Life behind bars and other Stories: 2018

Monday 31 December 2018

Epilouge

Day 23 which nurses inspire you
Well Charlie fairhaid from casualty obviously, Sister Joyce Barnes my first ever ward manager who taught me so much about being a nurse.my friend and colleague Ann Beacham who advocates for patients first every time and Edith Cavell a brave nurse who did not discriminate and was humble even when she was excecuted

Day 24 10 people you should follow on Twitter
Well me obviously @florencethnurse, my other half @samthewestie my friend and colleague dan HOLLAND @danjohnholland, this great dog and it’s human @mikeandscrabble, the archers @bbcthearchers, peanuts @ snoopy, we nurses @wenurses, @openuniversity, @casualtyBBCfan and finally this guy @mentalhealthcop

Day 25 what are your nursing pet peeves
When someone asks why your a nurse and not a doctor,
When people say “I pay your wages” when people say “your a nurse, could you have a look at this” and the inventor of the call bell.

Day 26 what’s your hidden talent.
I can play the violin and got a certificate for my ballet

Day 27 is there nursing in your family
Actually there is , I only recently found out my great grandmother on my dads side was a nurse in the war, my mum is a retired NHS radiographer and My nanny on my mums side was a nursery nurse and always wanted to be a nurse.

Day 28 5 words that describe a nursery
Patience, vocation, human being, tired, determined

Day 29 your proudest moment
There is no competition here it’s the 14 April 2000 the day I officially received my PIN Number

Day 30 5 top tips in nursing
Don’t be afraid to show your emotions it’s what makes us human and good at what we do
Never give up no matter what keep going you will get there in the end
Always ask for help if you need it
Remember your a nurse not a superhero you can’t fix everything and that’s ok
Be proud of who you are and what you do and shout it from the rooftops

Monday 24 September 2018

The final chapters...

Day 17 your 5 favourite blogs

I don’t read many blogs, so I don’t think I have 5 but I will come back to this one in a bit

Day 18 a photo of you

This is me in my first uniform in my first year of my training in 1997

Day 19 what’s your favourite nursing topic

Nursing in criminal Justice/ Prison Nursing massive topic very underrated and misunderstood.

Day 20 what 6 things make you happy

My Westie Billy

The seaside

My niece and nephew

Penguins

Laughing at nursing jokes no one else understands

Being a nurse in the NHS

Day 21 your favourite thing about being a nurse

There are so many, I think the variety of the profession is wonderful, I have worked in prison hospice care acute medical and surgery and general practice but all as a nurse.

I like the variety no two days are the same, and the fact that a patient or relative can gain comfort from something you do that may seem insignificant. I make a difference to people’s lives every day that’s my favourite thing.

Day 22 5 things you do on every shift

Have at least four cans of Pepsi max

Travel more distance to and from the medicine stock cupboard than any marathon runner

Loose a pen

Find a pen

Forget one of my many computer passwords

Sunday 5 August 2018

The Story Continues...

Day 10 best joke a patients told you

It has to be I’m allergic to codiene but not morphine, or I don’t know how it got there.....

Day 11 what do you eat on your break on the rare occasions that I get a proper break usually very boring, yoghurt fruit or sand which maybe crisps or a chocolate bar, sometimes I’ll have cereal or toast, especially on nights or a pasta pot and a very big glass of cold Pepsi max.

Day 12 when did you decide to become a nurse
That’s easy when I was about two or three as shown in the photo, seriously though I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a nurse it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do as long as I can remember...

Day 13 what was your favourite placement, i trained in the dark ages and we did common foundation programme, and were privileged to have mental health paediatrics Learning disability and midwifery placements for 3weeks each one, LD was my favourite.

Day 14 3 self care ideas

Have a hobby that is nothing to do with work

Use your leave wisely

Get a dog

Day 15 where do you hope to be in 5 years time I hope I will be a qualified or working towards being an ANP in criminal justice nursing

Day 16thoughts on nursing as a degree

This is a controversial subject, but it needn’t be so, Nursing should be a degree, why not it’s an academic qualification as well as a practical one, I think provided the placement time is utilised adequately and the students do not think that they are too good for ward work the fact you have a nursing degree does not make you a better or a worse nurse than me who had an advanced diploma, after all the end objective is still the same....

My Nursing Story

Day 6 what you fear of nursing in the future

I think my biggest fear is that the art of nursing will get lost in the science and technology, we don’t need gadgets that beep and computer programmes to tell us that a patient is poorly a great deal can be said for the nurses instinct.

Day 7your 5 most motivating songs

This is quite a difficult one, I listen to music a lot in my car and at night and many songs mean a lot to me but I suppose if I had to pick 5,

Cher- strong enough, it is a song about being able to cope on your own and believing in yourself.

Bobby McFerrin- Don’t worry be happy, this was a favourite of my nanny and she would break into song anytime someone said don’t worry...

Micheal Ball- love changes everything, love is in many forms and it really does change everything

Mud- Tiger Feet, my uncle Dave was the drummer and hearing this song makes me very proud

Finally Les Miserables do you hear the people sing- for lots of reasons but it’s a song about the little people overcoming adversity.

