nurses convicted of sedating elderly patients for a quiet shift!

Disgusting but somehow not surprising nowadays. Well done to the student nurse who blew the whistle.
There are so many vulnerable people on the wards & this evil pair knew just who to target to get away with it. Hope they both get long hard sentences, not a caring bone in their bodies by the look & sounds of it.

lemsip, no it’s unfair to say my husband’s care was because his family were there. I’m talking about the culture on the ward. The doctors and nurses , with rare exceptions, were patient focussed. There were a number of men on his first ward, who were ‘difficult’ and staff responded appropriately.

I agree Callistemon, hospitals aren’t ideal for end of life care. We spent a lot of time discussing our wish to bring him home. The reality - he needed nursing care that couldn’t be provided at home. Additionally, he was considered too unstable to move. They feared he might die in the ambulance. So we stayed.

I'm glad his care was so good.
It makes such a difference and, after all, nursing is supposed to be a caring profession

I hope they make an example of these two and remove their nursing registrations and put them in jail for a couple of years. That might make others think twice before doing similar. Having said this, most nurses I know are very dedicated and caring and work long,long hours.

Earlier this year I was in hospital for 3 weeks, and part of that was in a small ward with at least 3 elderly women who clearly had some degree of dementia - one was pretty bad.

I have to say I saw nothing but very kind care for all of them. One of them needed a one-to-one with her for much of the time, or she’d wander off/try to interfere with other patients’ things.

However one of them was still with-it enough to call to me in a very imperious voice, that she had to ask me to leave! - She hadn’t invited me and wasn’t expecting me!

At least it gave me a good (silent) laugh.

nanna8 they will be in jail for a lot more than a couple of years!.........
"They knew the risks but they simply didn't care. Catherine Hudson said if any of the patients come to any harm, not to worry, because there'll be no post-mortem, no investigation and in essence nobody would ever know. She and others joked about taking these secrets with them to the grave."

When my mother had severe dementia, we were phoned by a nurse to be told that she was "catatonic" and her eyes were "fixed and dilated." She was taken from her secure unit to A&E by ambulance. When we arrived we were told that in the opinion of the A&E staff she had been "over-sedated." She never really recovered from that and remained alternately catatonic or severely distressed for the rest of her life. Fortunately, thanks to the help of a wonderful Mental Health Nurse, we found a wonderful Nursing Home which cared for her lovingly until her death. I've often wondered and also often berate myself for not taking things further, but in the shock of a late night rush to A&E and expecting to find my mother had died, I never did. The staff in that secure unit often 'complained' that my mother was very difficult and, yes, she was violent, but still ...

Posted the last comment before I'd really finished. I was going to add that this latest case has triggered a lot of very distressing memories. I've read about it, but wonder whether I should. It's difficult to ignore though.

Iam64, we had a similar experience this year with a family member who was too frail to even be moved to a hospice. Though not ideal, the hospital ward (and further side room) they were moved to, the care couldn't be faulted and we were met with nothing but kindness and consideration from the palliative care nursing team. My comment was not aimed at all nurses, it is aimed at cultures in work environments which allows this type of behaviour to become normalised and lets face it, it is not confined to nursing or even health care settings, sometimes it happens in schools and at home too.

ourkid1, I find the language around describing frightened and vulnerable people as 'violent' is extremely unhelpful too.

JaneJudge

ourkid1, I find the language around describing frightened and vulnerable people as 'violent' is extremely unhelpful too.

Point taken, but that was how she was described to me by the staff.

I knew that. I didn't think it was you

Some years ago now but my mother was almost the only person on a ward who didn't have dementia. She told of patients being thrown on the bed and she was verbally abused by staff. As a family we did complain but got nowhere. This is possibly the tip of the iceberg.

annabel croft who's doing strictly and who's husband died recently is in the news talking of a nurse who was cruel to her husband as he was dying .

When my Dad was terminally ill in hospital his “care” was very poor indeed and I felt as though nobody saw him as an individual, just a poorly old man.

