A day in the life of a UK nurse

[bds165]

Hello everyone! I noticed that there are several nurses posting here who have worked both in the U.K. and U.S. I was curious about the differences in practice that a staff nurse would see.

For example, the differences in ancillary staff. Do U.K. hospitals utilize specialized disciplines such as respiratory therapists, physical therapists, phlebotomists, etc. or do nurses cover those tasks?

What are the relationships between nurses and doctors? Is there a collaborative effort or more of a top-down model?

What are the typical staffing ratios?

What country did you prefer and why?

Forgive me if there are previous posts addressing this. I did a search and couldn't find much recent information.

Thank you very much!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Although not nursed in the UK for a few years yes we have physiotherapists and phlebotomists but nurses are the ones who gave respiratory treatment although physiotherapists will see patients who needed more input. The RN was responsible for giving nebulizer therapy as well as regular inhalers. Phlebotomists generally only worked mon-fri so RN's again was expected to do it as expected to most other tasks.

In all the hospitals I worked at I always saw a good working relationship between doctors and nurses

[thenightnurse456]

Although not nursed in the UK for a few years yes we have physiotherapists and phlebotomists but nurses are the ones who gave respiratory treatment although physiotherapists will see patients who needed more input. The RN was responsible for giving nebulizer therapy as well as regular inhalers. Phlebotomists generally only worked mon-fri so RN's again was expected to do it as expected to most other tasks.

In all the hospitals I worked at I always saw a good working relationship between doctors and nurses

Sounds similar to Oz.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Sounds similar to Oz.

Very. I have nursed in Ireland and Australia and it is very, very similar.

[thenightnurse456]

Very. I have nursed in Ireland and Australia and it is very, very similar.

I've spoken to colleagues from Ireland who have since come to Aus. They make the working conditions in Ireland to be very hard! Is this true? I love Ireland, working and living there one day would be amazing even though I know the job climate there is horrendous.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Practice is similar, conditions hellish since I left 8 years ago.

[MaryAnnD]

Critical care patients. 1:1 in ICU, 2:1 in HDU. We have physio rounds daily, but we give almost all breathing tx. iCU is RN only, HDU have Health Care Assistants x1 or 2 to support the RNs. The HCAs are all trained to NVQ level 2 or 3.

[vandiola]

As everyone else has said, we have PT's and OT's and phlebotomists, but nurses can cannulate and do venepuncture as well. It's not a part of our studies though, you have to do further training once you register, if that is what you want to do. On general medical/surgical wards we have a ratio of 6-8:1 and we have HCA's who are essentially nurse aides. I've found the relationship between nurses and doctors is very good, particularly nurses and junior doctors.

I dont really know enough about the nursing model in the US to suggest which one is better. I believe there is more autonomy in the US and better and clearer upwards progression. Nursing is a free course here in the UK and we also have the NHS, which in my opinion is one of the best things in the universe. We also are more likely to be recruited after our studies, my placement trust employs 100% of it's students. That must be around 400 students each year!! But we have massive understaffing issues, and are incredibly reliant on agency nurses

[skylark, BSN, RN]

I always found UK nursing to be more 'hands-on' that US nursing.

If a pt wants a BSC or poops in the bed, the UK nurse clears it up, while the US nurse goes to look for a CNA to do it!

UK nurses also deal more with body fluids generally, cleaning up spills that housekeeping won't touch, whereas in the US i just page Environmental to do it.

Just my 2c worth!

[vandiola]

Bedside nursing seems to be really unpopular in the US. Most band 5 and 6 nurses here will do basic care tasks, you can't really walk onto a ward and say 'I'm not going to clean that large bowel movement on my bed bound patient'. I mean there's even a very a common phrase the British public use to describe degree nurses - 'too posh to wash', which literally makes me want to murder.

[MaryAnnD]

We don't have HCAs in our ITU so all personal care delivered by RN.

[skylark, BSN, RN]

Delivering personal care is the basis of a nursing assessment, so I have never understood how delegating it can work.

I mean, how can you say you have assessed pressure areas without looking? Or assess diarrhea without looking at it?

Can we honestly say that ALL CNAs know to report changes in the skin appearance from excoriation or early pressure damage? They are not there to assess, so why is this being delegated?

Washing an incontinent pt is the best way to complete the assessment, it allows you to assess everything at once -

the pt's level of comprehension/co-operation, their skin integrity, (some insights into their nutritional status can be found here), continence issues, etc, etc . . . . .

There have been so many changes in nursing, and IMHO the wrong things are often delegated, as they are seen as too menial for professional nurses. So sad.