See.....even lettie remembers HWK......and hiding in the sluice from him.
It was an amazing sight, the ward could be busy with nurses doing whatever they had to do for the patients......then Hamish would arrive.......everyone would disappear, like cockroaches when you turn on a light. I swear the nurses went down cracks in the tiles. I suppose it was a self preservation mode really.....if he couldn't see you, he couldn't ask you anything....if he couldn't ask you anything, you couldn't get it wrong and get bawled at.
I have to say that I found that however scared I was of something....running away would never cure that fear.......standing and facing it would. I never minded not knowing something either and was always happy to admit my ignorance, it became a tool to learning. I found that most people are very happy to give you the benefit of their experience.
I was going to tell you about the midwife who instilled courage into me to stand up to HWK........she was called Marian D. I thought she was a marvellous nurse and a very feisty midwife.
I had been a first year student on my first allocation to surgery,
Marian had been a third year......ready to sit her finals. Marian made sure that I was looked after....she would seek me out if she was doing anything technical, but also helped me with the basic stuff. I remember one day perching a lady onto a bedpan,
The lady had had surgery only the day before........no matter what I did, the lady couldn't wee.......I whistled, ran the taps, put her fingers in a dish of warm water.......nothing helped.
I went to Marian and told her, she suggested that I help the lady out of bed and onto the commode. Now, why couldn't I have thought of that....? It was magic. Sweet relief for the patient too.
Marian became one of my role models.... the other was a Staff Nurse on Ward 4 (Eileen Dignan).
When I got to my third year I had chosen to do what was called 'The Obstetric Option'...... this was a 12 week experience of the maternity unit. It was brilliant, the tutors treated us like grown ups......and I learned more in that 12 weeks than perhaps the previous 12 months. It was also great because Marian was a newly qualified midwife. I knew that she would make sure I got the best out of this experience.
Marian was working on B3. this was the ante-natal ward, the ward that looked after the ladies in late pregnancy, the ladies who had problems in their pregnancies.
HWK walked on the ward late one Friday afternoon......Marian was going to do the ward round with him......there was no sister available. She pushed the round trolley out of the office and had just got through the office door when HWK went off on one......he was shouting and bawling and he threw two sets of case notes on the floor......Marian just steered the trolley round them and said
'Mr K......we have stopped filing notes on the floor, they tend to get damaged or lost'.......she didn't even look at him as she said this......she just sort of said it to him over her shoulder.
He was absolutely incensed and told her to pick them up. Marian told him in no uncertain terms, that as he had thrown them on the floor, he would be the one picking them up.
I though Hamish was going to blow a gasket....... his face was red as a beetroot and the veins in his temples were standing out.
He was huffing and puffing and said he wouldn't do a round with her....he told her she was incompetent, he told her to get him a sister.
Marian did exactly that. She went over to Labour ward and spotted Sister E. She said 'Sister E, Mr K wants to speak to you on B3'........Sister E scurried across to B3 while Marian skipped down the backstairs to A2 ward. Once there, she took herself off into the staff room and locked herself in the toilet with a magazine.
Marian knew that Sister E would not have a clue about any of the patients on B3 and was determined that she would not be available to help out with any answers. Let Hamish have a Sister.......that navy blue dress didn't automatically confer knowledge and he was soon to see that.
Sister E did the ward round, but only in so much as handing Hamish the notes......she knew nothing at all about any of the patients.....so Hamish had to rely on what was written in the notes. It took twice as long to get through the ward round.
It didn't cure HWK though. Down at BRI he would never do a round with anyone other than the Sister.......and Sister was daft enough to stay on duty until the great man had been. He used to have a cup of tea and biscuits after the ward round......special china teapot, cups and a plate.....on a silver tray.(I think it was chrome really) It was just like out of the film 'Carry on Doctor'.
Personally, I blamed the Sister down there for raising his expectations......he didn't get that treatment at QPH........and didn't quibble about it either.
Talking about notes..... HWK was difficult to understand...... he would talk into his chest......or maybe I should say mutter into his chest. Frequently you wouldn't have a clue what he had said. Even after he had repeated what it was he wanted you would still be no wiser. In situations like that you would rely on the notes and consult what had been written......well, HWK was the only person I ever knew who could transcribe mutter onto paper.
I used to wonder however he passed his exams.
I once hung a set of notes on the wall in the office and tried to read them at a distance to see if I could make sense out of them.......I have to say that I couldn't and had to consult my colleague, Marilyn......she had worked with HWK for more years than me......and usually she would be able to translate the writing.
