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
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
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..................
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??
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? ???
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
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 :)
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!!!!
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??
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
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!!!!!!!
sorry I got over excited.. I mean Gallows traction!!!!!!!
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.
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
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!!
But there seems a significant change of someone's view of the student role though - to my simple mind there is perhaps a significant difference between being a student of nursing and actually being...
Don't let me detract from the super discussion - But please, no swearing! 'Bloody' refers to blood, not one's personal feelings. Matron told me so personally in her office.!!.
Anyone old enough to remember stone hot water bottles?
Glass,Stonewear,Rubber,Stainless steel until eventually plastic replaced most things.I believe our carbon footprint was far smaller in those days! We recycled because we had to.
Senior nurses were there to provide effective management and be a role model to all.They were respected and sometimes feared,but only if you stepped out of line.I still remember running whilst late to be told that Fire and Cardiac Arrest were the only reasons for a nurse to run in uniform,otherwise we should hasten!
Bad language was extremely rare and the occasional bloody or b***er would have had everyone looking.Not like today I'm afraid!
I am unsure what sort of nurses we will produce for future generations I just hope that they still care,I wonder if they will look back on their training days as fondly as we do?
pupil and cadet nurses - lets not forget the demise of the SEN
case studies ( not referenced essays in my day)
petersham belts with either silver or brass buckle depending on qualification
The General Nursing Council
one fee upon qualifying
Unions such as NUPE & COHSE
The thrill of getting your state badge and hospital badges when you qualified and being handed the drugs keys and being left to get on with it - a sink or swim method of mentoring. At least thats one area thats improved
sue :-*
Does any one recall 'Black draught' (How could anyone forget!)?
But what was 'White Mixture' - Mag trisil maybe?
Does anyone remember the Herculean Bowel Prep!
Wellington boots anyone? I remenber the adage High,hot and hell of a lot.
Have been reading an excellent little volume of reminiscences "Patients Cme First" by Margaret E Broadley who was nursing at the London hospital between the two world wars.Whilst recognising that my own experiences are far later,there are still some comminalities,such as urine tesing being rather more like a science experiment than a quick dip of a test stick.Well worth a read if you can find a copy.
Hi,
Now that one took me back a few years. Urine testing without dip sticks!! Wasn't it just! Many moons ago I was a Hospital Cadet doing my three months in the path lab. We were all alloted to basic urine testing - with our own bench, test tubes in wooden racks, bunsen burner, and for some tests (albumen for example) simple chemicals (acetic acid), litmus papers, access to a centrifuge.... And about 20 or so specimen jars full of smelly urine daily. But we were very conscientious about getting it right... We were trusted - and that mattered.
Volume; Ph; specific gravity; colour; clear/coudy; odour; blood; foreign material; acetone; glucose etc etc - all before brewing the lab staff teas for 10 am... Those were the days of real science - and odourus tea-breaks! Though I don't recall missing them!
W.
how about the weekend cleaning?? We used to clean the old stainless steel sluice masher until it shone - think we used methylated spirits ( minus gloves, masks, COSHH regs and the H&S MOB!!). Back to dipping urines - was it glucose that was tested in a test tube?1 tab 5drops urine and 5 drops water. You couldn't hold the tube cos the chemical reaction made it too hot to handle. Also think ketones was a drop of urine on a small white tablet that went various shades of lilac(??) to denote quantity of ketones present. ::)
Weekend cleaning was probably designed to keep students away from the visitors! But the urinalysis - I remember that we could only use Ames Company (Clinitest etc people) test tubes becuase, we were told, other makes of TTube could give false results (maybe didn't get as hot).
Lilac Acetest tabs - same colour as midwifery student uniforms in a strong positive result. Not good news for the diabetic patient though. The patient's breath also smelled of acetone too if ketones were at a high level - almost as good as the acetest.
:)
Talking of Urine testing,does anyone remember the joke played upon students where staff would demonstrate the technique of dipping a finger in the urine and then licking the finger to diagnose suger in the wee? The secret was of course to remember to lick a different finger than the one that was put into the urine! I saw a similar trick with night sister dipping a finger into a vomit bowl( the substance was in fact cold minestrone soup but the student didn't know that)
All such behaviour would be strictly non PC today,not sure about sending students to theatre for a long stand or a fallopian tube though?