[the truth]

The nurses cant just blame money, they need to look at themselves and how callous, uncaring, incompassionate and unpreofessional many of them are.
Under new labour this disgusting nursing behaviour was buried as the Nurses form the biggets Union in the UK and labour are controlled by the unions. But now it is being exposed. Ive seen many many malpractices by disgusting nursing standards over the years.

Cruel, selfish indifference to patients in agony , in some cases dying. Only this year it was revealed an estimated 25,000 people ave died in hospitals from blood clots they developed in hospital due to nursing negligence. they dont even put the orthopaedic socks on properly. in other cases they dont even carry out simple 5 minute swallow tests (a spoon of salt and water) to see if a patient can eat and drink. Mrsa is 70 times the rate in UK hospitals as it is in sweden. these nurses are not just cruel , they ignore patients for hours on end, in some cases faeces is left to lie on the floor until a morning cleaner arrives, in other cases they fail to tell porters if the patient theyre transporting has mrsa....in other cases patients have had DNR (do not rescusitate) on their bed , which means theyre allowed to die, without even consulting the patient or any family or friend.

this is a disgrace. I personally have reported many nursing malpractices and it always gets buried. Now hopefully as it goes public with mp's and independent reports exposing corrupt cruel nursing practices. we may see a change for the good of the patients. to expose the bad nurses (still in the minority but the numbers have grown) will also assist the good nurses.




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-20597738

An MP has broken down as she described the "coldness, resentment, indifference and contempt" of some nurses who treated her late husband.

Ann Clwyd, Labour MP for Cynon Valley, said Owen Roberts died "like a battery hen" at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

She claimed he had "hospital-induced pneumonia" and nurses did not keep him warm or care for him


Ms Clwyd's spoke on the BBC Radio 4's The World At One on the day the chief nursing officer for England called for more emphasis on nurses providing compassionate care in hospitals.

In a new campaign aimed at reassuring the public, Jane Cummings said action must be taken to ensure the values such as compassion, communication and commitment in public health care were embedded.

"There is poor care, sometimes very poor," she said. "Such poor care is a betrayal of what we all stand for."

Ms Clwyd's husband, a former head of news and current affairs for BBC Cymru Wales and an ITV executive, had been treated for multiple sclerosis before his death in October.

She described how, hours before he died, he complained that he was cold and wanted to go home.

"He didn't have any clothes over him and he was half covered by two very thin inadequate sheets," she said.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
I really do feel he died of cold, and he died from people who didn't care”
End Quote
Ann Clwyd MP
"His feet were sticking out of the bed at an angle and he was extremely cold and I tried to cover him with a towel.

"He was very distressed and totally aware of his situation and, although unable to speak because of the oxygen mask, he made it clear he was cold and wanted to come home.

"A few hours later he died."

She added: "I really do feel he died of cold, and he died from people who didn't care."

Ms Clwyd, 75, explained how she had seen a nurses round only once between 14:30 BST and 22:30 BST during her visit.


Owen Roberts worked at BBC Wales in the 70s and was an ITV executive When she stopped a nurse in the corridor to ask why her husband was not in intensive care she was told that there were lots of people worse than him.

Ms Clwyd broke down in tears when she said that the whole experience gives her nightmares.

"I really find it difficult to sleep and very difficult to talk about," she said.

She likened his death to that of a "battery hen" adding that he was cramped and squashed up against the iron bars of his bed with an oxygen mask that did not fit.

She said he had an eye infection and very dry lips, which she tried to moisten with her own lip balm.

Ms Clwyd added that she felt she should bring a complaint "because I think it's just too common place, this sort of thing".

"I thought he was with professionals," she said

"Nobody should die in conditions I saw my husband die in."

All this within a week of another 2 damning reports highlighting the disatsrously low nursing standards across the UK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...tients-welfare

Inspections of hospitals show that a lack of staff, especially those with the right skills, is a key reason why one in 10 patients are denied respect and dignity, 15% are not fed properly and 20% have their care and welfare neglected, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

[the truth]

this man was definitely discriminated against

[AnnieK]

A very sad, and all too common story. I can't comment on whether he was descriminated against but too many people have similar stories. My nan was treated very similarly in hospital too, I had a run in with the nursing staff as she had not been "seen to" for a number of hours and was in need of the bathroom and cold...there is a distinct lack of nursing staff and the ones we have are very overworked and do seem to compromise compassion a lot of times. Although, I must say that some nursing staff I have encountered recently have been excellent...

