Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The shame of our Nurses

The BBC can hardly bring itself to name the problem. Reports talk about the NHS failing to treat the Elderly well. But the truth is that its nurses that don't treat elderly people well.

This morning I heard a BBC presenter interviewing the author of this report, Ann Abraham, trying to tie in cuts to the picture, but she was rebuffed by the author who has clearly said this is nothing to do with money.

Its to do with the way elderly people are viewed by the young.

If nurses have an excuse - its that their failing is also that of our society. The Fascist upbringing of our youth with their cult of self fed by eager marketers and educators in equal measure is in part to blame.

The empty morality of the pick and mix religious view pushed especially by Labour, but continued by the current government is to blame.

People who don't fear being judged for their actions and have no respect for their elders just decide that "I don't do mess". Since in the case of Nurses rather than starting as apprentices under the watchful eye of senior staff they go to University and indulge the cult of self for another three years rather than learning about being selfless this is no surprise.

Here the hard truth that dare not speak its name. Our nurses as a vocational group should be ashamed, if they still knew how to behave - but instead they will hit back and hit out.

The truth is this isn't about money, its about morality and its widespread absence and our societies failure.

PS I have no trouble thinking of a number of recent cases I know of that back the report of Ann Abraham up. It would not surprise me if that isn't the general case.

See also: Julia Manning who says "what has happened to society if we need to be trained to ‘care’ for the vulnerable?".

Also Christina Odone "The NHS is failing our elderly: blame the nurses, not the doctors"

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just for once I heartily agree with you. We can all name hospitals where our elderly relatives have been treated with disrespect and where our concerns about them have been met with disdain and prevarication. A particularly loathsome practise is a refusal to discuss the dying patient out of his/her hearing even though the facts sought will be upsetting and/or frightening for them.

Woman on a Raft said...

I could not agree more.

lilith said...

Absobloodylutely.