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We used to call them angels, so why have some nurses stopped caring?
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 18 October 2008 | Claudia Joseph

Posted on 10/18/2008 3:58:31 PM PDT by B-Chan

I knew my mother Norma's 81st birthday would be poignant. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer six months earlier... and was not expected to survive the year.

But at least, I reasoned, she was being treated at the world-renowned Royal Marsden Hospital in West London. There she would not only receive the best possible treatment but be cared for by dedicated nurses accustomed to looking after the terminally ill...

But when I arrived on Horder Ward on the morning of my mother's birthday, she was distressed and disorientated. Instead of wearing the white linen pyjamas she had gone to bed in, she was wrapped in an NHS gown Gradually it emerged that she had woken up in the middle of the night in a pool of blood, terrified she was haemorrhaging. She had rung the bell next to her bed but there was no response.

Eventually a nurse turned up to discover my mother's cannula - a tube inserted into her vein and attached to a saline drip - had fallen out of her arm.

The nurse bustled around changing the sheets while my mother sat covered in blood, shivering beside the bed. When she asked for a blanket, the nurse told her to put on her flimsy cotton dressing gown, an offer she declined as she didn't want it covered in blood.

Finally she was dressed in a hospital gown, put back into bed and left alone until I arrived in the morning. 'Where are her pyjamas?' I asked the nurse. 'I don't know,' she shrugged.

[ ... ]

We're all familiar with the problems facing the NHS: the chronic shortage of nurses, the drain on funding, target-orientated managers, government edicts...

But there's one question that cannot so easily be dismissed: when did hospital nurses stop caring?

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: aging; governmenthealthcare; healthcare; medicine; moralabsolutes; uk
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To: armydoc

> No, if something is deemed a “national priority”, then the farther the gov’t stays away from it, the better.

Disagree, but perhaps that is based on definition more than anything else.

To me, a “national priority” is something that the Nation, thru its government, decides to be sufficiently important to be a Priority. This would include things like national defense. Nobody would argue (I hope) that national defense is not a “national priority”. And nobody would argue (I hope) that national defense should be delivered privately: it should be delivered by the government.

As with national defense, so with socialized medicine. If it is deemed by the Nation to be a “national priority” on the same scale as national defense (it is here in NZ) then it should be delivered by the government.

That’s not socialism, that’s merely a matter of national priorities.


41 posted on 10/18/2008 5:07:22 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: B-Chan; All

All the more reason that we should ALL look after our loved ones to the best of our abilities and plan accordingly to do so.

My Dad took care of my Grandparents until they died. He & my StepMom lived in half of the duplex and Grandma & Grandpa in the other. When I was home (I was career Army and not always in the states) and they needed a weekend off, my sister or I would move in there for the weekend and take over. Grandma’s dementia got to the point where we did finally have to move her to a near-by facility, but one of us was there EVERY DAY checking on her well-being. The nursing staff got to know us very, very well. They had no TIME to mistreat Grandma because they knew one of us would be there each day.

Grandpa died at home in his comfy chair while napping. A perfect ending. :)

Husband and I will be sole caretakers of my Dad and my In-Laws. We’ve all planned ahead with medical insurance policies and we all know what’s what with each other. My fondest hope is that we all can live together (any combination of us at any given time) when the time comes.

Don’t ever get old in America. And if you can’t help getting old, at least have cash. And if you don’t have cash, have someone who gives a sh!t about you.

And if anyone has any wish for socialized medicine in America, well frankly, you’re an idiot.

It breaks my heart that we no longer live with more than one Generation under one roof and that families are so scattered! I grew up with my parents living with my Mom’s parents until they were done with college and apprenticeships and off to a solid start. I wish more people took that opportunity these days.

*Steps Off Soapbox* :)


42 posted on 10/18/2008 5:12:58 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: B-Chan
If you've ever been in a hospital recently...they put you in this ridiculous flimsy smock (with the AC jacked up so that it's freezing)and usually a single sheet which is a poor excuse for a blanket. The rejects from secular public schools staffing the hospitals can be outrageous. There is a lot of work to be done in improving the medical profession.

