This afternoon whilst attending the treatment room once again – well it is still daily – one of the nurses asked me if I was working…
Funnily enough, I said ,
No, the doctor gave me a ‘line’ for 4 weeks – and it would be odd to return to work without her agreement
The nurse then asked how often do you come here? Couldn’t you work and come here?
I then explained, nearly in words of one syllable, that I was attending (see not quite one syllable…) for the dressing to be changed daily during Monday to Friday. And no, I live in the north of the city, my work is in the east, and you’ve guessed it, the treatment room is in the north. The public transport is not great – thus meaning I would have 2 hours approximately (I hope she understood that big word…) to travel from work to treatment room and back – to say nothing of the original journey to work and, of course, the one to return home.
Four hours! In Belfast! Just to get to work for eight hours, 2½ of which would be spent going to and from the treatment room. This is without taking into consideration any trips needed to the clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital; trips to see my GP (which are unlikely to be scheduled near the time for the visit to the nurse – despite being in the same building!).
I don’t think so!
So, off work until at least the dressings have been done and dusted, I shall remain. At least it gives me time for some reading, plenty of writing (on other blogs) and generally looking after myself (with some assistance of course).
HIV Blogger | living positively 
Seems a bit harsh, many patients can attend clinics and work and employers are often sympathetic to this. There is a lot of pressure on healthcare professionals to make sure that people who can work do so, for economic reasons and because the nursing belief in the ‘activities of daily living’ teaches them to promote returning to a normal routine for better physical and psychological recovery. The nurse had no idea if it was feasible for you to return to work, as she doesn’t know where you work or how you travel there, but by mentioning it she was not being nosy, she was keeping within her duty of care.
“2 hours approximately (I hope she understood that big word…)” Does this comment mean that you believed she was thick, or that you think nurses in general are not intelligent? Again another misunderstanding, this shows your lack of knowledge on nursing education and insults the complexities present in dealing with the public’s ‘nursing’ needs. It also shows a complete lack of respect for the advanced nursing roles, where nurses have safely being assessing, diagnosing, prescribing and treating patients with excellent patient outcomes for years, or for normal nurses in hospital or in the community, operating ever more complex array of medical equipment and mixing and administering more potent cocktail of drugs for patients with multiple medical problems and who’s health may be unstable and unpredictable. Their ‘education’ and experience has allowed this to happen successfully, and no hospital or community clinic could run without them, not even for a single day. Its definitely not a job just anyone could do.