[Kizzy]

I cannot totally defend the NHS here, my sister works as a minor injuries nurse and left to work for a private healthcare company.
She has witnessed a steep drop in standards most specifically over the last 2 years.
The point I would like to pick up here is that of the MP in the news item, i'm not disputing she was right in her explanations of her husbands reciept of care whilst in hospital.
However, I am wondering why she herself did not do more to alleviate his suffering?
Could she not provide socks, slippers, warmer pj's or thermal underwear?
could she not bathe his eyes or treat his lips?
Another sad fact may simply be that her husband was dying...
It may be common to feel cold as you desperately battle to stay alive?

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

I cannot totally defend the NHS here, my sister works as a minor injuries nurse and left to work for a private healthcare company.
She has witnessed a steep drop in standards most specifically over the last 2 years.
The point I would like to pick up here is that of the MP in the news item, i'm not disputing she was right in her explanations of her husbands reciept of care whilst in hospital.
However, I am wondering why she herself did not do more to alleviate his suffering?
Could she not provide socks, slippers, warmer pj's or thermal underwear?
could she not bathe his eyes or treat his lips?
Another sad fact may simply be that her husband was dying...
It may be common to feel cold as you desperately battle to stay alive?

I see your point but ultimately the nurses failed her and her husband....she is sitting with her dying husband, it shouldnt be on her to do the nurses jobs for them. she was losing the love of her life and the emotion of saying goodbye is unfathomable. the nurses failed her totally just as bad nurses fail so many thousands of people. Its nothing to do with money , this is a cultural, moral, social collapse. i would suggest the royal college of nursing need to address this enormous problem at its root. do not allow men and women to become nurses purely on their education and career record. Interview them rigorously to see why they want to do it and to find out more about their belief system, their morals and their character. give me a caring compassionate nurse over a super efficient cold android any day. the compasisonate nurse will ultimately be better at their job anyway as they will go that extra mile to treat to care and to get answers for patients and their families. im sick to death of these awful nursing pracices being ignored.

[Kizzy]

As usual as in everything there are more chiefs than indians, the people running wards and departments often have business experience but no clinical knowledge.
They are efficient at saving money not lives...
This has to change for things to improve.
You can have all the compassion in the world but if theres no resources you are caught between a rock and a hard place, my sister was becoming ill with the stress of her working conditions.
Old people going blind as the reception staff were not referring the correct patients for urgent appointments.
There was a catalogue of errors everyday, and the buck was passed with nobody accepting responsibility.
The duty of care is now to the budgets and not the patients.

This said, I have to disagree that your suggestion relatives shouldn't have to to the 'job' of the nurses is ridiculous.
Nurses are there to administer specialist care, not be handmaidens to every single patient.
They are very thin on the ground which again is not their fault.
If your loved one is in hospital would you not attend to them as you would at home whilst visiting?
During their long shifts listening to relatives complain that their loved ones lips seem a tad dry must get quite annoying.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

As usual as in everything there are more chiefs than indians, the people running wards and departments often have business experience but no clinical knowledge.
They are efficient at saving money not lives...
This has to change for things to improve.
You can have all the compassion in the world but if theres no resources you are caught between a rock and a hard place, my sister was becoming ill with the stress of her working conditions.
Old people going blind as the reception staff were not referring the correct patients for urgent appointments.
There was a catalogue of errors everyday, and the buck was passed with nobody accepting responsibility.
The duty of care is now to the budgets and not the patients.

This said, I have to disagree that your suggestion relatives shouldn't have to to the 'job' of the nurses is ridiculous.
Nurses are there to administer specialist care, not be handmaidens to every single patient.
They are very thin on the ground which again is not their fault.
If your loved one is in hospital would you not attend to them as you would at home whilst visiting?
During their long shifts listening to relatives complain that their loved ones lips seem a tad dry must get quite annoying.

I 100% disagree. Nurses have blamed money and politicians for everything for years. well now its time they looked at themselves. These nurses do not even put on orthopaedic socks properly, rsulting in over 25000 unnecessary deaths a year from blood clots. they do not even carry out 5 minute swallow tests properly, they dont check on patients regularly, they dont even cover them in enough blankets....should a 75 year old woman with a fying husband have to worry herself sick to do all these things for the nurses? most nurses can always be found talking amongstt themselves about their social lives reaidng magazines for hours on end. Ive been there days have passed and not 1 nurse has asked how I am or anyone else in the ward. i would say the standards vary enormously accoridng to the culture of each hospital. but the days to make excuses for useless cruel nurses are over. if they cant do their jobs and go that extra miles they shouldnt be nurses. a bad nurse is worse than no nurse at all

[Ammi]

..well, I can't say there isn't any negligence in the medical profession...and it can lead to tragic consequences...but what I can say is that if it wasn't partly for an amazing nursing team, I may not be alive today...they play a huge part in the care and recovery of patients..and there are many great nurese out there...very devoted to their jobs and the care of their patients....

