greensister

The boss has simply said take two half hour breaks and switch off your phones. Fine so this makes it a 23 hour service not 24 as advertised as the trust is only paying for 23 hours( including days of course). I would take the two half hours together--equals one hous, two seperate half hours in 13 hours is no use whatsoever. They admitted we were right 6 years ago but this new line manager just stopped it and now the big boss , who gave it to us initially, has now simply refused to negotiate and said thats that. Because of the difficulties of keeping your job and the rest of the staff cant be bothered, it seems she will get away with it! greensister

Hi Katnip---a Trust is an orgnanisation which runs the nursing situation both in community and hospital, the hospital being known as the acute side. The new manager knew all about the situation but just wanted to get some brownie points with her bosses-we guess. Its bad enought doing ten hours overnight and driving, even when you have had your rest the day before, I am surprised there hasnt been a terrible accident, combining these risk factors of driving and drugs, its difficult enough sorting palliative drugs out in hospital with double checks, on the community you havent got a second qualified to check for you either! I am surprised no-one has fallen asleep at the wheel or given wrong drugs! Thank goodness I am out of it! gs

I am in Yorkshire UK but can't be more specific, Thanks, GC

Nurses are working 13 hour shifts in the community in a local Trust. It runs from 7 pm--8 am. The nurse may or may not get a break, depending on the demand, as theya re on call, so in effect could be driving 13 hours without a break, though they are told to take a 20 minute break after 6 hours to "keep legal". To add insult to injury they ae paid 12 hours as the reasoning is some nights they are in the office a long time if they dont get a call out. Nevertheless the Trust advertises the service as 24 hours, so they are getting an hour free. Is this legal--or safe? Some years ago, when we did 10 hour shifts, the same case was brought up and won--we were paid for the full 10 hours but a new manager has reversed this. GS

Many thanks---this has been "looked into" but no one seems up for the fight, and management have managed to come up with some sort of "legal " (I WOULD SAY POTENTIALLY LETHAL) way round, splitting the breaks into 3 20 minute bits which is useless on a long 13 hour shift including driving. Everyone A is scared for their jobs. We fought it once and won but I am no longer there, THOUGH A FEW FRIENDS REMAIN WHO will be retireing soon and just want to get through. I think there could be a nasty accident either on the road or with drugs, and of course it remains a 23 hour service , so it is also on false pretences if they want to eb legal--which si how we one it a few years ago. greensister

Thanks ,FF , that is what I say---if I am on a break then the phone goes off and I have a rest, eat my sarnies--needless to say night nurses arent catered for at the canteen in the hospital, you make do on sarnies.(HEALTHY EATING HAHA!) If you are on call then you are working, so the new 13 hour nights are 13 hour nights if during their breaks the nurses have to be available-- ( ( SIL ILLEGAL) otherwise it is a 23 hour nursing service, not a 24 hour service. We won the case on this initially when we worked 10 hours--not 9 as they tried to pay us for, but the new person has gone back on it. As I am retired its no longer my problem, but some of my friends still are, though its mainly new girls who can be more easily bamboozled. Apart from that scam with the money, I feel it is dangerous to have the possibility of soemone driving for 13 hours without a break--though you are suppored to stop after 6 hours whatever you are doing and take" a break" to keep the Trust legal, but I feel you need a full hour in one go to benefit overnight, not some ludicrous ten minute down tools in the car--with your phone still on of course. The nurse who did the 36 hour shifts is no longer there, but it was condoned for a very long time, and it wasnt her idea to combine evening and night work either. Even so I used to find a ten hour s tint driving at time 100 miles a night, more than exausting enough---dealing with controlled drugs you need to be wide awake, especially as, with all due r espect to our wonderful night partners the nursing auxiliaries, you didnt have a second qualified to check what you drew up, and the exaustion of driving thses distances has not been factored into the equation as a secondary hazard. In fact I have been reading up about HGV drivers and driver fatigue--during this time that man drrove into the train at Selby due to falling asleep at the wheel and leaflets went round saying a tired driver is as bad as a drunk driver. Also the effects of the Circadian cycle makes night work extra tiring. Greensister

