Jacking it all in

Its getting beyond a joke at work, so I feel like giving up and just handing in my notice...

On-call

I hate on-call weeks. My husband still participates in the on-call rota at his work, - even though he IS the boss, and could justifiably get out of it - and I get a week of bad sleep, and have to field these weird calls about broken macerators, stuck lifts, no steam, fire alarms etc. He has a mobile, but sometimes it doesn't pick up the calls, and like just now, I have to ring the gym and leave strange messages, such as 'ring xxx at xx hospital, East7A are having problems with electrics'. What the receptionist thinks of the messages I'm not sure, but I sure get some funny looks when I go in... So, its Saturday morning, he's been on call for 32 hours, and he's had 8 calls already - I hope it calms down, otherwise I am not going to get much sleep this week, and that means a grumpy me, which is not good for my students.

When is a baby's life viable?

The current debate going on in the UK about when is a baby viable, and how hard should medical staff try to 'save' a very premature baby is heart wrenching. Nobody wants their baby to die, but do people realise how hard it is to look after a severely disabled child, who then becomes a severely disabled adult? Advances in medical techniques mean that babies can be 'saved' at even earlier gestation, but should they? People should be told that the chances of their very premature baby living without disability is very small - and that most premature babies will have SOME form of disability. They should also realise that most very early babies DO die, and not expect miracles from the hospital staff. On the other hand, it is not right that if you do have a premature baby, that you might have to go hundreds of miles away to get the neonatal intensive care cot needed to give your baby the chance to survive. Staffing levels at neonatal intensive care units need to be addressed, and properly funded. If the needs for these cots is rising - due to advances in medicine and an increase in multiple births - as a nation we should be investing in our future and providing them, but we still need to be realistic about the quality of life that some of the survivors of very early birth will have. Advances in medicine will continue, but a line needs to be drawn, and soon.

Some sick babies must be allowed to die, says Church

Fight for life

Good day at the rugby

Last week, we drew with Australia, but today, we took the Pacific Islands to the cleaners, winning 38-20. The last part of the match Wales had the Islanders all over their 22, but still couldn't get that final try they deserved. But an impressive performance, especially from Ceri Sweeney, and the rising star James Hook.

Remembrance Day

It was good to see people stopping in the street and pulling over in their cars to spend two minutes reflecting on how much we owe the people who gave their lives in the two word wars, and all the conflicts since. I was teaching a course this week - one of the students was Iranian, and on Thursday he asked what was the significance of the red poppy he had seen me wearing all week - it was strange to have to explain this simple thing, but it also reinforced my belief that we SHOULD still say 'thank you' every year at 11am on the 11the day of the 11th month.

What do you buy your husband for Xmas when he won't give you a clue?

I spotted this in the current issue of Health Services Journal - at least he can use it in the office!!!

NHS Map

Treating every student equally

It Is hard to deal with hidden disabilities when students don't disclose them. As a careers adviser , I deal with the whole spectrum of students, but some are easier to deal with than others. My university is very positive about disability, and we have a large proportion of students that have declared a disability, but the ones that are the most difficult to deal with are the ones with below average social skills, who have not declared a disability. As we host the faculty of Computing on the campus I work at, we joke about the 'nerds and geeks', and the fact that many of them really do seem to be attached by an umbilical cord to their computers, but I now wonder how many of them are perhaps undiagnosed Aspergers Syndrome - as we certainly struggle to get through to them the importance of interpersonal skills, teamworking and self management when they are applying for placements and employment. So this article in the New York Times was really interesting - and I will certainly be more aware when I am teaching employability skills, that perhaps some of my socially inept students are perhaps struggling with an undisclosed disability, and perhaps be able to adapt the teaching to suit.

Students on the Spectrum

I like big beds!

I spent last night in a hotel, as I had an extremely early start to the next course I was teaching. It was very luxurious, and the bed was HUGE!!! It was wider than I am tall by several inches, and very high. I sat in the middle of it last night, surrounded by loads of pillows, and couldn't reach the edge to put my glasses on the bedside table!! I must have looked like some sort of gnome sitting there. When it's time to have a new bed at home, I think I may push for one of those big ones, just to have more room to spread out in when I sleep, even when I share.