NHS - reports from the front line..

[swee'pea99]

From a special report in this weekend's Guardian...

 

[Sara_H]

From a special report in this weekend's Guardian...

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Everyday something will happen that will cause me or one of my colleagues to remark "that's going in the book.....".

Very rarely a dull day on the front line of the NHS.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Yes, NHS staff could nearly all write a book full of anecdotes and amusing accounts - but we could also write some pretty depressing factual accounts as well.

 

[fossyant]

Like the little old man with the broken back next to me who wouldn't stop 'fiddling' or the other old fella who was quite happy that his 'entire' sex life was with his hand. Us three younger blokes nearly choked laughing.

Or the lady on oxygen who lit a fag and set herself on fire. Or the other old dear who had kept an extra supply of meds in her bag and was doubling up on pain killers

 

[ColinJ]

Or the lady on oxygen who lit a fag and set herself on fire.

An old man in my ward leaned out of the window and lit up a fag, complaining that he was not allowed to smoke anywhere in the hospital. A nurse gave him a stern lecture about it.

A porter taking me down for a CT scan told me that he had seen 2 young men pushing their mate out to the car park in his hospital bed so he could smoke in the designated smoking area.

 

[PeteXXX]

My mum was a theatre sister during the war.. She used to tell me a few tales of both fun and woe!!
Her favourite story was that once, the hospital cat ran off with several feet of small intestine that the surgeon had just removed..
So much for sterility in an operating theatre!

When I worked in a hospital, the very first op I saw was a total hip replacement.There was little delicacy with drills and saws... Nearly put me off my NHS breakfast, I can tell you.

 

[ufkacbln]

An old man in my ward leaned out of the window and lit up a fag, complaining that he was not allowed to smoke anywhere in the hospital. A nurse gave him a stern lecture about it.

A porter taking me down for a CT scan told me that he had seen 2 young men pushing their mate out to the car park in his hospital bed so he could smoke in the designated smoking area.

Just as we were finishing one night we were asked to do an urgent lung scan on a pregnant patient with suspected Pulmonary Embolism

Doctor put a good clinical case and as she was in the late stages and birth "imminent" we had to get the anti coagulation right if it was not going to cause complications

So we arranged for two staff to stay on, and phoned for the patient...... Who was outside having a fag!


We went home

 

[Sara_H]

Yes, NHS staff could nearly all write a book full of anecdotes and amusing accounts - but we could also write some pretty depressing factual accounts as well.

Too right - I often think that the experiences that some of my colleagues are exposed to every working day would be a life changing experience for most ordinary people.

When I finally left my job in Intensive Care after 15 years I had a little bit of a wobble, people tried to attribute it to the horrible life threatening illness I was recovering from, I think it was the release of years of working in what can be an absolutely horrific workplace.

There are some pretty resilient people out there.

 

[Sara_H]

Like the little old man with the broken back next to me who wouldn't stop 'fiddling' or the other old fella who was quite happy that his 'entire' sex life was with his hand. Us three younger blokes nearly choked laughing.

Or the lady on oxygen who lit a fag and set herself on fire. Or the other old dear who had kept an extra supply of meds in her bag and was doubling up on pain killers

Apparently dermatology patients quite often set themselves on fire. Some of this creams are quite flammable.