Tuesday 27 July 2010

Gearing Up For Withdrawal Of Goodwill?

Working to rule is the most favoured method of industrial action among the 5,185 nurses and midwives who took part in Nursing Times’ exclusive survey.

Asked what duties they would refuse to do as part of formal industrial action, 59 per cent of respondents said they would refuse to work unpaid overtime and 53 per cent said they would insist on leaving the ward or clinic for breaks - something nurses in practice are often unable to do.

Other targets for bolshy nurses may be ‘non-nursing duties’:
Just over half said they would refuse to carry out non-nursing duties such as cleaning and portering - another role nurses are frequently asked to do when workplaces are short staffed.
Of course, should this take place, patients are unlikely to notice the difference:
A report by the National Health Service has found that millions of patients suffer falls or malnutrition during their stay in hospital, according to the Daily Mail.
When you have to remind people exactly what their jobs are, you may well ask how they’d have the nerve to go on strike in the first place…
The report, entitled High Impact Actions for Nursing and Midwifery: The Essential Collection, concluded that many of the injuries could have been avoided and reminded staff of their duties.

Almost a quarter of patients are malnourished the report, which was sent to hospitals last month, found.

It admitted: "Most patients, carers, health care professionals, commissioners, senior managers and chief executives do not realise how common it is in the UK and so it goes unrecognised and untreated."

3 comments:

Pat Nurse MA said...

Neglect from so called "caring" nurses killed my mum. The ombudsman upheld our complaint about her mistreatment including the fact that at 75 she died on a maternity ward because they had no where else to put her.

She was blind and when she couldn't find her cup to drink from they laughed at her, and then when they got fed up of moving her from ward to ward to ward to make room for younger people who came in and "needed" her bed, they shoved her in an ambulance and sent her home.

Her condition deteriorated while she was in hospital and at no time did she ever see a doctor - nor did one examine her before her discharge.

She was back in A&E next morning in a coma. She never regained consciousness before she died.

She went in with a chest infection and died of pnuemonia. The hospital tried to insist that her condition worsened in the ambulance on the 20 minute journey home. Yeah Right!

Nurses, frankly, make me sick. Like all health workers today, only their own self interest is taken into account and not that of the people they allegedly serve.

The NHS is for patients who need care whatever their age - not to keep paying wages of lazy staff who declare - that's not my job just to keep 'em off the dole. Sack 'em all and recruit people who really do care.

Coincidentally, my surname really is Nurse - bah.

AntiCitizenOne said...

>The NHS is for patients who need care whatever their age

No the NHS is almost entirely producer captured by those who like to pretend they care (IME only a few really do).

Andrew said...

It's upsetting to read what happened to Pat Nurse. You're right it was absolutely not on. I hope you are coping well Pat after it all. I think my choice of words if it had been me in your shoes would not be as polite.

But this is the thing. About being in other peoples shoes. And actually I wear a pedometer at work and my shoes travel between 4 and 8 miles every day. I often work 12 hours per day or night. I have to think as sharp at the end of those 12 hours as I did at the start of those 12 hours. I have to be polite and friendly at the end of those 12 hours, as I was at the start. I have to maintain the highest of standards at the end of those 12 hours as I did at the start. I have to do my job exactly right at the end of that 12 hours as I did at the start. My job can involve some physical challenges, as well as emotional ones. Would you begrudge me a lunch break in the middle of it or expect me to do another couple of hours for no reward at the end.

Oh I forgot to mention what my job is. I'm a radiographer in the NHS.

Seriously though. Me and my co workers are often asked to stay behind for no pay, and are often asked to work through lunch due to staff shortages, and often made to feel guilty in to doing it....it works because we care. So like mugs we do it, and we get no complaints because we're professional at it and don't take it out on the patient. But guess what every week at least one of my co workers collapses with low blood sugar, or exhaustion.

Come on people. Don't blame the front line staff for this travesty. It's the lack of staffing. The fact that work load increases year on year, and the same number of staff are expected to take this on. So we literally work until we collapse.