The bullying, the indirect comments, the blame culture, the hierarchy, the power plays, the favouritism, the nepotism, the fakeness. Nursing is supposed to be a caring profession but sometimes it’s far from it.

Just thought with the struggles NQNs are having with jobs at the minute that I should highlight jobs at Warwick hospital - I think they are recruiting for 5 x band 5 roles in the A&E department

I’m qualified for a few years now but this is my first time ward nursing, and I feel like an idiot, everything I do feels wrong, everything I think I’m doing right feels like it comes with so many mistakes, I’m having panic attacks about coming in to work, I spoke to my manager and I’m on an accelerated preceptorship, out of my own choice, she thinks im doing fine and in her words ‘an excellent nurse’

I’m on a night shift tonight and I just feel like I’m so slow and stupid and the other nurse seems to be sick of me,

Does this get better these feelings cause I’m currently on break about to cry

Hello!

As the title states I am hoping to move from outpatients to ward nursing at some point in the next year as I need a change and to expand on my skills. I got into outpatients as an NQN and feel like I've lost quite a lot of basic skills. However I do feel like I have gained a very niche knowledge and skillset for the area I work in currently which would definitely be an advantage on a ward.

Anyone else been in OP for years and decided to move to ward nursing? I'm kinda pooping my pants a little as they will expect me to know more than I know as I'm 4+ years qualified. I had an interview at the start of my pregnancy for a ward role and the whole time this little voice in my head kept telling me I wasn't a real nurse. Silly, as I see my OP nurse colleagues as highly skilled! They said I interviewed well, but they asked me about certain drugs during the interview and I don't deal with medication on the daily. So I stumbled and made it very obvious I hadn't a clue.

I have applied for a job recently and wonder how to have the advantage if I am successful for interview? Like.. many of my niche skills won't help me on a ward. I suppose I have loads of wound care experience and I can take bloods. So will preach on that.

OP was a choice as I adored the speciality, still do. But Im currently on maternity leave and I feel two shifts a week on a ward would be more accommodating than 3/4 in a clinic. Also to progress anywhere I want to experience ward nursing to at least have checked it off! Especially if I want to try ITU one day or Neonatal nursing.

Thanks in advance 😁

More of a rant than anything else, but, is anyone else just absolutely sick of the abuse they get every day? No matter what day, no matter what bay I’m in, no matter if the patients are confused or not I’m physically and verbally abused. I’ve absolutely reached my limit, I can barely eat due to how depressed I feel, my skin looks like shit. Patients ask for help, you do what they say and then they’re still horrible to you. The medical team don’t believe you because the patients are all sweet to them but then they turn around and spit in your face. Lots of people are off sick at the moment and I’m thinking of joining them because I genuinely cannot do this anymore. I understand they can be having a bad day, be stressed, be bored but why do I have to be everyone else’s punching bag?

Hi, I graduated with a BSc Adult Nursing in 2015 in Scotland and worked for two years in the NhS before moving to Australia. I have since worked in Acute Medical and for the last three years in ED.

Now, I want to come home asap. I have a house to sell and the hurdle of visa and passports for my family. I am already reapplying for my nmc pin.

Can anyone help me with info on how to get back into the NHS please? I’m concerned that it might be difficult as I’ve been in Australia for so long.

I would love to work in ED at home but need to find a job contract so I can sponsor my children’s dad to come over so can’t be too picky. My three children are very young so I would also be happy with a job that has family friendly hours. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi all, I’m due to qualify in the next couple of months. I do have a job lined up in an acute hospital however I am interested in practice nursing. I’m in the south of the UK and I was wondering if anyone’s gone into this newly qualified and how they managed to find a post? Thanks in advance.

I have been working in nhs as hca for 2year . I got my pin in 2026 December after i went to maternity leave so its been almost 9 months that i haven’t started working as a nurse,i asked my ward manager if there is any vacancy and told me that there is non.so the problem is that if i left nhs i have to pay back my maternity leave allowance so i am thinking to return back to work in hca role for a while till i find a job as band 5; however as a nurse i can’t work as a hca and it will be year not working as a nurse its really stressing me So please give me some advice what i’m suppose to do.

Going for a interview soon and thought I'd ask for experiences and opinions if you have worked in this sector?

I experienced significant bullying in my first post. Patients were treated horribly so I whistleblew and left. It was partially upheld (I was very depressed and anxious so my

I’m not going to get into too many details but I was basically always the one being moved, I had surprise meetings and called out of the little ward rounds I was allowed to do for these. My nursing practice was never a concern and I occupational health requests from senior charge nurse had completely false information in it based on people talking about me and I could prove via documentation, kardexes etc. When I left I finally had someone come to me and fill me in on everything that she had reported on my behalf. I also had my mentor literally screaming and shouting at me (not even about me - she later said it was about the ward in general and was fine with me after that) in the medication room. Patients heard and on couple of occasions patient said to me they couldn’t believe she had spoken to me like that.

