Nurses who have been caught in a system where tragedies occur.

Sleep deprivation comes with the job for nurses who work during the hours when it is normal to be asleep.  Studies have shown that this affects their physical well being and as all of us know when we have not rested properly it can interfere with our attention and attitude.

Nurses go to sleep worrying about what happened at work.  The above study says that nurses spend 26 minutes worrying before going to sleep.  It is a job that takes a lot out of a person even when conditions are optimal such as mix as well as level of staffing.  There are many factors that lead to mistakes.  Having adequate rest and meditation can eliminate fatigue and stress.  The Mayo Clinic recommends meditation as its benefits can be felt whether in the middle of a hectic day or in the calm of your own life where you may find nature a place to connect with this inner source of peace.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.  -  Lao Tzo six century founder of Taoism

1) 14 year old dies from a brain tumor

Olivia's assessment was not accurate, was diagnosed as having dehydration, when seen by a triage nurse at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital.  Her uncle has thing asked for an ombudsman to look into the care (or lack of) that Olivia received.  Olivia's uncle, Darren Wicks said 'It's a cop out to put the blame on the nurse.  The errors lie in hospital procedures not the individual.'

2) The following segment shows the desperate course of events and how the parents of a 13 month old who died in August 2007 desperately pleaded for some interventions such as a lumbar puncture.

It took four more hours before Miss Hooks could persuade another doctor to help. ‘In desperation I grabbed a female doctor by the arm. She said: “Your son is very, very ill”.’ 

The Doncaster and Basset Hospital NHS Foundation Trust denied responsibility for five years until a judge finally ruled in favour of the parents clain.3) Lucie Linforth was not assessed by Ellen Clegg, the GP practice nurse at Marston Mortaine Surgery until it was too late.   By the time she waited to see the nurse she had become so ill that she collapsed and attempts to resuscitate were made as they waited on the air ambulance to take her to hospital.

4) Steven Yorke and Sara Proud went to the hospital due to labor and were told to wait in the waiting roomhttp://uk.news.yahoo.com/baby-dies-waiting-room-dad-blames-hospital-164601254.html#oB0lseo  The hospital has admitted wrongdoing.

These tragedies and dis-empowering for all.  Those who have unfortunately died and those who actively sought the help their loved ones needed.  As well as for those doctors and nurses who were on duty and had not been able to save the patients life.

I have noticed when visiting the doctors office that the receptionist in responsible to directing patients to either a nurse or doctor as well as answering phones and watching a computer monitor to see when they can send the next patient to the clinician.  It seems to be too much responsibility for the 'gate keeper' so to speak.  The role seems to be uniform across all GP practices.

The Care Quality Commission has appointed David Behan who has promised a better system.  Statement taken from the CQC website reads as follows: 'We make sure hospitals, care homes, dental and GP surgeries and all other care services in England, provide people with safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality care, and we encourage them to make improvements.'  September 21st Daily Telegraph Rebecca Prideaux a former policewoman of 7 years who resigned from her post as a CQC inspector shared her view from the experiences she encountered.  Laura Donnelly, reporter for health at the Daily Telegraph noted that decisions were made to waterdown inspections so that organizations could be found to be 'compliant.' Ms. Prideaux shared that after she asked for more time shadowing senior colleagues, she began to get poor performance reviews.  In hindsight this idea seems to have caught the attention of the CQC in a more positive way, because it has incorporated this concept in their improvements so that new inspectors will shadow colleagues on 9 out of 10 visits before they can lead inspections.

Sir Bruce Keogh wrote a report about the care provided at 14 Trust Hospitals wrote 8 Ambitions for the NHS: Number 4 says, 'Patients should have more confidence in the Regulator of Care Quality Commission, with wider participation of patients, nurses,l and junior doctors on review teams.

National Audit Office

The McKinsey(2009) report provided guidance to the NHS on how to save money.  (1.6) '40% saving through pay freezes, central budgets and management of cost saving;  40% savings through hospital staff productivity, procurement, primary care, mental health and community services.  20% through emergency activity, elective care, Rx and services from non-NHS bodies.'

The report calls for monitoring of services through a website to facilitate sharing of good practice and monthly meetings with strategic health authorities to discuss progress and planning.

The Essay Expert

For nurses who are unable to work due to an investigation or disciplinary action, money is important.  You must go on with your life.  I recommend Brenda Bernstein's web page for information about how to optimize your professional profile on LinkedIN a networking site for business people and professionals.  Brenda can also help you write a resume that will draw attention to your particular skills, education and experience.  Do send her an email and ask for guidance on creating a unique resume.

Meditation is a powerful practice and instructions for third eye meditation. I recommend  Tony Samara and www.sos.org where instructions can be found under the meditation tab.

All teachers say to lead an ethical life and part of that is to eat vegetarian foods because of harm to animals. 

My best wishes and prayers are with you as you make your transition into a new career.  I encourage you to connect with each other via MeetUp and use the acronym 'NUSBD.'