Dear our wonderful nurses...

‘The NHS is on its arse’. A commonly used phrase in our family, often in jest to my mum, who proudly carries with her that coveted NHS pension pot in order to keep my dad in the manner in which he’s been accustomed to when retirement beckons. However often this is used, it is rarely meant.

Now don’t worry mum, before you start with the palpitations over my pending paragraphs reflecting your many stories from the wondrous physiotherapy department, this one’s not about you. Don’t get me wrong, over the years you have presented me with enough material for a book in itself, and ‘Tales from the alcohol gel-lined broom cupboard’ will hopefully find its commission somewhere, one day.

No this week, I am focusing on our nurses. If you’ve been watching the news over the past few days, you’ve probably not missed the stories on Jeremy Hunt’s plans for the nursing profession. If you have however been watching re-runs of Alan Partridge or (god help you) Gossip Girl, then pay close attention as this will be a brief and reasonably sketchy explanation.

The Royal College of Nursing branded Hunt’s plans for newly qualified nurses to spend a year working as health care assistants, ‘stupid’. He also suggested that following the tragic circumstances at Mid Staffs hospital, the organisation should be focusing more on schemes to raise the standards of nursing across the board, and not debating plans for training.

From a ‘punters’ perspective I can see what Mr Hunt is saying. He’s trying to focus on the ‘care’ aspect of a nurse’s job, and making sure that every qualifying nurse gets ample experience of the basics of patient care. And after what happened in Staffordshire, you can understand his motivation.

But looking at it from a nursing angle, I can also see why they would see this as a slight on their profession (albeit the RCN’s ‘stupid’ response didn’t exactly offer an impassioned articulate argument).

There’s not many professions where it is suggested that you do a year in another job, before you go into the profession you have trained for. There’s not many plumbers or electricians who are sent to be an ‘odd job man’ as soon as they get their final qualifications, or many teachers who take up a caretaker’s role the minute they’ve finished their training. 

From a care perspective of course, there’s no harm in spending some time with patients, practicing the art of patient care, making sure you have the stomach for some of the more unpleasant jobs, and ensuring you understand the complexity of ‘people’ issues that arise in such a role, and not just the medical ones. 

However I would hope that while you are training, a nurse gathers this level of experience as they go. This isn’t a ‘sit at a desk and type’ profession. This is an active, involved job, that surely requires a great deal of practical experience to even get through the first year of training, never mind achieve your final qualification.

Let’s not forget also that a year is a long time (although of course not as long as it was when I was 12 for some reason!). Surely in a year of not using all your training, not actively carrying out the medical duties that care assistants aren’t qualified to do, could knock the confidence or detrimentally affect the knowledge retention of newly qualified nurses? 

Is old Hunty boy suggesting that after a year, each nurse is then given a month’s refresher course to make sure they haven’t forgotten anything from their training? Cause I have to be honest, I wouldn’t be massively keen on a nurse administering drugs to me or a member of my family, without knowing the correct amount to use, or forgetting something important like where veins are, or how a stethoscope works, for example.

My limited knowledge of the profession here has possibly diluted the debate at hand somewhat, and I’m sure there are far more intricacies involved. But I think there has to be some sense in my ramblings.

Personally, I don’t have a view as to who is right or wrong here. I can see the points from both sides, and although I really want to stand on the side of the nurses whole-heartedly (they have the drugs), I can understand some of the measures the Government is suggesting. 

I just worry that the more something like this is debated, and the more problems at a place like Mid Staffs are discussed, the more untrusting people become about nurses, and I do feel very strongly that this shouldn’t be the case.

Nurses, doctors, midwives, paramedics, physios, in fact all those working in our health service, make sure we are cared for when we need it, that we have someone to hold our hands in difficult times, that someone understands our ailments and how to treat them. 

In my opinion, they are all simply wonderful. 

Of course people make mistakes. We are all human. The difference is, if I make a mistake at work, I misspell a word, or send a contentious press statement intended for my Chief Exec to an investigative journalist (true story). But realistically I can’t cause too much damage, and not many of us can. If a nurse makes a mistake, they can hurt someone, or even kill them. What a responsibility! 

But thank goodness for those people who are prepared to take that responsibility. To literally have our lives in their hands. day-in-day-out. Because if they weren’t there, what on earth would we do?  

Nursing is the caring profession, that for all technology’s advances, in every corner of the world, there are women and men working extremely hard to keep people alive, making sure they are comfortable and cared for while they’re lying in a hospital bed. In many ways the job they do is no different to that of legendary figures such as Florence Nightingale, but I would guess it’s a great deal harder these days than it was for Flo and the Gang.  There’s more pressure on nurses to keep up with paperwork, carry out more and more complicated procedures to free-up doctors’ time, and to train regularly to advance their knowledge and expertise. Not to mention keeping to an endless regime of health and safety, infection control, and a customer service role to help handle family enquiries, complaints and break bad news.

Whatever the final decision on the future of nursing, I hope the profession as a whole and the amazing people that work in it, don’t suffer for the mistakes of a few, and are supported by their representative body, and the Government to continue to do their job - perhaps minus some of the red tape and bureaucracy eh Mr Hunt?.

If you know a nurse, share this with them and let everyone else know how valued they are.