Where it all began: The Wrightington Hip Centre

[Josephine]

As a passing point of interest, I once told a friend who had had more surgeries that enough, how I was so thrilled to have been sent some flowers by a grateful patient. It's not often theatre (OR) staff get remembered after the event (though this patient did have very special reasons for doing so). My friend looked at me in dismay saying she always sent letters of thanks to the ward staff, the PTs and the ITU staff but it had never occurred to her to send a card to the theatres! And being mostly spinal, all of her surgeries were 3-5 hour marathons!

 

[Laurie]

Josephine, My first thought is I have no idea who assisted in the OR--only remember my Dr and anesthesiologist, then I was out. Barely remember the recovery room, only my daughter and hubby by my side as I mumbled something about Maine (where my family has vacationed for years).

How many other staff are in the OR for a THR???? I have no idea.

Laurie

 

[Nursepair]

The wards are soo understaffed these days and sorry to say this but newly qualified staff do not seem to have the dedication of old......there is too much paperwork and not enough patient time in my opinion....
Jo you bring back so many memories, bring back the nightingale wards and the respect ,care and dignity that seems so sadly to be lacking these days
Love and hugs Pat xx

Whenever I have visited or stayed in a hospital in the past I have never seen a ward "Understaffed" in my opinion. There are always plenty of staff at the nurses station chatting among themselves. Back in the 70's when I trained there were 2 of us on at night and 4 during the day, more often than not, for 28 patients. We also did some paper work plus clean ups , washing bedpans by hand etc and cleaning the beds, lockers and tables vacated by paients as well as all our nursing duties and chatting to patients to get to know them. Sorry, I am getting on my high horse again!! I'll stop now.

 

[Josephine]

Josephine, My first thought is I have no idea who assisted in the OR--only remember my Dr and anesthesiologist, then I was out. Barely remember the recovery room, only my daughter and hubby by my side as I mumbled something about Maine (where my family has vacationed for years).

How many other staff are in the OR for a THR???? I have no idea.

Laurie

About 3-5 theatre staff of various grades, an anesthetic tech (or ODP) 1-2 orderlies (porters) probably 2 anaesthetists, the surgeon and 1 or 2 doctor assistants. So maybe 12. We did have some cards sent us - usually from members of staff or their relatives! - that were just addressed to "those who cared for me on XXX date when I had my hip/knee done". They were always received with great delight and pinned up on the staff room notice board so some time.

Whenever I have visited or stayed in a hospital in the past I have never seen a ward "Understaffed" in my opinion. There are always plenty of staff at the nurses station chatting among themselves. Back in the 70's when I trained there were 2 of us on at night and 4 during the day, more often than not, for 28 patients. We also did some paper work plus clean ups , washing bedpans by hand etc and cleaning the beds, lockers and tables vacated by paients as well as all our nursing duties and chatting to patients to get to know them. Sorry, I am getting on my high horse again!! I'll stop now.

Well, Sue, things have changed so much since we trained. Now the nurses have to enter all their stuff into computers which takes a lot longer than putting ticks on temp charts and such. Drug rounds are a great consumer of time. Two nurses have to go round with a laptop on a trolley and log into the system for each patient. Every drug that is given has to be entered and it's not just putting a tick in a box, you have to search the item, which can take ages if the system is busy, and then enter the name and dose given, plus any other comments and then both have to sign it out. So giving one dose of a simple med can take about 5-10 minutes!

Then the daily nursing records have to be kept up to date - that can take hours at each shift and if you get called away and forget to save and log off, everything gets lost! Not the best way to keep one's cool!

Anyway, all I'm saying is that the focus of nursing has changed so much, quite apart from the vocational side of it. 21stC has intruded big time!

 

[Nursepair]

Laptops on ward rounds? Wow, never seen that here. My surgeon used to come in at 6.30am to check on me most days, no nurse. Never saw a nurse until 10am at the earliest. I had given up waiting for her to come to assist with my shower, managed on my own, carefully, and she never even said a thing when we did see one.

Wonder why they don't do the drugs the old way as they go and then enter them later? (I still like paperwork as well as computer files. My hubby doesn't like paper anymore though.) Would hate to be the poor patient at the end of the list waiting for her 10am painkiller and getting it at 11am? Bit like waiting for the nurses to have their report before you are allowed a bedpan!! If they had done that to me they would have had a mess to clear up and serve them right. Patients should still come first. You can always read the report later can't you? We did. Oh boy, better get off my soap box again.

Do the nurses still give tea at 6am there? Never got a thing here until breakfast at 8am and the food was "slimey". Kevin ended up bringing me coffe and a bagel on his way to work in the end. I was there for 6 days so lost a lot of weight!! Should have stayed there, have put it all back on these past few months, LOL. Oh goodness, I sound very whiny and complaining, I'm not really like that most of the time. Sorry!!

 

[JudyS]

I was just reading through the last 2 pages and can't believe what a difference it used to be. Was it like that in the past in the US as well? The last nite I spent in the rehab area as I was part of a drug study and needed to stay one more day to complete it. OMG I could not believe how loud the staff was. Honestly they screamed for each other and their conversations were so loud.
I actually heard them talking about me and my hearing is not that great. No, I was not near the nurses station, about 3 rooms away at least. ONe nurse said she was mad that he had not been told that I was only there one day. Seemed like once that was discussed, they decided I needed nothing and no attention!!!!
My bathroom seemed like a storage closet, so no shower for me. They did tell me not to get up unattended, but no one came when I buzzed. Nature was calling so I got up on my own, then went out into the hallway to see why no one came as I surely heard them!!!!

