Day 98 – Thursday 4th August 2005
Better day today 
She certainly wasn’t as quiet this morning when I first went in.
I was running late and so had rang her to tell her that I would be late. She finished the call by saying that she was in a bad position and very uncomfortable and asked if I could ring the ward to get them to move her. I rang the ward clerk and told her that kp had lost her buzzer and could someone go in and move her. I was told the message would be passed to the nurse who was standing by the ward clerk.
When I arrived at the ward, I started my usual banter to kp but she looked at me annoyed saying how uncomfortable she was. Noone had been in to move her. The message had been passed on but to the same nurse who a couple of weeks ago had forgot (on a number of occasions) to get kp some anti-embellism socks. I was very annoyed and went straight out of the room to find out why nothing had been done. kp called me back asking me to move her first ! We started laughing at the fact I was so annoyed (as I very rarely get annoyed into action).
I sorted kp out and then took issue with the nurse concerned. The ward manager got involved (at the behest of the nurse) and it was all resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. I am a firm believer in the Q.E. being the best hospital in the area. Mistakes happen and the way people deal with it is indicative of the general level of care you receive. Top Marks to Ward 22, Q.E. Hospital Gateshead.
The bath routine was a little different today. I suggested to kp that she sit on the hard chair (sat upright, not leaning back) to take her own nighty off and clean teeth/wash face. She went for it big time and nailed it all no problems. It seemed to be a lot quicker than when i do it.
Bath over, it was nearly lunch time. She had Fish Cakes. I don’t think she will be having them again.
She did very well at physio today. They did the sitting exercises where she leans over (a lot) to pick up cones that are far from her. Some of the cones I would have struggled to get. They force kp to transfer loads of weight onto her feet and her left or right buttock to rise off the bench. This is the purpose of the exercise and is a prelude to standing.
Tomorrow we are going to be doing another stand again. I took a video of the first stand she did, but got loads of the physios in as well. I will try and take some video tomorrow without the physios faces in so I can publish it on the blog (no promises). The photos make it look easy. The video leaves you thinking “how the hell did she do that ?”
Great Day overall. She is back to the usual kp !
August 6th, 2005 at 12:07 pm
we nurses hope people understand we do have very’very’poorly patients on wards throughtout the nhs’we cannot jump at every possible request demanded from the public; if possible we would love to give one to one care to each patient in our care
August 6th, 2005 at 2:34 pm
I hope anyone who reads the blog will realise that both Karen and I believe that the care we have received at the Q.E. has been superb with only a couple of exceptions. I have no doubt that the Q.E.’s staff are among the best in the area if not the best.
The hospital truly deserves its 3 stars and we think Ward 22 is generally awesome and I know we would rather she be where she is than at any other hospital in the area.
I am assuming the blog entry refers to the day’s blog entry that I posted. If it doesn’t, then please ignore the following :-
I have NEVER demanded anything from any staff member at the Q.E. In fact, I (as good as) preface everything I ask of the staff with “when you have time”, because I know only TOO well how busy the staff are with all the patients.
The care and attention Karen’s family provide her mean that we try and do as much as we can for her, leaving the nurses to tend to other patients wherever possible.
This blog entry relates to a specific nurse who on both of the occasions I have written about never “jumped at every possible request”, in fact, she never took any action at all relating to our requests.
This is not indicative of the other staff on Ward 22 whatsoever.
August 7th, 2005 at 12:36 am
24 hour care is there 7 days a week re-gardless of familys or visitors;there is no need to put down n h s staff [specific nurse]
[ you printed]
August 7th, 2005 at 9:39 am
I don’t know who you are anonymous, but I hope anyone who reads this blog will understand that we think NHS staff (as a whole) are awesome.
I have no intention of putting NHS staff down, and simply stated the facts of the day in my original blog entry.
I only singled out a specific nurse (in reply to your comment) to DEFEND NHS staff as a whole.
I could elaborate further on the specifics of the actions of the nurse in question (to justify my argument), but this wouldn’t help the situation and would only rake over old ground, ground which Karen and I feel is now nice and level.