More than just a hearty hand clap!
Tracey Dennison
I’m not quite sure where to start with this blog post but it’s safe to say the current government stance on the NHS in general and Nurses in particular stings a bit. It’s really not about the money, in the current state of national debt I’m really not sure that anyone warrants a pay rise (although I really wish we could adopt Jacinda). It’s about the perception, recognition and appreciation of all of those who have worked their socks off throughout Covid only to be thrown back to the bottom of the pile after a little appreciative clapping (and saving a few lives of course).
In many ways, within my NHS role, throughout Covid I really feel I have just been doing my job (albeit doing an exceptionally large number of hours in particularly difficult circumstances). I have really felt for those in retail, cleaning, teaching and all the related disciplines who absolutely did not sign up to working during a global pandemic but carried on anyway.
What I really object to though, is the absolute negligence of our government to acknowledge the professionalism and specialist knowledge of the Nurses who have truly grafted throughout the Covid crisis and will continue to do so as the fall-out continues and will last for literally years to come; as a nation we prepared for a pandemic, what we absolutely did not prepare for was the mental health crisis which has accompanied it and will (I am sure) last well beyond the pandemic itself.
It has been during the pandemic that many Dr’s and Nurses have stepped out of their private practice to either increase their hours in the NHS or joined the NHS to support patient care. Sadly, because Nurses are ‘the caring profession’, because we traditionally do not blow our own trumpet and because we take our duty of care very seriously the government absolutely counts on us to ‘keep calm and carry on’ grateful for the weekly claps and erm … well that’ll do won’t it?!
Actually, no!
- We are professional people.
- We are educated to a minimum of degree level but many of us have Masters degrees, some have PhD’s.
- We are Registered with a governing body who regulates our practice and with whom we pay annually to stay Registered, without this registration we cannot practice.
- We are required to be insured to practice to protect our patients, to ensure safe care and provide a safety net for our patients when things go wrong.
- We are reviewed and revalidated on a very regular basis to maintain our registration and are required to continually update our practice and develop our education throughout our working career.
- We have a duty of care to our patients; a legal responsibility to do no harm and always work in our patients’ best interest.
- We have a duty of candour to ensure you have full engagement with your treatment and care and are aware if mistakes are made and actions taken to manage the same.
- We are trained to provide treatment and to be able to manage complications of the same. There are risks with Aesthetic treatments; potential anaphylaxis, impending necrosis and blindness just to name a few. It takes medical intervention and skill to manage these swiftly and efficiently.
- We work to standards, policies and procedures and are guided by research based evidence (which we also undertake).
- We are medically trained to understand issues around health and illness and are able to recognise health issues, a deteriorating patient, mental health issues and many, many medical conditions.
- Were we cannot manage a health condition we have the ability to refer on to the correct professional to support our patient’s health and well-being.
This is why we have value as a profession; this is why we should be respected by the government both in the NHS and private practice.
This is why my patients respect my clinical practice; because they know I’ll provide a safe, quality driven service backed by professional standards.
My message from this blog; please understand why Dr’s, Nurses and Dentists take your health seriously, why those in Medical Aesthetics are passionate about injectable treatments being in the domain of medically qualified hands and why it’s so vitally important to value this.
It’s really not about the money; but it’s very much about understanding what you are getting when you go to a medical professional. It’s understanding, appreciating and valuing the medical services you receive and ensuring you are fully assessed and properly managed throughout your treatment and aftercare. It’s about appreciating and valuing us before we have to rescue you.