..that's just a personal experience....but I imagine I'm only one of many, which perhaps don't get mentioned as often as the tragic cases....

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..well, I can't say there isn't any negligence in the medical profession...and it can lead to tragic consequences...but what I can say is that if it wasn't partly for an amazing nursing team, I may not be alive today...they play a huge part in the care and recovery of patients..and there are many great nurese out there...very devoted to their jobs and the care of their patients....

..that's just a personal experience....but I imagine I'm only one of many, which perhaps don't get mentioned as often as the tragic cases....

Im glad youve had a good experience. lets hope others follow that lead. saldy
15% of patients dont even get fed properly? 20% have their welfare neglected....mrsa is through the roof, 25000 died from blood clots developed in hospitals through nursing negligence

In any other profession these staggering figures would produce uproar....can you imagine the fire service only got to 80% of fires and failed to reach the rest? these are tens of thousands of people failed by failing nurses. Its simply nowhere near good enough and frankly the days of us being too polite and too nice to complain are over. to praise them all and to ignore the mass incompetence resulting is curel suffering and unnecessary premature deaths of tens of thousands is unacceptable and counter productive

[the truth]

She claimed any contact with hospital staff was “cold and callous or simply non-existent”.

I cried at Ms Clwyd’s words. They brought back some painful memories. Judging by the response the MP has received from across Britain, I wasn’t the only one.

Emails and letters have poured in from people detailing similar experiences. There is a sense a tipping point has been reached.

These are difficult criticisms to make – and tough truths for the NHS to face. Ann Clwyd’s coruscating account of her husband’s death was heartbreaking but also taboo-breaking.

We venerate the medical profession in general and nurses in particular. In Danny Boyle’s joyful Olympic pageant, nurses were the heroic centrepiece.

I grew up worshipping nurses too – because my mother was one. She devoted her working life to the profession. Her 40-year career was equally divided between being a nurse and teaching young men and women who wanted to be nurses.

To me it was an almost magical job. As a little girl, I loved playing with the intricate silver buckles that had adorned my mother’s uniforms. An exact contemporary of the lady who penned the Call The Midwife books, Mam really did look like an angel to me.

And the world she described had a similar romance and warmth to that evoked by the BBC dramatisation.

There were stories of nurses cheering up patients on Christmas Day by turning their cloaks inside out to reveal the scarlet linings and singing carols on the wards.

There were tales of tyrannical matrons who scared even the doctors senseless and imposed a draconian cleanliness regime that frightened the germs off too.

But there were also sad and moving stories – the anxiety of working through the smallpox outbreak of 1962; the sadness of nursing terminally ill children; the poignancy of becoming attached to patients who just couldn’t be saved.

When my mother switched to teaching nursing, she took this experience with her. Her classroom was equipped with all the medical mod cons, including a proper hospital bed and – much to my amusement as a teenager – a dummy patient.

Yet while she gave students a thorough grounding in the practical and biological aspects of nursing, she also emphasised the importance of empathy, compassion and respect. She wanted them to see the person within the patient, particularly when that person was elderly.

Shadow Health Minister Andy Burnham said on Question Time this week that nurses told him they were under more pressure because they are now caring for so many more people in their 80s and 90s.

Well they had better get used to it because that’s the reality of the ageing demographic. Their patient profile is not going to alter – what has to change is attitudes to the elderly.

My mother tackled this with a poem that had been written by a lady on a geriatric ward, imploring nurses to see through the “crabby old woman who dribbles her food” to the person who had lived a full life and once been as young and vibrant as them.

My mother’s religious faith was important to her and nursing was a similarly strong vocation. For her, there was no greater praise for someone than to say: “She’d make a good nurse.” She believed it was a role that must combine strength of character with compassion.

When she became a patient herself at the age of 76 earlier this year she could still spot the perfect nurse instantly.

She encountered plenty of them at Velindre, insisting I bring chocolates and a thank you letter to reward their kindness. Most of the district nurses who attended her at home through her final days were similarly gentle and efficient.

