The NMC guidelines suggest that all nursing students should be given experiences in each of the other branches of nursing, ‘to inform branch choice’. There is a certain logic to this, in that it essentially allows you to ‘try before you buy’. Anyone coming from a care background is unlikely to have experienced all types of nursing, and anyone coming from college is basically just taking a guess as to which area they think they might like. So, before plunging into a seriously life changing decision, they very kindly let you have a quick go on the other branches.

As a mental student, I am therefore required to spend time in adult, child and learning disabilities nursing environments, essentially to make sure I know what I’m missing out on. My university, in a move I am infinitely grateful for, only requires that we complete 34.5 hours in each other branch. Not exactly giving us a thorough insight, but a good little taster with the knowledge that, if it’s horrendous, it’s only for a week. I am informed that in other (probably much better) universities, students are farmed out for between 2 and 8 weeks each.

I’m just about finished these tasters, and, whilst none of them have been horrendous, I am very glad I’m doing mental health. Readers of my blog will know that I spent my week with the health visitor biting my tongue as chav parents acted like their kids were just an annoyance, who got in the way of their being drunk at 11am.

My learning disabilities placement (council run respite care) was ok, but rather quiet, as most of the clients had a better social life than me and so were never about. I was slightly bemused (read: pissed off) to learn that a care officer with an NVQ 3 was paid more than a newly qualified nurse in the NHS. Ho hum. Most exciting bit of the week? Trip to Tesco’s with clients. I got a free coffee.

The one I was dreading most was adult, particularly the references about not being a ‘proper’ nurse; I dislike having to justify my career choices to people I’ve just met and don’t like. As it happens I needn’t have worried, as most of the nurses there apparently wished they had done mental health instead of adult. One of the 1^st year students there was changing to MH, a third year student just hated nursing and was going to have babies immediately after qualifying, and both the cadets on the ward couldn’t wait to go somewhere else. It was a very grim ward; half the patients were alcoholics in organ failure and my enduring recollection is going to be that of an elderly lady with C.diff repeatedly asking me to kill her as we changed her incontinence pad. At one point I thought they had mistakenly sent me to a psychiatric ward, as the majority of the patients had some sort of mental health problem; dementia/delirium, depression anxiety (both probably induced by the ward, frankly) and outright psychosis.

The ward itself was complete chaos; supposedly supernumerary students were counted in the numbers and there still wasn’t enough staff to give patients the time they needed and deserved. Some of the staff were fantastic; others were shit, to be blunt, as even I did more work than them…and that’s saying something, considering how completely and utterly clueless I was.

Anyway, I’m glad to be back. Or rather, I’m glad to have finished my last placement of my first year as I now have six weeks off before returning to uni…

What with Azulinebloo soon to be qualified and unleashed upon the world, the powers that be have very kindly asked me to join and be the resident mental student. How could I refuse?

So, a bit about me for anyone who doesn’t already know…

I’m a mental health nursing student coming to the end of my first year, and at some point in the distant past I somehow achieved a degree in psychology. I also work on a forensic unit as and when they phone and make me. I do have another blog, which I am going to use this site to shamelessly promote (it’s here).

I will try and post some interesting studenty stuff, but no promises…Theoretically I have lots of uni work to do, so I may be quiet on occasion. I don’t particularly enjoy arguing as I get far too much of it at work. Also, I am cursed with the ability to see everyone’s point of view (except Ted’s…sorry Ted) and so poking me with a stick will usually just end up with me either (a) agreeing with you or (b) ignoring you. Of course, reasoned debate is always welcome J

What else? Oh, I’m female (very important to clear that up now) and comparatively young.

Right, am off to hammer my student discount at the shops…

Kevin Myers, writing in the Irish Independent [1] [2] [3], has been threatened with prosecution for arguing that aid to Africa is doing more harm than good. He highlights the case of Ethiopia where he was a reporter during the famine of 1984 – 1985:

“By 2050, the population of Ethiopia will be 177 million: The equivalent of France, Germany and Benelux today, but located on the parched and increasingly protein-free wastelands of the Great Rift Valley.

So, how much sense does it make for us actively to increase the adult population of what is already a vastly over-populated, environmentally devastated and economically dependent country? How much morality is there in saving an Ethiopian child from starvation today, for it to survive to a life of brutal circumcision, poverty, hunger, violence and sexual abuse, resulting in another half-dozen such wide-eyed children, with comparably jolly little lives ahead of them? Of course, it might make you feel better, which is a prime reason for so much charity. But that is not good enough.

