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A Day in the Life of a Nurse at Martha Trust
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| Martha Trust is a nurse-led unit with a nurse on duty 24 hours a day leading and directing the support workers for each shift. |
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| An early shift starts at 7.30 am which is quite an early start, but it is very relaxing and homely at Martha Trust and there is always time for tea, coffee and toast before the work schedule begins. Nurses are famous for drinking copious amounts of tea as Monica Dickens mentions in her book 'One pair of Feet'. |
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| Having a 'breakfast club' allows the nurse to organise their day, depending on events taking place, it's important that all staff are included so that they can undertake their specific roles. The night nurse has a handover meeting giving a report of how all the residents have been during the night which is vital information for all the staff, as a disturbed night's sleep can have many consequences. |
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| Handover finished and it's a farewell to the night nurse and her colleagues going off to catch up on their sleep. The day nurse will then allocate staff to clients and discuss events taking place that day. |
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| 9.00 am: The medicine round, which can take up to an hour! Once administration of medication is completed the next couple of hours are spent on administrative work, organising reviews, GP's appointments and generally liaising with the network of professionals that assist us in helping the residents of Martha Trust fulfil their potential in life. |
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| 1.00 pm: It's another round of medication after which the residents are served their lunch. |
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| 1.30 pm: Reinforcements arrive for the late shift. Once again, when lunch has finished, it's time for another brew and a handover meeting for the afternoon staff so the afternoon activities can be organised. |
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| Towards the end of the early shift it's another round of paperwork completing legal documents and generally tying up loose ends, which in the life of a nurse, seem never ending. |
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| 3.00 pm:
Time to go home, rest and play for
another day at Martha. |
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| Cathie Wright, Nurse |
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| A Day in the Life of a Support Worker at Martha Trust |
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| The
early shift starts at 7.30 am, we
all gather in the lounge whilst the
night shift hand over details as to
what has happened during the night,
any problems that occurred and the
wellbeing of the clients. This is
accompanied by a cup of tea, of
course! After the night shift have
gone home, the nurse on shift
allocates responsibilities to the
support workers. These duties
include client care, housekeeping
duties and any other events that are
happening during the shift. |
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| After
the teacups are empty, we go to our
clients' rooms to see who is awake.
Those who are awake are assisted
with personal care and we help them
get dressed before escorting them to
the lounge for breakfast. After
breakfast the clients may watch
television in the lounge, go out for
a trip in the bus, participate in
hydrotherapy sessions, go for walks
or attend any appointments that they
may have outside of the home
environment. Meanwhile, the support
workers that remain in the house
finish any washing, make the beds
and tidy clients' rooms. |
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| At
lunchtime we assist clients with
their meals and afterwards with
their personal care. Meanwhile the
late shift arrive for duty, the late
shift starts at 1.30 pm and finishes
at 9.00 pm. |
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| At
around 2.30 pm the early shift
complete clients' care plans and,
together with the nurse, hand over
details of the morning to the late
shift. The early shift then goes
home at 3.00 pm. |
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| During
the afternoon, activities are
arranged for the clients,
appointments attended to, and again,
the day to day running of the home.
During the winter months clients
tend to stay in the house during the
afternoon where different activities
may be taking place, such as
cooking, arts and crafts and games.
During the summer months we like to
make use of our lovely grounds,
having evening barbeques and making
sure the clients enjoy the fresh
air! |
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| We
assist clients with their evening
meals at approximately 6.30 pm and
some of the clients will then go to
bed at around 8.00-8.30 pm, if they
appear tired or if they have had a
busy day. The others will stay up
before being assisted to bed by the
night staff. |
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| At 8.45
pm the night shift arrive, handover
is conducted and the late shift go
home. |
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| Then at
7.30 am the next day - another day
at Martha House begins!!! |
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Jed Pugh,
Support Worker |
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