Uk for Uk?

mabel u.k · Feb 22, 2006

Hello, I am new to this site, but fairly old to nursing in the NHS. I love working as a nurse in the UK and although there are many problems and evidence of questionable management within healthcare in the UK I love nothing better that going to work and spending time with my patients.

As for AFC I have yet to be banded (Wales is about 100 years behind the rest of the UK but we have the efficient Welsh Assembly to thank for that) I know that I will get a raw deal from AfC, I am a H grade Nurse PRactitioner and so far all Nurse Pracs are being banded a 6s, autonomy and freedom to act does not count as much as finacial and HR managment apparently. despite that I still love my job, I ideally would like an 8A - but know I am living in the clouds. Never Mind I will appeal and wait :rolleyes:

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Jun 26, 2006

None of my comments were directed at yourself. I simply mentioned that many people do say that nursing training is cr*p when I mention that I am about to embark on a nursing career. No one said that you were a dragon either and it's unfortunate that you seem to have taken the posts personally. I'm sure that patients sometimes do not receive good basic nursing care,

I'm a uk student nurse in manchesters and in one of my placement hopsitals one of my cohort told me that she regulary stayed late to care for patients basic needs due to her ward having a constant staffing problems with high sicknees rates, she couldn't go home knowing some frail person hadn't had some care. I've been lucky good wards with good morale, good patient care and i've found a ward i love to work on because of its staff how the treat patients, each other, the MDT and espcially me as a student nurse.

plato353 · Jun 26, 2006

what a lively forum.

i would like to through my two cents/pennys in the pot. I am a jollie foreigner who has been nursing in the nhs for the past 9 years. I started working in the clinical degrading system and left prior to the introduction on AFC. what i am at odds with is the clinical banding and its implementation. in most cases does not rewarding the talents of the nurses that puts the most into his/her department.

in comparison to the USA nurses should be paid higher due to the amount of years served in the proffesion provided that they meet annual educational standards that reflects directly in practice. that is still the system where i trained in south africa.although not working there now i will return one day

yet i fell victim to globilisation and the the attractiveness of the USA. my passion is the sciences anatomy physiology,biochemistry etc and i believe i will be a lecturer out there as most of the babyboomer generation is about to retire.there is a critcal shortage of lecturers

in essence what i am trying to say to say is nursing has let me down in the uk. i feel i have never gotten to grips with the medical model. an american lecturer friend made me think. he said over here as a nurse (in the UK) you are a go getter "nurse get me this nurse get me that......."". we have all heard those words before at one stage.

i now work as a medical rep and do nursing part time and is appaling to see how my former collegues are running like blue £$$%^ flies on the unit just trying to stay afloat saddens me.i see it at various hospitals. i havent got long to go to quit before i leave for the USA as this forum initially started out. the thought of being an independant practioner again over there is what i yearn for.

i want to spend time with a pateint and do a full assesments. after all Maslow is my favorite i like the holistic approach to pateint caring. i have never seen it done in 4 hours. if someone has could they please cite me the paper and in what journal plus the medline search so that i can look it up.

most nures in the uk work there guts out in an abnormal system and its not going to change by a long shot.i am being realistic there is no grand utopia as every country has its downsides but at least the thrill of being independant and my decision counts is what would give me satisfaction

plato353

cariad · Jun 26, 2006

hi plato....what planet did you say that you are from ?

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Jun 27, 2006

I want to work in the UK or Ireland and am currently a st/n in manchester But i,m regreeting not looking into irish pre registration course. UK pre-regs as has been said are specilaist even the Adult branch the R.O.I has a 4 years degree in nursing leading to RGN reg, they also have our other branches. I have ambition to trave and use my RN to do so but begining to think no other country will acept my Regristation, these being new zealand Aus and canada. i know canada is out.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2006

I want to work in the UK or Ireland and am currently a st/n in manchester But i,m regreeting not looking into irish pre registration course. UK pre-regs as has been said are specilaist even the Adult branch the R.O.I has a 4 years degree in nursing leading to RGN reg, they also have our other branches. I have ambition to trave and use my RN to do so but begining to think no other country will acept my Regristation, these being new zealand Aus and canada. i know canada is out.

What kind of student are you? You say you want to work in UK or Ireland then say you want to travel. Why is Canada out. Are you from the UK?

mabel u.k · Jun 27, 2006

Been re-reading through this thread, it is sad that so many nurses within the NHS feel the need to leave because of the system. If you are following a dream and have always wanted to work somewhere else then that's fantastic.

