mageean

As a male nurse with 30 experience working with Dementia sufferers, I can state clearly that I have enjoyed every day of it. I started as a Nursing aid, the trained and have worked at all levels including head of Service. Thorougly enjoyed the Challenges, camaradarie of colleagues and am now looking forward to retirement in 3 weeks (10th Oct)

Remember paraldehyde given in glass syringes in case it melted the plastic??

I stopped last October after smoking for over 30yrs. I used patches which helped. I also acknowledged the fact that I had to have 2 stents inserted in my coronary arteries, could not climb stairs without being breathless and an expanding waist line. My tip is to always remember that whilst you might WANT a cigarette yo do not NEED it! Good luck and dont give up giving up!!

I am due to take early retirement in october following 30yrs in mental health nursing in Ireland and UK my last 10years have "doubled" to 20 for pension purposes. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every day of it starting as a care assistant in 1977 to now as Head of service.There are choices within psychiatry, Adult care, rehabilitation, forensic work, older poeple. My passion has always been for people with Dementia who present a variety of different challenges. It does however take understanding, tolerance, supportive colleagues to enhance the patients experience of services. I have no hesitation in recommending mental health as a career

In my area we provide mental health liaison nurses to the local general hospitals, which helps them to better understand mental health issues (esp Dementia) and supports joint assessments and effective discharge planning etc. additionally we provide education and training to general hospital staff and the service is very well received

make sure you have an up to date Job description, signed by your manager, which reflects the job you do and the responsibilities and accountabilities. The bands are supposed to reflect the detail and responsibility attached to the job you do. I understand some of the early implementer sites are being matched at a comparable or lower grade so I have no great faith in A4C

I am one of the lucky one's i suppose. I will have completed 30years service (all at mental Health Officer status) by the time I am 55 and before 2013 which gives me a full 40yr pension. I do however think the scheme is scandalous as most nurses are only at their maximum earning capacity in later years and pensions will be based on many years on a lower salary and nurses will need to work to n65 to maintain a standard of living. You may remember that Mental health officer status was withdrawn some years ago and to my mind this is another hammer blow to a profession struggling to recruit now. As for A4C, is this not yet another "Clinical grading" exercise which will only demoralise an already demoralised workforce. Retirement for me in 2 years is now the only motivation I have, but I will argue against these proposals. This is after all an election year and we should ensure this issue has maximum exposure.

:chuckle UK Nurse Does the rise cover your increase in mortgage/rent or perhaps goes some way to pay for your "subsidised" meals!!

D grade nurses earn between £16005 and £17670 per year before tax etc. Dependant on where you go to, living expenses vary considerably, with London and South East being the most expensive and the North of England and Scotland being the cheapest. Agencies may pay a little higher but do not attach benefits (uniforms, sickness pay etc) Come on over!

In my experience there are many emergencies in LTC Heart attack Stroke Falls and Fractures Choking self harm episodes and the list goes on!

Patients now tend to present with more complex needs and are discharged faster!!. Increased community resources are not always able to keep up. The additional paperwork and national target setting takes away from any concept of person centred care. After 30 yrs I am now looking forward to retiring!!!

That is the best thing I have read today! I am now attempting to visualize it.

In my experience The higher you progress in management the more is expected from you. PLEASE!!!! get your work/life balance correct from the start. good luck.

Caution!! In the UK Rispiridal (Respiridone) is not reccommended to children under 15years old. Source. British National Formulary(BNF) which is produced by the British Pharmaceutical Society.