But as my mother was shuttled between two hospitals for procedures on her oesophagus and lungs – waiting for beds in either one – we experienced the pressure-cooker of the modern hospital ward with all its attendant communication difficulties.

Already under seven stone and being fed through her nose, my mother was concerned her feeding tube wasn’t being washed out regularly.

She had overseen enough patients with them herself to know the potentially devastating consequences if this simple routine task wasn’t carried out. The tube would block with dried liquid feed and be useless. A young male nurse forgot to clean the tube.

They tried to flush out the blockage but it was too late. For more than a week my mother could not be fed. We worked our way through the hierarchy of staff asking with increasing desperation for it to be sorted out, eventually reaching the dead end of a consultant’s answerphone.

We are still haunted by the thought that my mother was literally starving and how distressed this must have made her feel at her most vulnerable point.

Like Ann Clwyd, our bereavement is darkened by the feeling that we should have complained more, made more of a fuss. Our final connection with the medical profession on the day my mother died has also left an angry memory.

We waited seven hours for the on-call doctor to come to the house to certify her death. Such a wait is not unusual on a Saturday apparently.

We opened the door and his first words were: “Is there a dog in the house?” Dumbfounded, we later discovered this was something to do with his religious beliefs.

While I am all for respecting cultural differences if you are a medical professional visiting a family on the worst day of their lives you should put their sensitivities first and at least open conversation with an expression of condolence.

And that’s the crux of it. So many people’s grievances with the NHS are down to a simple question of attitude.

We appreciate the pressures, the paperwork, the financial difficulties et al but a dose of kindness is not expensive while communication skills should be a given. Just a sense that we were being listened to would have helped us through an unbearable time.

Overwhelmed by the “amazing response” Ann Clwyd has received to her gutsy decision to speak out on “indifference and contempt”, the MP is now starting a campaign for greater compassion in nursing.

We know this does not apply to all nurses but let’s hope it makes a difference to those who struggle with the empathy my mother believed was central to her profession.

Compassion costs nothing but when it is lacking there is a heavy emotional price to pay for both the patient and the families they leave behind.



Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/ne...#ixzz2Ee5IFEg4

[Kizzy]

''For more than a week my mother could not be fed''
What does this mean? I don't understand this part of the text.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

''For more than a week my mother could not be fed''
What does this mean? I don't understand this part of the text.

this report was from the main writer in the welsh national newspaper , carolynn hitt....I presume she means the tubes were not cleaned and her mother couldnt be fed through them...Ive witnessed myself failures in the nurses refusing to offer swallow tests that take 5 minutes...thats atablespoon of salt and water, if they are able to swallow it propelry then patients can go back to eating some food and drink....the fact they point blank refused to do it for 5 days tells you about nursing attitudes....the next day i walked in the same nurse is sat at a desk with feet up, within 50 yards of my dad reading a magazine while he has still not had the swallow test and is therefore still unable to eat and drink, several more in the ward were in exactly the same predicament and the nurse simply didnt care....who can she blame that on? the government? money? her bosses? or the fact she simply didnt care?

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by the truth

this report was from the main writer in the welsh national newspaper , carolynn hitt....I presume she means the tubes were not cleaned and her mother couldnt be fed through them...Ive witnessed myself failures in the nurses refusing to offer swallow tests that take 5 minutes...thats atablespoon of salt and water, if they are able to swallow it propelry then patients can go back to eating some food and drink....the fact they point blank refused to do it for 5 days tells you about nursing attitudes....the next day i walked in the same nurse is sat at a desk with feet up, within 50 yards of my dad reading a magazine while he has still not had the swallow test and is therefore still unable to eat and drink, several more in the ward were in exactly the same predicament and the nurse simply didnt care....who can she blame that on? the government? money? her bosses? or the fact she simply didnt care?

She knew her mother had had no solid food for a week?...
odd.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

She knew her mother had had no solid food for a week?...
odd.

not odd , sick. shes been a hugely successful and respected mp for many years, her words are very credible. she is now starting a campaign to bring the care back into nursing

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by the truth

not odd , sick. shes been a hugely successful and respected mp for many years, her words are very credible. she is now starting a campaign to bring the care back into nursing

Hang on, I'm not sure I understand here...
Her mother had been in hospital a week and not had any food solid or otherwise?

[the truth]

thats whats she seems to be saying...Id assume if the pipes were dirty and contained a disease then she couldnt use them until they were cleaned ....I read an article a few months ago stating there are thousands of cases in the uk of complaints of patients being starved of food and deprived sufficient liquids in UK hospitals. we need a patients union not a nurses union. we are the ones suffering , being neglected and mistreated , but all the sympathy goes to the nurses? meanwhile thousands of innocents die agonising often unnecessarily painful and undignified deaths. and we all say nothing?

