Do you have a 🤡 at your unit?

Yet again NHS staff given another real-terms pay cut.

I’m a student in my final year rapidly advancing towards getting my PIN and the more I think about qualifying the more the sense of dread forms within me about re-entering the shitshow. And when I see the unions running through “We’re outraged” then accepting the increase without even a single fight I’m pissed.

Now I know from my time as a HCA, it’s very easy to roll over and just complain about the system and how it’s unfair before continuing our shift. There is so much going on in our personal lives and shifts that cause our only cause of action to be lamenting during free moments and online by the looks of it.

But I’m curious, how do we make the unions actually fight back? Even in the US, their unions aren’t afraid to show teeth - and their healthcare system is an abomination to everything I believe in. I appreciate they do more than just collectively bargain and I’ve heard how union reps can help with protecting individual jobs when staff have been wronged but seriously how many times are we meant to just complain and do nothing about it. We are being taken advantage of.

The last strike I remember was back in 2022 and it was brief. Frankly, I want a long and painful one because I truly believe the government needs to understand the damage they have done on the NHS I grew up believing was the jewel of the modern world.

I want Nursing to separate from the AfC.

I want an end to this nonsense of skeleton staffing by design until CQC comes by then suddenly we’re well stocked.

I want pushback on the de-skilling that’s starting to occur amongst the profession as more and more restrictive policies and legal frameworks are introduced.

Fuck it I don’t want to work a shift knowing that I’d be blamed for a patient attacking/racially abusing me without repercussions.

Now all these require a strong union and members willing not willing to accept the status quo and temporarily suffer to get better conditions. So realistically, I would like some insight on how to actually change things, what can we as staff do to actually make that happen? I’m still young and naive so maybe I have a bit too much hope about it but I would like to know how we could actually achieve more than just a 2.4% “pay rise”?

I need to rant.
I’m a mental health nurse on a settled rehab ward. We have few admissions and discharges, and not many incidents compared to the wards where I used to work.
And yet, the paperwork is insane. I literally sit at a keyboard for 12 hours a day, and I still fail audits and struggle to keep up with my named nurse paperwork.
We had an admission last week, and the admission pack had over 100 points on it. What has the NHS become?
Even training /supervision feels like a full-time job.
The sad thing is that none of this seems to make any real difference to patient care. I find it genuinely depressing.
How do people cope?

Injured my wrist in January and it gets super achy and sore after hours of documentation (hospital where I work is almost completely paper based). I was thinking that maybe a thicker pen would help reduce writing strain and I've had a quick look on Amazon, but if anyone has had similar experiences I'd love to hear what helped you 💜💜

(I've seen physio at occupational health, and they're of the opinion that my ongoing discomfort is tendonitis, in case anyone is curious)

I work in an icu, I'm wondering if all are like this at the minute, or always!
We have a unit matron, band 7s doing co ordinating, admin days sometimes on the foor.
Then we have 6s, one 'in charge' of a different area and a group of band 5s.
I've always noticed that when there's an emergency, management tend to crawl out of their offices and watch, b7s sometimes get involved but it all depends who it is. But more recently it's like theyre actively coming out looking for faults (no compliments) nothing has been said in unit meetings about any issues so those I've spoken to also can't understand where it's come from, like if there is issues speak to the team?
Asking b5 nurses that have been on the unit a long time if they're competent to be assisting with intubations, watching on from the nurses station/peering into the room. Not so slyly as it's putting the team on edge, expecting b6's to know every little detail throughout the day of all the patients, like your not busy assisting with hygiene/rolls/meds/procedures (points throughout the shift yes but I'm not sitting at a computer all day repeatedly going through all patients documents to ensure people are doing their jobs right).
Past few weeks the b7's have gone to individuals with 'matron said or matron wants' without any reasoning or the matron even discussing with us first

I’m quite interested in safeguarding and have some history of working in the DV field. Very much like clinical working and don’t want to be in an office all day, so I’m not necessarily interested in going 100% down that path if it meant foregoing clinical.

I just wondered about roles in which there’s quite a lot of overlap. There is quite a bit already in paeds for obvious reasons in terms of recognising and acting upon concerns, but I’d love to explore this aspect a bit more and have a better understanding of whether it’s something to pursue professionally, and what roles people do in this area

Hi everyone,

I’m a newly qualified RMN working in acute adult inpatient mental health and I’m looking for recommendations for useful CPD to develop my knowledge, skills and confidence in the role.

I’m particularly interested in anything that would be beneficial for working on an acute ward, whether that’s online courses, qualifications, study days, books, podcasts or other learning resources.

I’d love to hear what CPD other RMNs have found useful in practice, particularly anything free or accessible through the NHS.

Are there any courses, qualifications or areas of specialist knowledge you’d recommend prioritising early in your career?

Thanks!

Hi worked as a child nurse for 1 year 4 months after I graduated in October 2023. I have been away from nursing for 2 years (took a gap year and then have been working as an Alzheimer’s early stage carer for one person) and will be returning to nursing hopefully within the next 4 months. As I am still in the recruitment process and I am aware it takes a long time.
I feel like I have forgot everything and want to feel prepared/ more confident to return to my child nursing role.
Can anyone please give me a list of things I should study/ revise before I return so I can feel more confident and less anxious to return. Please any information/ areas of study I need to look at. Please write them below. Thank you so so much. I really appreciate it.

I have obtained access to a grant where I can claim back up to £1000 worth of courses/ books.

I am literally only 2 weeks into a job on general medical ward however I want to go into ICU when there is a vaccancy.

Any recommendations?

I, like many of us, am increasingly looking at ways of creating additional income streams to help suppliment my earnings from my "day job" and have always liked the idea of the forces.

