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Now ye're talking - to a Nurse
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Purple Mountain wrote: »Would you be able to expand a bit more on this please?
I will indeed. I will name 2 of the main things that come to mind right now
Nurses do things here such as taking bloods and inserting intravenous cannulas. In other countries they have other staff to do this specific role which is great. Nurses here take ECGs and some nurses (myself included) are trained to Interpret those ECGs. In other Countries doctors do this or there are ECG Technicians who work around the clock and doctors then do the interpretation. Don't get me wrong, it is incredible that nurses here are so skilled and autonomous, it's just that it is difficult when trying to do those tasks as well as care for too many patient's and do all the paperwork.In the past I was indifferent to the plight of nurses.
I would have shared many of the ignorant hot takes I've read on boards up until my sister actually became a nurse.
I really don't think people realise the emotional and physical demands of the job.
She has had people cough blood into her face, among other bodily fluids thrown at her.
She's injured herself from trying to stop disoriented patients pull IVs from themselves or not having enough assistance/hoists to move obese patients.
The emotional stuff is the real kicker.
She once had an 80 odd year old women with terminal cancer ask her to hold her hand as she had no family and was scared of dying.
She sat there for an hour with her after working a 12 hour shift.
Of course she didn't have to do that but the request alone would have f&*ked with my head for weeks.
You probably do become desensitized to it to some extent but the continuous emotional stress must be exhausting. Then add in the night shifts to mess with your body clock. She's told me numerous times she's ping ponged on her bus route home because she's fallen asleep.
You simply can't compare working conditions to that on a ward.
Sorry for the rant
. Now for the question.
Increased salary aside, do you think the HSE could offer something else which would make any improvement to a nurses working conditions?
Shorter shifts? Longer hand over periods to help catch up on paperwork within your actual shift hours?
Hi
Well done to your sister. It is difficult but I am glad she shares stuff with you which does help. You are right though, people don't realise what a nurse does until they have a family member, friend or partner who is a nurse.
I do think there are things like getting rid of the extra day we work as per the current pay agreement. I think hospitals should offer different shifts such as 4 and 8 hour shifts once there is enough staff to cover although 12 and 13 hour shifts do allow for continuity of care which is so important, however there are certain areas where shorter shifts would work in my opinion. I think if there were enough staff paperwork would get done in time and you wouldn't need longer hand over periods. Basically we just need more staff, more support, waiting lists to be sorted, more beds and a more efficient system in general. I think more GPs and primary health centers would also help.... oh god.... now you have opened the flood gates!! :pac::D There's more.... though.... I think maybe if we would do a 7 day system instead of 5 things would also be easier! Right..... I'll stop now! :pac:0 -
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Considering that ANPs earn up to €70k, DONs can earn in excess of €80k, and other managerial roles in nursing are also quite well paid, do you think that a blanket 12%pay rise across all grades would be fair?
To be honest I think ANPs are incredible. They are basically doing the exact same job as doctors. ANPs in Emergency Departments in particular do everything that most doctors do. They order and interpret xrays, they prescribe medications, they suture, carry out minor surgeries and manage to massively decrease waiting times in Emergency Departments and minor injury clinics. They are worth their weight in gold. DONs have an immense amount of pressure on their shoulders and with all hospitals getting busier by the year they are being faced with more and more work to do.
I do think things are more stressful for everyone, however, I do think I would be happy if there was pay parity for staff nurses first of all.... I do think that those that get to grades of ANP, CNM, ADON and DON have an incredible amount of experience and education behind them so I think they currently deserve what they get.You're account of your experience on the picket line really moved me. I am glad you are having good experiences and can feel supported by colleagues and public. I don't have a question just wanted to offer my support also. Being a nurse is a vocation, not everyone is cut out for it and you should feel appreciated for the great work ye do xPlumbthedepths wrote: »#93 have a read.
Thank you shellycub and Plumbthedepths 0 -
All I'll say here is that this nurse, whoever she (or he) is, deserves great credit for a whole series of reasoned and honest answers, including this one to my own query, which I for one have not actually heard answered anywhere during the entire time of this dispute.
Whatever you think of the nurses or their claim and actions, I say big fair play to this nurse for putting herself (or himself!) in the spotlight here and fielding all these questions.
For the record, I'd acknowledge without question that nursing is a tough job, that the vast majority of nurses are hugely appreciated by their patients and the patients' families, and that in an ideal world, they'd be paid more for what they do.