"Bring Your Own Blanket"

43 posted on 10/18/2008 5:17:26 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: DieHard the Hunter
To me, a “national priority” is something that the Nation, thru its government, decides to be sufficiently important to be a Priority. This would include things like national defense. Nobody would argue (I hope) that national defense is not a “national priority”. And nobody would argue (I hope) that national defense should be delivered privately: it should be delivered by the government. As with national defense, so with socialized medicine. If it is deemed by the Nation to be a “national priority” on the same scale as national defense (it is here in NZ) then it should be delivered by the government. That’s not socialism, that’s merely a matter of national priorities.

National defense, by it nature (worldwide mission, etc) is not a service that can be completely privatized (though the private sector has become very important in national defense). That is not true with health care; the private sector is more than capable of providing excellent healthcare. If your argument remains that very important services should be provided by the government, I guess you would have no problem with the government providing all food and housing, given their importance?
44 posted on 10/18/2008 5:17:29 PM PDT by armydoc
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To: narses
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

Can you imagine how his girls are going to be affected once they are old enough to understand that daddy thinks they were a punishment!!

45 posted on 10/18/2008 5:18:04 PM PDT by Rapunzel (Never forget Fallujah..S. Helvenston RIP.....Sarah...Sarah...Sarah loves America)
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To: HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
You have to 'attend' to your elderly ones in the hospital or they will get ignored. Personal experience with this first hand in 1990 when my Pop had a stroke and was sent to the rehab center.

In 1993 he had bypass surgery and the nurse in cardiac care unit was too busy planning her weekend on the phone(it was a friday) when my Pop aspirated and she ignored him.

Pop died in that hospital due to neglect. AND he was the only patient in CCU other than a convict in a private room in the unit.

46 posted on 10/18/2008 5:23:03 PM PDT by Rapunzel (Never forget Fallujah..S. Helvenston RIP.....Sarah...Sarah...Sarah loves America)
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To: indylindy; narses

The problem with many hospitals is they’re run mostly by the kind of women who’d screw foreign doctors just for a Mercedes and an AmEx card. Has little to do with helping, healing, or caring for human beings. Sad.


47 posted on 10/18/2008 5:25:45 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: armydoc

> I guess you would have no problem with the government providing all food and housing, given their importance?

If the people, thru its government, decide that food and housing are “national priorities” then yes, the government should provide those...

That is how Democracy works. One man, one vote, the will of the majority to be implemented by the resultant democratically elected and directed government.

That said, it is a very big IF: I know of no Nation in its right mind that would make food and housing “National Priorities”.

“Health Care” is, for some Democracies. Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand being notable. Here in NZ it is not COMPULSORY socialized medicine: we do have the choice of using private medicine too, and many of us do. It isn’t socialized-medicine-or-nothing here in NZ.

What it is, is a National Priority that every New Zealader have automatic access to an agreed standard of health care whenever he needs it, irrespective of his ability to pay at the time.

A majority of New Zealanders want that: if the day came that a majority of us no longer wanted that, it would go away.

That is how Democracy should work.


48 posted on 10/18/2008 5:27:18 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: max americana

I (and my nurse granddaughter) agree, totally!
Several years ago we were both hospitalized in the same hospital as the result of separate accidents.
The “care” and downright filth were SO bad that when we were safely back home I asked her if she still planned to go into nursing.
It was the first time I ever heard her swear when she snarled, “I ain’t going to be no G_D_ UNION nurse! And she isn’t, I’m proud to say. Got her degree suma cum laude and is working privately for a doctor’s group.


49 posted on 10/18/2008 5:28:15 PM PDT by bog trotter
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To: nmh

In my experience, FWIW, it is a matter of 1/3 of the nurses being honest, caring, and maybe overworked because the next 1/3 haven/t a clue and need more supervision. The final 1/3 shouldn’t be any where near a patient and really don’t care. They’re just putting in their time to fill the union roles.
Kinda like with the NEA teachers, huh?


50 posted on 10/18/2008 5:28:15 PM PDT by bog trotter
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To: narses
And the Church stopped being a center of caring when Catholics stopped entering seminaries and convents and stopped teaching at Catholic schools and nursing at Catholic teaching hospitals. The idea of self-sacrifice, of putting the needs of others before your own, has become passe.

Better care was less expensive, because nurses were performing their work out of love for God and not for money. Government subsidies such as Medicare and Medicaid/Medi-Cal have come with strings attached. Acceptance of this money means the hospitals are unable to hire only people who share their values, but are required by law to not 'discriminate.'