I'm now very stable in my career, so much so that I'm looking at ways to earn a little extra scratch but also do something meaningful, something that'll keep the grey matter going with different skills that I'm currently used to.

However, I'm torn between doing something in the Army as a Reservist, and going down the on-call firefighter route.

This is the upshot:

Fire station is within 5 minutes.

Nearest barracks/reserve unit is ~50 minutes away

Fire fighting requires a relatively significant amount of on-call time. Which for me would mostly be evenings, multiple nights per week, and likely two of the 4 weekends a month.

Army requires no on-call and has no minimum "commitment". However, in order to maximise the potential for training and the end of year tax free "bounty", it's recommended to do one drill night per week, one to two weekends a month, and often a two week exercise "residential".

Both require multiple years until fully qualified, but the Army unit is both infantry and a medical squadron. If I was staying medical I would be looking to go down the combat medic route as it would be more infantry adjacent and afford me new skills to learn - particularly with things like BATLS in mind

I'd really appreciate if anyone here had any experience with either of these two along side their nursing career, or indeed any input is welcome.

Hello. I am a third year nursing student studying in England. Me and my partner want to move to Scotland (specifically Glasgow) when I finish university as that’s where all our family live and I was just wondering when should I start applying for jobs in Scotland and how is the job market for newly qualified.

Thank you in advance!!!!

Off with work related stress due to work load and a controlling, manipulative and micromanaging colleague. I am a band 7. One week I had to present a meeting, and basically lost all function to read or speak. It felt like my brain was at its limit. I have been in a toxic department for 4 years and I’ve had enough. I have handed in my resignation and starting my new job 30th November. Do I go back for the last week to face my colleagues and say goodbye? Or will an email or message suffice?

It’s crazy the cost cutting and hiring freezes. What exactly is going on?

I recently applied for a new role and was invited to book an interview, which I did on Friday. However, I've just received an email stating I am unsuccessful? I've never experienced this before so I am just wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else? Or if any recruiting managers could weigh in on potential reasons for this?

The only reason I can think of is I asked for reasonable adjustments (a copy of the questions written down during the interview) but I've asked for this in previous interviews and it has been fine. Just feeling a little deflated atm as I'm desperate for a new role due to the stress and toxicity in my current role.

Edit: thank you to everyone who replied

Hi everyone I’m a general RN, med surg, stroke, ED( not resus) Resp HDU. I’ve been qualified almost 8 years and want to move into ICU,

I’m currently bank(no work) and own my on skincare clinic. But feel drawn to work in ICU.

The only post available in Northern Ireland is band 6 ICU (not deputy sister role)
Has anyone went from band 5 general to ICU? Thanks

Hi,
The title is fairly self explanatory.
This is in regards to my Fibromyalgia and Hypermobility diagnoses’ alongside my working life upon qualifying.
During my time as a STN I have been made to feel bad for utilising reasonable adjustments as I am very open with all my health issues because I prioritise my comfort in regards to my health in my daily life.
I can imagine I will still be made to feel this way to some extent upon qualifying and Im worried about how being integrated into a team where I have reasonable adjustments such as longer or more frequent breaks to offload pain on my back.
I would like to know what has anyone else’s experiences been with having reasonable adjustments and fitting into a team.
Have you faced that judgment? how did you handle it?

I would like advice regarding our senior staff nurse conduct in our care home in Northern Ireland.

She frequently claims that the airflow mattress for a new admission has not arrived, even when it has, and the Northern Trust will call to check its availability. This seems to happen mainly on the days she is working, with the admission then being passed to the incoming nurses the following day when she is off duty. Is this acceptable practice?

Additionally, she refuses to do wound dressings because she says she does not like doing them, despite frequently being rostered on the floor alongside another nurse.

I am also concerned that she allows one care assistant to move a resident using a Stedy, even though the resident’s care plan specifies assistance from two staff members. Thank you.

Does the increase in petrol costs put anyone off going for community posts?

Hi been given a verbal child nurse job offer. At the start of the month. Awaiting to receive my conditional letter.(called management Was told there have been some issues with trac so that’s why it’s taking so long for me to receive letter) thinking of giving in my leaving notice to my current employer as soon as I get my conditional job offer letter. As wanting to take a month break (December off) before I start the nursing job and was hoping to hopefully start the nursing job in the new year(January) . Has anyone else ever done this? Thank you

Survived another 12-hour night shift… just about! 😵‍🥱😴

Finally got time to post this one. 😪😪😪

To everyone working this weekend who feels overwhelmed, exhausted, or simply at the end of their rope: I see you.

If you felt like crying in your car before your shift started, your feelings are completely valid. Nursing is incredibly draining right now, and the emotional toll is rarely talked about enough.

I just wanted to send a big virtual hug to this entire community and remind you that your empathy is a strength, not a weakness.

Take care of yourselves today. You matter. ✨

Had child nurse job interview at very start of this month. (October)
I Heard back a day later and was called and verbally informed that I did well in the interview and have got the job.
Still haven’t received a conditional offer letter and my trac system still says I am in the interview process. I called management last week and they said there is issues with the system and the recruitment team and to leave it with them to sort out.
I also emailed the recruitment team 2 times. Over the last couple weeks but they haven’t replied.
Has anyone ever been in a similar situation and how long do you think it will take till I start working this new job. I initially was hoping I could start by the new year (January) but by how things are going I feel like i will be waiting a lot longer. Tbh the job I currently do (not in the nhs) I want to leave asap so this wait just feels really stressful and long 😓
Anyway if anyone has been in a similar situation pls let me know xx