"There are two sides to the story"

I am a patient and a nurse. I can see two sides to the story. I can honestly say that where I have worked, in my opinion nurses work flat out. I feel like I was demoralised and treated with contempt a lot of the time. There are sometimes when I feel as if there is nothing I can do right. I think the British public should to be grateful they have an NHS as I often hear people criticising. I wonder how some people may feel if they had to pay.

I think I am kind and caring, but on some occasions I have gone home crying as a result of some relatives. On some occasions I have been attacked, struck, shouted at and treated like idiot but not an educated professional. I feel like I am not nursing the patient anymore. I work defensively. I work flat out to give good quality care and still I feel on some occasions I am made to feel that is not good enough.

I ask you who would be a nurse? I would because I am kind and caring, I like doing the simple things in life that make a patients day. I like joking with them and cheering them up. I think I am always cheerful and polite. I wonder what the general public expect?

My experiences as a patient have been excellent. My grandmother sings nurses praises. She thinks it’s marvellous that people dedicate time to caring for others. She went in hospital and said to me that she felt that a lot of people complain for no reason.

I think if people want to blame something then they should look at our ageing population, where I believe we have a crisis is healthcare and social care. People live longer than they ever have. Maybe even blame lack of resources to meet the burgeoning cost of all this. I feel that people have to take responsibility for their own health. People have unrealistic expectations about longevity. No one lives for ever. I want to care for the patients not the relatives.