When I was working community nights--I retired recently----we worked 10 pm until 8 am----10 hours correct me if I am wrong. We were docked an hour for a break but during this break we were still on call, so I said we were entitled to 10 hours pay. Our boss disagreed and said the Trust could not afford to pay us ten hours. Okay I said, we will switch our phones off for our hours break. No no said our boss, you cannot do that, someone may call you out. After much hagghling and jaggling--thanks to my good self pulling stuff off the Internet about night working and breaks, we were paid 10 hours--take your break if possible but keep swiitched on--okay. Unless they had two teams on to cover breaks this was the only solution. The Trust was advertising a 24 hour service but only playing for 23---until we got them to pay up. Apart from the money the worry of fatigue, particularly while driving during the night, was a concern. Even with appropriate sleep during the day, you could get sleepy at the wheel if you were kept going non-stop, which could occur with one team respnding to all calls. One person on the team was also known to work 36 hours without break, admittedly out of the goodness of her heart, but we felt that this was dangerous, and management knew and endorsed it-----saved a lot of money! Since I retired the new people have started the night shift off from 7 pm, 13 hours but docked an hour for a break which may or may not be taken according to the unpredictable nature of the work,plus night work has its all problems, and driving is really perhaps the most dangerous. I would be grateful for any views about this Greensister.

I am sorry to hear of your stories and hope that all was sorted out eventually. I decided to put my query on this thread. It is hypothetical and I have to be discreet, but can someone enlighten me on a legal point. If you have been suspended and then go off sick--no matter what the charge---but after a "preliminary chat" by your"superiors" (half your age and experience!) and then you are told that the suspension is lifted but you still have go to a disciplonary hearing, does this make se nse? If the suspension is lifted then surely the original alleged crime no onger appplies and is null and void . What would you then begetting disciplined over and what kind of warning would you get and could you be sacked if they decided to drop the suspension back on---- sounds barmy to me! would appreciate any comments, thanks greenwister

It Shouldn't happen to A NURSE Halifax Courier July 22 At one household they are greeted by their patient (in pyjama top but no bottoms) with a home-made sign (in capital letters), demanding: "Nurses, please put carrier bags over your feet when walking on the new flooring as I don't want it defacing." And because they are usually working on the "graveyard shift" all the incidents are in the late hours of night. The idea of a book began to take hold gradually, they reveal as they often recounted incidents to one another. "I do tend to jot things down but I don't keep a strict diary," says Jean. Barbara has written before but revealed she had "to master a computer this time round." "We actually got the title because it wasn't uncommon to be stopped by police when we were out late at night, driving slowly along looking for addresses of patients," says Jean. "They'd ask what we were up to and once I just jokingly replied: 'We're ladies of the night, officer'." The book is dedicated to a former colleague, Yvonne Whitely, as well as Barbara's two dogs, Holly and Jet. Jet - who becomes Buster in the book - would accompany them late at night, in the back of the car. They admit to feeling nervous when giving the book to colleagues to read but the reaction has been overwhelming. "I took in 20 copies to work and they went in seconds," says Jean. "People have said when are the next lot of memoirs coming on so we'll have to see. "We've enjoyed doing it though because there has been more than plenty to write about," adds Barbara. "One thing that did influence us was watching programmes like Where The Heart Is and Doc Martin and you think 'It's not like that at all. Don't these programmes use any proper research?' There are so many blunders, it's untrue." "Yes, we wanted to tell it how it is," adds Jean. "We've brought in personal issues too - one of the characters has been given my dad's name (Thomas Hardcastle Brook) and we've set it against real backdrops which did affect us, like the fireman's strike and 9/11. "That way it has a credible background. "We just hope people will really enjoy reading it - whether or not they've ever been in the lively business of district nursing. I have to say, though, it's a pleasure doing what we do because you share in so many people's personal experiences. I hope people who have met us over the years will enjoy reading it too." l Ladies of The Night by Barbara Green and Jean Wilkinson and wonderfully illustrated by Irene Friend, is available at Fred Wade, Halifax. At one household they are greeted by their patient (in pyjama top but no bottoms) with a home-made sign (in capital letters), demanding: "Nurses, please put carrier bags over your feet when walking on the new flooring as I don't want it defacing." And because they are usually working on the "graveyard shift" all the incidents are in the late hours of night. The idea of a book began to take hold gradually, they reveal as they often recounted incidents to one another. "I do tend to jot things down but I don't keep a strict diary," says Jean. Barbara has written before but revealed she had "to master a computer this time round." "We actually got the title because it wasn't uncommon to be stopped by police when we were out late at night, driving slowly along looking for addresses of patients," says Jean. "They'd ask what we were up to and once I just jokingly replied: 'We're ladies of the night, officer'." The book is dedicated to a former colleague, Yvonne Whitely, as well as Barbara's two dogs, Holly and Jet. Jet - who becomes Buster in the book - would accompany them late at night, in the back of the car. They admit to feeling nervous when giving the book to colleagues to read but the reaction has been overwhelming. "I took in 20 copies to work and they went in seconds," says Jean. "People have said when are the next lot of memoirs coming on so we'll have to see. "We've enjoyed doing it though because there has been more than plenty to write about," adds Barbara. "One thing that did influence us was watching programmes like Where The Heart Is and Doc Martin and you think 'It's not like that at all. Don't these programmes use any proper research?' There are so many blunders, it's untrue." "Yes, we wanted to tell it how it is," adds Jean. "We've brought in personal issues too - one of the characters has been given my dad's name (Thomas Hardcastle Brook) and we've set it against real backdrops which did affect us, like the fireman's strike and 9/11. "That way it has a credible background. "We just hope people will really enjoy reading it - whether or not they've ever been in the lively business of district nursing. I have to say, though, it's a pleasure doing what we do because you share in so many people's personal experiences. I hope people who have met us over the years will enjoy reading it too." l Ladies of The Night by Barbara Green and Jean Wilkinson and wonderfully illustrated by Irene Friend, is available at Fred Wade, Halifax.

