nutrix

Interesting view madwife2002, and a fair summary of what nursing is about. I think you have highlighted 2 crucial points of why people would be mad to contemplate coming into nursing now. The first is your quoted statement above and the second is if anyone thinks that nursing pays good money ???? Heres a lovely example of how nurses got left behind when other public services got brought up to the pay standard representing the work they perform. A HCA colleague of mine earned approx £10000 pa, she had worked in the field for 7 years. She decided that the police force was for her and joined up, within 6 months she was on £1000 pa less than me (myself F grade) and then 6 months later was on £1000 more than me? hmmm...teenagers you decide :)

Hi, I respect your opinion and understand totally that this is most certainly not the case for every nurse. I am aware that males obviously do not have to be the main bread winner, however, as I have stated I am. Also most of us in our late twenties early thirties have had great difficulty getting onto the property ladder (a generalised statement I am confident in making) and therefore with mortgages greatly disproportionate to our wages. This is my perspective reflecting my experiences and emotions, airing to the general nurse interested in reading. C'mon, you try your best, abuse happens, sometimes it feels like all you do is complain...This is my exact point, we follow the protocol and things do not change otherwise you would not feel like all you seem to do is complain. We stand on the front line, take the flack, thats our role, take it or leave it. Hey, text on computers and phones are very difficult to read emotion and although I am majorly vexed with nursing at the moment I know it is not perfect and I know that there are good days and bad, also you managers are trying your damned hardest but this goes further than justifying cost and this is my overall point. We have been tunnelled into the train of thought that you describe so clearly in your final paragraph, the financial authorisation, our inability to articultate to these pivotal figures holding the purse strings... we miss or disregard the bigger picture of our overall working practice consisting of working conditions, pay, inability to provide basic nursing care etc, this is not everywhere and in all hospitals true, but for it to even be such a significant issue in this developed country at all is a concern. I aim not to generalise but can appreciate how that may have been perceived. Like all professions there are good and bad, but the bad stand out a hell of a lot more when it comes to patient safety in their hands. But the fact cannot be avoided that standards have slipped, paper works governs our daily practice and thus removes our valuable time with the patients, plus all of the other factors which also have the same impact. I am glad you have the content mindset within your career but I would make a general statement that most are not, and most of the unhappy (generalising) are the breadwinners i.e. do not have financial support from a partner or parents, work in a busy nhs acute area and are in early to mid stages of their career. Please let me clarify, whether it is taken personally or not that it is not meant to be a generalisation, my thoughts, my experience and my rant end of, and I respect the workforce out there who are truly satisfied with their nursing career, almost envious :)

: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.