Nursing in the UK

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:evil: I have had enough of being a nurse. I have been in the game now since 1997 and have worked my butt off for ten years in medical admissions, theatres, intensive care specialising in neurology and cardiac. I have worked all over the country and hopefully made a difference in countless peoples lives.... for what???

Poor poor pay (I am a male and the main bread winner for a family with 3 kids) ain't happening.

Horrendous conditions i.e. poor practice, lack of staff, abuse from patients as well as staff, unsafe environment, ridiculous pressure from managers and above, lack of appreciation, inability to perform to my full potential due to low staffing and other constraints, crap doctors (and nurses), severe LACK of knowledge from staff, massive sickness rate, disgusting hygiene, SERCO SUCK, no perks, no rewards, no support, no career progress, no ethics, no moral, all of this is has steadily worsened over the 10 years of my working as a nurse.

We are getting sacked, frozen posts, working overtime unpaid claiming time back but cannot claim it back, running theatre lists on horrendous staffing levels, watching mistake after mistake and I keep thinking and praying my family or myself never ever have to come into hospital.

The media and pr industry try their hardest to ensure we and the public do not take full notice of the steady decline and ensure we cannot or do not UNITE and make a stand to battle the bull s*&t.

The RCN are such a complete waste of time and money, government lap dogs who fight like wet sponges, consider only themselves as a coorporation, are so slow and behind the times beacause they are OLD OLD OLD nurses submissive to the male authority figure and no idea or interest in fighting the ground forces corner. Man they wind me up, we need a proper union with balls of steel to stand and make a real battle for us.

But lets not forget, we as nurse get no recognition or support from the government due to them being pedominantly MALE and nurses FEMALE so they think, hmmmm, they are caring by nature with their maternal instinct, why pay them, they should do this out of the kindness of their heart.

The government suck, patricia hewitt sucks, the rcn sucks and the nhs sucks big time. Oh and by the way, forget about any other party making a difference, you vote means nothing in the future of the nhs. All my friends are leaving either nursing or the country and I am next, fingers crossed NZ here we come. Students, why train to enter a profession where if you look at recent history will not offer you anything but a life of stress, no future, no stability, sheesh you cannot even get a job once you have completed your degree, madness.

I appreciate others may not agree with my opinion but most do in the hundreds of nurses I have come into contact with. There are exceptions, that one patient who reminded you of what it used to be like or could be, but it ain't ever gonna be like that. United we stand and divided we fall, we need to strike and forget the bull about ohhh what about your patients, what about US.

Specializes in midwifery, ophthalmics, general practice.
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I do expect to get grief for this statement but I am going to say it anyway- I think a certain kind of nurse is attracted by money and they think that nursing pays good money so they come into the job for that reason, but they really cant stand the heat and dont have the ability to perform the whole job.

ah.. I tend to agree with you. I've been in nursing for nearly 30yrs now.. I trained in the bad old days when we had a matron (who would inspect you and send you home if you didnt look like a nurse!).

Nursing is going through a bad patch.. many reasons for that. The whole health service is in a state of change and change is not easy on anyone. I dont have any answers.. less admin staff maybe and more nurses on the wards???

I would comment that many of the student nurses I come into contact (I'm a clinical practice teacher) have little idea of the reality of nursing and many seem shocked by the hands on stuff.. yes I still get on my knees to do leg ulcer dressings. Many are not equiped to deal with the reality of sick people. This may be a fault in the training.. not sure. But with the loss on many experiances nurses.. who are looking to go abroad or just swap jobs, who is there to teach our newbies? this in turn will have an impact on the quality of nursing.........

this is beginning to feel like a chicken and egg senario.. but why stay in nursing if you can earn considerably more in another job without the hassle and worry.. and trust me.. you always worry about patients..I still do! I dont know the answer.. wish i did.

Karen

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