SHOCKED AND HORRIFIED --Not a Leg to Stand on ! In 2005 Sister X , an experienced district nurse on the point of retirement, was the accused by a patient's daughter of "making a bad situation desperate" when she, and her nursing auxiliary, were called out to the complainant's "Mrs X's" mother of the at 6.30 am . The family and Mrs X, and six family members, (including three men ) were in the sitting room where their mother was asleep on the settee. Briefly the patient, who was terminally ill, was quite settled, having fallen asleep in the settee the previous night. Sister X checked her over and attempted to discuss the situation with the family. There was no means of getting the patient into a bed at that time unless the three men had brought a bed downstairs, or carried their mother upstairs. Sister X did not feel it was up to her to suggest this in the interests of health and safely, as if there was an accident she would have been blamed. The most sensible solution she felt was to contact the day staff at 8 am, 90 minutes later, and ask them to obtain a hospital bed. Through-out the visit the family were all hostile and uncommunicative. The Nursing auxiliary had to remain standing as no chair was offered and all the seats were occupied. One family member, a daughter in law, a nurse herself , did most of the talking. Mrs X made practically no comment, despite Sister X repeatedly asking her, and the rest of the family, if they wanted to ask anything and what their concerns were . In the end Sister X and her colleague left as the patient was settled,(they ahd other patients to visit) and it was felt inappropriate to disturb her which would have necessitated calling out doctors for drugs at a difficult time, if she became agitated.Also it would have been difficult to nurse her properly on the settee. The family all agreed that they were happy with this course of action , but as soon as Sister X left they dialled 999 and got their mother into the hospice--though Sister X had offered to do this, along with all the other advice and support that had been offered, all of which had met with a negative response. Because of the strange behaviour of this family Sister X felt very uneasy and contacted her line manager Mr A immediately on Monday morning (the visit had been Sunday am).A week later, following her mother's death in the hospice 7 days after the nurse's visit, t Mrs X wrote her letter of complaint. It was full of vindictive nonsense and defamatory comments and rude personal remarks including the fact the nurses had looked tired and untidy ( after a nine hour shift in windy weather!) Sister X was shocked and horrified by its contents. and said so in her written report which she was asked to write . Mr A, her line manager, (a younger district nurse with no night nursing experience ,) made no comment about Sister X's report though he later said he ahd advised her to change it which was quite untrue. The gist of the letter stated: "These two nurses should not be allowed into the home of a dying patient with their attitude and I strongly suggest they need some relevant training in basic nursing skills not to mention a crash course in in communicating and compassion for the suffering. They were unkempt and tired and incompetent and only wanted to get off their shift." EVERYONE ELSE, ON THE OTHER HAND WAS " absolutely wonderful,hardworked and overworked." ! This was absolute nonsence. Sister X was an experienced sister who taught palliative care and was well known for her dedication and high standard of care and had been the senior night sister for five years . It was her view that the letter had been written by the daughter when she was in the bereavement process and was feeling guilty because she had not been able to keep her promise to her father to nurse her mother at home. There would not have been any problem, with the average family, in nursing the patient at home with a proper plan of care, forward planning and capable relatives. Sister X felt that this family were really not the kind who would be able to cope, but she understood that not everyone could and in these cases other plans should be 2) SHOCKED AND HORRIFIED made in advance. It was no fault of the family that they were not of the "coping temperament" but it did not give them the right to scapegoat Sister X and her colleague. As an immediate affect of this letter Sister X suffered an attack of supra ventricular tachycardia( which had been controlled on medication for 15 years) and had to be admitted to hospital. More managers then got in on the act, including Matron and two office based senior managers who knew nothing about Sister X or district nursing. They said they were "shocked and horrified" by Sister X's refutation of the complaint and comments about the family and matron said Sister X "hadn't a leg to stand on because it involved terminal care. No -one would dare to challenge Mrs X's complaint." What followed was absolute farce. Sister X was obliged to go onto days, at the advice of her Union,for "support and mentorship." Sister X maintained she did not need supporting or mentoring as she was on the point of retirement and was quite capable of giving a patient a bed-bath ! Her Union repeatedly said it was the "Duty of care" of the Trust, though Sister X never got to know what care she was supposed to be getting. Sister X agreed to go onto days but said she would not return to nights as it was a degrading position to put her in. She then went off sick with stress. Sister X continually asked why she was being treated differently from other night nurses who had been in trouble over other complaints, many of a specific nature, not just a catalogue of personal abuse as Sister X had been subjected to. Sister X also found out, eventually two years down the line, that the Trust had managed to dig up a report of an incident in which she had been involved, concerning another patient who had a personal grudge against the ( different) nursing auxiliary Sister X had been working with one night in 2004. Because this patient who had been involved in a grievance with Sister X's auxiliary (from days some years previously) Sister X had had to write a report, and the Trust said it "proved" the 2005 case against Sister X. This was only found at the last minute, when the Trust were desperate to make a case against Sister X. They tried to attach it to the 2005 complaint, when in fact they had known nothing about it at the time because it had never been given as part of the reason Sister X needed to go onto days for support and mentorship, as it would have been had it been known!( And in any event this complaint had been mainly directed at Sister X's auxiliary due to past problems never really resolved.) At this point ,also, Sister X found out that that her nursing auxiliary colleague of the night of 2005 , had also written a SECOND report about the incident. Her original report which, though shorter than Sister X's, tallied in all details. Two years later, after over 30 meetings and personal investigation, including Sister X insisting on seeing the reports written about her by management, under Freedom of Information, she discovered that her colleague had changed her story in a second meeting with Matron and Mr A and to support Mrs X in her complaint, and had expressed repentance and remorse! ( no specific details over what exactly!) She was allowed to continue on nights without further ado and no supporting and mentoring for her ! In their reports the two senior managers said how shocked and horrified they were ( by SisterX's denial of the charges) and one of them, the newest and youngest, stated that Sister X should be " NIPPED IN THE BUD ! " a patronising, silly and insulting comment from an inexperienced and insenstive young woman who had never even met Sister X or knew anything about district nursing. Sister X duly went on days for three months "support and mentorship" but no-one on the day team knew about this. They had been told a lie that Sister X had decided to come off nights of her own preference. Sister X went out unsupervised visiting patients, making a complete nonsense of the whole fiasco. She received an excellent report from the day sister of the team; however, when Sister X told this sister why she was on days she, to, was was shocked and horrified ! Matron was constantly asked by Sister X what was it all about, but matron could never give her an answer. Finally, the "support and mentorship" having some to an end, Sister X went off sick with stress again and was dismissed on health grounds in 2007. A truly shocking and horrifyng story ! It was fortunate for Sister X that the patient did not die at the time of her visit of the world would be hearing about another Angel of Death of Nurse Shipman, and Sister X would be behind bars . not having " a leg to stand on"