Is this the follow up to Bananarama's 80's classic, cruel summer?

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by the truth

thats whats she seems to be saying...Id assume if the pipes were dirty and contained a disease then she couldnt use them until they were cleaned ....I read an article a few months ago stating there are thousands of cases in the uk of complaints of patients being starved of food and deprived sufficient liquids in UK hospitals. we need a patients union not a nurses union. we are the ones suffering , being neglected and mistreated , but all the sympathy goes to the nurses? meanwhile thousands of innocents die agonising often unnecessarily painful and undignified deaths. and we all say nothing?

I know it's what she seems to be saying but it's rubbish....
Are we to believe a patient came in at 7st and did not eat for over a week,
her tube became blocked and the same bag of food sat on the drip for a week!
Meanwhile visitors,doctors and nurses don't notice?
Have there not always been good and bad nurses, why is it considered such a modern phenomenon....
they are better trained and educated than ever before, do educated people lack compassion?

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

I know it's what she seems to be saying but it's rubbish....
Are we to believe a patient came in at 7st and did not eat for over a week,
her tube became blocked and the same bag of food sat on the drip for a week!
Meanwhile visitors,doctors and nurses don't notice?
Have there not always been good and bad nurses, why is it considered such a modern phenomenon....
they are better trained and educated than ever before, do educated people lack compassion?

how do you know its rubbish? what about the tens of thousands who suffer negligence and premature death at the hands of incompentent nurses?

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by the truth

how do you know its rubbish? what about the tens of thousands who suffer negligence and premature death at the hands of incompentent nurses?

You are redirecting your anger at nurses for some reason, I don't believe that story for a minute.
Closer 'the truth' is you are looking for someone to blame for the death of a loved one in hospital,as are the examples you offer rather than face your own guilt at not doing as much as you could have.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

You are redirecting your anger at nurses for some reason, I don't believe that story for a minute.
Closer 'the truth' is you are looking for someone to blame for the death of a loved one in hospital,as are the examples you offer rather than face your own guilt at not doing as much as you could have.

Hospital-acquired thrombosis:

Many of these young people are the victims of so-called community-acquired thrombosis. However, we also know that two thirds of deaths are caused by hospital-acquired thrombosis. Research also published by Lifeblood, shows that blood clot prevention in hospitals is not being given the financial backing of Government, despite being identified as a national priority for hospitals in 2010. This year the Government will spend just £192,000 on blood clot prevention, compared to the £24.5m to tackle hospital acquired infections it spent in 2009. The figures, uncovered in a series of parliamentary questions, highlight the ongoing underfunding of thrombosis prevention in hospitals.

Hospital-acquired blood clots alone, cause an estimated 25,000 preventable deaths each year. As the immediate cause of death in 10% of all patients who die in hospital1, blood clots are the number one greatest cause of preventable hospital mortality. This death rate is greater than the combined total of deaths from breast cancer, AIDS and traffic accidents and is two to three times greater than the total of all hospital acquired infections, estimated at 10,000 deaths per year.

The Government has highlighted hospital-acquired blood clot prevention as a priority for the NHS for the next five years. Yet, parliamentary questions recently published demonstrate that no money has been allocated centrally for the ‘Venous Thromboembolism Exemplar Centre Network’, a group set up by the Department of Health to allow hospitals to share best practice in thrombosis prevention. In addition, no funding has been earmarked for training and resources for those involved in the prevention of the condition, and no education has been stipulated for undergraduate medical students

[the truth]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical...odclots1.shtml

http://www.thrombosis-charity.org.uk...=36&Itemid=151

NICE blood clot guideline to save thousands of lives
Around 10,000 lives could be saved each year if patients are assessed for their risk of developing blood clots as soon as they are admitted to hospital, latest NICE guidelines suggest.

Currently, it is estimated that 25,000 people who are admitted to hospital die from preventable venous thromboembolism (blood clots in the leg and potentially fatal clots which travel to the lung) each year. This has led the Department of Health to make the prevention of this “silent killer” across the NHS a priority for the forthcoming years.

The NICE guideline on VTE, which was welcomed by leading experts at a launch at the Royal College of Physicians in London yesterday, will provide doctors and nurses with a check list to ensure that all patients who are admitted to hospital are checked for signs of blood clots