[sinagbayan]

Hello to all retired/inactive nurses! You have stood the test of time and I just would like to ask:

1. What is your greatest realization after all those years working as a nurse?
2. How do you think will the nursing profession be defined in the 21st century?

You rock!

[Grace Oz]

Answer to your questions:
1) What a privilege it was to have served my fellow human beings in such a way.
2) Sadly, by the lack of people entering the profession and/or being retained in the profession. Certainly in the earlier part of the 21st century.

[sinagbayan]

Hi Grace!

You are still too young to have retired.

[Grace Oz]

Sez who???!!!!!
I might be retired from the nursing workforce but, I'm NOT retired from life!
Being retired doesn't mean one doesn't do other things.
And, not everyone talks about the things they might do which contribute to their community! KWIM?

[sinagbayan]

Of course, i agree with you. We should never retire from life.

[Tweety]

Grace, I would have ran with the "you're too young" and been very happy with that. It's not something we hear everyday! LOL

(Good answer btw)

[Grace Oz]

Haha! I didn't think of that, Tweety!
I'm glad someone thinks 56 is young! Besides ME, that is!!! lol

[princenina]

both good points Grace.
I guess that I would add to that the politicizing of health care is a major negative with huge implications for the next few years.
My pet gripe.... at present... is the latest "good" idea about education for nurses. Without revisiting the rights and wrongs of hospital v university training for nurses, I thought the battle was over who won and who lost a matter of opinion. It saddens me to think that the next 20 years will be wasted over the same arguments over wage parity and skill level our generation fought in the 70's and 80's.
If retention is an issue how on earth will setting up another level of entry help.

Sorry .... for non Aussies... after many years the last few hospital trained nurses are reaching the end of their careers so all those value laden comparisons between hospital trained and tertiary trained nurses should finally be dead and buried. Enter the current national leader with a great new idea...set up nursing schools in private hospitals and reintroduce a hospital based practical training with much more time on the wards and less time in classrooms.

Thats my little rant for the day so I'll head off to my new life as a historian.

cheers
princenina

Originally Posted by Grace Oz

Answer to your questions:
1) What a privilege it was to have served my fellow human beings in such a way.
2) Sadly, by the lack of people entering the profession and/or being retained in the profession. Certainly in the earlier part of the 21st century.

[sinagbayan]

after many years the last few hospital trained nurses are reaching the end of their careers so all those value laden comparisons between hospital trained and tertiary trained nurses should finally be dead and buried.

in your opinion, should nurses be trained by hospitals rather than spend most of their time in academic study?

[princenina]

Hospital training stood me in good stead, however I graduated 30 years ago. The days of using a student workforce as the principle carers in busy hospitals where seriously ill patients have complex needs are long gone... thank heavens.
In Australia we haven't quite got the balance between clinical placements and theory perfect but it is getting there.
Nurses must be educated in a way which skills them for the complexity of modern health care and in my view that isn't going to happen in a hospital based system where the emphasis will, of necessity, be on the tasks which need to be done rather than on education.

Thats my view anyway...and I don't think politicians point scoring and somehow implying that tertiary education somehow stops people being being "real nurses" helps either the reputation of the profession or the individuals trying very hard to do a good job under difficult circumstances. Long answer to a short question. Its a privilege of being retired from the profession to indulge in a little introspection about the last 33 years.

Wendy