Thanks for sorting my spelling out and glad the story amused you. No word of a lie, it happened, this woman was the terror of a small village outside Halifax, the chemist, the post office, the doctors and nurses and everyone went in fear and trembling of getting involved in her "scenarios" which was always long, complicated and mad like--did I take my tablets thsi morning ? Bbefore mobiles were in use, I was foolhardy enough to let her have my personal number and lived to regret it! I made a freind of her but she drove me nuts at times with repitition and not "getting the message". She had a sad history--her first husband died in the war in a car fire, she maried again to --IO'll call him JIm---and nursed him devotedly through Parkinsons. He died in Hospital, she told me that" they were there, with the syringe ready"???!!!! As she had no family I organised the funeral. They had had an adopted son who died when young of Huntingtons chorea--what a dreadful thing. Kind as she was though I was cross over her keeping dogs which she could not walk, I am afraid these dogs were stuffed full of food and died from lack of excercise. When she went to the breeder and bought "Sultan" I--and another kind neighbour--were livid, that was when I decided to take Sulton on and look after his welfare which ultimately had me fostering him--when Mrs M ENDED UP in care-----I found him a good home via the Dogs Trust. I continued to take my dog to work in the back of the car until this jobsworth decided to make trouble, but thats another story--on another thread, I forget which! greensister

