The Role Of Nurses

[AB Editor]

 

This poll is closed.

Should Nurses Put Compassion Before Treatment?

• No, treatment should come first. - 116 votes
• 52%
• Yes, compassion is the most important part of their job. - 108 votes
• 48%

See final stats

Stats until: 00:32 Tue 31st Dec 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

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[emmie]

i voted but it hasn't registered

[woofgang]

me too

[AB Editor]

As always, the poll updates every 5 minutes.

[emmie]

ok thank you

[rowanwitch]

No point in being compassionate and forgetting the work of healing the patient
But it should be an as well as not an either or... seriously though sometimes over caring can get in the way of delivering a good service and thats not as hardnosed as it seems if you get too caught up empotionally you can burn out and be no good to those who depend on you its a matter of balance.

[emmie]

the nurses i have come across have had little or no compassion, many with no common sense either, sorry if that seems hard nosed. There should be a balance, but there isn't in my opinion.

[tinkerbell23]

If you dont properley "treat" the patient you wont be a nurse at all cos u will lose your registration!!!

Folks need medicine- a good nurse can do both! Ultimately patients and relatives want the treatment and the medical interventions....

Many a time ive heard people say about nurses "shes a nice lass but shes crap at her job" you have to both deliver treatment whilst being compassionate and caring. I didnt vote x

[rowanwitch]

I know... its how they are recruited and trained i am afraid they have all the independent thought and intuitive behaviour drummed out of them its all policies procedures and fear of litigation. I would not last five minutes nowadays

[jackthehat]

I've made my views known on similar threads in the past.

I believe that the over-training and greater expectations placed on those entering the Nursing profession both discourages some of those who would be able, compassionate nurses but are less academically able, and inflates the self-perception of those who successfully 'advance' to the point where the latter view the most basic of services as demeaning to their status.

[tinkerbell23]

I agree there are good and bad and paperwork etc is so important and people who studied with me..well alot id hate them to be nursing my family but i am a happy chatty caring person naturally and i think i show that day to day. Its the way i am...

No matter what you do people will complain- part of the job. But no one is going to care if their relative takes further ill or worse if you dont treat them properley, but its ok she held my gran/mum/dad/uncles hand!!

Unfortunately theres almost always staff shortages. And still the same amount of patients who need medicine, iv drips/access, personal care, paperwork, etc and the patients NEED their medicine - or heads will roll. Like i said. A good nurse can cope under the stress and still be compassionate and get things done x

[emmie]

My mum was in hospital for a time, having had a major operation, and i can say that her treatment was appalling, left alone for long periods, i was there much of the time, but it was a long journey to get to the hospital. She was not helped to go to the bathroom, or to take a shower, staff told her if she did she would have no help, against their health and safety rules, they couldn't even stand by the door whilst she bathed, and after two weeks she was glad to go home. In pain, distress and unable to comprehend like me the fact of such treatment. One foreign nurse was so incomprehensible, she could have put lives at risk, as no one could understand her at all, as much as i would liked to have said that to the staff i did not. I did write to the hospital and got a pitiful letter back, lessons will be learned type of nonsense, indeed appalling.

[rowanwitch]

The sad thing is thee are still some very good ones The one that knows just how to get your pillows right to help you breathe a bit better. who comes back from break via the canteen with the earl grey teabags scrounged from the kitchen because the patient doesn't like the cheap and nasty tea on the tea round... who puts a drop of brandy on the mouth swab to wet the mouthof a dying patient because someone in the family mentions its her favourite tipple and she doesn't like water .. they are still out there but most of them will be retiring soon

[emmie]

Rowan i am sure you are right, and for what it's worth the ones i came across in the private sector were no better, in fact some far worse, not just incomprehensible, but incompetent and useless.

[tinkerbell23]

Em thats awful. You rightfully complained...nurses and also healthcare assistants should have helped your mum wash without a doubt and if they were worried about her safety/their safey- mobility etc could have involved others to assess that- loads have bad experiences and it shouldnt happen but its so hard for the ones who do do a good job but are still tarred with the same brush as the ones who dont ..X

[rowanwitch]

I know its worrying for those of us getting older and therefore more likely to need their services

[Sqad]

Which nurses are we talking about?

Out patient nurses......maximum compassion, minimal intellect.
General ward nurses..........bit of both.
Theatre nurses........minimal compassion but maximum devotion and intellect.
Intensive care.........compassion and intellect.
Specialist wards e.g.Neurosurgery and cardiac wards.......both intellect and compassion.

So you see.........horses for courses.

The salary of a specialist sister or staff nurse (modern equivalent) should be higher than their counterparts in OP's, but the Unions would never allow this.

Administration nurses...... minimal intellect, minimal compassion and minimal pay.

[tinkerbell23]

Rowan- ive met some nurses like you describe, but not all the ones who are good are due to retire soon- infact some are much younger... And similarly some of the worst ive met should have retired ages ago- rude, unchanging and unsafe practices...as have some younger people who are obv just in for the money and not because they care x

[rowanwitch]

Intensive care ... hard to balance the major requirement for technical skill with the human side.. what do you do...hold someones hand or adjust the drips that are keeping them alive ... thats why this is a bad question as Sqad puts it it depends on the priorities at the time.

[tinkerbell23]

Sometimes i feel like people in my position who are just starting out are already written off by the public....because of mistakes of people before me. Its really disheartning at times.

But i know that i got up everyday an went to uni and got my degree and stuck in because i want to be a nurse and i care. X

[Davethedog]

Can't you have both? Why is one exclusive of the other?