A Pig In A Condom

 
I got up and walked the dogs at 8am.
It was grey and humourless outside so we went back to bed until 1 am
Then I walked the dogs for their long walk and fed them and we returned to bed again
I didn’t say it was going to be an interesting post. 

I was just dozing off when my work what’s app group pinged .
Apparently the Welsh Government has given a 500£ One off Thank You payment to care home workers for their battle against covid but workers in hospices were exempt from this gesture of goodwill  
The hospice management team thought this unfair and today matched that thank you for all front line staff
A nice and timely thought 
If anyone reading this think that this payment is not deserved they could have seen an overly sweaty me being pulled out of a plastic PPE overall by two support workers after a twelve hour shift

I looked like a melting pig in a condom 


103 comments:

  1. You and your colleagues deserve so much more John ..... I cannot imagine what it is like, wearing all of that PPE for hours on end.It’s one of the things that annoys me so much when people flout them rules. Thank you for all you do. XXXX

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    1. Thank you, it was a nice gesture as historically hospice nurses get paid at a lower rate than, most nhs nurses anyway.

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  2. Anonymous2:58 pm

    A well deserved bonus,I'm happy for you. - Mary

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  3. Oh, John, you have such a way with words!! I have a friend who is an Hospice Social Worker so I know a little of what you go through. So glad you got a little bonus - not nearly what what you do is worth but ...

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    1. The PPE IS A UNIVERSAL issue and one intensive care nurses suffer from the most ...

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  4. I am purposefully NOT trying to picture this in my head. Lalalalalala .........

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    1. Me too!! lalalala..... hahahaha

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    2. Lalalalala I will join you and it’s my body

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  5. When I saw that post title, I couldn't imagine what you were going to write about!?! Congrats on your well-deserved bonus, John!

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  6. What a wonderful gesture from your management. I can only imagine how helpful that will be. That's got to be a bright spot for Christmas. It reminds me of when Citifinancial sent me a letter informing me they were giving me a lump sum payment and upping my pay enough to make up for the fact that our Domestic Partner benefits were taxed higher than married couples' (this was before 2015). It made me feel like maybe they valued me after all.

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    1. Yes gestures like these are important . I know we are a charity and money is tight..that’s my it means so much more ....we were the only hospice to open in north wales to patients and relatives

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  7. Glad your management extended the appreciation to you too!

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  8. Good for you John, good for all of you, you all should of been included in the first place. Enjoy it !

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  9. Good news and thank you for the comment on my blog the other day. Yep I just get on with things - it's the only way I know how to cope

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    1. Yes as one blogger who sent me a hand crafted and now framed paining of a beautiful goldfish
      “ keep on swimming” xx

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  10. I don't understand why you would be exempt? My grandson is a med tech in the city of Lawrence hospital and like you is in a hazmat suit for and 8 hour day and as far as I'm concerned is never compensated enough!

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    1. I’m very lucky Linda, there are a lot, too many, unsung hero’s

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  11. It is a good feeling to realise that you are valued.

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  12. you front-line workers deserve more than that, john. a vaccine and a COVID-free work environment would be icing on the cake. now I won't be able to get that pig image out of my mind all day.

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    1. I’m going to accept the vaccine with both hands

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  13. Anonymous3:53 pm

    'Fine words butter no parsnips'. I like these old sayings and they always seem to have a resonance in our modern world. Lovely to be told you are appreciated and with a bit of cash is ample reward.
    Hope you can use it to treat yourself to something nice, 'cor we could all do with a little treat and l have taken to buying myself little treats regulary now as a sort of coping mechanism through these bizzare times we are living in.
    Hope Albert and the girls are adjusting to the changes at home.
    Keep well dear friend never met.
    Tess xx

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    1. It’s will pay for Bluebell’s full service and new tyres and winnie’s cremation

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  14. It is a nice very gesture, it is nice they did that, but what you and many do a price can't be placed upon.

    Our front line health staff and care givers won't see that. They'll will just be pushed to collapse first.

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  15. You and your colleagues deserve that. I am pleased for you. xxx

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  16. Oh, they didn't even scratch the surface. A nice gesture, though.
    Here in America, the Repugs have decided to always put some Trojan Horses in any aid proposed so it gets shot down. They're the party of the 'people'

    XOXO

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  17. Interesting or not, the title grabbed my attention! All front line workers deserve it...and much more.

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  18. Beg to differ very interesting post. You deserve every penny. Have you had jab yet? We have been told as practice nurses we are not priority despite seeing pts day in day out. Nice that

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    1. Some local nhs nurses have been given it

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  19. Still sniggering re Margaret's nostrils

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  20. It beggars belief to think that people would begrudge this payment to care staff but I am sure some joyless soul will. I would sentance any such soul to 12 hours in hazmat suite, mask, visor and gloves.
    Signed Still caring Nurse. Love to all care/nursing staff.

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    1. Hospices are charities so view money and the use of money very differently than the nhs, and quite rightly too.

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  21. Good to hear this John. Thumbs up to the management of the hospice.

    Have had to have some eye treatment over the last few weeks. So impressed by the care and attention given to keeping patients and staff safe. Pity the poor docs, who get very close, in their Darth Vader type masks. One of the docs said that at the end of the day she is hoarse becuase she spends all day shouting to be understood through the mask.

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    1. I hate the masks as it effective stops good communication

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  22. The payment doesn't come anywhere near what you and all care staff deserve, but nice nonetheless. I can't get the image of a melting pig in a condom out of my mind. Thanks for the image, if I have nightmares tonight, I can blame you! xxx

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    1. I’m glad the private sector staff were recognised . In my short experience in a care home the staff often get treated abysmally

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  23. Barbara Anne5:28 pm

    What a blog post title! Your narrative was well written and I had a chuckle as you finished it with a choice word picture of you as your PPE came off at the end of shift.
    Nice to have that well deserved bonus!

