by Martin » Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:13 am
Recently read Matron Knows Best by Joan Woodcock.
This is what it says on the back cover....
"Joan Woodcock always dreamed of becoming a nurse. And in 1966 the dream came true. From her very first day as a naive sixteen-year-old cadet, standing nervously outside the matron's office, this is Joan's story of an eventful career spanning over forty years in NHS nursing. Working on hospital wards, casualty units and out in the community, as well as stints in a prison and a police unit dealing with sexual assault, Joan has seen it all. In this moving memoir she gives an honest, revealing account of a challenging, unpredictable and ultimately rewarding life in nursing. From an early encounter with a horrific axe injury, to the patient who swallowed their suppositories, to daily dealings with difficult patients and all kinds of bodily fluids, Joan shares memories of laughter and tragedy, and of the now defunct matron system that at one time instilled nurses with such high standards of professionalism and patient care. "
It's a decent read, I didn't think it would be my sort of thing but ended up enjoying it immensely.
She finishes the book with this ....
"Society itself has changed and people’s expectations have quite legitimately grown along with that change. Miracles are regularly performed by life saving operations and wonderful new machines are installed at enormous expense to us all, because it is mainly public money that pays for it. Somewhere among all these soaring costs patients still require good nursing.
At some point along the line, this seems to have been forgotten."
Ouch !