Jane Bates

Nursing Standard

Priority COVID-19 vaccination means all nurses, not just those in the NHS

Front-line staff at care homes, agencies and other private workplaces mustn’t be left behind

Nursing Standard

Why hamper retired nurses keen to help the coronavirus vaccine roll-out?

If ever there was a time to cut NHS red tape, it’s now

Nursing Standard

Let’s face 2021 with courage, creativity – and non-steamy eyewear

COVID-19 has tested nurses, but our ‘can-do’ spirit will see us through the days ahead

Nursing Standard

Free school meals campaign showed the best of us – from footballers to nurses

Starving children belong in Dickensian novels, not modern-day Britain

Nursing Standard

If only nurses were in charge of COVID-19 test and trace

Coronavirus testing system needs leaders who understand the needs of ordinary people

Nursing Standard

Student placements: we need to ‘feed’ our future nurses to build them up

Why does nurses’ famed kindness not always extend to each other, or those in training?

Nursing Standard

If you want to educate the public – ask a nurse

Public health campaigns are a blunt necessity, but nurses have the expertise to help people to change

Nursing Standard

Wearing a face mask to the shop is a small price to pay to save lives

Preventing further spread of COVID-19 is the least we can do to thank front-line workers

Poor social distancing
Nursing Standard

When it comes to social distancing we all need to dance to the same tune

Lockdown rules only work if vulnerable, isolated people truly feel we’re all in it together

Wobble rooms
Nursing Standard

Why the wobble room is a necessary sanity saver

It’s essential nurses have a space to think, cry and be fallible, especially amid a pandemic

two people hands hold on to walking stick
Nursing Standard

COVID-19 will leave a legacy of harm that extends far beyond the high death toll

The coronavirus pandemic has many ways to wreak havoc with our health and well-being

Dad's Army Coronavirus home guard
Nursing Standard

Why I’m reluctant to join the coronavirus home guard

The government plan to recruit retired nurses during the COVID-19 crisis has a serious flaw

Image of man contemplating, with question marks around him
Nursing Standard

When patient choice becomes a decision-making dilemma

Not everyone is comfortable with a ‘choose your own’ approach to care, says Jane Bates

Three nurses stand together, smiling
Nursing Standard

As nurses, we need fun – and respect – if we are to survive the stresses of the job

Colleagues of my vintage remember when there was more room for camaraderie, says Jane Bates

Picture shows upper part of Big Ben at dusk with a statue of a horse and chariot in the foreground. Struggling to adapt to the changing pace of life after retiring from nursing, Jane Bates lists some of the mental triggers that still keep her on edge.
Nursing Standard

I may have retired from nursing, but nursing has not retired from me

Recently-retired Jane Bates reflects on the everyday triggers that keep her on her toes

illustration shows frightened man, woman and bawling child as nurse approaches with a syringe
Nursing Standard

With childhood immunisation rates falling, it’s time to ramp up the scare tactics

Parents should be spared no detail about the reality of diseases like diphtheria and polio

illustration shows a road that forks, with sign pointing left showing obese people, sign on right showing people of healthy weight
Nursing Standard

Put that snack away: childhood obesity and the case for banning food on public transport

The idea of outlawing train picnics sounds extreme, but there’s wisdom in it

road signs pointing to 'old life' and 'new life'
Nursing Standard

Jane Bates: Life is about endings and beginnings and it’s time for me to bid you goodbye

I may be retiring from nursing (and this column) but a nurse will always be who I am

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