For self-serving generosity has been one of the curses of Africa. It has sustained political systems which would otherwise have collapsed. It prolonged the Eritrean-Ethiopian war by nearly a decade. It is inspiring Bill Gates’ programme to rid the continent of malaria, when, in the almost complete absence of personal self-discipline, that disease is one of the most efficacious forms of population-control now operating. If his programme is successful, tens of millions of children who would otherwise have died in infancy will survive to adulthood, he boasts. Oh good: then what?

I know. Let them all come here. Yes, that’s an idea.”

I am not innocent in all this. The people of Ireland remained in ignorance of the reality of Africa because of cowardly journalists like me. When I went to Ethiopia just over 20 years ago, I saw many things I never reported — such as the menacing effect of gangs of young men with Kalashnikovs everywhere, while women did all the work.

In the very middle of starvation and death, men spent their time drinking the local hooch in the boonabate shebeens. Alongside the boonabates were shanty-brothels, to which drinkers would casually repair, to briefly relieve themselves in the scarred orifice of some wretched prostitute (whom God preserve and protect). I saw all this and did not report it, nor the anger of the Irish aid workers at the sexual incontinence and fecklessness of Ethiopian men. Why? Because I wanted to write much-acclaimed, tear-jerkingly purple prose about wide-eyed, fly-infested children — not cold, unpopular and even “racist” accusations about African male culpability.”

Ouch!!!

Sir Bob might get a kick out of parading an Ethiopian girl that he saved in ‘84 in front of the crowds at the G8 concert so that she can have the honour of dancing with Madonna , but malaria has a form of birth control? Seems a bit harsh to me.

Last night John Barrowman (Jack Harkness of Torchwood fame) presented a TV programme entitled “The making of Me” in which he went in search of why he is gay. Is it nature or was it Nurture?

From the outset John made it clear that he wanted objective proof that his sexual orientation was innate, that it was hard wired into his psyche from birth and not a product of his education or upbringing. He started with his childhood showing us his wardrobe at his parents’ house in the USA. The wardrobe was full of Barbie dolls, Sonny and Cher dolls and one lone action man. John moved with his parents from Scotland to the USA aged 8 and on his way back to visit them reflected that homosexuality was only decriminalised fairly recently in his native Scotland. Had he remained there he might have been “one of those kids that ended up taking their own lives”.

John met an old school friend while staying with his parents and reminisced with her about playing “make up” and dressing his friends Barbie dolls’ hair. His father showed John a picture of him aged 8 dressed in a bikini, “were you an oppressive mother?” he asked his 81 year old mum in a vain attempt to discover a Freudian reason for his sexual orientation. John eventually “came out” to his parents aged 24.

Now John went after a more objective truth that would underpin his belief that he had always been gay. After a series of MRI scans, PET scans, penile arousal measuring devices and having been shown a variety of gay and straight porn the answer was that yes John does have a gay brain. At least the right bits of his brain lit up like a Christmas tree when he was shown pictures of Brad Pitt rather than Angelina Jolie. Visibly relieved John moved onto the next stage, to show that sexuality was hard wired into us at birth

First he interviewed someone who had been openly gay as a young man but had decided to “change” his sexual orientation to straight and was now married with two kids.

Our formerly gay now straight man explained that in his opinion sexual orientation was a “lifestyle choice” and he had on reflection “decided” to become straight. Religion had played a part in his decision to convert but the analogy he drew was that he also had an “innate” liking for chocolate but chose not to eat chocolate because he knew that eating chocolate was bad for him. The liking for chocolate might be innate but the choice not to indulge was not. Perhaps not the best analogy he could have chosen and not one that appeared to impress John.

John then moved on and spoke to a scientist who thinks he may have identified a certain candidate for a “gay” gene. Located on the X chromosome, G1 confers gayness while G2 confers straightness. His mother (having two X chromosomes) has both G1 and G2 genes. His older straight brother had G2 and John also had G2 and not G1 as he had expected and hoped. John appeared disappointed because genetic confirmation of his sexual orientation had not been provided. But supposing it was possible to conclusively predict the sexual orientation of an unborn child by way of an amniocentesis. Female infanticide is already a problem in certain parts of the world as is the aborting of foetus’s revealed to be female by increasingly sophisticated ultra sounds. Is the probable sexual orientation of an unborn child really the sort of information you would want to hand over to a religious bigot like Irene Robinson MP? I can see the possible utility of a criminal gene for identifying potential psychopaths and I can see why ME suffers would be relieved to discover that their condition has a genetic basis and is therefore “real” after all (NB those are “ironic” quotation marks). But do we really want to identify a gay gene?