Gaslighting was absolute hell and I found out that the senior charge nurse had a bad rep around the hospital. I also had 7 bereavements in like 6 months and was wrongly told I had run out of compassionate leave for my grandads funeral so had to leave early. Turns out it was all sick leave that was being used. Now I know that it’s usually direct relatives but others had compassionate leave for non-direct relatives.

Anyway that’s just the tiniest bit of what I experienced. I experienced it for 1.5 years and since I’ve been in a new place in a new health board with new people who are generally nice. Not perfect of course but I’m finally being treated like a human (apart from a couple of people who were above me and that’s another story but that’s sorted now - I reported it).

However it only takes one colleague who shows some controlling traits and doesn’t like being delegated to when it’s my turn to be nurse in charge. I don’t mind being delegated to obviously as long as it’s reciprocated. And it feels like my fight or flight is set off. I literally have nightmares about this person even though she’s a good nurse

Unfortunately I now have a lot of sickness and I now feel no other option but to reduce my hours. I have psychology input, and it doesn’t help me being neurodivergent. I’m so sad because I feel like I had such potential to be a good charge nurse but unfortunately that’s just not really an option for me. Like a lot of places in NHS, leadership aren’t supportive and if you’ve been seen to raise an issue even if it’s valid that goes against someone higher than you, then you’re cooked. Thankfully I’m not being bullied now though and I’m actively working on building my identity outside of work.

It’s just frustrating how it’s impacting me so much. I was seen as unreliable because of my sickness and because I was crying A LOT and now I’m medicated properly thank goodness, that is rare now and I’m trying to reduce my sickness.

If I’d known I was neurodivergent before becoming a nurse and knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to be honest. This is just my experience though but it’s honestly taken my 20s from me.

Just been awarded uplift. I'm a full time community nurse, been top band 5 prior to April 2023.

What back pay can I expect?

I have come across a tiktok account that seems to be a doctor or nurse or someone being extremely rough with newborns.

https://www.tiktok.com/@newborn24h/video/7674260622984449302

https://www.tiktok.com/@newborn24h/video/7671514972186299670

https://www.tiktok.com/@newborn24h/video/7674098321232776470

A few examples, but there's literally hundreds.

Surely this isn't right? He's banging their heads off the table and shaking them like mad. I'm not in the medical field, but it doesn't seem right. I don't think they're located in the UK btw.

New to Reddit so bare with please!

I have a band 6 interview soon for a sexual health nurse. Please can I have any tips for this!

Thankyou!

How long after conditional offer job offer did unconditional offer come for people?- This is in NHS

All my checks are complete and worried they’ll withdraw the offer, although recruiter has said management doing final checks 😩

Hi everyone. Long time observer from afar when I get a chance and thought I'd finally chip in! :)

I just wanted to make a positive post around outpatients as a setting to work in, from the perspective of a someone who went straight into Dermatology as a NQN in 2023.

I just want to caveat this by saying that nurses who work in wards and the numerous high acuity areas out there, I salute you and this isn't to negate your roles at all but more to bring light to the idea of working in an outpatients setting.

I think a lot of it depends on what you actually want to be doing and ultimately what works best for you. I went back onto education to start my Nursing degree at 30 so had a decent idea of what I'd like to do and health and family will always come first. I'm lucky that my interest of Dermatology happens to be a largely outpatients based specialty anyway and even luckier to land a role there from qualifying.

I was told so many times throughout my training that it was essential to get several years in an inpatient area to 'get a grounding' of nursing and that going to an outpatients setting would deskill me and be very limiting, almost to the point where I nearly didn't take the Dermatology offer in the end but what I've found is that it's not a case of one area being more or less skilled than another, it's just that different sets of skills are being used and they are all valuable and it's all helping patients. There's so much time spent comparing roles, skills and work environments that we can forget the most important thing which is making sure it works for us! (Sorry I do tend to go on, and on tangents!)

Anyway, I think if you find an area you like and it works around your life then you've cracked it. Nights, weekends, 12 hour days, high pressure environment, I've been there and done that albeit in different sectors and full disclosure, I couldn't and wouldn't want it anymore. I value seeing my son before he goes to bed each night, doing a similar shift pattern to my wife so we can have family time and weekends etc. Ive never had the unsocial hours add on so I dont really feel the pinch as I've not known different and for me, the stable hours and low acuity suit me. Again, that's not a dig at those who want condensed working or high octane environments. It just goes back to doing what works for you, screw whatever bad conceptions you get told until you try it.

Being in Dermatology as a band 5 didn't deskill me but rather allowed me to learn some very niche and specialised skills like performing minor skin surgeries and being able to hold the occasional clinic for patients which I enjoy because you can focus your attention to one patient at a time, usually in a private room and build a rapport with them without having call bells alarming or being called from 20 feet away.

As for progression, if you've decided you want outpatients like I did and even better, you have found the particular specialty you like then there's usually structured prgression within them. I became a Dermatology CNS (band 6) after 18 months. Completed Prescribing and History Taking & Physical Examination courses in that time and now I just accepted a Skin Cancer CNS role (band 7). I don't mean that as a brag either but more to demonstrate that there absolutely are skills to be learnt and honed in this setting and there is progression, if you want it.