Day 8 5 current goals

This is harder than you think to answer, I suppose I have personal and professional goals, I would like to complete my Masters degree

I would like to become an advanced practitioner in criminal justice nursing

I would like to loose several pounds of weight

I would like to visit the penguin post office

I would like to see the northern lights

Day 9 what’s inside your work bag

This made me laugh out loud, a colleague of mine and me had a conversation about work bags a couple of years ago, currently I have 3 issues of nursing standard yet to be read, my pens and ID badges, my stethoscope and a tourniquet, diary purse cosmetic case with various pharmaceuticals, a singe hair slide, a paper clip a half drunk bottle of Pepsi max and a very squished cereal bar.

Friday 20 July 2018

The transformation continues

Day 3 Your Favourite Nursing quote.... this is a hard one , there are so many of them

But I think I’m going to have to cheat and take 3 quotes, the first two are from the famous nurse Edith Cavell who was known for saving hundreds of allied troops in the war and executed for treason , on the eve of her exception she is quoted as saying

They have all been very kind to me here. But this I would say, standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.

She is also quoted as having said

Someday, somehow, I am going to do something useful, SOMETHING for PEOPLE. They are, most of them, so helpless, so hurt and so unhappy.

This is also one of my favourite nursing quotes

To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; that is to be a nurse.

Day 4 Your dream job

That’s easy I want to be an advanced nurse practitioner in criminal justice either prison police custody or similar

Day 5 celebrating NHS70

This ones easy too, I was born in the NHS, THE NHS trained me and provided me with a job for my whole life, it’s the envy of the world and no health service is like it it saves lives and makes a difference what’s not to celebrate

Transforming Nursing

Hi there in the blogosphere , so the NHS. turned 70 this month, hard to believe really

Part of the NHS 70 is a campaign to transform perceptions of Nursing and

Midwifery NHS Horizons have created a series of 30 day challenges they set a challenge for each day in July to write a blog

related to nursing , I am a bit behind so you will get 20 days all at once from me

If you want to follow the challenge there are twitter feeds with #NurseBloggers @BloggersNurse #NHS70 #NurseBlogger #FutureNursing have fun and enjoy

Day 1 blog name and purpose, well my blog has been around for a while , it has had two names and that depends on my current role it is currently life on the wards and other stories, but it may be life beyond the bars and other stories, it doesn’t have a purpose as such, I just want to share a small piece of insight into my world which may or may not be of interest.

Day 2 20 facts about you, ooh this is an interesting one, I suppose it depends what the facts are doesn’t it, well let’s see,

1. Im an Aries

2 I am the eldest sibling of 4

3 I have lived in 3 different counties of England

4 I can speak French

5 I got my first tattoo at age 40

6 I am scared of clowns and spiders

7 My first proper job was at Burger King and I was fired after less than a week!!!

8 I have met Micheal Ball and Alfie Boe in person (amazing)

9 I know all the words to all the songs of every version of Les Miserables ( so do my family)

10 Penguins are my favourite animal

11 I converted to Catholicism in 2013 after a trip to South Africa

12 I am an Open University Graduate

13 I have a west Highland Terrier called Billy

14 I was proposed to on the sea front at Skegness

15 My favourite colour is Green

16 I love to be by the sea

17 My Uncle David was the drummer in the 70s Glam Rock Band Mud ( and I’m very proud of that )

18 I used to suck my finger

19 I had braces for 7 years from aged 14 to 21 (see 18)

20 I failed my GCSE Maths (twice...!!!)

When God Created Nurses

When the Lord made Nurses He was into his sixth day of overtime.

An angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one." And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? A nurse has to be able to help an injured person, breathe life into a dying person, and give comfort to a family that has lost their only child and not wrinkle their uniform. They have to be able to lift 3 times their own weight, work 12 to 16 hours straight without missing a detail, console a grieving mother as they are doing CPR on a baby they know will never breathe again. They have to be in top mental condition at all times, running on too-little sleep, black coffee and half-eaten meals. And they have to have six pairs of hands.

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way!" "It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "It's the two pairs of eyes a nurse has to have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded.

"One pair that does quick glances while making note of any physical changes, And another pair of eyes that can look reassuringly at a bleeding patient and say, "You'll be all right ma'am" when they know it isn't so."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow." "I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk to a 250 pound grieving family member whose child has been hit by a drunk driver...who, by the way, is laying in the next room uninjured, and feed a family of five on a nurse's paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the nurse very slowly, "Can it think?" she asked. "You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the symptoms of 100 illnesses; recite drug calculations in its sleep; intubate, defibrillate, medicate, and continue CPR nonstop until help arrives...and still it keeps its sense of humor. This nurse also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with a multi-victim trauma, coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their door, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily paper how nurses are insensitive and uncaring and are only doing a job." Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the nurse.

"There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model." "That's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear." "What's the tear for?" asked the angel. "It's for bottled-up emotions, for patients they've tried in vain to save, for commitment to the hope that they will make a difference in a person's chance to survive, for life." "You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," He said.