Chapter 13

‘Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.’ Leo Buscaglia

In my student days we were moving away from the battle-axe matrons, but we still had them. A memorable story, which always makes me smile – on my very first medical ward a group of us was asked by Sister, ‘Who has written Mrs. …. care plan. Very meekly, scared of the torrent of disapproval I thought was coming my way, I said ‘me Sister’, she smiled sweetly and told me I had written an excellent care plan. Me, being a first-year student nurse, on my very first ward, dined off that for some time, I can tell you.

On a different occasion, which wasn’t so nice, but is probably a reminder that not everything goes smoothly, I was undertaking my penultimate third-year placement, designed to support the development of ward management skills and I made the decision to admit a patient onto the ward. Now, this was a ward for elderly patients and we were admitting a surgical patient. We had bed shortages in those days, but at least you got a bed. The Sister when she found out, went ballistic and literally screamed at me – ‘when you have a thick blue band around your hat, you can call yourself a staff nurse and not until’. A colleague of mine was sat at my side and it was hugely embarrassing. I had clearly upset Sister and not wanting to add any more fuel to the fire, I apologised. I didn’t leave though, I stayed. I didn’t rush off into the sluice and cry my heart out, I just held my ground and finished my nursing notes. There was no way she was making me leave the desk and eventually she moved away. When I was in the sluice later that evening she came in and told me I would make a great nurse, I just needed to wait. I felt a bit better after that but it didn’t change the fact it had been an awful experience. Even talking to my tutor who told me other Sisters would have been pleased by my actions, didn’t make it any easier. I was so close to finishing though I had to get over it. My experience probably wasn’t as bad as that of my dear friend Brenda though, who was dragged across the floor of a nightingale ward by her ear, in front of all the patients, because of something she had done wrong.

On the same ward attending my first emergency call as a student nurse, in which I assisted with CPR, (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) I was told by a truly inspirational nurse, that she had never seen anyone act so calmly at a resuscitation attempt. I had acted better than many qualified nurses. This made me feel particularly proud and a lot better; as did the first time I supported a young girl to give birth, and a patient to die with dignity and compassion.

I was half way through my first year when I entered the doors of A&E. I remember on my very first day a child being brought in. They had trapped their finger in the car door. You could hear the moans throughout the department. I cringe every time I see someone put their hands in the door jamb of a car door. It’s so easy for that door to slam shut.

I didn’t like A&E, although I had looked forward to it. I found it a bit too heavy for first year students. Some thrived on it, but I wasn’t mentally ready for the trauma that entered those doors every single day. It is something I became better prepared for in years to come. Being the only nurse on site, for the most part, when working in occupational health meant I had to be knowledgeable and confident, but back then I preferred working within the routine of a ward environment. A&E was far from routine.

Moving onto the orthopaedics ward on my next placement was so much more comfortable. Patients could be with us for some time and I soon settled back down to the routine of ward life. Thus, saving my fledgling career.

Second year brought with it my night shift placement. I slept really well during these eight weeks jumping out of bed probably an hour before I was due to be at work. In bed, one afternoon after a particularly busy night shift, I woke up panic stricken, I remembered I’d thrown a blood transfusion bag into clinical waste. I don’t know what happens today, but back then, all blood transfusion bags, when empty, had to be returned to the labs. I called the ward in a highly charged state, fearing the worst, already seeing my registration slipping through my fingers. The charge nurse was so sweet and told me not to worry; he was in charge of the ward and it was his overall responsibility. I slept soundly for the rest of the day, until I had to get up to go to work. What an amazing contrast to being screamed at and what an amazing, compassionate manager. We most definitely need more of those today.

On that same ward, I was asked by Sister to make a note of all the drugs being used on the ward, including usage, the side effects, and contraindications. It took me ages, but I did it. When I gave it to her, she just looked at me and said ‘I knew you’d do it’. I was a bit miffed about this, as she didn’t even look at it. But on reflection I realised Sister had put a significant amount of trust in me to complete this task and I’d done it; learning a lot about medication into the bargain.
Trust is an important aspect of nursing and by my actions I had demonstrated I could be trusted.

On another occasion, which is probably quite funny now, but not at the time. I was helping a rather elderly lady who had severe arthritis to have a bath. In a very steamy bathroom, I helped her get washed and dried and put on her clothes, I then realised we had forgotten to put on her corset. Sweating profusely by now; there were no windows to open and no air con, and opening the door was clearly out of the question, I suggested she might want to leave it off for today, no, she didn’t, as of course was her right. So off came her clothes and on went her braided corset. I swore blind I would never forget something like that again. It’s so much easier doing the job first time round.

Student nurse experiences are peppered with joy and sadness, humility, and significant ups and downs. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to theatre and I never really liked it. I didn’t like watching patients being anaesthetised, [although it was of course necessary] which brought with it a complete lack of control; their lives literally in our hands and many mistakes have been made in theatre over the years.

And being ridiculed by a nurse, didn’t help either. I had asked the theatre nurse if I could assist giving surgical instruments to the surgeon. The nurse clearly thought I was more experienced than I was, but she should have known. She didn’t make it easy for me and completely took over when she realised, my lack of prowess. She told me I wasn’t cut out for theatre work which was rather rude and unkind, but it wasn’t something I was truly interested in despite my enthusiasm for learning. So, I brushed her hurtful comments aside, and carried on to my next placement.

Patient safety at this time became a significant interest of mine, and as the years progressed, so did Human Factors, which focuses on the environmental, organisational, job role and individual behaviours at work that can affect health and safety and I eventually felt compelled to write. We now have World Patient Safety Day, managed by the World Health Organization. September 17th is the dedicated day when we engage with the global campaign to make patient care safer. In 2021, I published a blog with the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) which sought to raise awareness of the importance of understanding Human Factors, the factors that determine why mistakes happen. And again in 2022 I published a blog based on the theme of Medication Without Harm, highlighting the significant burden caused by medication errors, which occur daily in every country, town and city across the world.

Sharing the importance of understanding Human Factors and why mistakes happen has been for many years an important element of my professional life. No-one is infallible.