Keys, Caring and Compassion

I am now a nurse in a male remand prison and this is one of the most challenging jobs I have had in a long time, one of the biggest challenges  I have faced is responding to how other people treat inmates. 

Some of the patients have troubled backgrounds or complex history's, and my job is to care for them.

Don't get me wrong they are not all well behaved boys serving their time, but I believe everyone deserves a chance to change and all my lads are entitled to a bit of respect.
They all start out being treated the same way, I respect them if they respect me, we have ways to get them to behave and sometimes we do have to fill in reports or shut the hatch until the rabble calm down but I always try to give them benefit of the doubt, when someone is in pain they behave differently, if they are scared or upset, they might not remember to say please and thank you but that doesn't mean they are not greatful for what you do for them.

We have to remember where we are, nursing in a prison is a very specialised area of caring and you will always have challenges to overcome, I think for me it's about the person we need to give everyone of them a chance to be the person they can be.
My colleague told me I always try to find the good in every prisoner , I took that as a complement. I'm not naive , I know there are some people who I will never get to say please or thank you but when you walk down the cold corridors and one of the guys says hi miss how are you, it actually means a lot more than it sounds. 
Sometimes we get specially requested, I don't want you miss I want that other nurse, that's an achievement too.

You can't accidentally go home with they keys either which is probably a good thing, although I'm not sure I want to be the one who sets off the security alarm because I forgot to return my set, it takes three times as long to get anywhere because of all the gates, and you have to learn to trust your instincts and wait until your told its safe before going and treating anyone, it is very difficult knowing someone is hurt or in pain and being on the wrong side of the door waiting....

When someone comes back to the nurses station after a particularly bad morning of abuse and says I'm sorry miss, you know then you have made a difference in that one lads life, prisoners are people too.

I finish with something one of my guys said to me recently
" we are not all bad people miss, we just did a bad thing"
Food for thought......

Death of a Legend (or RIP NHS)

well its happened the crazy government have finally passed through the bill to destroy the NHS as we know it It has to be one of the saddest days in an NHS workers career this is a day I never ever thought would come 12 years ago when i started my training as a naive student nurse it was a job for life, now the incoming nurses are lucky to find a job for 6 months its not the same world anymore, we still have the care the commitment and the passion but the country doesn't care and the government has no commitment.


first they took our pensions then they took our pay then our right to retire when we are 65 now they have taken away our lives, ok sounds dramatic but for many of us nurses and other HCP's the NHS is our life we work hard to get where we are and we spend more time in the NHS than at home we complain about how difficult and stressful it is but ask us properly and we wouldn't have it any other way


i can forsee a moment, 20 years from now when we are trying to explain to our grandchildren what the NHS was all about. People thinking this was the most wonderful time of free at the point of delivery health care, operations without payment, free prescriptions for vulnerable groups, and nurses able to retire at 65. it sounds like a dream world doesn't it, well remember it because soon thats all we will have of our NHS is memories, there have been minute silences and candlelit vigils today in protest but if you think about it think really hard it is actually very sad 


I find it really difficult to take in the NHS was we know it s all but gone, I can't see her maj changing the bill or rejecting it, unless she gets one wish in her jubilee year so to all you out there i give this advice if you need surgery go see the surgeon quick if you need a GP appointment make it soon, and if you have private health insurance make sure you pay the premium they will be the only ones who benefit from this bill them and the stupid politicians who made the plan in the first place.


i think it only right to end with a quote from the man himself mr Aneurin Bevan who I'm sure is turning in his grave and getting ready to haunt the condems as we speak , he had it spot on when he said


No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. 

Long Bank Holidays, Time to Care And More Pension Rows

Hello friends, well having recovered from what is possibly the longest bank holiday in the entire NHS things just don't get better we had to manage our poorly patients with less resources early dinners and open visiting and when the normal service was resumed again we actually realised it was much easier nursing without all the other staff around and the quieter hospital so roll on next bank holiday. 


