Freelance health journalist, slow runner, probably late for something. I work for Nursing Standard, Mail on Sunday, BMJ and more. erin
@erindeanwriting
.com
I'm writing a piece on the impact that a patient death has on a nurse, and how to cope with that. I'm looking for nurses in a range of settings, particularly a critical care nurse and a mental health nurse
@credland_nicki
@BACCNUK
@RCNMHForum
please RT. Many thanks
I'm writing a long piece about the development of the PA role in England. I would love to speak to PAs and docs involved in the earliest days 15 to 20 years ago about what it was like at that point (first place seems to be Midlands in A&E and primary care)
Nurses, I'll give this a last Twitter push - how easy is it to call out a doc or more senior nurse when you think a clinical decision is wrong? Have you done this, or regret a case when you think you should have? I would love to hear from you. Please share. Thanks!
Had a great chat with Howard Catton at the International Council of Nurses for this RCNi podcast. We cover a lot of hefty issues, including global shortages, impact of COVID, global warming and wars...
@ICNurses
@HowardCatton
@rcni
Any clinical nurse specialists want to talk to me about how you became a CNS and what you love about it? For an article on how to become one to inspire the next generation.
Nurses - how easy do you find it to explain the complexity and skill of your work to others? Do you try?
Any advice for an article on what could help patients and the public understand your role better?
Nurses of Twitter, I'm after your help again. I'm resending this as realised my first version was not clear. I'm keen to find out about favouritism at work from a manager to another nurse - does it happen and what form does it take? Can you do anything? DMs open.
Yesterday I ran the Weymouth Half. And it was great :) This wasn't a PB but it was my first half road half since a double mastectomy and another fairly major surgery. So to be running 13.1miles in one piece, in fantastic sunshine, and to meet by these two rogues, felt good.
Very grateful to the nurses who gave me their time and thoughtful views on how patient death impacts them for this piece. All were profoundly affected, and had different ways of coping with this
@mariecurieuk
@amorrismatthews
@LeanneHPatrick
When a patient dies: how nurses deal with their own emotions
Read about how the death of a patient affects nurses from a range of settings, including the emotions it can arouse and how they deal with them.
@LauraPAuthor
I've had two kids, a double mastectomy and oophrectomy. I think running throughout has really helped me because, although I am utterly untalented at it and very slow, it does make me feel strong and capable.
Thank you so much to all the docs who responded to the survey on the huge emotional and financial cost of trying to find a good childcare set-up for
@bmj_latest
. For trainees, this was often then thrown up in the air a few months later by their next rotation
Securing suitable childcare is a financial, mental, and emotional burden to doctors, a BMJ survey has revealed, leading some to resign, change specialties, or alter their plans to have children
Nurses - I'm keen to hear what the temp is like in your workplace. Does it get too hot 🥵? Is your uniform cool and comfy? Please RT and share your experience with me.
A MH nurse told me how he turned his own experiences into creating a pioneering new way to deliver mental health services in Liverpool. Thanks so much for speaking to me
@mattycaine87
‘My own experience of care when I had psychotic depression was beyond awful. This was the catalyst that prompted First Person Project’
Find out how mental health nurse
@mattycaine87
started a pioneering socially progressive mental health service.
@RoshanaMN
continuing to be brilliant when speaking about the challenges of being a woman in surgery. It is never easy being the person speaking out. She kindly helped me with this piece
'It is a golden thread through all our work' a doctor says about being a Marmot Place. How areas are tackling poor housing, improving jobs and giving children a good start to address deep health inequalities in bleak economic times.
@MichaelMarmot
I spoke to the brilliant Katharine Gale for this podcast for
@rcni
. She is a treasure trove of thoughtful advice for nurses on the impact of the perimenopause
@GaleKatharine
Irritable, angry and exhausted ... is it work or (also??) the perimenopause? Our latest podcast explores with advice from
@katharinegale
for nurses at this life stage + managers. A really great listen though I admit bias and personal interest!
Nurses, are you ever asked to work above (or below) your band/scope of practice. I'm really keen to hear people's experiences for an article, how it makes you feel. Anonymous is fine. Please DM me or email at erin
@erindeanwriting
.com. And please RT :)
Martha's rule coming in today. I wrote about the nurse-led hotline well-established at the Royal Berkshire Hosp in Reading. Patients and family can call for an urgent clinical review. It is not overused, although calls are going up.
@bmj_latest
@RBNHSFT
Doctors, what is your experience of childcare? Is it staggeringly expensive, are the hours suitable for your shifts, has it influenced your choice of specialty at all? What helps? Keen to hear experiences
@RoshanaMN
@medicalwomenuk
@scarlettmcnally
@SurgeryWomen
Glad to be able to highlight the impact of difficulties with childcare on doctors for this article
@bmj_latest
. The responses from so many to this survey were so despairing. More action desperately needed to make training as a doctor more compatible with having children.
A new survey published in
@bmj_latest
finds doctors are quitting over the cost of childcare. The results show many doctors find it difficult to fit their work in around their children, with some childcare options costing more than they earn. Read it here:
Nurses of Twitter, I'm after your help again for an article. I'm keen to find out about favouritism at work - does it happen in nursing, have you experienced or witnessed it and what form does it take? Did you feel able to do anything? DMs open or erin
@erindeanwriting
.com
Thanks to the wonderful nurses who joined me for this round-table chat. Thoughtful input from nurses newly qualified and well-established in their careers - and we heard about an 80-year-old nurse inspiring the new nurses in his team
@credland_nicki
@QNI_Scotland
How can nursing teams improve communication between generations?
There's a well-known saying nurses ‘eat their young’ – truth? Or an outdated, misleading view of profession?