I am not sure of there is a Spiritual Experience thread--if so I apologise. This is soemthing that happened to me and my colleague, it felt somwhat miraculous at the time! Or maybe not? ladies of the night--our guardian angel 22) Ladies of the Night It had begun to rain as we drove down the road to Craglee Bridge to a call out to change a dressing. The address was unfamiliar, taking us up hill and down dale probably to stick a sticking plaster on someone's toe, as was frequently the case when people called us out to change dressings in the middle of the night! Ah well, Mr Wales, the patient, wasn't one for giving out much detail over the phone other than he had been in hospital recently with a skin complaint. Driving through Craglee Bridge and through some labyrinthine back streets, we were taken by surprise at the sight of a small river of water blocking the road in front of us. Janet consulted the map. " It's a ford, " she pronounced as she located our position by torchlight. "Onwards and upwards, " I replied, shining the full beam of my headlights into the swiftly flowing brook. There didn't seem to be any choice other than to drive through it as our address was, according to the map, a few hundred yards on the opposite bank. Janet crossed herself and I muttered a prayer as I plunged into the swirling stream , and, like Moses and the Israelites, my trusty wheels parted the waters. Thankfully, like the biblical tribe, we made the other side and, dripping like a giant drowned rat , made the rest of the trek, up an unmade road to Mr Wales residence. At least the house was then easy to find , with a security light in the drive, so hopefully we would not be delayed overlong . I didn't like the look of the rain and the thought of going back through the ford, though presumably there was another route out from this side of the river . We were led into a well lit bedroom by an anxious looking lady who we presumed to be Mrs Wales to be confronted by a heavily bandaged gentleman lying on top of the bed. "Goodness, " I said, looking at the mummified figure in some trepidation . "You look as though you've been in the wars !" So much for the plaster on the toe! "Oh, I've had that flesh eating bug, " said Mr Wales , as though he had suffered nothing worse than a minor twinge . " It's a very nasty germ that's going round. " "Flesh eating bug !" I said stupidly, taken aback and exchanging a glance of alarm with Janet. I tried to remember the disease's medical name, but it took me a few seconds to recall it. "Necrotizing fasciitis. Good gracious ! " There had been several horror stories in the media about this terrible condition which, a virulent infection which , according to the sensational reports , gobbled up the flesh at the rate of knots, often proving fatal. "Yes, I nearly died, " continued Mr Wales cheerfully while his wife hovered in the background, clucking sympathetically, " but I lived to tell the tale, though it was a close shave !" He waved one of his bandaged legs in the air to demonstrate that he was not a corpse . After a few more questions and answers, it transpired that the unfortunate Mr Wales had entered hospital for a simple hernia operation, and that was the last he knew, until he awakened several days later sans huge chunks of flesh from his back and leg. He had, indeed, nearly died, and been in intensive care for several weeks. "I swelled up like a balloon, " he went on gorily. " I was covered in great big blisters that started festering and filling up with matter and puss. They'd to cut all the badness out of me , like a lump of meat I were on a butcher's slab, not that I knew owt about it, it's only what they told me since but that's what they 'ad to do before it ate me up completely . Nearly 'ad me chips I did ! " It seemed that Mr Wales was set to tell us the entire story , and interesting though his gruesome experience undountedly was , we were thankful when Mrs Wales intervened with ," Ralph, dear, the nurses are busy and need to get on. One of his bandages have come loose, that's why we've sent for you," she explained , looking at Janet and me apologetically . "Can you fix it for him ? I have tried but there seems to be something leaking through. The rest of the dressings seem alright. " Well, that was something to be thankful for , but what about the flesh eating bug? Was it safe to unravel him--was the bug still there ? Neither Janet nor I fancied catching a dose of the fiendish flesh eating bug ! Thankfully the day nurses were already visiting to redress Mr Wales wounds and the nursing notes reassured us that the " nasty germ " had been well and truly exterminated before he was discharged from hospital . As well as his leg and back , he had graft sites in what good flesh was left but according to the care plan , everything was now healing well though it would be a long time before he was fully recovered . 