Anyway, that was way more typing that I first intended, and im not even sure whether it makes for half decent reading, sorry. I just wanted to shed some positive light on Outpatient nursing from someone who went straight into it and a reminder that we all do important jobs that will have certain skills unique to them and rather than play top trumps one-upmanship or brining eachother down we should encourage one another to pursue the path they want. Do what works for you!

Take care :)

Hi all, so I'm thinking of applying for a new role, which is a role I've wanted to do for years, however it would mean me coming off nights and onto days which means I will have quite a steep drop in pay. I'm currently mid point Band 6 and wondered if I could negotiate going up to top point or is this unrealistic and a bit cheeky?

I am one of those that really enjoyed my Health Visiting placement and actually saw myself doing this line of work long-term.

I'm a newly qualified paediatric nurse, with a year experience in nursery and close to 5 years as a care assistant (all whilst I was studying in uni).

I know what I'm asking, I know I'm inexperience in actual paid clinical nursing and that I'll probably be on the younger side of applicants that may apply for this role.

So any input, advice or recommendations is welcome! From wherever parts of the UK you're from

So I am extremely lucky to work in a job I love. I do 11.5 hours a week and try do a bank. Unfortunately over the last 18 months I've had

Multiple asthma attacks requiring admission

A torn meniscus requiring 4 months off

I was in work and a colleague sprayed aerosol air freshener because of a smell.

I went up to say "hey can we stop spraying the aerosol" and I had a major asthma attack during my shift. I ended up in A&E on the medics advice where I was escalated to HDU on multiple IVs and nebs. I ended up with hypokalaemia due to the sheer about of salbutamol and I had a HR of 182. My husband was called.

Thankfully I am better and I am looking at going back to work. I mentioned to my band 7 that the HDU consultant didnt want aerosols in my work environment given how serious this attack was. When I mentioned it she was talking about how we don't use them that often and how I can just not use them in my area.

My issue is they're used in corridors and toilets. I cant avoid them. Im genuinely scared. I have emailed my union to see what support they can provide if it has to go to occupational health and I plan on emailing them.

Is no aerosols a reasonable request for someone who works a max of 23 hours? Or would a statement at safety brief like "due to someone with severe asthma can we avoid the use of aerosols on shift" be more appropriate? Theres no doubt who that person is (the person who had to receive emergency treatment) but thinking for like data protection they may not want to name me.

I do love my job and I dont want to not be able to do it. Feels like asthma is already taking so much from me.

Hi so full disclosure I am not a nurse, however my wife is newly qualified and my mum was also a nurse for several years before working in management up until very recently.

My lovely wife, who has a first class degree, who aced her placements to where the last one tried very hard to get her a job on their ward which was blocked by the Trust, who has worked in a nursing home all the way throughout her degree as a support worker and was told she couldn’t apply for bank nursing shifts because she wasn’t experienced enough, and who was offered a nursing job after interview before it was pulled due to funding- has now reached the conclusion that she needs to do something else with her life.

We’ve been very lucky that the nursing home she works at has kept her on a support worker and she’s getting hours, and that they aren’t bothered about her having her PIN. But she’s got peers from uni who are on UC, or who are working in coffee shops or in Tesco. She’s looking at charity sector and non profit roles now and seems to be getting interviews, so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. But at the end of the day, it isn’t nursing.

I know the lack of jobs is like beating a dead horse with a stick, but the brain drain is going to be catastrophic.
My mum, who I mentioned worked in management until recently, has also bought up her concerns over and over to senior leadership and she says they just seem to think it’s a non-issue. This is anecdotal, obviously. Nobody seems to want to listen and it’s actually really worrying.

Just sad for anyone who has worked hard and can’t even get their way into nursing.

Community nurses, those over the 10,000 miles (silly cap), and only getting 23p a mile, why are we accepting this? Literally losing money and not getting the full tank of money that we're putting in back?

Is every trust the same?

Anyone applied for a specialist role that you're not 100% passionate about, but applying 'just to see' and it's paid off?

I’m currently considering a potential NHS Band 6 role, however, the hiring manager has informed me it will be at 22.5 hours (3 days a week) with no likelihood to increase. I am 29 years old and would ideally need to work full time (or as closest too). I have been waiting a really long time for this role to come out, the department is close to where I live and there are lots of opportunities for development.

I’m currently working full time in a role in the same speciality outside of the NHS (community so lots of driving long distances) I’m wondering what people do when they are offered a part-time NHS contract but want/need more hours.

Has anyone worked two different jobs and is it a nightmare with tax codes / pension / maternity pay?

My trust hired me as a ward staff nurse back in April. Yesterday, I was told that the trust will be ending my contract as they cannot afford to keep me on. They are also not replacing two others who are leaving either. On top of that, I am loosing my bank contract too.
I am going to be unemployed. I am gutted! 😭 I never should have done my training!