It was a skill that I did eventually learn.
It was an amazing sight, the ward could be busy with nurses doing whatever they had to do for the patients......then Hamish would arrive.......everyone would disappear, like cockroaches when you turn on a light. I swear the nurses went down cracks in the tiles. I suppose it was a self preservation mode really.....if he couldn't see you, he couldn't ask you anything....if he couldn't ask you anything, you couldn't get it wrong and get bawled at.
I have to say that I found that however scared I was of something....running away would never cure that fear.......standing and facing it would. I never minded not knowing something either and was always happy to admit my ignorance, it became a tool to learning. I found that most people are very happy to give you the benefit of their experience.
I was going to tell you about the midwife who instilled courage into me to stand up to HWK........she was called Marian D. I thought she was a marvellous nurse and a very feisty midwife.
I had been a first year student on my first allocation to surgery,
Marian had been a third year......ready to sit her finals. Marian made sure that I was looked after....she would seek me out if she was doing anything technical, but also helped me with the basic stuff. I remember one day perching a lady onto a bedpan,
The lady had had surgery only the day before........no matter what I did, the lady couldn't wee.......I whistled, ran the taps, put her fingers in a dish of warm water.......nothing helped.
I went to Marian and told her, she suggested that I help the lady out of bed and onto the commode. Now, why couldn't I have thought of that....? It was magic. Sweet relief for the patient too.
Marian became one of my role models.... the other was a Staff Nurse on Ward 4 (Eileen Dignan).
When I got to my third year I had chosen to do what was called 'The Obstetric Option'...... this was a 12 week experience of the maternity unit. It was brilliant, the tutors treated us like grown ups......and I learned more in that 12 weeks than perhaps the previous 12 months. It was also great because Marian was a newly qualified midwife. I knew that she would make sure I got the best out of this experience.
Marian was working on B3. this was the ante-natal ward, the ward that looked after the ladies in late pregnancy, the ladies who had problems in their pregnancies.
HWK walked on the ward late one Friday afternoon......Marian was going to do the ward round with him......there was no sister available. She pushed the round trolley out of the office and had just got through the office door when HWK went off on one......he was shouting and bawling and he threw two sets of case notes on the floor......Marian just steered the trolley round them and said
'Mr K......we have stopped filing notes on the floor, they tend to get damaged or lost'.......she didn't even look at him as she said this......she just sort of said it to him over her shoulder.
He was absolutely incensed and told her to pick them up. Marian told him in no uncertain terms, that as he had thrown them on the floor, he would be the one picking them up.
I though Hamish was going to blow a gasket....... his face was red as a beetroot and the veins in his temples were standing out.
He was huffing and puffing and said he wouldn't do a round with her....he told her she was incompetent, he told her to get him a sister.
Marian did exactly that. She went over to Labour ward and spotted Sister E. She said 'Sister E, Mr K wants to speak to you on B3'........Sister E scurried across to B3 while Marian skipped down the backstairs to A2 ward. Once there, she took herself off into the staff room and locked herself in the toilet with a magazine.
Marian knew that Sister E would not have a clue about any of the patients on B3 and was determined that she would not be available to help out with any answers. Let Hamish have a Sister.......that navy blue dress didn't automatically confer knowledge and he was soon to see that.
Sister E did the ward round, but only in so much as handing Hamish the notes......she knew nothing at all about any of the patients.....so Hamish had to rely on what was written in the notes. It took twice as long to get through the ward round.
It didn't cure HWK though. Down at BRI he would never do a round with anyone other than the Sister.......and Sister was daft enough to stay on duty until the great man had been. He used to have a cup of tea and biscuits after the ward round......special china teapot, cups and a plate.....on a silver tray.(I think it was chrome really) It was just like out of the film 'Carry on Doctor'.
Personally, I blamed the Sister down there for raising his expectations......he didn't get that treatment at QPH........and didn't quibble about it either.
Talking about notes..... HWK was difficult to understand...... he would talk into his chest......or maybe I should say mutter into his chest. Frequently you wouldn't have a clue what he had said. Even after he had repeated what it was he wanted you would still be no wiser. In situations like that you would rely on the notes and consult what had been written......well, HWK was the only person I ever knew who could transcribe mutter onto paper.
I used to wonder however he passed his exams.
I once hung a set of notes on the wall in the office and tried to read them at a distance to see if I could make sense out of them.......I have to say that I couldn't and had to consult my colleague, Marilyn......she had worked with HWK for more years than me......and usually she would be able to translate the writing.
It was a skill that I did eventually learn.