How's nursing in the UK?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 6, 2013

Just do a search re the NHS in crisis. RCN (Royal College of Nurses) posted before Christmas over 61000 jobs for nurses gone or in jeopardy. Many hospitals not replacing jobs including nurses. Hospitals filing for bankruptcy. Don't think ICU is on the job shortage list so if a work permit is required may find it difficult finding employer willing to go this route

machaix · Feb 7, 2013

Thanks!

What about travel nursing?

machaix · Feb 7, 2013

How come according to this site-

http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/advsearch?quick_search=1&staff_group=SG40

There are still a lot of vanacies...?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 7, 2013

Jobs advertised doesn't necessarily mean it will be filled. Also looking at a few of the jobs they are either internal meaning must be already employed by the hospital or if not from the EU or UK the hospital must complete a test and prove they could not employ someone from within the EU/UK first

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 7, 2013

Travel nursing isn't really something the UK uses generally known as Agency nursing and still to qualify for work permit the UK Borders mandate has to be met and most jobs will be in expensive to live places lie London where cost of living is one of the highest in the world

blackcomb · Feb 13, 2013

Cost of livingis definitely high in London and the most expensive place to live and work and teaching hospitals there are the best especially if you want to get more educated and progress faster in the Profession, but 3000 pounds approximately extra given per year for Nurses working in London for the expense of living and working in London, I know that much as I lived and worked there for 3 yrs (I'm from England, nursing in Canada currently).

skylark, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2013

Just do a search re the NHS in crisis. RCN (Royal College of Nurses) posted before Christmas over 61000 jobs for nurses gone or in jeopardy. Many hospitals not replacing jobs including nurses. Hospitals filing for bankruptcy. Don't think ICU is on the job shortage list so if a work permit is required may find it difficult finding employer willing to go this route

Absolutely agree.

I'm based in the US but still work a few weeks a year in the UK, and each time I go back its in a worse mess than before. I just left there 2 weeks ago. Hospital closures are happening all over the place, services are being scaled down, the NHS is slowly imploding and its reaching an almost unworkable level.

This last decade the NHS has managed to get ER waits down to 4 hours, but in the last few months its gotten worse, averaging 8-12 hours where i was working, and not uncommon for a patients to be there 2 or 3 days waiting for a bed.

All very unsafe. But of course if anything goes wrong, its will be the nurses fault : (

I was put in a situation where there are no docs in ER at night, (cutbacks), a kid is brought in at 2am with a severe head injury. Managed to get a CT, showed intracranial bleeding. Could not get a doc, or anaesthetic support for an ambulance journey to another hospital for neurosurgery. So do we sent the kid with paramedics only and hope he doesn't go off on the way, or wait until we have called every hospital in London trying to "borrow" an anaesthetist for the journey?

Whatever we do will be wrong,and its my registration on the line.

Oh, and another patient with spinal injury, unstable C2 andC3#s, waited ten days in ER for a neurosurgery bed. Again, my registration on the line if she had deteriorated in that time.

I did 25 years in the NHS before I moved to the US and I am saddened to see the unsafe mess its become.

allnurses Guide · Feb 14, 2013

Skylark paints a very bleak picture of the NHS and although it's not so grim everywhere, it is a very difficult time. However, financial difficulties face most trusts, standards of care are sometime difficult to maintain , jobs are scarce with hundreds of applicants for just 1 job.

Its hard, and getting harder, morale is poor especially with the heavy critisism we are facing in the wake of North Staffs

skylark, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2013

How come according to this site-
NHS Jobs - Search Results
There are still a lot of vanacies...?

Once upon a time, (I think it was in 2006), there was a nurse who applied for a job.

I applied for and was appointed to a band 7 post, in London. HR went through the entire process, even taking up references and completing a CRB application.

But when I contacted them regarding a start date, I was told there was no funding to commence the post. I was advised to contact them again in 3 months, which I did, and again at 6 months, 9 months etc.

That was around 6 years ago and I have still not started the job. They are using agency to cover the vacancy until there are funds available. I even worked the job as a agency nurse myself for a few months, a couple of years ago.

Agency nurses cost a fortune, but it comes from a different budget. The agency I worked for in this post not only paid me very well, but also charged the NHS £8 an hour commission.

I no longer work fulltime in the UK. I did 25 years in the NHS and have always defended it, but the crazy management and politics of the last decade have destroyed it.

babyNP., APRN · Feb 20, 2013

Well, next election is this year or next year! I know my DH is voting Labour and wouldn't give a second thought to any other party else except the Green party. Talking about US health care reform, it's scary to see how your government can slowly dismantle your own health care system...DH says that if the Conservatives could get away with it, they'd completely do away with the NHS. So sad.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 20, 2013

I don't think next election will be until 2015 and I think current government will hold on as long as they can. The NHS was going downhill when the Labour government was in, I was working there then in fact I would say the NHS has been going downhill decades regardless on who was in. When I did my training back in the middle 80's was normal to see 2-3 RN and 1 EN (LPN) on days with care workers assisting by the time I qualified in 88 it had dropped down to 1-2 RN and 1 EN on days with same amount of acute patients (28 patients)