23) Ladies of the Night On taking down the bandages and dressings we were both shocked to see just how dreadfully Mr Wales had been attacked by the terrible " flesh eating bug " which was probably Group A streptococcus, though other organisms sometimes turned destructive in the same potentially lethal way. His affected leg had been debrided to within an inch of it's life and deep scars and craters were embedded into the ravaged tissue. His other leg had been used as a graft site, while the whole of his back, which fortunately did not require redressing, was similarly affected. It took some considerable time to redress and rebandage his leg,for despite the fact I was a quite a quick worker, this was something which simply could not be whipped off and on in five minutes . While all the time, as Janet and I worked, I was conscious of the rain pounding down outside and the deepening ford at the bottom of the hill ! "Thank God it's not Gracie, " muttered Janet, as she cleared away the mess. "We would have been here all night !" Still it took at least thirty minutes before the deed was done , the notes written up and our patient tucked up in bed , encased like King Tut in his tomb, and we were ready to head back to Fellbury and our booked visit. " Where does the road go from here ? " I asked Mrs Wales as we prepared to leave. She shook her head and raised her eyebrows at the same time, as though we were joking. "Nowhere , it's a dead end ; Farmer Drake's lands are behind us , " she informed us cheerfully, adding, by way of encouragement, or perhaps consolation , " We have a four wheel drive, of course. But don't worry,the ford doesn't get very deep.You should be alright if you get off now . " With these sanguine words of hope ringing in our ears we sped down the hill and towards what now appeared to be the Niagra Falls. "Bloody hell !" we gasped, as the headlights picked out the tossing waves barring our way.It wasn't often that both Janet and I were stumped, but this was a situation to which neither of us had a ready answer. "Well we can't sit here all night. It'll only get deeper. " "Bloody silly place to have built a house , between a river and a field ! " "Well, we can't go back........" "But we can't go forward........" After another five minutes of dithering indescision , we decided there was only one chance of getting out of our plight and that was to take our chances with the ford. This, as it turned out, was definitely the wrong decision, as despite Mrs Wales's optimistic assurances, the waters were soon coming up through the floor and flooding the car's interior. And then we stopped, in the centre of the swell, and the car died on us with a dismal death rattle . "Bubbles!" said Janet , who was trying to stop swearing by substituting less naughty words. "It's no good panicking!" "I'm not panicking !" I said, looking out of the window at the inky creek which was now swirling round my feet also . Should we abandon ship ? "I'll ring Jack ," said Janet, beginning to punch her home number into the phone. "But how long will it take for him to get here? " Janet's home was at least eight miles away. "Well, I don't know, but we can't just sit here in the middle of the bloody River Ganges ! I don't intend drowning for no bugger ! " " It's not that deep , Janet! Anyway lets call out Rescue as well ! They might be quicker than Jack ! Or what about the Fire Brigade ? " Deciding against the Fire Brigade for the moment, Janet fiddled around with the mobile phone, while I kept an eye on the inundation which thankfully appeared to have reached its level. After several minutes she managed to awaken her husband , but by now we were both so panicked by our situation and the patient who was expecting us, that it was difficult for her to explain just where we were and what the problem was coherently . An argument ensued, culminating in shouts, threats, name calling and much swearing, though thankfully the bleary headed Jack seemed to have eventually got the message and said he was on his way. "Bloody idiot ! "cursed Janet, fogetting her vow of not swearing and angrily punching the numbers of our lease car's rescue service into the mobile only to find herself at the receiving end of a long