******* disgusting

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Subcutaneous

its being suggested that they go under the NMC. Something I agree with, as HCA's are being able to take on more no one is there telling them or giving them guidelines, and colleagues are variable.

Yeah, I'd go for that too.

I'm not fully trained yet (despite some of the 'facts' in this thread, HCAs do recieve training) but I know that if we're horrendously understaffed and if the bay is quiet, a fully trained HCA will be given a bay to look after (6 patients). Which shouldn't be a problem, if the HCA is competant and has the experience. Only thing a fully trained HCA can't do is give out drugs.

RE buzzers, I never, ever purposely ignore a buzzer. HOWEVER. When I'm in and I'm the only HCA on the shift - That's 25 patients and one me - it is sometimes physically IMPOSSIBLE for me to answer the buzzers the second they go off. If I'm helping someone in the bathroom, or washing someone, I can not leave someone there and run off to answer the buzzer down the ward, for one I don't know if it's going to be a quick 'can I have a glass of water' call or it's going to be a 'I'd like to use the bathroom, can you hoist me up and onto a commode' call. For two, it's not safe or fair on the orginal patient to leave them whilst I run off. And three, the nurses need to take a bit of responsibility for their patients too. A few times now I've been in on my own and the buzzer has gone off whilst I'm helping a patient, 3 minutes later it's still going off and the nurse is sat outside the bay chatting. Sometimes it takes a little bit of compromise from both parties to get the best for the patient.

I'm no way near perfect, but it does annoy me when I'm the only HCA in and a nurse won't let their student come and help me put someone on a bedpan because 'it's only an HCA job'... at the end of the day anyone in health care should be working to get the best for the patient irregardless of whether it's in their job remit or not (within reason and context, of course).

MinsterDonut, I work on a max of 31 bed ward, that's including two waiting rooms and two side rooms, and the 'extra' surgical bit a few minutes walk away. There are ideally 4 nurses for the 4 bays + siderooms on the main ward, and one round the corner, with anything between 1 and 4 HCAs on the main ward. 1 HCA round the corner as well. That may sound a lot but when you consider a nurse has to do drugs 3/4 times a day, fluids, dressings, help feeding and washing, notes and any referrals for each patient, it's not surprising they don't have time to do the many toilet runs, single washes, beds, pharmacy runs, transfers, X-Ray/scan runs, buzzer calls, any swabs or ECGs that need doing and Obs every four or even two hours.

Just for context - Tomorrow morning I'm in at 7am, I'll change at least 12 beds, I'll wash or help wash the patients in my bays, I'll do obs on them all, I'll do whatever tests that I can do that need doing, I'll answer the bells and I'll serve and help feed the patients that need it, not to mention the odd jobs that just crop up.

I would also concur with what Zippy says, it takes an awfully strong person to stand up and say no, I'm not doing that, it's not... - Not only because of the flack you'll get from above, but what you'll get from other colleagues and If you don't get the beds free quick enough (on our ward at least) you get badgered and badgered and we're expected to have a really quick turn around, which sometimes means sending a patient to somewhere less than suitable.