John reviewed other physiological and psychological data that appears to confirm that sexuality may be determined not genetically but in the womb by higher or lower levels of intrauterine testosterone. (Men, if your ring finger is longer than your index finger you are straight, gay if they are about the same length and the presence of older brothers appears to significantly increase your chance of being gay owing to a possible immunological reaction on the part of your mother) John’s results were mixed, he reads a map like a girl (has to turn the map to keep himself orientated on the page) is verbally fluent like a girl (off the scale in fact) he has an older brother and his mother also had a male miscarriage some time before he was born. But his ring finger remained resolutely longer than his index finger.

Why is John so intent on proving that he is gay? That he has always been gay right from birth in fact before he even knew he what being gay was. And why did he feel the idea that choosing ones sexuality was such a ridiculous one? John appears to equate realness with a very narrow definition of objective reality. What is real for John in relation to his sexuality is what can be proved by facts and in this case facts mean genes, intrauterine hormones and the like. But if reality has any meaning it is composed of not just of facts (objective reality) but also meaning (subjective reality) and maybe sexuality lies in the realm between these two poles and is to a certain extent a matter of choice.

For most of man’s evolutionary history it has made sense to have a strong alpha male who goes out of the cave each morning to slay the woolly mammoth or sabre toothed tiger while his submissive mate stays at home with the other females looking after the young and preparing her man a nutritious yet tasty meal for his return while doing a little light dusting about the family cave. But things have moved on in the past 3,000 years since man first started living in fixed and stable communities. There are no sabre toothed tigers to be slain and sex is no longer purely for the purposes of procreation but has today become a form of recreation or even social grooming.

Patterns of social relationships are changing and people are experimenting with alternative social groupings and lifestyles. Polygamy, monogamy, serial monogamy, open marriages, bisexuality, the list goes on. There is a lifestyle choice in America called “The lifestyle” over here it used to be called wife swapping but is now more usually called “swinging”. Within the swinging community sex is treated purely as a recreational activity and bisexuality between women at least is commonly accepted in fact it appears to be the norm rather than the exception. Perhaps in another 100 years time we might be in a situation where the traditional nuclear family is a thing of the past and the only time you do anything as boringly conventional as have sex with a member of the opposite sex is when you want to make babies. May be in a hundred years time sexual orientation might be replaced with sexual choice for men and for women.

Anyone for tennis?

It is St Petersburg, 1914, and. Dr Otto Spethmann, a famous psychoanalyst, is implicated in the murder of a liberal newspaper editor OV Gulko. A few days later he and his daughter are arrested when a revolutionary dies under similarly mysterious circumstances but Spethman is preoccupied with Avrom Rozental, the brilliant chess master who is due to play the most important competition of his life but is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. With the city rife with speculation and alarm Spethmann broods over his own chessboard, its pieces frozen mid-battle, and contemplates the forces - political, historical, and sexual - that are holding him in their grasp.

A swift-moving page turner of a thriller and a rich mixture of psychoanalysis, chess, and the politics of pre revolutionary Russia the tension is high and revolution is in the air when Dr Otto Spethmann finds himself at the centre of plots and counter plots where no one is quite what they seem

‘Zugzwang’, is a position in Chess, where a player must make a move but any move he does make will result in his downfall, and of course this is the position in which several of the characters including Tsarist Russia - find themselves.

The writing is excellent and the depictions of revolutionary St Petersburg are so vivid you can almost smell the gunpowder. In addition we are treated to an intriguing Chess game that runs throughout the novel. Zugzwang is a terrific read with an end that doesn’t disappoint. The last paragraphs of this novel are powerful and thought provoking. Historical crime junkies will love it, as will those with a passing interest in chess.

The themes have been updated to the most recent versions which means the cruft I have added has been removed. When a favourite theme has been picked I will update the colours and tweak the appearance as currently they all look a bit garish on the eyes. For the love of Cthulhu do not just pick the plain unadorned Sandbox theme from the theme switcher.

