Brenda my darling, I'm an SEN as well as an RGN. I trained first as an SEN, (two years training), then got told I was good enough to convert, if I passed the exam, which I did, and did another two years before getting my RGN. (Registered General Nurse) I'm so sorry they did away with the SEN's. They were very hands on nurses, could do a lot of things that SRN's did, but as far as I can remember, the only thing they weren't allowed to do on their own, was do a drugs round, without an SRN being present. (In the days when I trained, you weren't allowed to do a drugs round on your own, there had to be two nurses, one of whom was an SRN, and everything had to be checked three times before the patient took the tablets). Nowadays, when every nurse has to have a degree, and you are a patient, you can see the difference. They might be able to know everything there is to know about the condition you've got, but they can't make a patient comfortable in bed, and as for keeping patients pressure sore free, well, they haven't got a clue! It all started going wrong in 2000 when they bought in the P2K training, which they did away with in 2010 or thereabouts, and started degree training. Nowadays the students only see patients for about three weeks every six months or so, and I can vividly remember when I was in theatre, and asked a student nurse to help me make a bed, and she had no idea at all how to do it!!! Don't get me started, cos I could go on for ever and a day!
The Linus quilts I make are given to every child who starts life going to SCBU (sorry, special care baby unit), and they stay with them throughout their stay in hospital, and if they pass away, the parents are given the quilts as a reminder of something that has been in contact with the child. They are so well thought of now, that it gives you a little glow, when you hand them over.
Okay, my little rant about the NHS is now over, so I'll get back to giving the other half a hand to finish putting new skirting boards down in the kitchen. Goodness knows what they did when they built this extension, but its making us both very cross at some of the shoddy work we've found! Incidentally, no queue at B & Q at all - walked straight in, got what we wanted and out in about 20 minutes or so! And because we've been decorating, I haven't managed to start my new quilt yet. Still, I've got plenty of time - I don't intend to go out, despite what has been said by Boris!
The Cross Stitch Forum » CSG Forum
Sewing Bee
(148 posts)-
Barbara Stone
MemberPosted 4 years ago # -
brenda midgley
MemberBouncing about with glee here Barbara - yes, yes and yes...I agree with all you are saying about Project 2000 and the intakes of student nurses to that scheme....my God you've really taken me back to sitting in the office with a strafoplan board alongside me showing the intakes each March and September and names of student nurses involved in each group. By then I'd moved on from being Mrs. Turnock's HCO and became what she called her Recruitment Officer so I was dealing with all the Tutors from local colleges, taking candidates through the DC Tests and liaising with the Clearing House at Bristol which as you will know dealt specifically with those applying for Project 2000. I felt too that half the time the SENs were doing a more caring job. Sadly the young people applying for P2K hadn't got much of a clue and I often thought the patients would end up comforting them through their trials and tribulations rather than the other way around!. Also you are right in that these same students were sadly lacking in insight when it came to using their initiative - i.e. - as you say - didn't know how to make a bed, turned up on the ward with hair hanging down around their shoulders...(how many times do I remember one of our nursing tutors telling them off for not tying their hair back, or being told to remove nail varnish or neck or bracelet chains - one girl even being told she needed a bath and to go back to the nurses home and see to it immediately....) You could tell that basically mum at home had fussed and done everything for them and they hadn't a clue how to care for others as they were so used to being on the receiving end rather than being on the giving side of things. Shame really, it wasn't the girls' faults but their parents for treating them like little princesses when really they should have been preparing them for 'Life'. I often felt that the lads who joined were a bit more savvy in that respect. I often had to do informal interviews with these young people and can distinctly remember one young lad telling me that he'd joined for all the wrong reasons, but desperately wanted to stay for all the right ones. I advised him to tell his Personal Tutor that (he'd been in a spot of bother over something or other and was in danger of being kicked out). He did stay; and did well.....
