The Nightingale Girls - By Donna Douglas Page 0,77

this is your first day on the wards, you’ll need to know who you’ll be working with. My name is Frances Wallace, but you must always refer to me as Sister or Sister Blake. Then there are two staff nurses on this ward, O’Hara and Martin. Although I don’t suppose I need to tell you that, do I?’ Her brown eyes twinkled as she looked at Katie. who kept her gaze on the floor, too terrified to meet her eye.

‘The staff nurses are the sister’s second-in-command. They are in charge when I am not here, so you must take orders from them.’ Dora heard Katie’s faint groan. ‘Below the staff nurses are the students. These range from seniors, who are in their last year of training, down to pros like yourselves. We have another student starting today. Her name is Pritchard and she is in the set above yours, as I’m sure she will make clear to you.’ Sister smiled. ‘We all have our own duties to do, but our main concern is the welfare of our patients. So please don’t wait to be asked. If you see a patient who needs help or a job that needs to be done, tell me or one of the staff nurses immediately. Now, are there any questions?’

She looked from one to the other of them. Dora and Katie exchanged sidelong looks and both shook their heads.

‘Goodness, I’ve never seen students so quiet,’ Sister Blake commented. ‘I suppose your first time on the ward can be rather daunting.’

You’re telling me, Dora thought. She hardly dared look round at all the beds. For the first time it struck her these were real people, and she was supposed to care for them.

‘Remember, no one is expecting you to know everything,’ Sister Blake went on. ‘If you have a problem, or you need to know something, please ask. We are here to help you become the best nurses you can be, and you can’t do that unless you learn.’

‘She seems nice,’ Dora said, as she and Katie headed back down the ward to the sluice with their work lists for the day. As Katie had predicted, their chores mainly consisted of washing bedpans and cleaning lavatories.

‘Don’t let appearances fool you,’ Katie replied wisely. ‘Bridget reckons she can be as snappy as the rest of them if things aren’t done her way. Ah, here we are.’ She pushed open the door to the sluice. ‘Welcome to our new home for the next three months. Fat lot we’ll learn in here, washing bedpans!’

The sluice room was freezing. February had brought grey skies and frost, and the wind whistled through the open grating that covered the high window. Pritchard, the other pro, was already at the sink, rinsing out a bedpan under the tap. She was gangly, with buck teeth and spectacles.

‘Thank God you’re here.’ She thrust the bedpan at Dora. ‘You can take over with these while I go and finish the round.’

‘What are we supposed to do with them?’

‘Empty them down that sink, of course, and then wash them out. And be sure you do it properly,’ she added bossily. ‘I’ll be back to take the clean ones out again in a minute.’

‘Listen to her! I bet she was doing all the dirty jobs herself until we came along,’ Katie said, as they unfastened their cuffs and rolled up their sleeves. ‘Now she thinks we’re her slaves.’

‘I reckon we’re everyone’s slaves.’ Dora finished washing the bedpan and turned to face the others piled up beside the door. ‘I suppose we’d better get on with this lot,’ she said dubiously.

Sister Parker had told them all about cleaning and sterilising, but she hadn’t prepared them for how awful the job would be.

‘Jesus, the smell!’ Katie pinched her nose. ‘I think I’m going to be sick!’

‘Just hold your breath.’ Bracing herself, Dora grabbed the first bedpan and swung it at arm’s length towards the big hole in the middle of the sink.

‘I’m going to close my eyes too.’ Katie picked up a bedpan and aimed it towards the sink.

‘Watch it!’ Dora jumped out of the way just in time. ‘Do you think you could keep your eyes open? That nearly went over my shoes.’

‘You two! Stop chattering.’ Staff Nurse O’Hara stood in the doorway, her arms folded. She looked like Katie, with her dark hair, round blue eyes and plump figure. But her frown was all her own. ‘You’re not in PTS now, you know. This is not the place