and tortuous system, involving listening to music and messages, while all the while the babbling brook burbled and babbled 24) Ladies of the Night merrily around us .By the time Janet made contact she had lost it completely. "Just get somebody out here now ! We're stuck in the middle of a raging torrent , and need to get to a poorly patient . No! I don't know the bloody post code and we can't flamingwell bear with you , just get someone out here now ! " She snapped the phone off and sighed. "Bloody fools, bloody answering machines, bloody stupid woman at the other end............." " Chill out , Janet, " I soothed, though I felt far from "chilled" myself, apart from my wet feet . "It's not the end of the world ! We're only stranded in a little stream, we're not on the Titanic in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with an iceberg up our ...... .. " " Call that a little stream, it looks more like Cape Horn to me. And my feet are soaking !" "Well, so are mine. There's only Buster who's dry." My little dog was snuggled up asleep in his blankets ,blissfully unaware of the crisis. "Perhaps we should pray, or sing, or something. " "Hmmm. " Janet was a devout Roman Catholic. Maybe now was an appropriate time to put God to the test . For myself, past attempts to enlist the assistance of the Almighty in times of crisis seemed to have fallen on deaf ears but maybe Janet, as an RC, might have better results. "Whose the patron saint of drowning sailors ? " I asked. "I'm trying to remember. St Nicolas I think. " "St Nicolas ! Don't be daft--that's Santa Claus ! Isn't it Saint Christoper ? " "Oh well, what does it matter ? Lets pray to them all! " "Why not pray to the man himself, Jesus. Surely he has a direct line. He saved the disciples, after all, when they were stuck on the Sea of Galilee in a storm . What was it he said to the waves ? Be still , or calm down or something . And don't forget how the Lord parted the Red Sea for the Israelites . Not to mention Noah's ark!" In the end we sent up a garbled demand for help to whoever was listening, though, needless to say the waves did not subside nor the waters divide . I started to sing a hymn I remembered from my Church of England upbringing. "Eternal Father, strong to save, whose arm hath bound the restless wave, " I wailed tunelessly , singing not being one of my greatest accomplishments , " who walkest on the foaming deep, and calm amidst its rage did sleep, Oh hear us when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea!" Janet told me to shut up and sighed for a cigarette, a habit she had quit several years ago. I sighed for a vodka and we subsided into a fretful bout of cursing and swearing. Suddenly headlights appeared round the bend at the other side of the road and a large four wheel drive appeared before us. "Gosh that was quick! " I said. "It's not Jack, " said Janet. "We don't have a four wheel. " "Well, it's not Rescue either. " Maybe it was someone going to work on the farm. Who else could it be ? Now I supposed we'd have an irate man to contend with, but such was not the case. To our amazement the driver, a big, strapping fellow waded out to us with his flashlight, and after summing our position up, laughed cheerily. "Don't you worry girls,I'll have you out in a jiffy ," he assured us, and commenced to do just that. It did not take him above five minutes to attach us to his vehicle and tow us out of the ford. Then, opening the bonnet, he sprayed something over the plugs and whatnot and with a cough and a splutter, the car started up. Janet and I all but kissed him in our gratefulness, but without further ado he waved us goodbye and drove off through the ford and up the hill. ************************************************************************************ Who was our Good Samaritan? We never found out though we contacted the farm and the Wales the next day, wishing to give proper thanks for his help. The farm said they had no worker coming in at that hour and could shed no light on the matter. In our flustered state , we had not asked for our rescuer's name, and a letter we sent to the local press a few days later, expressing our thanks, brought no response . Maybe, after all, someone on high had heard our prayers and answered them ! I was both spooked and comforted by the whole uncanny episode . Had an angel in disguise been sent to us in our hour of need ? or was the man simply a farmworker who did not want identifying for some reason. Whatever or whoever he was , he had certainly been our guardian angel that night!