@NurseStandard
brought together 5 nurses to discuss communication w/colleagues:
@credland_nicki
@BACCNUK
@RCNMHForum
Thanks so much for everyone's help with this, I really wish I could talk to you all for it! I have finished now but thanks again . It's been such an interesting piece, so much is carried emotionally by nurses
Nurses of Twitter - I want to hear about your finances. How much of an impact are costs like childcare, student loan payments and transport having on your bank balance? I'm keen to hear from nurses around the UK, has anyone moved to an area because the cost of living is lower?
Sharing my experience of early surgical menopause in the hope it could help other people facing similar choices. It wasn't the easiest decision, but has turned out to be the right one for me.
@balanceMeno
In this powerful story, Erin Dean shares her experience of a surgical menopause aged 41 after having her ovaries removed:
#SurgicalMenopause
#Hysterectomy
Reporting on an important issue for women in surgery in
@RCSnews
Bulletin. Many thanks to the surgeons who shared their experiences with me for this piece.
I'm keen to hear from nurses who can talk to me about the care of deteriorating patients. What does it feel like when a patient deteriorates? What helps prevent it? Are there signs that you look for that aren't picked up in obs? Please email or DM.
I would love to speak to a nurse who took part in the NI strike in 2019. Just for a bit of info on what it felt like, if you went on the picket lines, how the rotas were planned. DMs open.
@Liz_ORiordan
@unbounders
I had both my surgeries done by female surgeons and they were both brilliant. I particularly love the consultant plastic surgeon I am still under (and her team of two fantastic specialist nurses) who did my reconstruction. She really listens.
Nurses of twitter, how are you finding the perimenopause? I'm keen to hear about your experiences for an article, so please DM or email, thanks. And please RT.
Morning. I'm keen to speak to any nurses about how often you have to work over your normal hours and the impact it has on you. Or if you work somewhere with good approaches to prevent this. DMs open.
Grateful for the chance to work on this longer piece on the care of those with long covid. For the long haulers, the journey can be so hard. Thanks to all who helped me with this.
Some 1.9 million people in the UK—almost 3% of the population—were estimated to have long covid this March.
@Erin_Dean_
visits one long covid clinic and hears how a multidisciplinary team are tailoring support for this poorly understood condition
Loved finding out more about the nurse-led Royal Berkshire Hospital service that is likely to be a model for
#marthasrule
in this podcast. Families and patients can call up for the critical care outreach nurses for a clinical review if they have concerns.
This episode focuses on
#Call4Concern
a nurse-led service that allows patients to escalate concerns about care.
Hear from Alison Schofield, lead nurse for the critical care outreach team at Royal Berkshire Hospital, about the benefits of the service.
Nurses - tell me about aggressive and challenging patients for an article. What have you seen or experienced (and I want the full spectrum, doesn't have to be physical)? What works when it comes to preventing it or protecting yourself?
Nurses - how do you find messaging services like WhatsApp are used to work? When have they worked well and when have they not? I'm keen to hear your experiences...
'Happy clinicians are more effective. I forget things less and I feel less sorry for myself when I have a bad day.'
Doctors tell me in the BMJ why they have gone less than full time to help manage the intense pressures of work and protect their wellbeing:
@AmulesDays
@Eithnein
It's a magazine focused on the nursing team, but I'm sure that it is a problem that goes across all health professions (and beyond)
I've been lucky enough to do quite a bit on the roll out of Martha's rule. Here is a podcast with the nurse who leads the Royal Berks hosptial service that it is modelled on:
and a BMJ feature
Martha’s rule: what the rollout means for children’s nurses
Named after Martha Mills, who died after her parents’ concerns were ignored, nurses have a key role in ensuring Martha’s rule has a lasting impact.
Click here to read more >
Many thanks to the surgeons who generously shared their experiences with me for this Royal College of Surgeons feature on women in surgery and the heightened risks to their fertility, during pregnancy and in childbirth
@RCSnews
@SandraDerm
@andy1online
@eczemasociety
Hi Sandra, this sounds an important change - do you know of any children who have experienced TSW? Whose parents may be happy to talk to me for a national newspaper piece? Many thanks
Nurses - I've got a question for you again. Do you sometimes get moved from where you normally work to fill in staffing shortages somewhere else? If you are moved, is it to a similar area you are familiar with, or can it be anywhere? Do you have any choice?
Still keen to talk to nurses about facilities for staff in emergency departments - what difference does a decent staff room make? A clean fridge, a coffee machine and even, maybe, a drawer of teaspoons??
@ecaforum
@WeNurses
@RCEMLearning
@RCEMpresident
Please tell me about yr emergency department staff facilities - ever have any issues?
Thinking about ED working environments, specifically.
Do you have enough toilets, lockers, changing rooms? IT issues? Access to hot food throughout shifts? Nearby rest spaces?
Thanks nurses🙏
If there are any nurses who have left their roles due to the sheer pressure on the NHS, I am keen to hear your experience. Can be anon. Erin
@erindeanwriting
.com
@RCNNRN
I'm looking for NRNs who have 30 mins spare next Wednesday (17th) at 10am to join me for a round-table discussion on communication between nurses. I would love to hear from you if you are free at erin
@erindeanwriting
.com
I'm keen to talk to the family of an older person who had to go to hospital for care they didn't want or was unlikely to benefit them...could be a CT scan for a low risk head injury, that kind of thing, when they would rather stay at home. Please RT. erin
@erindeanwriting
.com
I'm looking for advice for nursing students on doing well at their OCSEs. It would be great to hear from any students, NQNs or lecturers who can share their experience. DMs are open.
@LauraPAuthor
No-one warns you how stressful this process will be...and trying to manage why the tooth fairy leaves different amounts to different children in their class.