Need for reform in the way medical personnel deal with patients

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	Forums > Off-Topic_Chat > Need for reform in the way medical personnel deal with patients
Paul Hilton Posts: 2605 Joined: 21st Nov 2004 Location: UK	quotePosted at 07:29 on 28th September 2008 I also meant to add to my above post Stephanie, I was sorry to hear about Terry's Mum. And to add that when my Mum was at Hill House Hospital, the staff there were as good as gold as was indeed, the staff at Conquest Hospital, Hastings on the few occasions she had to be suddenly be taken there and where she eventually passed away. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Stephanie Jackson Posts: 3911 Joined: 13th Apr 2008 Location: UK	quotePosted at 08:30 on 28th September 2008 No probs Paul - as I said I don't like entering into political discussions - when I said all "our" hospitals I meant the ones round here, Wordsley in particular closed just before Sol was born 4 years ago and they are building a housing estate. All the politicians are a bunch of idiots in my view but I just wanted to point out that Labour could have stopped the closures - they didn't have to carry on with another Government's bad idea and it's easy for them to blame the past but they all do it - which ever party. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Ruth Gregory Posts: 8072 Joined: 25th Jul 2007 Location: USA	quotePosted at 19:58 on 28th September 2008 This has been a great discussion, everybody. Diana, I will keep your friend in my prayers. And Stephanie, I'm so sorry about the passing of your mother-in-law. You and yours have my condolences. Jason, you are to be commended for the career path you have chosen, as are you Sue and Cathy, the Professions of Care, I refer to them as. It takes something special to be able to do that kind of work. I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of medical professionals are truly caring people, and even truly caring people have bad days. As for the nurse you described, Diana, she is just plain tactless, as well as highly unprofessional. I think I would have reported her. Bedside manner - I like to think that's part of professional training in the medical field, but I don't know. And I would imagine it's something that either improves or deteriorates with time, depending on the individual caregiver. Health care people, like everyone else come with a variety of temperments and people skills that make them good or bad in their jobs. I think good bedside manner is more about tact, truthfulness and the ability to take cues from the individual patient on how to relate to him or her. And good bedside manner isn't necessarily about providing emotional support. We know it's an absolute necessity for the health and sanity of the health care professionals that they not become emotionally involved in what they deal with on a daily basis. I would imagine that to be extremely hard to do. My niece is a nurse in a unit that provides care to pediatric oncology patients. She finds it a struggle from time to time to deal with the loss of a child she cared for over a period of time, whose family she's come to know. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Wolf Posts: 3423 Joined: 9th Jul 2008 Location: Australia	quotePosted at 01:03 on 30th September 2008 Very Special Poem When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee Scotland , it was believed that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meagre possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Ireland . The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet: Crabby Old Woman What do you see, nurses................What do you see? What are you thinking......When you're looking at me? A crabby old woman..........................Not very wise, Uncertain of habit,......................With faraway eyes? Who dribbles her food ............... And makes no reply. When you say in a loud voice.......'I do wish you'd try!' Who seems not to notice ..........The things that you do, And forever is losing .....................A stocking or shoe? Who, resisting or not, .............. Lets you do as you will, With bathing and feeding, .............. The long day to fill? Is that what you're thinking?......... Is that what you see? Then open your eyes, nurse,.....You're not looking at me. I'll tell you who I am .......................As I sit here so still, As I do at your bidding, ................... As I eat at your will. I'm a small child of ten..............With a father and mother, Brothers and sisters.......................Who love one another. A young girl of sixteen ...................With wings on her feet Dreaming that soon now ..................... A lover she'll meet. A bride soon at twenty, ................... My heart gives a leap, Remembering the vows ............... That I promised to keep. At twenty-five now,..................... I have young of my own, Who need me to guide ............... And a secure happy home. A woman of thirty,.................... My young now grown fast, Bound to each other..................... With ties that should last. At forty, my young sons..............Have grown and are gone, But my man's beside me.....................To see I don't mourn At fifty once more,...................Babies play round my knee, Again we know children,................... My loved one and me. Dark days are upon me,.......................My husband is dead, I look at the future,.............................I shudder with dread. For my young are all rearing .................Young of their own, And I think of the years.......... And the love that I've known. I'm now an old woman......................... And nature is cruel; Tis jest to make old age ............................. Look like a fool. The body, it crumbles,..................... Grace and vigor depart, There is now a stone.................... Where I once had a heart. But inside this old carcass................ A young girl still dwells, And now and again,...................... My battered heart swells. I remember the joys,.......................... I remember the pain, And I'm loving and living.............................. Life over again. I think of the years..................... All too few, gone too fast, And accept the stark fact......................That nothing can last. So open your eyes, people,.............................Open and see, Not a crabby old woman;..........Look closer......see,.....ME!! My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Karen Pugh Posts: 858 Joined: 21st Dec 2006 Location: UK	quotePosted at 08:08 on 30th September 2008 Speechless Wolf, it's a sad story. Makes you sit back and think. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Stephanie Jackson Posts: 3911 Joined: 13th Apr 2008 Location: UK	quotePosted at 09:36 on 30th September 2008 My Mom gave me a poem book, Wolf, just after we lost Terry's Mom and this poem was in there. It could have been written by her - it's just what she told me a few months before she died. She said she felt like a young woman trapped in that old body and I know for her death was a happy release. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Cathy E. Posts: 8474 Joined: 15th Aug 2008 Location: USA	quotePosted at 12:31 on 30th September 2008 On 30th September 2008 01:03, Wolf wrote: Very Special Poem When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee Scotland , it was believed that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meagre possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Ireland . The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet: Crabby Old Woman What do you see, nurses................What do you see? What are you thinking......When you're looking at me? A crabby old woman..........................Not very wise, Uncertain of habit,......................With faraway eyes? Who dribbles her food ............... And makes no reply. When you say in a loud voice.......'I do wish you'd try!' Who seems not to notice ..........The things that you do, And forever is losing .....................A stocking or shoe? Who, resisting or not, .............. Lets you do as you will, With bathing and feeding, .............. The long day to fill? Is that what you're thinking?......... Is that what you see? Then open your eyes, nurse,.....You're not looking at me. I'll tell you who I am .......................As I sit here so still, As I do at your bidding, ................... As I eat at your will. I'm a small child of ten..............With a father and mother, Brothers and sisters.......................Who love one another. A young girl of sixteen ...................With wings on her feet Dreaming that soon now ..................... A lover she'll meet. A bride soon at twenty, ................... My heart gives a leap, Remembering the vows ............... That I promised to keep. At twenty-five now,..................... I have young of my own, Who need me to guide ............... And a secure happy home. A woman of thirty,.................... My young now grown fast, Bound to each other..................... With ties that should last. At forty, my young sons..............Have grown and are gone, But my man's beside me.....................To see I don't mourn At fifty once more,...................Babies play round my knee, Again we know children,................... My loved one and me. Dark days are upon me,.......................My husband is dead, I look at the future,.............................I shudder with dread. For my young are all rearing .................Young of their own, And I think of the years.......... And the love that I've known. I'm now an old woman......................... And nature is cruel; Tis jest to make old age ............................. Look like a fool. The body, it crumbles,..................... Grace and vigor depart, There is now a stone.................... Where I once had a heart. But inside this old carcass................ A young girl still dwells, And now and again,...................... My battered heart swells. I remember the joys,.......................... I remember the pain, And I'm loving and living.............................. Life over again. I think of the years..................... All too few, gone too fast, And accept the stark fact......................That nothing can last. So open your eyes, people,.............................Open and see, Not a crabby old woman;..........Look closer......see,.....ME!! Thanks Wolf, that is the poem I was looking for! I love this poem. I can just feel her emotional state in this poem. It breaks my heart to think of the elderly being treated this way and sadly it is so true and widespread. If you just take a minute and listen to these folks and let them tell their stories you learn so much about life. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Vera Howarth Posts: 51 Joined: 3rd Aug 2008 Location: UK	quotePosted at 13:11 on 30th September 2008 As a qualified nurse it always dismays me to hear of patients ' bad experiences,especially when it is from the nursing staff.As nurses we are there to give the patients the best quality of care -physically and emotionaly.Not to distress them. Don't get me wrong here ,patients can be more difficult and demanding than they need to ,but I always think to myself ,when faced with this type of patient, <would I be any better if I were felling so ill> and the answer is usually no. I would suggest that anyone with concerns should adress the matter imedia ly with the nuse in charge so that things may be improved staight away and adjustments made.It is never a good idea to let worries accumulate and only complain at a later date-do it right then. There are other factors tht come into play .From my own experience we constantly work very much understaffed which creates it's own problems.This is no excuse for rudeness though. The new way of nurse training falls short of preparing nurses for the reality of what is expected of them and it has totally forgotten the <artistry> of nursing. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Sue H Posts: 8172 Joined: 29th Jun 2007 Location: USA	quotePosted at 18:44 on 30th September 2008 When I was over in England last year while my 'dad' was in and out of hospital, I was shocked at how many foreign Doctors and nurses there were. But 'dad' was very happy with his care, and for the most part I was impressed as well. There were one or two that I had a hard time understanding because their grasp of the English language wasn't as good as I think it should have been for someone working in such an important job, but on the whole, they were very compassionate, and good at their job. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions
Paul Hilton Posts: 2605 Joined: 21st Nov 2004 Location: UK	quotePosted at 21:28 on 30th September 2008 Picture by Paul Hilton Here's the grave of a famous nurse so modest, she only had her initials F N on the Nightingale family graves, tucked away just north of the New Forest. My favourite: Pictures \| Towns \| Attractions