Gone but Not Forgotten

[backman]

 Just come back from seeing my mother who trained in the 1960's and we got to talking about things that had disappeared from Nursing and Hospitals .

In no particular order,please feel free to add your own;

  Hospital smells- anyone remember ether?

   Weldorm,Dorbanex,Savlon.Heminevrin.

Eusol-   Edinburgh Solution of Lime

Rubber tubing and mackintoshes,plastic draw sheets

Penile clamps and glass anal dilators

Full body shaves preoperatively

Foam air cushions( As in"Sister told nurse to give the patient an air ring so she took him out to the park")

Tow

[backman]

 More;

Bed cradles-with different specialist bed linen arrangements

Bandages and dressings-never could "get" a many tailed dressing although my stump bandages were pretty good.

"Donkeys" to keep patients from sliding down the bed

Making the patients porridge,buttering bread and boiling eggs for breakfasts on the wards

[pennie]

splashers-little tie on pants to preserve the modesty of a patient in traction!

ringing the bell to get rid of visitors after thier hour!!

packing all orifices post mortem(lovely)

nail brushes at every sink to remove unmentionable from beneath nails(no wussy gloves for us!!)

the Australian lift!!!

Visiting hour spent washing bandages in the bath and rolling yesterdays washed ones.

HOME SISTER!!! always a Miss-always very strict but always kind when you were ill!

hiding in the sluice when the Dr's round was on........

having an op pack and electric blanket plugged in ready for a patient coming back from theatre(and if you
have ever had an op you will know how cold and shaky you feel-it must have been lovely! 

doing evening drinks-with the special Horlicks mixer

damp dusting every day with Stericol..................

[pennie]

ps. EUSOL is Edinburgh UNIVERSITY solution of lime!!!! now where did that little knowledge come from??

was is paraldehyde that had to be given in a glass syringe because it melted the plastic??? or was it something else??

[Suzyq]

Hello All, Those were the days! I trained at Clatterbridge in 1973 and I am so glad I trained then and not now! I have a finding that if you asked half the newly qualified nurses 'what are patients?' they would not be able to answer! I entered this profession because I wanted to care for people and I am sure that applies to all of you to. We had fun, life was for living and boy we lived it too. But we also worked hard, very hard and we cared!
Things I remember most....scrubbing bedpans and cleaning the sluices at a week-end. Back rounds! Unofficial tea breaks in the linen cupboard! Making those beds everyday, neatly folded corners, pillow openings away from the door.
Ward rounds with Nursing Officers, knowing every patient by name and exactly what was wrong with them etc. You had to or else!!
Heyho, life goes on not sure for the better though?   ???

[nursesue]

how about egg white and oxygen on pressure sores
Yes it was paraldehyde given via a glass syringe and you could only inject about 5mls into  a site
We used to send new staff and porters to theatre for a long stand ( they'd return about an hour later after said long stand) or to  Gynae for a fallopian tube - they'd always phone back and ask if we wanted a left or right one!!
We had blocks to elevate the foot of beds ( very few kings fund bed with hydrolics)
charnley wedges ( to keep legs abducted post hip replacement surgery)
Robert Jones bandages - 3 layers wool, 3 layers domette and a crepe to top it off
Rubber ET tubes that were washed and reused
and one for the ladies the biggest and coldest vaginal speculums a male Dr could find ( ooh ouch)
sue

[Suzyq]

Kaolin poultices and was it gliconic (can't remember spelling) dressings?What was the name of the yellow gunk we used to pack noses for epistaxis patients? It stunk to high heaven!!
Blood came in glass bottles, what a mess if you dropped them!
Your right, beds didn't go up and down or tilt in those days. One height to suit all!!
Nightingale wards, long and scary on your first day.
Consultants who thought they were God and got away with it, sometimes still do!
Hospitals were warm and friendly then, everyone knew everyone and we were much happier in our work.
What memories  :)

[pennie]

and send new little nurses off for a malaena stool so we could stand on it...........hehehehe!!

talking of Robert Jones Pressure bandage-after a menisectomy they had to stay in  bed  for 10 days doing straight leg raising excersises-out same day now after a keyhole!!!!
#
Suzy-a yellow brown gunk was Glyc and Ick (glycerine and icthamol) and that stunk!!!!

[backman]

Ah Glyc and IcK ! Also reminds me of inhalations in the Nelsons inhalers(still have half a dozen of these in my loft!),was it Friars Balsam? I vaguely remember using steam kettles in an oxygen tent for a child with croup??

[nursesue]

we used tincture of benzoin (tinc benz) in our inhalers. I always wanted done of those nelson inhalers. What a health and safety issue -all that hot water on a patients lap
I always thought the horlicks mixer was really cool and we used to make chocolate milkshakes for the ortho kids to keep up there calcium. Does anyone remember a brown beverage called jardox.
Back to orthos  - hip replacment patients in bed for 3 weekS and manually lifted every 2 hours to stop pressure sores
Crutchfield tongues, stryker frames, glass zimmer wound drainage bottles, frog plasters ( CDH), minerva jackets and heated bed cradles to dry out paed POPs
sue

[pennie]

Sue Jardox.....Ox in a Jar!!!! (yuk!!)

Hamilton Russell traction

Gollows tracton OW!!!

Steinmans pin (through the tubercle of the tibia) Blimey----Orthopaedics was 'orrible!!!!!!!

[pennie]

sorry I got over excited.. I mean Gallows traction!!!!!!!

[eric]

What about soap and water washouts before bowel surgery and all rubber tubing.

Anyone ever get bath before leaving each and every ward?

Yes, I remember the Koalin poultices, Nelson Inhalers, Thomas splints and everything mentioned. Making egg flips for patients on poor diet.
Are we old or what? This is only within past 30 years, now as you mention its keyhole surgery and out same day. Mind you I also agree skills at giving direct patient care has reduced in line with their stay. Just long enought to gave them C dif or MRSA or something like it.
I remember EVERY weekend every cupboard, contents and packs taken out of cupboards and washed well and everything back in according to expiry date, nearest to front. Each bed washed, mattress turned and left to settled hours before another patient put into it. Now beds + mattresses don't have time to settle or cool down. Hence potential for infection we now see.

If advances keep going at same pace, I reckon that surgery will be similar to Star Trek. Beam me up Scottie.

[nursesue]

here's a few more
starched caps, aprons and cuffs
a glass of sherry on the ward at Xmas in sisters office
the terms nursing officer, senior nursing officer and principal nursing officer or the same term "number 7s"
draw sheets with plastic sheets underneath
sue

[backman]

 Was addressing a group of new students of Nursing(Note;not student nurses!)today and it just reinforced that the terminology,equipment,practices and even nature(and certainly size) of patients may have changed,but the essence of Nursing is not neccessarily that different from 10,20,30 or even 40 years ago.Treating patients with dignity,respect and compassion is what can make it the most rewarding and finding occupation!! I'll still be bloody glad when retirement age comes round,I may even get my history projects sorted!!

Great to see all your contributions,do please continue!!