Comments on themes, appearance, breaks and anything else technical and site related please leave a comment or discuss in the forums.

Thanks for your time and patience during this time of hideous ugliness.

Mental Nurse.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

I wanted to share it even further and decided to post the link here as well.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb

Garfield is one of my favourite cartoon strips and I find this idea fascinating. It works so well, it’s often very moving.

Garfield Minus Garfield

I have not disappeared / died / been sectioned, I am simply encountering technical difficulties. My computer won’t work.

 Fear not, for I shall return!

In his denunciation of Edward Leigh and Unity portrays the argument between the pro-life lobby and the pro-choice lobby as a simple one between liberty on the one hand and a religious based authoritarian approach on the other.

“If you assume Leigh’s position on abortion (or that of Widdicombe, or Dorries, or the Bishop of Brentwood) that all life is sacred from fertilisation onwards – then no level of abortion is acceptable”

While this position might be defensible for some one with the strict religious views of the Bishop of Brentwood, I am sure that I am not the only person who while not sharing the Bishops religious views none the less feels uneasy about the notion of “abortion on demand” which is what Unity appears to be arguing for. Polarising the debate by arguing that any one who expresses any reservation about a woman’s right to choose is somehow a raving religious fanatic is to do the debate a disservice.

“ in the vast majority of cases it is religion which forms the basis of individual and collective objections to abortion”

Unity goes on to state quite rightly that there is a clear majority in England and Wales are in favour of abortion (65 – 75%) and that the majority of abortions are carried out for social reasons. But does the fact there is a clear majority in favour of something make that thing necessarily right or desirable? If asked there would probably also be a clear majority in favour of reinstating the death penalty. Parliament has resisted popular demands to do so and there is an argument to say they are right in this. What if there were to be a majority in favour of criminalising homosexuality would we argue that it was morally right to do so because a majority were in favour of such a move? A majority of people read the Sun newspaper that does not make the Sun a good or reliable source of information.

Let me make something clear I am not in favour of restricting access to abortion. As Unity says restricting access to abortion would not reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, (increased access to contraception would do that) but it would increase the number of unwanted babies. But would it? There are many couples out there who are desperate to have children but are unable to because of reasons of infertility and there are also many gay and lesbian couples who would also readily adopt a new born but who would not wish to adopt or foster an older child.. Would it be so unreasonable to suggest to a pregnant woman carrying an unplanned pregnancy who is contemplating an abortion that she carry the baby to term and then offer her unwanted baby up for adoption. Yes this would mean that the mother would have to endure 9 months of an unwanted pregnancy which would be a considerable inconvenience but given that, as Unity says, the majority of abortions are carried out for purely social reasons is there not a case that says adoption as an alternative to abortion should at least be considered and actively promoted by government?

“The vast majority of abortions are carried out for fundamentally social reasons, reasons that have little or nothing to do with any direct substantive risks to the physical or psychological well being of the majority of woman who use abortion services”

An undifferentiated ball of cells or a fertilised egg is not a human being and it is nonsense to regard it as such, but it at least has the potential to be a human so I think it is misleading to regard abortion as a purely cosmetic operation like having a nose straightened or a mole removed. The pro-life lobby argue that women should have the twin rights of sovereignty and self determination over their bodies, but 50% of the genetic material contained in a foetus belongs to the father does he get no say in the debate?

The NMC are currently running a review of pre-registration nursing education.

Questions include:

should nurses be prepared to diploma or degree level?

what proportion of a pre-registration programme should be spent learning in practice?

should shared learning be a requirement?

should there be generalist and/or branch programmes, and if so, what should the branches be?

The recruitment numbers in my area for mental health nursing students has been cut by almost 50% for the next year. Those working at the coal face have a feeling of bewilderment at this, but some number crunchers somewhere have decided this is a good idea.

If the decrease were to continue annually, it could be a slippery slope to phasing out the branch entirely.

Look at learning disability nursing. There isn’t much of that training going on these days, with mental health nurses filling many of the posts. Some argue that they are very different specialities and rmns are ill-equipped for such nursing care.

If our branch is phased out, over the coming years we could be working with ordinary general nurses in our highly specialist areas. (gasp!)

I certainly found my first year of generic training quite uninteresting and an effort to remain motivated, but I knew it would be branch specific and interest me more in second and third year. I am not sure I would have done the training at all if I had to do generic training (read = adult nursing).

