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Not Nice, On Purpose
Not Nice, On PurposePatients tell me I’m a nice man.Colleagues assure me I’m a nice man.Awards proclaim me nice.I am not.Nice is reflex.Nice is tone-policinginto silence.Nice backs awaywhen a voice rises.What I practiseis assertive kindness.I meet angerwithout flinching.I look past the sharp wordsto the hands that can’t stop moving,the pain that can’t settle,the eyes searching for exitsthat…
Merry Christmas, all — said a day early, because I’ll be on 12-hour shifts for the next few days. Christmas on the ward isn’t tinsel and goodwill. It’s the same incontinence, the same confusion, the same medical crises and endless paperwork — but with an extra layer of expectation. We’re meant to smile wider, hum carols, and wish Happy Christmas to people who have no idea what day it is. So here’s a festive poem full of cheer… …or not! Festive Shift same alarms, different day. same fluids, festive hats. same forms, still signed in black. someone’s fallen, someone’s crying, someone’s trying to die politely. paper crowns, slipped IVs, and “Merry Christmas, love” through a mask. the turkey’s still chewy. the pudding’s not on fire. the ward smells of sprouts and gravy. here we are, the lost and the forgotten, counting down the last few hours to Christmas Day. Merry Christmas.
Well, that was some Christmas. Two staff assaulted — by different patients — neither of them remotely suitable for our ward. Both had been transferred because their parent wards found them “too challenging”. That sort of buck-passing isn’t new, but it’s never less demoralising. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Two of the younger staff said to me, “I thought Christmas would be lovely on the ward.” Ha. If only. The reality is that people with the hardest lives, the most complex needs, and the least family support are the ones most likely to end up in hospital at Christmas. A tree in the corner and paper crowns don’t change that.
Pace
PaceWard pace.Job.Job.Job.Monitor buzzes—heart too fast.Ignore it.Push on.Last hour.Faster.This bed, that bed,another.Needs.Demands.Expectations.Balance.Appraise.Juggle.Clean this.Clean him.Urinal.Turn.Pace.Turn.Empty.Restock aprons.Clean.Change.Pace.Restock towels.Move.Fetch water.Sheets, blankets:fill the trolley.Pace.Clean another.Incoming team—quick rundown.Almost done.He still…
'Best Night I've Had In Years'
"Best Night I've Had In Years"(for Mhairi, who once danced every night; name and some details changed for privacy)At the front of the ladies’ side, beneath lights too bright,Mhairi lies — alert, adrift,eyes darting like starlings at the twitch of sound,angry at a world that’s folded in on itself.She’s all elbows and memorywrapped in NHS-worded print,queen of Bed One, uncrowned but known.The…
The Shite Whisperer
The role of a Senior Healthcare Support Worker is a glorious one. We race into battle with… wipes held read and Actichlor spraying the unsanitary! The Shite Whisperer(a ward-side ballad in brown)I was mid-bite —potato salad, slightly mushed —when it drifted inlike the ghost of curries past:a scent most foul.Not everyone hears the call.Some chew faster,some look away,some pretend it’s just the…
Love being a legal adult who works at this hospital, and they give me the young child cuff when they measure my blood pressure
Health Care Support Workers (Jean Bishop II)
Health Care Support Workers (Jean Bishop II) You talk to your friends and family; you don’t easily share anxieties with those in authority.
Thank you to my friend and avid reader Freda for pointing-out something I had missed in today’s blog about the Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in Hull.
‘So many assessments – completed individually or as a panel? Tiring? Was thinking Doris would have to stay overnight?’
That was her consideration of someone visiting the centre and undergoing multiple holistic assessments. It is all very well…
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