I am not one to remain silent, as my friends know. I am a retired registered nurse after being a p.m. charge nurse for over 40 years in an 800 bed teaching hospital in the Chicago area.

I sadly realize things have changed in nursing and the world since the 1950s and 1960s But having been a patient at Marquette General Hospital numerous times, I wonder what is being taught or not taught to incoming nursing students. I believe they are taught procedures and techniques but nothing about personal patient care.

I had a few call lights on as I taught my staff to be sure the patient had what they needed before leaving the room, e.g. HOB at comfortable level, their bedside table in their reach and they had a box of Kleenex, freshwater and the phone within reach. We had no cell phones in those days and the call light within reach.

When I told all this to a young nurse, she looked at me like I was from another planet. I was on a cardiac diet and was served food a construction guy couldn’t eat. So for all you older registered nurses out there, be prepared. You will not get the personal care in the hospital that we gave our patients.