tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post111687413874439037..comments2023-10-18T16:25:13.593+01:00Comments on Famous for 15 megapixels: AshamedStefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116938288754132932005-05-24T13:38:00.000+01:002005-05-24T13:38:00.000+01:00There are lots of reasons. Most of them are preven...There are lots of reasons. Most of them are preventable.<BR/><BR/>The vast majority of our nurses are poorly paid, however senior. That's why many of them give up on the profession or migrate. The US is a popular destination.<BR/><BR/>To compensate for this we have actively recruited overseas for nurses from the 3rd World on a large scale. The majority of them are very dedicated, capable people. Though I wonder who is filling the gaps they leave back home.<BR/><BR/>But, yes, you're have a point. The UK is suffering from the same syndrome of employing under-qualified, under-trained staff in key public roles; nursing, the police and education. We're told this is an act of empowerment but it strikes me, and others, as a straightforward reduction in standards<BR/><BR/>Even the cleaning staff in hospitals fall short of the standards of the past. Instead of being directly employed by the hospital they are employed by lowest bid contractors. We are told that the cleaners know what they're doing but the nurses I've spoken to are frequently appalled by their standards. And the nurses have no say over the cleaners or their contracts.<BR/><BR/>Why is this happening? Why are such vital jobs being done by people unqualified to do them? Poor pay and poor working environments are probably the main reasons and, as I said, it disgusts me that my government permits the death of so many thousands of people and chooses, instead, to squander resources on wars and nonsense domestic security measures. I, for one, am more worried about those around me dying needlessly in hospital rather than from a terrorist attack.<BR/><BR/>We lived in London for 25 years with the constant, and real, threat of IRA violence but we weren't afraid of of health care system the way many people are today.<BR/><BR/>The comparison with the War on Terror is a fair one to make. 9/11 supposedly changed the world because of the numbers of people killed. Nonsense. We lose that many people in the UK every few months from poor hygene. The US loses that many people every few months from gun violence. I don't see our governments doing anything to stop those needless deaths, certainly nothing comparable with the War on Terror. Our leaders are wicked and they lie.Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116936788798908762005-05-24T13:13:00.000+01:002005-05-24T13:13:00.000+01:00I'm not even sure if most people affected are olde...I'm not even sure if most people affected are older. Maybe most who don't recover are older is more like it.<BR/><BR/>My husband was in the hospital several times in the last five years. Twice he came out with an infection. His were treated after his release and he got over them, but infection seems to be more of a given than it used to be. I'm wondering why? Maybe some of it is short-staffing?<BR/><BR/>I don't know how it works in the UK, but here in the US there's a kind of heirarchy of nursing that's developed since nurses started insisting on pay comensurate with their skills and education. Registered nurses are at the top. They're degreed. Often multi-degreed. They tend to run things and there aren't so many of them.<BR/><BR/>Next are LPNs - licensed practical nurses - also very well trained in what they do, but they're doing what RNs used to do.<BR/><BR/>Much of the day to day care is done by aides. A generation or so ago, the aides only did non-medical care. Now they're doing what LPNs used to do in terms of routine medical things. Everything's been pushed down a notch, seems like.<BR/><BR/>That's not the whole explanation. My mother's infection probably came during an invasive procedure performed by a doctor and attended by real nurses. But I still think that the fact that we're having less well trained people to more patient care can't be a good thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116936728012433262005-05-24T13:12:00.000+01:002005-05-24T13:12:00.000+01:00J.Thanks.When thinking about people you've lost it...J.<BR/><BR/>Thanks.<BR/><BR/>When thinking about people you've lost it's important to think about what they meant to you when still alive. None of us are here forever. If we're lucky our life overlaps, at least for a while, with good people we care for. We should be grateful for that even in the face of loss.<BR/><BR/>Z.<BR/><BR/>Dementia is a terrible, distressing thing. In some ways it's as if the person afflicted is already lost to you. Seeing the impact this has had on friends who have had to cope with its effects, I'd say it's often worse that losing a loved one outright.<BR/><BR/>And the infection thing. As I mentioned in the post, there is something incredibly frustrating about seeing loved ones damaged by preventable infections. We both live in countries with developed infrastructures. Countries that seem to have limitless resources to spend on bullshit and war, yet we can't keep our hospitals safe.<BR/><BR/>And sure, most, but not all, the people affected are older. We are reminded of this whenever the issue is reported in our press. But so what? Does this make the situation less disgraceful in any way? 84 or 36, it shouldn't make any difference at all.Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116906866830500772005-05-24T04:54:00.000+01:002005-05-24T04:54:00.000+01:00I'm sorry to hear about what happened.I'm spending...I'm sorry to hear about what happened.<BR/><BR/>I'm spending more time on a new blog than on my regular one, mostly because the new one seems to accomodate the personal stuff better and at the moment life is dominated by the personal. And that's because of my mother's dementia, and that all started with endocarditis. And guess how she got that? Having a test she really didn't need in our best, state of the art hospital. <BR/><BR/>It's not like your loss. My mother is 84. But the fact remains, she got sicker and has been permanently damaged because of an infection picked up during a procedure in a hospital.Patriciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01044265862232128796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116893320150843072005-05-24T01:08:00.000+01:002005-05-24T01:08:00.000+01:00Your latest post has me thinking about the people ...Your latest post has me thinking about the people I've lost in my own life, and how you never really ever fill that hole.<BR/><BR/>Sending warm thoughts to you and Tracy.Junohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00327266683100436016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116891894836125092005-05-24T00:44:00.000+01:002005-05-24T00:44:00.000+01:00What can I say? It just doesn't seem right. It isn...What can I say? It just doesn't seem right. It isn't right.<BR/><BR/>And, yes, it doesn't seem real either. How can it? Tracy visited one evening, Phil looked tired but OK. A few days later and she was gone.<BR/><BR/>Thursday is going to be very hard.Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1116891020103966732005-05-24T00:30:00.000+01:002005-05-24T00:30:00.000+01:00Hi Stef, reading your thoughts on Phil has sent me...Hi Stef, reading your thoughts on Phil has sent me once again into deep thought, tell Tracy I am thinking of her, and all of us, and most of all Phil. It still seems unreal somehow, how could she not get better when she was in the 'right place', this will be one of the hardest things a lot of us have had to go through to date.<BR/><BR/>Ness xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com