We run quite a few interviews with nurses and people involved in nursing on Nurses.co.uk now. It’s become a bit of a feature.
I recently got rather excited when Swansea University agreed to an interview with their Head of Department for nursing. It’s a big department with almost 1,000 nursing students. I was interested to find out how someone goes from being a qualified nurse, working in an ICU, to heading up an academic department on the subject.
It seems the answer is hard work, interest and a large dose of passion. It’s fascinating, for any nurse I should think, to read about the trajectory of Dave’s career.
For me the most striking part of the interview was this, when I asked Dave how the job of the ICU nurse has changed since he first worked as one in the 1980s:
“Very sick people are the same today as they were then and they and their families are just as frightened, scared and bewildered. The technology has of course developed hugely, and the ability of critical care intervention to preserve and save life has improved. The ICU Nurse has huge demands on them in understanding the pathology of their patient’s illness, in monitoring vital signs, interpreting key clinical signs, administering drugs and infusions. Today’s patients are supported with multiple systems collapse, they are on respiratory support, cardiac support, renal support, nutritional support and other interventions. But what has not changed is that first and foremost there is a human being in the bed, who needs basic fundamental care, hygiene, mouth care and eye care – and most of all dignity and love. It is no less important in an ICU to hold a patient’s hand, or to put your arm around a terrified relative. These are the humanities that must prevail despite (and in spite) of all the technology.”
You can read the full interview here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