I still love working in the NHS, I feel very fortunate because within my role I do get time to spend with my patients and assess them, talk to them, reassure them. The nurses on the ward work very hard but certainly within my unit I would say the standard of nursing care is excellent. We strive to provide the essential basics of care and maintain standards, I think that the majority of the time we achieve this too. Thats not to ay that I have rose coloured glasses, yes there are huge problems within the NHS but there are outstanding nurses who do a brilliant job.

I have always been very determined within my carreer, if I didn't like the way things were running then I have got myself into a postition that I am able to influence change. I know that there are some things that I will not be able to influence but within my area I have a fair amount of autonomy and independent practice which means that I am able to work with my staff to use the resources we have in the best ways possible.

Plato353 you say that over here (UK) nurses are "go getters", there may be some element of that but that is not everything that UK nursing is about. I look around at the efforts and progress that UK nurses make to survive in a struggling system and feel proud to work alongside them. Yes we have all heard nurse get me this, nurse get me that, but we also hear I couldn't have got through this without your care, thankyou for everything, I can really talk to you nurse, I never feel rushed when your on duty.

If there are things that we don't like then we write papers, present evidence, discuss with senior managers and change - yes sometimes comprimise, sometimes fail but we try.

I still love working in the NHS

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2006

Been re-reading through this thread, it is sad that so many nurses within the NHS feel the need to leave because of the system. If you are following a dream and have always wanted to work somewhere else then that's fantastic.
I still love working in the NHS, I feel very fortunate because within my role I do get time to spend with my patients and assess them, talk to them, reassure them. The nurses on the ward work very hard but certainly within my unit I would say the standard of nursing care is excellent. We strive to provide the essential basics of care and maintain standards, I think that the majority of the time we achieve this too. Thats not to ay that I have rose coloured glasses, yes there are huge problems within the NHS but there are outstanding nurses who do a brilliant job.
I have always been very determined within my carreer, if I didn't like the way things were running then I have got myself into a postition that I am able to influence change. I know that there are some things that I will not be able to influence but within my area I have a fair amount of autonomy and independent practice which means that I am able to work with my staff to use the resources we have in the best ways possible.
Plato353 you say that over here (UK) nurses are "go getters", there may be some element of that but that is not everything that UK nursing is about. I look around at the efforts and progress that UK nurses make to survive in a struggling system and feel proud to work alongside them. Yes we have all heard nurse get me this, nurse get me that, but we also hear I couldn't have got through this without your care, thankyou for everything, I can really talk to you nurse, I never feel rushed when your on duty.
If there are things that we don't like then we write papers, present evidence, discuss with senior managers and change - yes sometimes comprimise, sometimes fail but we try.
I still love working in the NHS

I so agree with your comments, I left the Uk to follow a dream and to be with my family. I had a lovely job in the UK and worked with a great bunch of staff-I was very sad to leave. I miss nursing in the UK but I doubt I will work as a floor nurse again as I have injured my back since being in the US.

Before I left we strived to keep everything together with a very tight budget, but we all pulled together as a team.

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Jun 27, 2006

What kind of student are you? You say you want to work in UK or Ireland then say you want to travel. Why is Canada out. Are you from the UK?

I'm a Adult branch student from Northern Ireland(UK) but training in manchester and i want to use my Registration to work and see whe world a bit for a few years. Personal dream and though not all the nurses i've spoke to have found the grass greenere and some return to the NHS they did have a experince of diffenernt health care systems. I then want to come back to UK or Ireland to work. As many posters have said the RN(A) does not met the requiremnts of Canada, pity i've always fancied there. However Australia and NZ accept registrants from each other and Austraila accepts EU directive nurses and that would be me.

cariad · Jun 28, 2006

well said mabel.....i have now been away for 2 years so missed the agenda for change, but was recently back home visiting the ward where i worked, and its still the same, with nearly all the same staff. yes they moan and groan but yes they mostly enjoy the work and the camaraderie with each other. i do believe that uk nurses are a lot more autonomous than in the us, uk doctors....regardless of their roots listen to what the nurses have to say about their patients, and act on it, in the us,,,quite often doctors write orders for patients without even acknowledging that the nurse exists, and then the nurse has to follow the orders, not knowing what has been discussed between doctor and patient, and we all know that what the patient says is not always quite the way that they have behaved.

this is the way that i have seen it happen, no doubt other nurses will have seen things being done differently in the areas that they work.