Daily mail demonstrates its love of nursing again

babyNP., APRN · Aug 30, 2011

Obviously this person has no idea what real nursing is like and like most of the general public, no idea about how easily we could kill them. Leave the nurses ALONE when they're counting the drugs that could kill you!

babyNP., APRN · Aug 30, 2011

XB, curious about this comment:

"All nurses are required by law to have a degree" -- and, therein, lies the root of the whole problem. The lowering of the quality of nurses has a direct correlation with the introduction of the BN degree in the 1990s. Nursing is not, and should not be, a university subject. Universities are not vocational training colleges. Of course the Labour Party made universities into just that, in order to massage the unemployment and education stats. Lowering the quality of universities in the process. If nurses must have a degree (I see no reason why they should), then they must also work as auxilliaries for at least a year, preferably three, before they get to do the degree. That should teach them more about what their job really involves, and teach them some compassion and discipline before they get to uni. The NHS used to work well in the 50's and 60's -- before they tried to improve it. Now it's failed.

Does the public really think that a bachelor's degree makes one less of a nurse??? (it's also the highest rated comment on the 200+ comment thread) I'm sure you know, over here, it's the opposite. And some folks tout that BSN nurses are safer than ASN nurses...

Then again, my husband is always telling me about how not to take his people too seriously because they criticize everything severely as compared to an American so that we feel like it's harsher when a Brit doesn't actually mean it as harsh as I as an American might see it.

Fiona59 · Aug 30, 2011

The Mail is being sensational again. The article so quickly drifted off topic that the journalist should be reprimanded for failing to follow the original subject.

But ultimately, it stirred up the old "is a degree really needed debate".

I just know that what I see coming out of our local universities scares me. Most don't want to work at the bedside for more than five years, they all want to be in management (gawd help us). Their skills are poor. It shouldn't be up to the unit to provide them with a six month settle in period.

Contrast that to the Practical Nurse programme here. Those nurses are given a three week settle in period to the unit and are then expected to pull a full patient load. Their skills are usually good and the settle in period is more to learn the paperwork and unit routine.

But still many look down on the LPNs as not "bright enough to be RNs". On our units it's a 50/50 split of LPNs and RNs and the positive comments have all named the LPNs. Why? I don't really know, except that when I went through college we were constantly reminded that we were caring for the WHOLE patient not just the medical condition.

misswoosie · Aug 31, 2011

The Mail is being sensational again. The article so quickly drifted off topic that the journalist should be reprimanded for failing to follow the original subject.
But ultimately, it stirred up the old "is a degree really needed debate".
I just know that what I see coming out of our local universities scares me. Most don't want to work at the bedside for more than five years, they all want to be in management (gawd help us). Their skills are poor. It shouldn't be up to the unit to provide them with a six month settle in period.
Contrast that to the Practical Nurse programme here. Those nurses are given a three week settle in period to the unit and are then expected to pull a full patient load. Their skills are usually good and the settle in period is more to learn the paperwork and unit routine.
But still many look down on the LPNs as not "bright enough to be RNs". On our units it's a 50/50 split of LPNs and RNs and the positive comments have all named the LPNs. Why? I don't really know, except that when I went through college we were constantly reminded that we were caring for the WHOLE patient not just the medical condition.

I agree , but was confused by the term LPN as I assume you're in the UK?

I notice in the article that the idiot doesn't mention staffing levels or as someone else said , the fact that only one nurse will be weraing the tabard.

Also interested to see that the nurse in the picture has a drug trolley. How many hospitals are still using these rather than having drug cupboards at the bedside of each patient?

He also talks about "basic nursing care" but I don't categorise giving medication as basic nursing care.

He doesn't talk about why the tabrd wearing was developed ie due to drug errors or the benefits that were shown with the pilot study.

However -I do feel that looking at the number of pharmacists most hospitals have, plus nursing workload, increased numbers of meds prescribed and number of drug errors a system like many hositals in the USA use might be more acceptable to people like the guy that wrote the article.

The pharmacy make up packets with the drugs in for each patient for each administration time point.

When the nurse does a drug round she scans the bar code on the drug kardex and then the bar code on the pts wrist band and the trolley rotates the packet with that patients drugs in for that time point around to become available for the nurse to take.

Everything from prescribing through to restocking is electronic.

i DON'T THINK i'VE DESCRIBED IT VERY WELL but just google "automated medication dispensing"

Fiona59 · Aug 31, 2011

Never assume anything. I'm in Canada. LPNs are roughly the UK's old SENs.

You're trying to describe Pyxis. Some love it, some hate it. My health authority uses in some facilities but a large number of nurses I've met hate it. What happens in my hospital is pharmacy sends up the meds packaged in individual envelopes for each patient and then they are stored in bins in the med room.

Basically, if you do the 5 (or 6 depends on when you were educated) checks, you should be fine.

But having done meds for 45 patients in LTC, I'd kill for one of those vests.

misswoosie · Aug 31, 2011

Never assume anything. I'm in Canada. LPNs are roughly the UK's old SENs.
You're trying to describe Pyxis. Some love it, some hate it. My health authority uses in some facilities but a large number of nurses I've met hate it. What happens in my hospital is pharmacy sends up the meds packaged in individual envelopes for each patient and then they are stored in bins in the med room.
Basically, if you do the 5 (or 6 depends on when you were educated) checks, you should be fine.
But having done meds for 45 patients in LTC, I'd kill for one of those vests.

so you trained in the UK - right?

Yes we used to do meds for the 30 bedded ward in the days before team nursing when you weren't allowed to say "I don't know he's not my patient" and when the night sister did her rounds we had to know all the patients names, diagnosis/surgery , how many days post op they were and current problems /plan of care. Admittedly you had to have 2 nurses but student nurses could check meds after they'd passed their medicines assessment after about 6 months.

I knew of Pyxis as one of the systems but there are multiple manufaturers out there

Yes - I know about the 5 checks (never heard it called the 5 rs though but then I'm a dinosaur) but the whole issue is that medication errors in the UK were on the up and up (never thought allowing 1 nurse to do drugs was a bright idea- just meant that there could be fewer nurses on duty at a time)

I still think that having the drugs at the pts bedside is better than having a trolley with everyones in.Interuptions are a terrible thing!

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Aug 31, 2011

We have just gone to trolleys with drawers for each pt, and drawers for stock medsiike it saves fighting past patients belonging.

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

Does anybody really expect balanced journalism from a rag like the Mail? I remember an article a while back about NHS professionals running a prize draw which was portrayed as lazy nurses need bribing to come into work. I detest the Mail. There are two things one can do however:

1) Rate the reader comments below the article appropriately - interestingly it's the pro-nurse comments that have been highly rated.

2) Never ever actually fork out money to buy a paper copy of the Mail!