Nurse-Patient Relationships
Sheila was a Staff Nurse and then the Sister on an HIV ward in Edinburgh. She recalls some advice one of her patients gave her.
“I remember one man said to me, ‘Nurse, I’m going to give you a bit of advice.’ [laughs] ‘All right, was is it?’ And he said, ‘You look the kind of lassie that drives to the beach, puts your handbag in the boot, and goes for a walk along the beach with your dog.’ And I went, ‘Aye.’ I’ve not got a dog, right. But I went, ‘Aye.’
Doing me a favour!
And he went, ‘Aye. And I’m the type of bastard that comes along, springs open your boot, steals your handbag, and I’ve got a good hour before you’re going to notice it. So do me a favour. Are you going to not do that?’ I go, ‘No. Thank you so much.’ [laughs]
Looking out for us
And I’ve never forgotten it. And, so, in amongst it, within their, their world, or their culture, they really did try and look out for us as well, with things like that. Things like that were really sweet.”