The administrators of hospitals and nursing homes can have a great influence on the kind of care delivered. If they are in it for the money, and to bilk the government as much as possible, there will be low standards of care. If they are in it for the good of the patient, they will demand good performance from their employees.

Sometimes small towns have better care in nursing homes because there is less anonymity. If nurses and aides are caring for their neighbor from down the street, or the parent of their child's teacher it is less likely they will be uncaring or abusive.

51 posted on 10/18/2008 5:32:02 PM PDT by informavoracious (Oust all incumbents.)
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To: bog trotter

My GF is a former Canadian nurse...unionized of course. They take 2 month vacations (paid for by taxpayers), they go on strike like clockwork every 2 summers and hold the taxpayers hostage, and once you get paid a ridiculous amount of money: they literally take their sweet time to see you: that’s code for “we will diagnose you 10 hours from now”. God bless your daughter for making the correct decision.


52 posted on 10/18/2008 5:34:10 PM PDT by max americana
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To: Rapunzel
I plan to die at home. I pray it never comes to being dragged into one of those warehouses. They'll have to pry the Smith & Wesson from my cold, dying hand before I ever go to a damn hospital.

I was in for cardio. Told the nurse I had to use the restroom and there was this damn IV unit stuck in my arm. She hands me an empty plastic milk jug. And I was billed for this absurdity. Doctor comes in for 3 or 4 minutes reading my chart and mumbling pharmacology and anatomy mumbo jumbo. Obnoxious nerd dork type. No humane people skills at all. Classic product of Cartesian industrial laboratory medical school training. Has NOTHING to do with "healing" at all.

53 posted on 10/18/2008 5:36:17 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: nmh

There is a shortage of nurses and the shortage makes the nurses give out assembly line care.


54 posted on 10/18/2008 5:39:54 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (NRA - Vote against the dem party)
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To: informavoracious
"And the Church stopped being a center of caring when Catholics stopped entering seminaries and convents and stopped teaching at Catholic schools and nursing at Catholic teaching hospitals. The idea of self-sacrifice, of putting the needs of others before your own, has become passe. " 51 posted on Saturday, October 18, 2008 8:32:02 PM by informavoracious

You mean when they were stopped by modernists and the fruitcakes running the Church? Like the ones at our Jesuit university who refuse to hire believing Catholics. Believing Catholics were forced out and kicked out by heretics. I was there when it happened.

55 posted on 10/18/2008 5:41:04 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: LongTimeMILurker

I will agree too much time is spent on documentation, but disagree with your other statements. There are not as many four year BSN nurses as there used to be. Many nurses today are one year LVN’s or have a two year associate’s degree. A BSN nurse is worth his/her weight in gold.

Not sure if you were taking a dig at me, but want to make it clear I don’t “track” nurses. I track certain patient care goals for my admitting service. Sometimes when those goals aren’t met it’s because of poor nursing care. For instance meds aren’t given on time, call bells aren’t answered for hours, intake and output measurements aren’t recorded, vitals aren’t taken on time, etc., etc.


56 posted on 10/18/2008 5:41:32 PM PDT by McLynnan
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To: HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
I took care of my Mom for her last 5 1/2 years of life and she was adamnant about her being home versus the hospital.

My younger sister has died from cancer a few years earlier and again we had to witness substandard care.

My fear was I would need to call an ambulance for her but she made the decision for me.

She passed away talking to her older sister at home. It's been almost 5 years and I still miss her.

57 posted on 10/18/2008 5:47:55 PM PDT by Rapunzel (Never forget Fallujah..S. Helvenston RIP.....Sarah...Sarah...Sarah loves America)
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To: DieHard the Hunter

“Not all socialized medicine is bad.”

It is for the USA. Keep your socialism down under.


58 posted on 10/18/2008 5:48:26 PM PDT by Domestic Church (AMDG.... read up on Antonio Gramsci)
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To: Rapunzel
God bless you.

The most spiritually rewarding experience in life was caring for a dying parent.

59 posted on 10/18/2008 5:51:04 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
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To: Domestic Church

> Keep your socialism down under.

Watch your language, mate.


60 posted on 10/18/2008 5:56:45 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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