"This is servants' work!"

"This is servants' work!"

In Harry Potter: The Philosopher's Stone, when Draco Malfoy is taken into the Forbidden Forest as a punishment, he remarks "This is servants' work!" His remark is not prompted by disdain, but fear. We have no sympathy for his petulant protests, because he simply wants his social inferiors to take the risks. He will acknowledge neither his own cowardice nor the bravery of the servants whom he would want to deal with such situations.

This reminds me of the attitude of some people towards nurses. Nursing requires various personal qualities of compassion and empathy. This is why we should value and respect good nurses. Instead, the ethos of the current UK government seems to be that this is a given, and just like Draco Malfoy these qualities should be simply expected of the servants. Jeremy Hunt seems to believe that different training is required to ensure compassion rather than adequate staffing levels or pay rises. This attitude reflects the comments of Julie Bailey. 

Of course compassion is at the heart of nursing. But the ruling classes think you can pay somebody for compassion.Their belief is that compassion is something that is paid for, nurses are the professionally compassionate. Compassion as a professional service. Her self-published diatribe contains this message again and again. 

Nursing is servants' work. And Jeremy Hunt is Draco Malfoy.