I was responding on another thread and I remember the 'GOOD OLD DAYS'
So I thought it would be fun to look back to our training
When I trained with Florence Nightingale we did very easy straight forward placements each year.
You did 8 weeks Med/Surg every year days and nights
Speciality was midders, paeds, ER all 8 week placements.
All our placements were preceeded by 8 days college and followed by 2 days college then Annual leave.
We never had study days in placement block and we worked 37 1/2 hours weeks on the ward and got paid a salary, which wasnt great but you did get enhancements for weekends, nights and hols.
It was see one do one policy, and woe betide you if you couldnt do most of what you needed to do by the time you were leaving your 1st year.
There was no consideration for being a student and you worked hard-you learned your skills from the higher student and there was only ever 2 RNs on day duty they did the drugs and you did the rest. There was always 1st 2nd and 3rd year students on duty-and the 3rd years were obeyed. They ran the ward as they had to do management placements.
I couldnt wait to be a Staff Nurse so that I could do no work!!!!!!!!Can you believe that nowerdays.
We were so practically skilled when we qualified that we thrown in the deep end, and you managed. D grades ran wards, I was often the only RN on night duty for the renal unit and carried a bleep.
As a student if you phoned in sick sometimes the RN would visit or phone the nursing home to check if you were really sick.
It was so much fun, we laughed all the time and played jokes everyday. You knew when you were due to leave you would be thrown in a bath full of
stuff. There just wasnt the stress we get nowerdays. Auxillary Nurses were great.
Then when you became an RN the students would know the new ones and we would say look they are serious now and say they had Staffitis.
You would call sister Sister and the Staff nurses Staff. As a student you would never sit down on duty, if it was quiet you went and talked to the patients or looked for work. Nobody ever sent me home early or to go the library.
You had tests at the end of every placement and you would just have to study in your own time.
