Dawn Brookes - Hurry Up Nurse!: Memoirs of nurse training in the 1970s

H URRY U P N URSE!

M EMOIRS OF NURSE TRAINING IN THE 1970S

B Y

DAWN BROOKES

DAWN BROOKES PUBLISHING

This book is a work of non-fiction based on the authors experiences. In order to protect privacy, names, identifying factors, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.

Published by DAWN BROOKES PUBLISHING

http://www.dawnbrookespublishing.com/

Kindle Edition 2016

ISBN: 9780995556119

Copyright DAWN BROOKES 2016

DAWN BROOKES asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this Work.

All rights reserved in all media. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author and/or publisher.

Cover Design by Janet Dado

To Gail for pointing me in the right direction

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

P REFACE

This book contains a collection of memories from my experiences of nurse training during the 1970s and early 1980s. I trained as both a State Enrolled Nurse and a Registered General Nurse during these years. I have deliberately intermingled stories from both sets of training as they were very similar apart from the assessments, which are not the subject of this book. The training undertaken occurred in and around Leicester and Berkshire, and the majority of experiences described occurred between 1977 and 1980.

The procedures and practices outlined throughout this book are a true recollection of my memories of them as are the antics of mine and my fellow students and doctors. I loved my training (both times), although there were of course some trying times that I have included in this book.

It took me quite a while to decide on a title for this work but in the end I decided on Hurry up Nurse as this reminded me so much of life on NHS hospital wards. We were always in demand, hurrying from one patient to another, as there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. I hope that as well as sharing the hustle and bustle of working in hospitals, I have also managed to portray just how much we cared.

I have tried to recreate the events, localities and conversations from my memory although I have changed the names of individuals and places to protect the confidentiality of patients and the anonymity of others. I have also mixed up identifying characteristics to further protect anonymity. I may have changed details of wards and the order of training in some instances.

It is with pride that I present this book to the reader and I hope that it will provide you with an insight into hospital life at the time I have written about. I am proud of myself and my colleagues for making it through those turbulent years of growing up while coming to terms with the discipline of nurse training, and I hope this comes across. I do hope that you enjoy reading the book and you never knowthere may be more to follow.

C HAPTER 1

T HE I NTERVIEW 1977

Why do you want to be a nurse, Miss Brookes?

Good question, I thought, but I knew I needed a decent answer. I would like to help people when they are at their most vulnerable, when they are ill, I improvised. I couldnt really say, A friend told me I should be a nurse because I couldnt think of anything better to do, and she wished she had finished her training, even though that was nearer the truth. At least I had worked out that nursing involved caring for the sick. That statement and this interview were the beginning of the next thirty-nine years of my life.

The selection process for nursing was an all-day affair. I had written an application letter in January of 1977 and was called for interview in April. At the grand age of eighteen, I had never had an interview with more than one person before, and it was a bit daunting as there would be three people on the panel: whats worse, I didnt really know why I was there. I had no clue what nursing was all about.

First of all I was shown into a room with a desk which immediately made me feel uncomfortable, reminding me of school days (my latter years at school hadnt gone well). I was a bit nervous, but felt quite good as I had dressed in my only decent clothes: a black skirt, white blouse, black jacket and tie (ok the tie bit is made up). After about five minutes a rather serious looking woman came in and introduced herself as Mrs Butcher, though I was thankfully later to learn she was butcher by name not by nature; she was wearing a maroon uniform with a frilly hat, and appeared to be in her fifties with round spectacles and a serious but not unkind demeanour.

Good morning Miss Brookes. Before the interview we need to sit an entrance exam as we do not have the educational qualifications to be interviewed directly. That really boosted my confidence. I was a bit confused as to why she needed to sit the exam too but didnt dare ask, and I realised later that we was the royal we used by experienced nurses who often included it in their statements and questions: How are we today? We are just going to have a little injection. We are going to theatre today for an amputation arent we? and so on. Of course, many nurses were not looking for a reply to those questions at all. I bet many a patient wished the we really did mean we. Focus Dawn, I told myself, as I found myself daydreaming already. This had been my problem at school; there was always something more interesting to think about, hence my reports.

If Dawn spent as much time studying as she did daydreaming and talking she would do so much better, had been a recurring theme. If only teachers had realised the impact these statements had on my poor longsuffering mother they wouldnt have said such things.

Back to the present: After sitting the exam we will have a fifteen minute break and then return to this room, Mrs Butcher continued. If we have passed the exam we will be given an interview. Next I was given an examination paper and told to start the test, which I had forty-five minutes to complete. The test seemed relatively easy to me and was based on IQ ability, mainly consisting of English and Maths questions. I sat an almost identical exam again four years later when I decided to become a registered nurse. I didnt meet any other candidates on the day of my interview; I guess they all had the required educational qualifications.

We did pass, and I was accepted into nurse training; apparently I had done well in the entrance exam but was not told how well. The second time around I got ninety-eight percent. Because of the result, there was some discussion around whether I should do a two year course to train as a State Enrolled Nurse (SEN) or a three year course to train as a State Registered Nurse (SRN, now renamed Registered General Nurse, RGN); its hard to keep up. I wasnt sure of the difference, and nor was I used to studying. I think it was when the interviewers saw my blank expression that they agreed that it would be best for me to do the two year training. While this meant that it would ultimately be a longer route to my final destination, it was the right choice as I was not at all studious and enjoyed a very hectic social life. I think I would have fallen at the first hurdle if I had done it the other way round. It is somewhat ironic that I have since spent most of my life studying.

After the interview Mrs Butcher warned me that nursing would be hard work, with long hours, difficult shift patterns including nights, lots of study with little thanks, low pay (very low pay I would have said) and that I would feel tired most of the time. I was almost on my way out of the door when she smiled whimsically and added, However, it is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, and many of your friends will be in jobs they hate, but you will be pleased to know that YOU will not be joining them. I couldnt walk out after that. How true those words were, and thereafter followed a thirty-nine year career.