Excuse me, but care assistants may “pop in”, tea ladies may “pop in”, but nurses do planned assessments of their patients state of health whenever they see them. This is a clear case of poor use of language that continues to perpetuate the dumbing down of nursing. It brings to mind the 1997 British Columnia Nurses Union campaign:

“He thinks he’s having a conversation about the hospital Jell-O. She’s actually midway through about 100 assessments. In the seconds it takes to reach the bedside, a Registered Nurse will have made over 100 assessments. Any one of which could mean the difference between recovery and tragedy. Take away direct patient care from Registered Nurses and vital knowledge affecting the health of the patient is lost. Nurses are doing vital work. It’s that simple…..”