What went wrong...I'm not grumpy!

Now, I know that normally all the blogs are full of the woes and moans of the NHS and the fact that it is in meltdown. But today, I want to buck the trend of that if only for one post. You see, I actually LIKE what I do. So, let us think for one moment what drives us to do what we do, apply a bit of starch to the tunic and really take a positve look at what we do. It is rich for me to say that. There again though, I can. I know I have posted some negtive posts. I am aware that there are problems with the finances of the NHS. The thing is though, we all go through that. I can point to the times when I worked in management to days that were terrible.

However, let us think about the positve impact on peoples lifes that Nurses have on people. I am forever trying the think of analagies for situations. One of the ones that I came up with years ago for treatment was to take a pragmatic look at a situation. Say Patient X is admitted to hospital with an exaccerbation of COPD and is not responding well to a treatment of Bronchodilators and 4 liters of oxygen and the doctors have asked the nurse to start therapy of...lets say steroids. Right, now that fact of the patient being in the UK will mean that this seems to be a great horror. It is. Let us imagine for a moment that Patient X was in the middle of the Kalahari desert and miles away from a District General Hospital. You can appreciate there would be no GP to take a house visit, an ambulance to transport to the hospital, no HCA to show the patient to bed, not staff nurse to assess/admisiter medication and attend to, no HO/SHO (FY1-2/ST1-2) doctors to clerk and no consutant for them to be under. Imagine how long the patent would last in that example. Yes, know that the probabilty of the person having a supply of tobacco to get emphysema in the desert is also remotly small but lets try and keep the magic going!

That is the whole reason I wanted to become a nurse. I have been a patient for many years having being born with a condition which fused my fingers and toes. That is why I will willingly give up a saturday or Tuesday night to go on duty (and watch premiership and Leage 2 matches for free) and attend St John Ambulance divisional meetings on Thursdays. It is why I will walk into my bay when I am free and talk to my patient. It is why I take the time to sit next to patients and fill in their risk assessments/write communication sheets with them so that they know what I am writing, and can sometimes give me a better idea. It is why I go the extra mile for the people who I care for on duty. That is why when visiting time comes I leave the visitors to the patient but inform both patient and vistors that I will be walking around to check. It is whay I never think myself an island. It is why I like the company of others. It is why I will ask a busy nurse or HCA if they need a hand. I also think that in trying hard I should help other MDT team members. Which is why doctors will find files presented drug cardex open, why frames and sticks are left out for reach of physiotherapists and why doors are opened for porters and ambulance crews, and why lunches are given out by yours truly. I like what I do. I want to do what I do, and do it well.

That is why I hope that interviews will yield something.

That is why I wrote this blog. Sometimes all you need is a muse.