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| The district nurses. | |
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| Topic Started: 13 Oct 2014, 12:15 PM (136 Views) | |
| Sandy | 13 Oct 2014, 12:15 PM Post #1 |
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These ladies are really good, they work in conjunction with both the hospital and the various GP's in the area's and look after a wide variety of patients from folk with cancer right down to ones like me who need dressings changed.. I remember with my mother, daughter and my partner who all had different cancers, they came out daily and did things like checking meds and dressings, and even shifting the med spot.. My mother had an electric pump that was battery operated and thayt pumped a measured dose of morphine at set times through a little hose into my mothers abdomen, the needle that was in the abdomen needed shifting every so often so the spot wouldn't get infected, so the nurses checked that and shifted the needle when needed, they also put in another capsule of morphine and steroids which only lasted 24 hours.. The nurses are usually quite highly trained, more so than the hospital nurses, but still have to work in with the doctor or GP that recommended them for the jobs.. In my mothers case for instance, if the nurse thought she needed an increase in meds she spoke to the doctor concerned who then authorised the increase, and did the appropriate prescriptions.. The doctor only really saw my mother if the nurses were in doubt about something, or the doctor thought it was time for him to visit.. I like the fact that these nurses are always friendly and helpful, they always seem to have time to spend a few minutes having a chat, which when you're not feeling the best can be a bit of a comfort, especially if you don't have any family or friends about.. I know I just queried the nurse about a couple of things and she took the time to explain it in an easy to understand way which left me feeling a bit better.. Anyway, the district nurses are paid by the local hospital board and there's no charge to the patients they see, at least not us poor patients, the well off ones may have to pay a little, but in order for them to visit us, they have to be referred by either a doctor at the hospital or the persons own GP, in my case my GP arranged for them to visit me every second day starting last saturday.. It'll be up to the nurse to decide when my legs are good enough to not need another visit, so no doubt at that stage she'll put more dressings on and tell me to keep them on for a couple of days, then return to normal again and not need more dressings.. The upside for me is that it saves a trip to my GP every second day, and the district nurses are free too.. If I went to my GP to get the dressings done it'd cost me $18, plus getting there and back home again.. We tend to curse our medical system a lot because of some of the shortfalls in the system, but I think the district nurses do a pretty good job most of the time, especially as they get by on limited funding like the rest of the hospital system here, certainly this part of the local hospitals do a pretty good job... |
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| Sandy | 14 Oct 2014, 05:43 AM Post #2 |
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I was thinking about it a while ago and thought how good some of the nurses are at making you feel better, some times when they treat someone for whatever reason, the patients get to feeling a bit down and depressed because of the current health issue or issues, the nurses seem to have a way of making you feel a bit better with a few words.. I was feeling a bit down yesterday when the nurse came to change my dressings, probably because I've had quite a few issues with my legs over the last few years, yet it only took a few words from her and I was feeling a bit better about things.. It's a good part of their jobs I think, if they make a patient feel a bit better, maybe they'll get better a bit more quickly too.. I hope the district nurses aren't ever done away with, not just for my sake, but for a lot of other folk to, they do an important job in the community and I think their services would be really missed if they were ever done away with.. A job like this is I feel more than just doing dressings or checking meds and such, some of it is also making the patients feel better while they're sick, maybe that's part of the key to a person getting better, possibly more so with the elderly, or the lonely folk out in the community.. They seem to have a better bedside manner than a lot of doctors I've seen and met over the years... |
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| Sandy | 27 Oct 2014, 09:46 AM Post #3 |
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Just been thinking about it and thought being a district nurse wouldn't be much fun in some respects, it's monday now, but it's also the last day of a long weekend, so most folk got friday and today off, but the district nurses that are working had to work the whole weekend, so no time off with the family for them.. I guess it shows you have to be a special person to want to do this sort of job, in most cases they'd get little or no thanks from people when they see them, and on a long weekend like this they'd no doubt appreciate a few thanks.. I know when the nurse left on Saturday I said thanks to her, it was the least I could do, besides it's only good manners, especially as she was working hard all morning without a break, then spent time with this difficult patient, lol.. I do think people like the district nurses, and even the GP's and their nurses that work on long weekends, or out of hours deserve some thanks and appreciation.. It's all very well and good saying they get extra money for working weekends and public holidays, but it's not as if they have to work, they choose to work because they like their jobs and feel they're making a difference out there in a few peoples lives.. Just my opinion, but I feel folk like this are generally under appreciated by most people in the community, and they deserve a lot more than they get as a rule.. No doubt they'll all have got quite a few extra browny points by the time they finally see St Peter, I hope so anyway... |
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2:03 PM Jul 11