Anyway - in the meantime I now have complete the full SP on Linus quilts and have been told by Jeannie that teddies are still in use......groan, that means then I've got another UFO to add to the pile...at the moment that teddy has the front of his trousers and body but not the back......can't have him going to a child with a bare bum......
Posted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberWhen I trained (for both of the qualifications), we spent a week in class, 9 weeks on the ward, before going back into the classroom, for one week, and then repeated that for over 2 years. So, we got a good grounding in every speciality to start, before doing practical work, then reviewing it afterwards. Now, I don't think the students even go onto the ward for more than one week, and spending over 9 weeks in the classroom. Its a real shame, especially as they miss out on lots of great training - such as wrestling with patients in A & E, and nearly being strangled by a patient on the Psychiatric unit, because he 'liked' you. All good fun.
Have fun knitting your teddy bears bum!!!Posted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberSo sorry everybody, I seem to have got carried away with criticizing the NHS training schemes, and totally away from sewing. Blame Brenda, I always do. (Sorry Brenda) So I'm refraining from posting anything else, unless its about sewing. Okay, I'm going back to the kitchen decorating now, and hopefully I can get out and start the quilt this pm.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
MemberMorning Ladies (just)
While the kitchen fairy is cooking my Sunday dinner I'll have a chatBrenda, I think I muddled you up with Pat Garret.
It's interesting to hear you & Barbara talking about nursing.
I'm glad you asked about Linus quilts as I had no idea what they were either.
Our local Lions clubs provide teddy bears to the ambulance service for the kids they have to take to hospital. They are bought though & have a little paramedic outfit on them.On the subject of decorating the plasterers came & did their work in our extension this week. Now it looks like a proper room. We just need to plumber & sparky to come back & finish their bits.
I'm busy making up the last of my mice - 4 left to do.
Then I need to finish decorating the winter mouse house - 3 rooms left
When that is all done I have to outside to cover with sparkly felt to make it look like it's been snowing
The ideas are piling up round my office, which is not good when I have to do my proper job in here !!Posted 4 years ago # -
brenda midgley
MemberHello girls,
Oh - blame me Barbara - not without justification. I must own up to the fact that if there's anything going on I can usually be found in the middle of it, on a soapbox, putting my twopennorth in.......
Got a line of washing blowing on the line this morning, nice breeze so it should dry okay. Also seems a touch warmer, so that's good too. I'm off outside now to tie up a clematis bought recently in our Asda for £2...... Rouge Cardinal it's called and the picture of it attached to the pot looks rather nice - a sort of burgundy with a lovely light coloured middle. Can't be bad for £2. I need to tie a few strings round the stake though and take them out in a few directions to encourage the plant to stretch out a bit and not just all grow up the middle in a tangled mess. It's been in the ground for a couple of weeks now and has established itself well, so that's pleasing.
Pleased to hear your plastering work has been done Helen, it will feel brilliant once the rest of the job is done....and as for your mice and their new winter house - that sounds lovely - if you can you must bring it to whenever our next Guild weekend is so we can all see it.
Anyway - for now, the garden is calling me.....
Posted 4 years ago # -
Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
MemberHi Brenda
The mouse house will definitely be at the first weekend we are allowed to go to
When it is done I will try to take some pictures & put on the CSG facebook page or if you get Christine to send me your email address & I'll be able to send them to youI've just had a phone call & the rest of the workmen are due this week to finish the extension - they want the last of their money !!
Then I have to choose paint & furnishings - I hate making decisions
I'll have pictures of that to take to the first weekend as wellPosted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberLooking forward to seeing your pictures of the mouse house Helen. Sounds lovely. And I know what you mean about having to chose paint and furnishings - we've just had to do it for the kitchen, and the dining room, and I really hated that. However, its more Sewing Bee and Repair Shop tonight. At last, something worth watching. I liked some of the tennis dresses they made last week, so this week is going to be interesting.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
MemberWell the extension now has lights & power and a plumbed in radiator - some niggly bits to be done before we sign off & give them the next chunk of money. The lights look good now Mick has made them shine across the room instead of backwards - much brighter his way round. I have a fancy for a rocking chair to stitch in, but have also seen some nursing rockers on ebay - they look comfy, some have arm covers with pockets & might be lower than a normal chair. I need the charity shops to re-open so I can go looking.
