Quote:
Originally Posted by Guinness
Margaret, in the main I think you are agreeing with me. I already pointed out that nurses are not doing the job that they are supposed to, they are doing more, they are doing the job of doctors and being paid nurses wages. The people who are doing the dictionary definition and traditional Florence Nightingale nursing are healthcare workers and they are being paid just above minimum wage. Trust me I am very grateful that ALL of these guys are around.
The point of contention between us is the amount of hands on basic nursing that university qualified nurses do. Like you I speak from personal observation not from political propaganda or watching Casualty. I don't for one moment think that nurses are useless, I just think that their role has been changed from the traditional hand holding, brow wiping and pillow pumping reassurance to triage, prescribing and having to maintain continuous professional development by going on countless training courses instead of being observationally assessed by the matron on a daily basis.
These changes have been made by the constant interference of government to get healthcare on the cheap and pave the way for private healthcare.
And once the NHS implodes, we will have a glut of university trained nurses who will be scrambling for jobs in the private sector driving down the wages on offer as supply exceeds demand. Like I said, win-win for this government.
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Of course nursing has evolved...it has been evolving since the days of Florence Nightingale....it has had to do this to keep up with modern technology processes and procedures.
And the university qualified nurses DO still participate in hands on care hands on care...but they have HCA's to help them do this.
It is a case of getting the work done as a team.
When my daughter was in hospital for five weeks earlier this year, her care was delivered by caring individuals who did what was necessary to make her comfortable...whether that was to empty her catheter bag, administer pain relief, or change her vomit bowl and give her a mouthwash. I saw the ward sister do this on more than one occasion.
If you do not have a doctor available and a patient needs an IV line re-siting, what would you rather have?
A nurse who is qualified to do this - and get on with it...or wait and let the patient become dehydrated because it does not fit with the traditional brow mopping vision of a nurse?
Nurses have long wanted to do these roles because they are on the spot when frequently a doctor is not....and they know it benefits the patient.
I did not go into nursing because of the pay...in fact I left a very well paid job in industry to go and follow my dream.
I cannot generalise why nurses go into nursing today...but the ones that I know go i nto it to make a difference to the lives of patients.
Nursing has changed...it is going to continue to change, this change cannot be stopped.
Nurses work as a team, with the HCA making a valuable contribution to the care of patients...this is good for the HCA and also for the patient.
Some of the finest lessons I learned were from auxiliary nurses - those untrained precursors of the HCA...and at last someone has recognised their value and given them training to do other things than wipe bottoms and do baths
As for your comment on CPD(continued professional development) this doesn't have to done by taking courses....you can do it at the place of work and by studying stuff that the professional journals provide.
British trained nurses are welcomed with open arms all over the world.
I cannot ever see there being a glut of trained nurses.