Let's just say I was never happier to get home!!!!

Judy

 

[patfinch]

Seems like progress and technology are not always for the better.
I trained 1979-1982, so am proud to of the old school and still call myself SRN, as I am allowed to.....
Being an RGN does not reflect what we trained for as students.......I could not wait to put on my liac staff nurse uniform complete with apron and cuffs, also the coveted navy belt and SILVER BUCKLE.......
I know the uniforms these days are more practical but the pride of earning them seems to have gone, as they all look similar...these days its very hard to distinguish a ward cleaner from a senior staff nurse......
I know that uniform should not really be an issue, but I trained to be a nurse to help sick people and I am proud of it.. I dont appreciate being taken for a cleaner or HCA...
Love and hugs Pat xx

PS thats me on my high horse..but when you scrubbed bedpans by hand for 3 years...I think I am entitled to voice my opinion...sorry...

 

[Josephine]

Too right, Pat! That silver buckle! Oh my - that was a right of passage, wasn't it? And those who got too uppity when they got their's, we used to say they had 'blue belt-itis'! (Never mind the petersham belts were black!)

And my poor mother bought me a silver (REAL silver) buckle for my birthday but we didn't get out results until the end of the month and I went totally ape because it was considered very bad luck to get the buckle before you knew if you'd passed! I made her take it back to the jewellers and we went back and chose a different one after I'd got my pass letter. I still have that in my drawer along with my hospital badge. I'll photograph them for you since we are in that mode in this thread! But not tonight!

 

[patfinch]

ME too I still have my buckle and badges, shame it's considered not PC to wear them any more...I was VERY proud to disply mine and I'm sure you were too Jo..xxx

 

[Nursepair]

I still have mine too, but I was an SEN so my belt was green. I was always proud of mine and I loved nursing. Can't do it now, my back doesn't allow it or the Canadian hospitals, I would have to go back to school again!! I did work for the home support services for a about 5 years here, looking after some wonderful older ladies and an older gentlman. I loved geriatric nursing more than anything else and wish I could still do it. I am still good friends with the man's wife, she is 87 but more active and fit than me. In fact she was one of the friends who would put my walker in her car and drive me to and from physio every week.

 

[patfinch]

Sue what do you mean " but " I was an SEN ?
We are equal...we all share the same hopes and dreams....
does it matter what we were called in them days?
We are still all part of the old school when nurses were nurses no matter what the colour of their belt...we all earned the right to wear them and were proud to do so.....Its not quite like that anymore m8.....dont you agree?

 

[1jt@atime]

I was not familiar with your terms of SRN and SEN nurses so I did a google search. It seems the SRN is equivalent to the American RN (Registered Nurse), and the SEN is similar to the the LPN (Licsensed Practical Nurse). It's interesting reading about your nursing experiences in England. Karen

 

[Josephine]

SRN/SEN is a uniquely British thing, Karen. It began after WW2 when women who had worked as volunteer nursing aids in the war were permitted to apply for an honourary position of State Enrolled Assistant Nurse. This was supposed to be a one off thing just for those women. But nearly all the hospitals kept on appointing them even though they didn't really qualify under the original requirements.

Then came the subject of training. Most hospitals set up their own in-house training which was unregulated and and varied considerably from hospital to hospital. Also greatly varied was what was expected of these nurses after they were trained. They were still nominally employed as the SEANs which were little more than nursing auxiliaries (aids) with a title. Plus some hospitals had them working as almost equals to the SRNs and others treated them as nursing auxiliaries. It made it almost impossible for an SEN, having completed 2 years training, to move to another hospital. Around 1970 it became clear that something had to be done.

What the General Nursing Council did was to take over the training and make it state regulated and also to drop the Assistant tag so they became State Enrolled Nurses instead.

However, despite the upgrade in the control, there remained for many years a kind of 'ist' about the SEN and whilst some SRNs accepted them as equals and valued colleagues (I was one) others looked down upon them as second class nurses.

Around 1990 when nurse training became more tightly regulated and nurses were required to pay an annual fee to maintain their registration (previously it had been one fee for life) the SENs were required to 'convert' to RGN until now there are no SEN or EN left.

 

[Nursepair]

Around 1990 when nurse training became more tightly regulated and nurses were required to pay an annual fee to maintain their registration (previously it had been one fee for life) the SENs were required to 'convert' to RGN until now there are no SEN or EN left.

Jo I hadn't realised there are RGN's in the UK. No SEN's or EN's left eh? I wonder if any of my old colleagues took the extra training or took a lesser post? The nursing school where I trained (Orsett, Essex) advised me to take my SRN after I took the test, but at that time I didn't fancy another 3 years in school, I had been in the work field a year or so by then, so I opted for the 2 year one. I always regretted my decision in yeras to come. Still I loved the nursing side of it, there was more practical hands on experience and less paperwork!! I especially enjoyed Geriatric nursing and was able to work in private nursing homes and later privately looked after older patients in their own homes. I was even able to do that over here with the home support services until my back problems got worse and then my knees failed me.

Pat, thank you for your kind words, I did often feel belittled when I worked in the National Health Service hospitals by some SRN's. I never felt like that in the presence of my patients though and enjoyed my nursing career.

 

[patfinch]

BOO HOO....
Did not get that job........still there should be others...will keep looking...
Can't say I'm not gutted tho!

 

[Josephine]

Aww - Pat! What a shame! ((((hugs))))

Better luck next time.

 

[Nursepair]

Sorry you didn't get the job Pat, good luck next time.