I've got to my second year, which started with Maternity at Queen Mary's, Roehampton. Then specialist surgery, which was ENT and plastics, made more interesting because it was adults and children together.
My most memorable was the elderly care ward, which was in St John's Battersea - a converted workhouse. We had to move in there, which was a bit dire. The nurses' home was literally crawling with bugs. I discovered that the cockroaches came out of hiding when it was dark, but scampered away if someone put the light on. I went in the kitchen one evening and managed to catch about 10 under a jar. I hung around and when the next student nurse walked in, she didn't realise I was in there, switched the light on and I carefully lifted the jar. I'm sure the patients could have heard her scream!!
The ward I worked on was short stay/acute admissions. Short stay was about a month! We had a lady who was 104 and she used to pretend she was dead by burying her face in her breakfast and slowing her breathing down. Her breakfast was bread and marmalade and porridge, which she used to mix together in one bowl. Her mum used to come and visit her, well, she told us the lady was her mother, but she was the housekeeper really. One morning, the patient told me she really was going to die that day and she asked me if I could keep her company. I told the ward Sister about the request and I was told that I should get on with the morning washes, but that would be fine, so I sat with the lady all morning and held her hand. We talked about past times and then she died. I felt so priviledged to be with her and honoured that she had asked me for company. We missed her a lot, but we knew she was happy and didn't die alone.
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