I agree some of the tennis dresses were interesting. On one the judges comments on the pockets being lumpy was what I had just said - great minds !! It's a shame that the one dress Esme really wanting making was done so bad & the stitcher went home.
I think Clare or Nicole might win.I love seeing the things that come in to the repair shop & what they can do with them
We have also discovered a very old program called The Joy of Painting (7pm Sky 116 - BBC 4) - just half an hour of watching the presented do a picture - very peaceful & relaxing
Posted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberThink I might agree with you about Claire or Nicole winning, but on last nights sleep set, I didn't think Nicole did very well at all. However, getting them to do a Basque, complete with boning and hook and eyes - that was just plain evil! They did make a good job of them (mostly), but its not something I'd want to try in 2 hours. Good for them I say, and was sorry to see the one who went. She'd done very well in the past, but its what happens on the day I suppose.
On another topic, our baby blue tits fledged this morning, so now they are scurrying around in the long grass under the apple tree, waiting to be fed. They are so tiny, they don't look as if they are big enough to be out of the nest box. I shall miss hearing them squeaking for food, when I'm working in the cabin.Posted 4 years ago # -
Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
MemberWe had loads of baby starlings on the lawn yesterday evening. Then they got braver and came to the little pond for a drink & a bath.
I think the birds will try to have 2 clutches this yearI would hate to do a basque & agree it was evil, but they do need to test their skills
I agree about Nicole's sleep set - picked the wrong fabrics, a silky fabric with a bit of lace would have been betterPosted 4 years ago # -
brenda midgley
MemberGood morning girls...bit of a breezy one here today and we've had a weeny bit of rain overnight...not enough though really to give all the plants a wash after the smothering of dust they've had from the paving chaps who've been here - and have now thankfully gone...
Sewing Bee was good on Wednesday wasn't it - I too thought the hook and eye set up on the basque looked evil and wasn't a bit surprised that one of them got the hook side (was it?) the wrong way round so it showed when done up. I would not have liked to attempt that at all. Come to that - I'm glad when they did it they had the mannequins to put them on...I take my hat off to the young models who come in from time to time - as in the sleep sets , which the models wore. I'm not sure I'd want strange blokes fingering all round my personal areas getting the 'fit' right on these rather intimate garments! I did love though the way Esme approached it when she was saying things like 'it's a good fit round the bum' etc. I really like her, she often makes me laugh.
Just been and set the t.v. to record a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film this afternoon. I am a sucker for their films. This afternoon's one (seen it before) is a bit of a silly story, but the dancing and the music as always is lovely. Ginger too wears some absolutely lovely dresses - glamorous, elegant...nothing like the dresses the so called celebrities wear these days who think themselves fabulous with slits right up the side and no backs and cut so low at the front their boobs have to be taped up to stay in place......so vulgar, but they think they look good. Give me Ginger and her gowns any day of the week.
We once had two dumped kittens brought in to the RSPCA who we called Fred and Ginger. Fred was a little tabby - he really looked like a Fred, but Ginger was a little ginger puss and was actually a female. Anyone who knows cats will know what I'm on about - gingers are invariably male, whilst tortoishells are most often female. Anyway - Ginger - being that colour and being a rare female couldn't be called anything else could she.
P.S. They couldn't dance for toffees though........
Posted 4 years ago # -
Christine Berrett
AdministratorBrenda
Perhaps if you'd offered them cat treats rather than toffees, they might have obliged with the dancing...
(I'll get me coat)
C x
Posted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberWhich Fred and Ginger film was it Brenda? I too love watching them dance together. It all seems so effortless, but apparently, he made her practice so much, her feet would bleed!! As Bob likes watching them as well, we've got DVD's of several of their films, so I'll have to watch them again.