If we aren’t careful, our nurse training could resemble the training received in the USA and Australia. I certainly don’t think this is a good thing, perhaps others see things differently?

This survey is only open until 8 February (2008) so I would urge you to fill it in as soon as you can and to tell anyone with even a vague link or knowledge of mental health nursing - be they user, carer or worker - to do the same.

I now realise that this was the real agenda for us staying fit and healthy.

It seems Gordy wants to avoid organ donor cards by switching it to an opt out, rather than opt-in, scheme. Apparently Spain does it. Wonder if they do the same with the bulls?

So, now, after deciding to go healthy, I will drink, smoke and consume as much fatty foods as I desire. If I’m too healthy I might be hurried along in time for a donation.  If I’m physiologically useless, I might just get treated?

Plus, I wonder how long before we have to determine wether this one lives or dies, based on reaching another ‘target’?

Ok, so Gordy had this to say from his letter to the people:

It is a sensitive issue, and one on which many different points of view need to be heard. I want to start a genuine debate, and I recognise that there will be legitimate concerns that need to be heard. Any system that moved towards a new kind of consent needs careful safeguards, and we should not move in advance of a real and thoughtful public debate involving faith communities, patients and families.

And we like a good debate ‘ere don’t we….

IMPORTANT NOTE - the letter that is between u and w in the alphabet doesn’t work on my keyboard! So it has been substituted for y. Why? Yes thats right, y. But why? Because it is physically similar to the untypable letter (etc…).

I don’t think I’m a real person you know. Maybe thats a bit harsh. Maybe I mean I’m just not a singular identity. More of a mishmash of ideas, thoughts, emotions, reflections and actions, that if you took a freeze frame shot of at any giyen time, would allegedly constitute a person.

But why the sudden existential malaise I hear you cry (in the barren wilderness)?

Because…

I haye a new beau (it doesn’t look right) (she does though (sighs)).
We got drunk, exposed our darkest secrets and surprise surprise, we both haye mental health issues.

I haye intense feelings for this girl, and when she finally opened up to me I felt an overwhelming desire to be strong, to be whatever she needed, to be her rock.
But I didn’t manage it.
She enquired after me, encouraged me to relax and be honest. So I did, went insecure and needed as many cuddles as she did.

Wait! No problem so far.
Twas a beautiful eyening and we haye moved on one step further (although I’m convinced she is gonna dump me ‘cos I’m weird!).

But.

I engaged in a process of unstructured, mental reflection and realised that this doesn’t happen when I am Nurse.
I can sit with people, build up relationships, care for them, empathise, see their life, see how bad it is, see how much mental health services are responsible for this negative state yet never break down and confess my feelings of guilt at being part of a system that I despise for its practical failings, yet adore for the potential it holds, if only in my own mind.
I never let the other person in, because my profession is incongruous with my ideals.
But how can you truly build a relationship with someone, who you are asking to trust you with their deepest, darkest secrets, if you can’t be honest about your position?

I feel I shine when I am true to myself and am honest with others. Hence that is when SuperNurse appears.
But what poor individual really needs an enlightened nurse assigned to them, who happily informs them that mental health nursing is morally corrupt, but don’t worry, ‘cos I’m alright, Jack?

Who are we going to be when we go into work today?

Conscientious person?
Conscientious nurse?
Honest person?
Honest nurse?

At the moment, when I engage with patients, I feel like I’m holding back a terrible secret. That I haye precious little faith in the system I hae chosen to be a cog in

Plan B looms eyer larger on the horizon…

…driving trains all day for a better wage!

Hopefully no one is reading this on the day itself. Just thought I would write a quick message to try and sum up the last year and some news on upcoming changes.

