Is the title Ward sister outdated?

Readers' comments (28)

• George Kuchanny | 7-Jul-2012 2:31 pm

  Definitely not manager. Anything asexual with the most important bit 'NURSE' in it would be better.
  e.g.
  Charge Nurse (M&F)
  Ward Nurse
  Senior Nurse
  Nurse in Charge
  Head ward Nurse
  and so on until somebody finds something really good.
  

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• Anonymous | 8-Jul-2012 10:26 am

  anon 12.11 'rellies'?
  
  noun. Can be found in the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary and Thesaurus.

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• Anonymous | 8-Jul-2012 12:43 pm

  Anonymous | 8-Jul-2012 10:26 am
  
  
  Hi, thanks. I take your word for it as I don't have access. I always use the OED and it ain't in there.
  
  I am not sure I would like to be referred to as a 'rellie' and wouldn't use it to refer to anybody else anymore that I would use 'Sis' on the wards!
  
  
  Just checked in good old Google and find an online Oxford definition which must be more up to date than my CD-Rom 11th Ed.
  
  Found the Cambridge you mention above and they also confirm that it is Australian, informal.
  
  Oxford Dictionary online
  
  "rellie Pronunciation: /'r?li/
  
  (Australian also rello)
  
  Definition of rellie
  
  noun (plural rellies or rellos)
  informal, chiefly Australian/NZ
  a relative: let’s hope the lads leave any embarrassing rellies at home"
  
  
  

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• Alice P | 10-Jul-2012 8:23 pm

  Just because "we've always done it that way," is no reason to continue. I agree that it is sexist, religious-based, and has no place in a professional environment today. It's infantalizing, too. Sometimes the first thing a baby is taught is to call his elder sibling 'sister' if he has difficulty with her given name. As others have pointed out, it is de-personalizing. We should use our names and a proper title, to build an appropriate relationship of caring with our patients.

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• Anonymous | 10-Jul-2012 8:40 pm

  Alice P | 10-Jul-2012 8:23 pm
  
  I agree with you. I already said it above and say it again! I have a name and like my patients I expect people to use it as a mark of respect and I do not wish to be depersonalised. Not like when I trained in the 1970s and we were told we all had to act and dress exactly the same with no personal adornments and very little makeup, hair scrapped back under our hats and dowdy dresses to touch the tip of our tibial tubercles (regularly checked to ensure they had not shrunk in the laundry), as patients, we were told, only saw us as a nurse and not as individuals! My only digression from the 'norm' was my hat which had to have a regulatory seven flutes at the back and being rather hack handed with a sewing needle I invariably ended up with six or eight - and in three years, fortunately nobody ever noticed!

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• Anonymous | 15-Mar-2013 8:46 am

  Anonymous | 8-Jul-2012 12:43 pm
  
  Pointless guff! Need to look that up?! Twit.

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• Anonymous | 15-Mar-2013 11:01 am

  sister conjures up images of nun's veils and crucifixes and long musty smelling dark robes, matron conjures up a busty blue stocking or bossy old bag and white starched sheets and envelope corners tucked in so tight the poor patients can't breath, not to mention DVTs and fear, military type discipline and reverential hushed tones when ever she is around.
  
  If we are to respect our patients and use the name and title they choose to be addressed by then perhaps they should also respect the fact that we also have names and titles we wish to be known by and which are usually on our name badges to give them a little help.
  
  Ward manager seems more suitable than sister or charge (for the boys) but doesn't not indicate whether or not somebody is a qualified nurse.

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• Anonymous | 15-Mar-2013 11:03 am

  James Bird | 4-Jul-2012 10:34 am
  
  entirely agree

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