He would never bother anybody unnecessarily and was a quiet, gentle man. The nurses on the night shift used to tie his buzzer up out of reach at night which really annoyed me and every morning I asked them not to do it but they just stared blankly and said “it wasn’t me”. Same with when they put his unwrapped soiled pyjamas on top of his flannel and toothbrush in his locker which I thought was disgusting. They tried to make out he had done it but I pointed out he could not even lift his arms let alone turn sideways, open a locker door etc. I fought and fought to get him out of there and into a small hospital near home and thank god I did.

Sadly I'm not surprised at this. I see some pretty poor care at times in the unit where I volunteer but also some kindness and compassion. It's not a popular place to work so lots of bank or agency staff who do the odd shift so never get to know the patients. I sometimes feel that it's only the VG permanent and cleaning staff (and me) who has any longer term relationship with the patients. However, we care and do our best. It's hard to stand up for patients from our very lowly position though. I'm always afraid of being stopped from coming.

Thank you JaneJudge. We also tried to get my husband transferred to the hospice once we’d accepted he couldn’t safely come home to die. He was too sick to be transferred to the hospice.

These two individuals are disgusting and deserve a prison sentence. Nurses and other medical staff aren’t angels or saints, they are drawn from society so reflect that. Senior managers set the culture in organisations. Its hard to believe these two confined their negative, cruel comments only to their whatsap exchanges. Also, the lax attitude to the drug cupboard should have been a red flag

Iam64

lemsip, no it’s unfair to say my husband’s care was because his family were there. I’m talking about the culture on the ward. The doctors and nurses , with rare exceptions, were patient focussed. There were a number of men on his first ward, who were ‘difficult’ and staff responded appropriately.

I agree Callistemon, hospitals aren’t ideal for end of life care. We spent a lot of time discussing our wish to bring him home. The reality - he needed nursing care that couldn’t be provided at home. Additionally, he was considered too unstable to move. They feared he might die in the ambulance. So we stayed.

My Mother too had end of life care in hospital, there was no alternative, but I have to say that the care she received, and the information and explanations given to me were caring. Condemning the entire profession because of some uncaring and cruel members is as inaccurate as praising them all as angels.

Just been reading Annabelle Croft’s (currently on Strictly) very sad story about her husband’s death. She said the consultant was awful to them both and then a nurse was even worse and she thinks she may have been a psychopath.

The last time I was in hospital, there was a woman opposite with (according to one nurse) the beginnings of dementia. They tried their best but she wandered a lot and the nurses were exasperated
When I was feeling better I would knit and she would watch me and in her own fashion, talk about things she had knitted years ago.
She changed in those few moments.
I gave her some needles and yarn and she was overjoyed.
"But I've no one to knit for, and I cant remember how to" was what she tried to say.
But with the stitches cast on for her she ploughed on.
We sat together quietly knitting.
When it came time for me to leave a nurse thanked me for saving them the time and trouble of searching for her.

But the truth was, looking out for her kept me from concentrating on myself.
I came away thinking how she'd helped me far more than the other way around.

The 'caring' professions attract people from both ends of the scale. Both those who want to help, and those who want to hurt.
Is it possible to 'weed out' through training, those who arnt suitable?

The Royal College of Nursing voted for 12 hour shifts - this was not imposed on them by the government. Many of them want long shifts so that they can use surplus time during the week to moonlight as agency nurses .
Who would not be tired and indifferent to patients' needs after a 12 hour shift? The government should not have agreed to this.

Namsnanny that was kind and sensible of you.

I didn't know any of that Netherbyg84. Perhaps the gov. though it better to allow the shifts or they would have to pay more?
When was this, any idea?

Quite agree, who could be on top form after 11 hours on their feet?

But there is no doubt, some people (what percentage is questionable) do enjoy being able to bully easy targets.

Aveline we never know whats in store for us do we? Could be me down the line.

Triggered bad memories for me, still can’t talk about it. I hope this dreadful pair are put away for a very long time. How can anyone treat vulnerable ill people with such cruelty?

Personally, I’d like to see them tortured to within one inch of their life but this won’t happen. Despicable people! Hope they get a lengthy jail sentence. What we saw on WhatsApp will be just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, most nurses are very kind and caring but these are not. There is such a huge power imbalance here and they have abused it. I imagine the staffing shortage could be leading to the wrong types getting through. It is disgusting, whatever the reason. The Annabelle Croft story of her dying husband shocked and saddened me.