"Not so long ago, in a land not far from here, a young boy awoke one morning with a painful tummy.
"Daddy!" he cried. "My tummy's hurting."
The father looked down at his dear son and said, "Don't worry, O son, for I know a Wise Woman who will be able to cure your pain. Let us go and visit her."
And so, the family made haste their travel to the local Walk-In Centre, where the friendly nurse greeted them with a warm smile. "Come in, and tell me all about it," she said. And the young boy proceeded to tell the Wise Woman of his painful tummy."This is nothing to worry about!" she declared in a very wise and motherly way. "Be gone, for your pain is due to a virus."
The Wise Woman did not need to examine the young boy, for she had been on a "couple of courses."
The Wise Woman did not need to examine the young boy, for she had been on a "couple of courses."
The family thanked the Wise Woman for her great wisdom and made good their journey home.2 days later, the post-mortem report concluded that the boy had died from a perforated appendix.
The morals of this story are that:
1: When you assess a patient, you often have to examine them.
2: If you do not know how to examine a patient, you should not be assessing them.
3: Sometimes it takes a few disasters before mistakes in policies are addressed.
4: Nurses, as with doctors, have a duty of care to their patients. If that duty is breached and harm results, then they are NEGLIGENT.
5: After a few civil cases, nurses in WICs will realise that they are on their own, in a failed policy.
6: The public should be fully informed when consenting to treatment: "You get what you pay for."
Wise words. I am not pretending doctors are perfect, far from it, however less training results in worse care, it's very very simple.