But I still wonder about some aspects of their action and the arguments being put forward on their behalf. And in particular, I'll go back to my question here, and wonder if anybody anywhere has ever actually proposed how or where money to fund a pay raise would be fund. To me, that's one of the biggest questions of all, but nobody arguing for that pay raise seems to be willing to address it....and just as I was writing that post, here's an example of the kind of honesty I'm talking about.
If any non-nurse said this in normal conversation, they'd be shot down immediately by most people. But at least this nurse acknowledges that they're not all absolute angels.
Again, whoever you are, I greatly admire your honesty.
Duffryman,
Again I am sorry that I can't answer your question I will say one thing though, I think if we could cut down on agency paid staff due to more staffing that would go a long long way..... And I mean cutting the bill for both doctors and nurses. Agency staff are so necessary due to short staffing but nurses may be inclined to come back into the public service if things were better.
Just wanted to say thank you as well. I believe honesty is the best policy and it's the way I will always be Thank you again 0 -
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Molly Bitter Zebra wrote: »You said staffing was an issue and yet when I was in a clinic in James's last week there were 2 nurses handing out charts to doctors, weighing people and sending them for an ECG.
This is clerical officer work.
Multiply this across all the clinics a hospital has...
What's the rationale in this ? It's bonkers.Corruptedmorals wrote: »It is absolutely NOT clerical officer work. Clerical staff make the appointments, get those charts, date those charts, find the missing ones, have them ready for clinic, make sure the details are correct and bring them into the clinic. It is NOT their job to read medical notes in charts and decide based on their absolutely zero medical knowledge that this patient requires an ECG or this patient requires a hearing test or these bloods that were requested at the last visit are not in the chart. It is NOT their job to write in results/observations or weigh patients. It is also not their job to decide which doctor sees a patient because the nurses do that too, recognise from a patient's notes that they need to see the consultant not the registrar.
Why would you want someone with no medical training whatsoever deciding who needs tests? Or weighing a patient - what if that patient falls? Outpatient clinics are bursting at the seams with the numbers and could do without clerical inappropriately taking on roles which would absolutely affect patient safety. Many hospitals - but not all - are badly understaffed with patient facing clerical staff. For an admin role it can be very stressful, dangerous in terms of the responsibility and you are the face of the 3-4 year waiting list, the 12 hour expected wait time in A&E, the cancelled operation due to bed shortage, the rescheduled for the 2nd time appointment. NOT the only face but it's still a role that attracts a lot of abuse and upset. There is enough to be doing without interfering in clinical decisions.
Anyway, I dont have a question but I've loved reading this nurse's answers. I fully support the strike and although I work in an adult hospital now I worked in a children's one before..it takes a special kind of person to be a children's nurse they are just amazing.
I decided to put these together for a reason....
So.... I feel that what you witnessed was probably a snapshot of their day. Those nurses may run other clinics at different times or on different days where they get to use nursing skills. I do think that directing patient's to clinics can be done by someone who is non medical.... however, as I say I fear you just got a snapshot of what their job actually entails. You also should remember that people attending outpatients departments are unwell and some people require nursing care when attending outpatients which means nurses must be present.
Also, I think people fail to see what clerical or admin staff in a hospital have to do also. They have enough to be doing without adding to their workload also.
Corruptedmorals, thank you. You explain things better than I ever could with your post and thank you for your support and kind words. 0 -
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First thank you for your honest answer, the reason i suspect i like many others are asking is because i know as part of your education a large investment was made into the system to get nurses to the education level they currently are at. With the media doing prominent highlights of nurses abroad with their placards about not coming home the question has to be asked why are we funding people throwing it back in our faces.
Then on the other hand you have a nurse who rang into Joe Duffy (2 days ago i think), she was in a Brussels hospital getting hip surgery done because she couldn't get it done on time here before it would become a permanent disability. How the **** do we have a system where a nurse of 30 years cannot get surgery so she can go back to the job she loves.
I do hope they can come up with a solution that works for the nurses and doesn't kick off a landslide of other pay increases.
That is shocking regarding that nurse. It is sad that ANYONE has to travel abroad due to waiting times here :mad: Hopefully she will be on the mend soon and back to work.
Regarding your first point, there is a massive investment in nurses here and believe me, it is so saddening when a nurse leaves for overseas for the better pay and lifestyle. I do think retention needs to be improved and hopefully this action will lead to proposals that will lead to nurses staying following their education.I'm a non-nurse who would say this...but I obtained the information from my wife, who is a nurse.
:pac: Hon your misses
Thanks for the reply
Appreciated
I can only say fair play to you all standing up for yourselfs
You deserve to be treated well and with the upmost respect
Thank you AudiAvant 0 -
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