Well it has been a fabulous year. Our first post of 2007 was This year, I resolve to lose weight by the much missed Malcolmroff. Hoping you are having a brilliant Christmas and still enjoying the site Our new ovlerlord made his first official post in February; And thus he spake, Or, A meditation on first nursing jobs. Sadly we lost a contributer spiritof1976, who made his last post Great stupid ideas in Mental Health: The No-Harm Contract, a topic which stimulated a lot of discussion. Oldschoolbaby taught me a little history that I was unaware of in Suicide Prevention 2. In May Z started his now classic Anthropologists on the Psych Ward series with The Gift Economy. In June I probably made a mistake by inviting the Irreverent Buddhist to do a post on Abuse: Society, The System and Sanity. (On an upbeat note azulinebloo became a regular contributer in June with Management) I think it is still the single most discussed post. Actually no, that would probably be Not Taught At University, following this I felt I was losing perspective and it was probably going to be time for a long long break from the site. I announced my retirement Off On Section 17 Leave: Again. Leaving the site in the capable hands of many others. The list of names is looking a little out of date. With July  Beakie became our in house intellectual given us the benefit of his ivory tower perspective starting with Wot I Done Today. In August we had our first Caption Competition. Lou won a fabulous mug. September saw the start of the Nurse Patient Ratios Campaign. October saw the start of the This Week In Mentalists series. November saw the a whole new post to decorate the toilet wall in OSB’s ward; You know you’re an RMN when…. Also in November Mr Ian became a regular contributer starting with Classic one liners…. December saw the return of OSB after a long absence with Foxhunting For Vegetarians. Also looking forward to reading more by E.

The future plans. A new version of the site software is due out near the end of Jan. As part of the upgrade I will have to update the theme. Suggestions are welcome otherwise I will just pick something similar to the current one. Mental Nurse has significantly grown in popularity since Z took over. We now on average get 500 to 600 page hits a day, plus almost the same again via the rss feed. The hosting company is not complaining yet. I am looking for suggestions from everyone that enjoys Mental Nurse for how to improve the site and make it more betterer.

I would like to thank Z and all the others for the fabulous work they have done and am looking forward to another brilliant year.

*breaks into chorus of they’re all jolly good fellows and fellowesses*

The course in question appears to be this one.

Nursing art and science at Colorado Christian University is grounded in physical science, liberal arts, and biblical principles. Each of these elements is foundational to the curricular building blocks in the education of nursing students. The curriculum emphasizes the health-illness continuum, care management, and restoration in order to support safe and effective nursing practice. The curricular framework cultivates professional development and nursing as ministry. The Bible and a personal faith in Jesus Christ empower students to interpret knowledge and practice the profession as a means of allowing faith to inform and shape the whole person and the practice of professional nursing. Faculty members facilitate the integration of faith, learning, and professional practice in order to prepare nurses to make a difference in the world.

It’s certainly been my experience (based on anecdotal impressions) that nursing seems to attract quite a few practising Christians. No real surprise, to be honest, given the vocational nature of the nursing profession. Mental, the founder and maintainer of this blog, is by his own description a member of the God Squad.

But an actual nursing degree that incorporates Christian theology? Good thing or bad thing?

The secularist, agnostic and Thelemite in me instinctively would say that this is a bad thing, and Christian theology should not be blended with nurse training.

However, there’s a few colleagues I’ve worked with that make me think again.

Three months after I completed my acute-ward-from-hell placement that made up the subject of my previous post, I found myself on my next placement, this time in dementia care. On the ward was a healthcare assistant who was a devout Christian.

I was chatting to him one day about a study day he had attended. The NHS trust had hired a suite at a four-star hotel, complete with four-star standard of lunch. He described the fancy dishes that were on offer, and then said, “I felt ashamed to be there. The trust is happy to shell out all that money for a fancy lunch for us, and look at the garbage we have to feed our patients.”

My immediate reaction was the thought that I couldn’t imagine any of the lazy sods on my previous acute ward saying that. They’d have been too busy stuffing their faces and slagging off their colleagues.

As well as working tirelessly on the ward, this same HCA was using all his annual leave time helping to run a humanitarian project on the Occupied Territories of Palestine. He spent large amounts of his own money flying back and forth between Britain and Palestine, often incurring considerable harassment from the Israeli authorities in doing so. No mean feat for somebody on a HCA salary.

I’ve met quite a few Christian nurses like him. Hardworking, compassionate individuals who seem to have taken on board all of the Christian values of service and altruism and none of the sanctimonious, moralising baggage.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve also worked with plenty of excellent nurses who were committed atheists, and a few Christians who seemed to want to proselytise and badger people into being assimilated into the Borg.

Even so, there’s definitely a lot of fantastic nursing work done by people who don’t want to convert the world, aren’t trying to rewrite palaeontology and don’t seem overly bothered by what consenting adults do to each others’ bottoms, but do seem to channel their religious beliefs into working to make life better for their fellow humans.

And maybe that, after all, is what Jesus would do.