I am now 48 years old and as such am subject to both speaking and acting in a way as I would never have believed; i.e. I am now a middle aged parent type. Therefore, when reading a book by a nurse who trained in the 1950′s I am able to see that many of the great things about nursing generate from that era. Of course if I had read such a thing in 1982 I would have declared this the work of some old timer, stuck in the middle ages. This is of course the way of the world!!!
In the 1950′s the sister was the queen, and the consultant, however he believed himself to be was only some kind of lowly prince, perhaps akin to prince Harry. Close to the throne, but without the deaths of his Granny, dad and brother never likely to be the king!
I can’t deny that I remember medical students being told to heed the word of sister and her qualified nurse colleagues. I can’t even deny that I have been party to the idea that we were equal beings; and even to the idear that they complied.
I haven’t ever been a ward sister, since I escaped to the world of district nursing and the super being of the GP Of course District nurses are superior to any hospital nurse!.
But even I was shocked recently by the behaviour of a Consultant at a meeting. The way he spoke to the matron; the very person who he should be respecting; the very person who will understand his patients and the nurse who care for them. He was beyond rude and try as she did to appear in control she sounded like a 19th centurary servant. This is not good and may be contributing to the way in which the people who work in the NHS are showing themselves to the world?
Comments on: "Dr vs Nurse" (2)
I always thought consults thought they were superior to Matrons – the Carry On films had caricature and reality to base their story lines on. Matrons were not seen as the top of the hierarchy, consultants have always held sway. Matrons of old were formidable and respected, do not know about now days, there seems to a number of Matrons in hospitals, so are they really nursing managers under a different name?
The fact is that a consultant is all about power and status, not all of such people act like complete precious and precocious prats, though sadly a lot do. That is what the public sees. That is what many nursing staff experience.
It will not change till the hierarchy and the prestige of the consultant is put into place. We honour them with respect and awe they actually do not deserve. That has come from the past. Contemporary attitude should not be about allowing a person to be rude, regardless of who they are. If the consultant was rude the odds are he did not really know what he was talking about and could not man up enough to admit it. I learnt that in my early years. Ignore the rude ones, they are just ignorant, if not dim-witted, about what is being discussed, debated or proposed in a meeting or on the ward.
The place of the sister and indeed matron within the hierachy was actually that they ruled the ward / department. The consultant essentially had the last say on what happened to their patient. Many wards had the patients of more than one consultant on them, so patients with the same condition could receive slightly different care depending who’s care they were under.
Life was never like a carry on film as far as I know!
As for common dececy, I quite agree; it shouldn’t matter who you are politeness and respect should be paramount especially in a public place.