    Hugs!

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  24. it was really decent of them to do that. good for you!

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  25. So pleased for you as it's so well deserved and more besides.

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  26. Well deserved John!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  27. Would it help to ease the discomfort in future when you are working a busy shift to sprinkle a fine dusting of talcum powder into your outfit as you dress x

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  28. Oh, you'll get no argument from me! You've earned every cent of this many times over. Enjoy!

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  29. Worth your weight in gold. Oink!

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  30. Don’t worry about the complaintants John all of you deserve it I hope the English and Scottish NHS and others also get that nice gift even though it is only a token.

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  31. That is a very nice gesture... and how nice that your employer saw fit to make sure everyone was appreciated. That said... you all deserve so much more! Thank you for all that you do.

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  32. It is WELL deserved... and, thanks for NOT sharing a photo.

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  33. Healthcare workers EVERYWHERE deserve that and so much more! I know you're all working hard, and Hospice care is just as (if not more than) important as acute care. Enjoy your 500 pounds, but remember you're worth SOOOOO much more.

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    1. I hope everyone gets some sort of recognition not only in nursing x

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  34. You deserve it..Nicola is lobbying HMRC to declare the £500 tax exempt...no response so far

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  35. It's only right that you should receive the payment, and then some.

    Love,
    Janie

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  36. Well deserved I'm sure. It would be good if nurses could be appreciated for knowledge and responsibility they need to carry out the job.
    Instead of the 'hard work' route. In a way it is the knowledge to have the responsibility, which is necessary. On my last job managing a very busy Day Unit, one of the HCA's kept telling me that the major difference between me and her was that she couldn't do drugs. After being told this on numerous occasions I closed her down to silence for at least two weeks by saying 'Yes and about twenty thousand a year. (Slight exaggeration there )

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  37. Interesting description.

    All front line workers, from the cleaners to the doctors and nurses who put their lives and the lives of their families in danger to help others should be compensated as well as big business do who hand out million dollar bonuses at the end of the year.

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  38. Of course you deserve it!

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  39. So much more deserved xxx

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  40. What an excellent move by your employer. Have you noticed if wearing plastic top to toe works in the slimming department? It's a bit like an old-style spa treatment, minus the glamour.

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  41. Anonymous9:16 pm

    Glad you got recognition of the job you do.

    It's a shame NHS staff aren't being paid that too. My relative is an ICU nurse and the reward for her is nothing. 14 hour shifts, many tears from not having the resources or staff to hold a dying patients hand at their last gasping moments (despite our wonderful Government telling us that our NHS is coping and that nobody dies alone)struggling to cope to look after six or more patients in ICU when normally it's a one to one job, helped by staff that have never worked in ICU before and who can't cope and manage only a few days before they're off with stress, living with the guilt of knowing a patient died alone even though their relative will get a note saying a nurse was with them holding their hand at their last moments. To think that Boris proclaimed he was "saved" by these wonderful angels yet now they're worthless as far as the Government is concerned.

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    1. I agree, I guess the only dividing factor is that historically hospice and private sector nursing home staff have always been plaid less than nhs

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  42. A melting pig in a condom? The mind boggles.

    No £500 reward for health workers in Northern Ireland. But they deserve it for the stressful work they've done and are still doing - some hospitals here are already overwhelmed with patients.

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  43. That was generous! Surely it would be the condom that's melting, though, not the pig?!

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  44. Well deserved. What will you spend it on?

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    1. Car types and a certai bulldogs cremation x

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  45. Very much deserved. What a lovely acknowledgement from the hospice management.

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  46. I have always energetically admired your devotion to your patients. There is no one, in my opinion, who deserves recognition and compensation more than you who care for those at the end of their lives. Bless you all.

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  47. Anonymous9:48 pm

    Amazing that hospice workers weren't included. Your management must be good.

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  48. Spend it frivolously! X

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    1. I won’t.....lol car tyres and winnies cremation x

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  49. Likely to be taxed unfortunately - even if payments to the NHS are eventually deemed to be tax-free, that probably won't apply to you as these are outside the NHS. Still, a very nice gesture!

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  50. A very nice and timely cash bonus to acknowledge the work and dedication of health care professionals. All health care professionals are on the front line dealing with the deadly virus. Further you are critical to getting us through COVID. What could be more important than this???

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  51. Dear man. You are the epitome of a saint in nurse garb.

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  52. I don't know how you think up your very descriptive metaphors!

    cherish your moment of being appreciated, they come around all too rarely

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  53. Justifiable grievances won't be helped by the knowledge that the undoubted villain of 2020 [closely followed by BoJo himself, by a nose] is that the wretched Dom Cummings has been 'rewarded' with a 40K hike in income, presumably for displaying the gross incompetence that he did.
    And anyway, where's all that extra cash gone which we were told was going to be available for the NHS, which we're not now paying to the E.U.? Oh, I forgot. We weren't intended to take that seriously, were we? Silly me!

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  54. You earned it. Clapping is nice, but you all deserve a payrise Nice to know you will spend it on Winnie and tyres, and hopefully some towards a couple of scotch eggs?

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  55. Well done, Hospice admin. Well done, you...even if feeling 'slightly' overcooked at the end of each day.

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  56. You earned it!! You front liners are true heroes!!

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  57. Well deserved John and all the health care workers especially in the age of covid, hope you get the vaccine soon.

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