Why I went looking for my fob watch...

Its' another winters day and I find myself thinking back towards the 'old days'. What has brought this on? I think it is St Twitters or to be Twitter correct #sttwitters and @StTweeterstrust. It can also be found at http://sttwitter.blogspot.com/ . Here I have found a like minded group of people, mainly nurses, who have taken social media to a new level at least for me. It is very social and our binding ingredient is a love of nursing and a certain nostalgia for our earlier days in nursing.


I need to be mindful here that I suspect I am one of the older (in years and months) contributors. We may have had different learning experiences across the UK, though with similar content and values being passed onto us.  We seem to have shared values of patient centred care, taking care of, and having an appreciation of, each team member whilst doing our best to be efficient with the resources we had. These attributes combined to make effective teams who could work well together, and cope with the unusual and downright strange things our experiences would throw at us.


Out of that grew an enjoyment of our work that led to many stories being tucked away, after all our integrity is dependent on keeping confidentiality too. The stories might be shared with our team members - they were there too and were keen to know what happened if they had not been. The unspoken rule was that it went no further than necessary; at most it was canteen talk. In that way they remained private and have a language and resonance of their own for others who are part of the the same tribe, or family of nursing. 


So why go back now to look for my fob watch? I wanted to refresh the feel of being on the ward as a student, an event a long time ago for me. It takes back to my nursing roots. I have found it useful to remember; it keeps me fresh and has stimulated my interest, via the links through St Twitters, in nursing related chats on the Internet. I describe myself these days as a manager with a nursing background; it is not a background to be ashamed of, nor indeed is it shameful to be a manager. It does help to have a laugh and reminisce, and gently recall the daft, sad and weird shifts we had, alongside the memories of the people we worked with, who were examples to us both good and bad. 
I love St Twitters - I'm sure there is more to come; it is therapeutic I suppose, as any good health organisation should be. Viva St Twitters!.