Mr Cameron has really surpassed himself this time I think he lives in another dimension or planet or something , apparently nurses don't spend enough time undertaking direct care for their patients we should do four rounds an hour and spend less time doing paperwork and more time doing patient care and contact. well David let me give you some information, we spend as much time as we can providing care and contact to our patients and relatives this is what we came into the job for unfortunately due to your government cuts and ridiculous targets we have twice as much pointless paperwork to do and not enough nursing and care staff to be as close to our patients as we wish so we would love to have the TIME to CARE but you will have to give us back the NURSES to CARE.


And Finally (or maybe not as this has been going on some time) back to the pensions debate the government have come out with yet another offer but to be frank it is not much different from the previous one and does not appear very appealing to 99percent of the health staff, the day of action caused much disruption and I have a feeling there will be more to come if this offer does not change significantly, many unions have already refused to accept the offer some like the PCS did not even agree to take the proposal to there members My union the biggest Nursing union RCN is going to ballot us the members and this time i really hope that all this noisy moaning nurses on the social network sites put there pen where there mouth is and send back there forms because i for one really do not want to still be nursing when I'm nearly 70....

Pensions Protests and Flu Jabs

Hi again another busy few months and the NHS is still in a bit of a pickle first the MPs passed the ridiculous new bill and then the Lords think it's actually acceptable to  even consider the new bill as a real piece of the future, on top of all that they actually want us to work past the age of 67. well how silly will that look when the patients are fitter than the nurses caring from them.
And if we are still alive at retirement then we won't survive long on our pensions, if they still exist then.


There is a national day of action on the 30th november many unions are balloting there members for industrial action my union isn't but then again i don't think the nurses would feel comfortable putting patients at risk after all we are in the job because of these vulnerable folks.
Perhaps the MPs and Lords should be aware that whichever way they vote, if they get sick they will get free at the point of delivery healthcare delivered by skilled knowledgable and compassionate men and women who spend their days away from their own families so they can care for someone else's. 
Then again nurses also have good memories and if you turned up on our unit you may regret your formal life, well god help them if they get sick in the "new NHS"


and finally:
 it's the flu season and flu jabs are being promoted for many vulnerable people and those that care for them, especially nurses in the acute setting. so in a quiet corner of a canteen somewhere in the NHS a senior nurse today was terrified of a tiny needle, something that is part of their everyday life was enough to cause so much fear they had to sit down but, it's reassuring to know my patients and me are protected from the flu and best of all I got a bravery sticker, its much better to give than to receive and never was this truer than today........

Coalition cleavage and orthopaedic surgeons

Hi again
few things changed since last post Andrew Lansley's listening exercise got some press time apparently though he only listens with one ear because he has not made many changes to his plans for the future of our NHS. He has said that nurses can be on the commissioning boards just one nurse though how on earth will we choose that nurse, and talking of the coalition they are causing a lot of disturbance among the unions they all want to go on strike because of the cuts which apparently are due to the fat cat parasites who are receiving public sector pensions, show me a retired nurse who can manage on there pension alone and ill show you an NHS trust that isn't trying to make huge savings and not cutting frontline services!! we are not parasites...
Apparently one trust in the UK has banned its nurses from showing cleavage ,  because of complaints from patients, they can no longer wear mini skirts or tight tops, since when did a mini skirt form part of a nurses uniform apparently this is only applying to members of staff wearing mufti, but will nurses be afraid to undo there top buttons on a hot day now or go without tights in the tropical wards in summer, i thought we were in the NHS not a carry on film
and finally we were always taught never to upset orthopaedic surgeons because they get mad but i think this one deserves a pat on the back   crazy orthopod i wouldnt want the politicians or a film crew on my ward with or without sleeves.........

Militant Nurses and the Bleep?

Ok So its been a while but now I'm back in the saddle as it where back where my heart belongs in the NHS on a ward and finally have the title that goes with the navy blue uniform, it took me a while though when people asked for sister I wasn't quite sure they were talking to me so its a bit strange The nurses have a lot to live up top this week after a roaring success at RCN congress with an almost total no confidence vote in Mr Lansley  (check it out here item E27) and a similar result of balloting members for industrial action so its all militant nurses from now on, not sure what the patients will think of placards on the ward but we will see.

Its not easy running a ward by yourself, this week I had to contact the hospital bleep holder about an issue and I must have sounded like a complete idiot when she asked me who the medical unit bleep holder was well it was me wasn't it and I couldn't very well bleep myself could I.....