Posted 4 years ago # -
brenda midgley
MemberHello Mrs. Stone - it was the film called Carefree.....as I say a bit of a silly story, but very watchable from the dancing point of view. Just before it too they had a half hour programme of their song and dance routines from various films - that was really nice.
It was on BBC2 if that helps you find it......
Yes, she often said her feet would bleed with all the rehearsing they did. She also commented once on the routines saying she did everything Fred did, only backwards and in heels. Obviously when the filming was done a dance routine could be filmed in 'takes', but I read somewhere once that they did a dance - I think it was Dancing Cheek to Cheek - where she wore a dress full of floaty bits, but the routine was going so well as they filmed it that they went through the whole dance without stopping once. The tragedy was the floaty bits on her dress were coming off as they danced and in the end there were bits all over the floor - so they couldn't use it. They then had to re-do it in 'takes' so they could stop every so often and clear the floor of the floaty bits......
What an amazing team they were though - they danced as 'one' and I don't think that has ever been replicated by another team....only Torville and Dean came close when they skated to Bolero in some competition or other.
Anyway I had the most dreamy evening last night watching it all..... went to bed a happy bunny ......
Posted 4 years ago # -
Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
MemberHi All
Christine don't get your coat, just duck like I did
Sorry, Fred & Ginger aren't my kind of thing, although I do like musicals
We had some rain early yesterday morning, but the wind has been trying to knock the trees down since, so that didn't do a lot of good
The mice are now all made up & sitting in their house looking at me. I still have 3 of the (largest) rooms to decorate, but am going to do the pocket for my bag first
Happy Bank Holiday to you all
Posted 4 years ago # -
Christine Berrett
AdministratorHelen
I decided not to put a pocket on the 'Subscription Bag', but I have lined it. I'll bring it along to the next CSG weekend...
C x
Posted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberMore Fred and Ginger this pm. The Beeb must be getting desperate if they're having to resort to showing old musicals. Lets hope they decide to show some of the classics, such as Carousel and Oklahoma as well.
Posted 4 years ago # -
brenda midgley
MemberHad to laugh at your comments and wish for more film classics Barbara...... our postman came about 20 minutes ago with next week's Radio Times - and - guess wot! - Oklahoma is on on Sunday at 2.05 BBC2..........Oh what a Beautiful Morning........
I was on stage in Oklahoma believe it or not - during the time Geoff and I lived in Bletchley. I was a member of the Milton Keynes Amateur Operatic Society. It was such fun. Had to leave it all behind when we moved up to Cheshire, such a shame. I was in the chorus and had to wear a green dress, which actually fitted resonably well but they were costumes that been hired rather than made specially for us - so goodness knows how many others had worn it before me!!
It is lovely though to see these old films cropping up on t.v. The one I loved but missed the other week was South Pacific. I'd turned the television on just before 6.00 p.m. and caught the last few minutes. Anguish!! Our postal delivery had stopped for about 10 days because they were desperately short of staff (or so the bloke told Geoff when he rang to enquire where our post was). We knew we should have received a Radio Times if nothing else.....and of course had it come on time I might have seen South Pacific was due to be on.
I distinctly recall years later Morecambe and Wise on one of their shows did a sketch with all the old t.v. newsreaders of 'There is Nothing Like a Dame'...it was absolutely brilliant...... why can't they make joyful films and sketches like that any more ......
Posted 4 years ago # -
Barbara Stone
MemberBrenda, you've got it right, but the film itself was Top Hat. Watched it very carefully on Monday, and if you look carefully, you can actually see the feathers floating off the dress when she twirls round. But thankfully, the BBC has decided to put some decent films on. I've been in Oklahoma as well, as part of the Lewisham Amateur Operatic Society, in Catford, from when I was working there. We did Carousel as well, and it remains one of my favourite musicals. Oh they don't write them like that any more....
Posted 4 years ago #
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