44yrs ago I spent my first Christmas working as a student nurse. We went around the Wards singing carols in our red capes carrying lit candles!
On
#Christmasday
consultants carved turkey on the ward & had sherry with the Sister
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
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Fast forward to 2022
I’m now an
#ICUnurse
Student nurses work unpaid & actually PAY to train
No naked flames are allowed in hospitals
I haven’t seen a doctor carve a turkey for decades
No alcohol allowed on wards
#howthingshavechanged
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
Staff nurse hats look like one I had at
@addenbrookes
. Are you sure it was only 44 years ago? Did my training in 1974 and all those things had been phased out
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@ScareyCrowe
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
@addenbrookes
I started in 1978. My first Christmas at Cheltenham Sxhool of Nursing we inverted our capes to show the red lining and walked around the wards carrying a lot candle whilst we sang. We wore hats etc til at least 1986
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
In the photo you look like the nurse on the cover of the Ladybird Book - The Nurse
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
I bet there’s a whole volume on NHS Protocol regarding Christmas somewhere now. Managed tinsel on my trolley this year 😵😵👹😵
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
Must say I have been working as a dr since 1979 and (student since 1973) never saw anything remotely like that! It must have been the last vestiges of a once glorious tradition at that time-
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
Merry Christmas, my mum was a Staff Nurse and also worked on Christmas Days. I spent many 1960/70's Christmas days as a child at the hospital too. Lots of singing, eating, and laughter.
#NHS
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@shinybluedress
@WeNurses
@WeStudentNurse
Remember the capes and hats well!! Started my training December 1985, how things have changed....
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@shinybluedress
@RoyLilley
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
How lovely! My memory of Christmas on the wards 34 years ago too. I wonder at what point things changed? The NHS a very different landscape now.
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
Having shared the video of
@salcathchoir
, a friend msgd that she and other nurses at
@SalisburyNHS
would visit the wards singing carols on Christmas Eve. That was in the '70s.
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
I have happy memories of Christmas as the child of a Dr and a Nurse, 30yrs ago. We'd join mum/dad for a bit at work and join in with the festivities. It was lovely. Happier times.
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
Now it’s a 12hour shift, what food you bring in and no different from any other day except all the support departments are closed and will be closed on the bank holidays!
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
Delightful though it is to be reminded of the more congenial ghosts of the NHS Christmas past. I can recall going to pick up a partner after her nursing shift on Christmas Day in 1973. Everyone I met on a very long walk though the hospital was observably inebriated.
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@shinybluedress
@WeStudentNurse
@WeNurses
So did we. We had the same hats and capes. I trained in Harrogate. ❤️
#tradition
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