I got a needlestick from, a hep c patient, I went 12 months with three lots of tests-thankfully negative but not my idea of fun. I told no-one except my managers-- AND THEY COULDNT HAVE CARED LESS! I did the right thing, squeezing and suchluke--I had gloves on the the syringe driver--a new fangled thing--was faulty. I didnt bothr going to counselling, I tried to put it out of my mind. Not the pleasantist of expereinces! GS

Defamation of Character or Legimate complant. Okay, Peoples complaints have to be lsitened to but as far as I am concerned--the accused--it was verbal abuse and deefamation of character. When does a letter of complaint become defamation of character and personal abuse. ? Abuse of staff --physical and verbal--is not supposed to be tolerated. My character was defamed in a letter of complaint about me and my colleague who visisted a family overnight as explained. I later found out my colleague had retracted her original statement, apologised and said she had learnt (??) thus not geting penalised as I was ( by among other things a young manager saying I should be "nipped in the bud" among other things ( when I was on the point of r retirement!!!!!) I consider this letter to be defamation of character but was told I "HAD NOT A LEG TO STAND ON" and that all these non nursing managers were "utterly shocked" because I had said the woman complaining was being malicious( for reasons I understood but malaicious and defamatory nontheless). The complainant gushed over just about all other professionals saying they were all "overworked and wonderful" persumably implying we were not! ( we worked 10 hours shifts driving round the area, often 100 miles without a break) She said we made a "desperate situation worse". Indeed we did no such thing, and her reasons afterwards were merely personal critisism because we did noit wave a magic wand. In fact my feeling is she wanted a doctor to shunt her mother off to hospital thus taking responsibility out of her hands--and her family-s--they did not want nursing solutions. There was actually nothing"desperate" happeneing!!!!!!!!And if there was, she did not say so despite repeated attemps at conversation by me and my colleague. She critisized everything we said, her only real legitimate complaint was that my colleague did not sit down--no seat was available or offered--and we did not take our coats off. The defmation, however, is in these words. THESE TWO NURSES SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED INTO THE HOME OF A DYING PATIENT WITH THE ATTITUDE AND I STRONGLY SUGGEST THEY NEED SOME RELEVANT TRAINING IN BASIC NURSING CARE SKILLS NOT TO MENTION A CRASH COURSE IN COMMUNICATION AND COMPASSION FOR THE SUFFERING.........HOW DIFFERENT DROM THE OVERWORKED GP DR .................WHO CALLED MANY TIMES ON HIS WAY HOME JUST TO OFFER SUPPORT DURING THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF MOTHERS LIFE( I have my own ideas on this last sentence knowing this particular GP!) ALL THE OTHER PROFESSIONALS WERE SIMILARLY DESCRIBED AS ABSOLUTELY MARVELLOUS AND SO ON.--THOUGH THE GROUND WORK HADNT OBVIOULSY BEEN DONE OR WE SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD THE ENSUING DRAMATICS. finally she ends by saying we were TIRED AND INCOMPETENT. I was also told that she had said we both looked UNKEMPT AND UNTIDY.--all this critisism however, was withdrawn from my repentent colleague and I was left as the sole offender.!! ?? As I have said it was a ten hour shift and a windy morning, our iniforms are not very impressive and we no longer wear hats so our hair does get blown around. I have many many letters of thanks and press cuttings from the care I have given in the past ,I was on the point of retirement,I taught on the palliative care course, and not one manager would listen to me about the strange behviour of this family and thier lack of reposnse--even though they and a trained nurse relative in the house. Although I appreciate that complaints have to be investigated, management just wanted me to agree and repent to make life easy and to go on their silly support plan--though I agreed to the latter, as I no longer wanted to work on nights with a bullying, unsupportive manager, no plan was ever put in place and I continued on days ON MY OWN ( we only worked in pairs overnight for safely). I eventually left through "STRESS" after uncovering all the documentation myself, the RCN not really being any help. I still maintain this was DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER and should have not have been taken at face value just because it involved a terminal care scenario. I do not and never have given any less than my very best to all my patients and take this opportunity to refute the allegations about me, even though I never got any sense from management who just continued to hold menaingless meatings with me and refuse to examine the issues fairly or with an open mind--presumably from fear of the local rag getting wind of it (they already know anyway ). I lknow I am not the only person who has been treated badly by management, as I am a member of Julie Fagan's CAUSE campaign and the disgraceful goings -on in the NHS towards innocent is horrendous. MY FEAR IS THAT IF I HAD BEEN ACCUSED OF HASTENING THE DEATH OF THIS LADY, BY, FOR INSTANCE, GIVING SOME MEDICATION ( thankfully she did not need anything or die on my presence) I WOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD BY MY MANAGERS " I HAD NOT A LEG TO STAND ON. "

Thanks everyone--I feel I spelt something wrong though--pad-a dough? greensister