinson says
I am a nurse and was greatly saddened and disillusioned by the awful nursing care (or rather lack of it) which my mother received whilst in hospital. I naively thought that such detriments in care were generally confined to the care of the elderly however hearing Christina Patterson’s story has moved me to tears. I am so terribly ashamed of what nursing has become. There are still some really committed and caring nurses out there (I am one)but sadly we are overwhelmed by organisational apathy and institutionalised neglect. Challenging the definciencies which exist, both on a peronsal and organisational level, is neither respected nor rewarded. Feedback is met with contempt and complaints processes offer little more than platitudes. I cannot help but fear for teh ‘care’ that will be aviable to me in my dotage. At present I have the luxury of private health cover and in many repects I feel I’ve ‘sold out’ on the NHS, but faced with such ‘choice’ there is really no option for me.
Rachelle Alty says
I am 27. I have been qualified since sept 2010. Since qualifying i have worked within A&E and love my job (bar all the targets). I never thought as a nurse i would have targets!!!
I strongly believe in empowering the patient and implementing positive change within the NHS irrespective of how small.
In the 2 years i have been a nurse i have attending and presented at national conferences with regards to implementing positive change to provide better care to the service users. Some of us nurses DO care.
I have also completed a masters module in research to again help change the NHS and tackle problems within the healthcare profession.
I have also gained a position at a local college to lecture to cadet students (aka the nurses of tomorrow). the modules i teach are safeguarding vulnerable adults and equality and diversity.
I also work over 40 hours a week.
It upsets me to hear the standard of nursing care you or your loved one has received. But before you all loose your faith in nurses remember some of us DO care and put a lot of time and effort in to our profession.
Don’t tar us all with the same brush.