I work for a Mental health trust caring for people with learning disabilities and MH problems and am seconded to do my nurse training. At my workplace we have a modern matron. They are not an old thing in nursing really.
As for banding, the grading is all different now. We have band 2 and band 3 which are HCA's, we don't currently have band 4's but i think they are looking into it in our trust. When I qualify as a nurse i will start at a band 5. Deputy managers are band 6, manager band 7 and after that i have no idea.
I stopped being a nurse because of attitudes like yours.
16hr days, moaning patients, not enough staff or equipment. Ungrateful and rude patients even though youre doing your darndest to get round to see everyone and even phone in from home, way after your shifts ends to check on someone.
But hey you go in and make a snap judgement based on your ONE experince and not my 8yrs of people like you.
Nurses get crap pay, for long hours, on their feet all day. They're already not getting a pay rise for a couple of years, in line with a lot of public sector workers.
I suspect that you're not a medic of any description, and that your bit about seeing patients is made up, otherwise you'd know the value of the nursing team.
There are bad people in every profession , be it bankers or dentists.
Unfortunately nursing gets a lot of stick because it affects all of us at some time.
And to see anyone suffer or be ill makes us mad and shouty.
There are very good NHS hospitals and Bad ones .
Personally sometimes I don't think Private is much better .
It all comes down to leadership and moral , the same as in any walk of life.
There are bad people in every profession , be it bankers or dentists.
Unfortunately nursing gets a lot of stick because it affects all of us at some time.
And to see anyone suffer or be ill makes us mad and shouty.
There are very good NHS hospitals and Bad ones .
Personally sometimes I don't think Private is much better .
It all comes down to leadership and moral , the same as in any walk of life.
Probably also, there's still an expectation that nurses should all be selfless "angels" who are responding to a calling rather than as people who need to scrape together a living.
When I was nursing, there was less emphasis on filling in stupid pieces of paperwork in order to comply with various guidelines and more time to spend with patients. Sadly though, in order to progress professionally and financially, you need to embrace the regime of documentation and jump through all the managerial hoops until suddenly one day, you waken up and realise that you scarcely ever lay a hand on a patient.
Look, I was looking to see what other people thought, why so many have become obsessed with who i am I do not know - nit picking?, I could say I was any tom dick or harry, the important thing is, what our families may have to face. Look at the stafford, nottingham incidences. I am so scared for some people and no-one listens to our cries.
Some nurses are brilliant and you can see the exhaustion in their faces because they are working so hard for their patients and I applaud them.
leopard_print: I think people are taking exception to you saying that most nurses are crap and lazy, and only a few are any good. Or is having an opinion other than yours not allowed?
And AGAIN with mild aggression. I'm starting to think that maybe you have a chip on your shoulder!
Look, I was looking to see what other people thought, why so many have become obsessed with who i am I do not know - nit picking?, I could say I was any tom dick or harry, the important thing is, what our families may have to face. Look at the stafford, nottingham incidences. I am so scared for some people and no-one listens to our cries.
Perhaps some of us are worn down at years of no appreciation and poor pay and coming to a site where we can relax we find ourselves criticised
Perhaps you'll be careful with your vote and put healthcare further up the agenda rather than bailing out bankers and f*cking up those who actually require the NHS to do it's job.
I bet poor Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan are turning in their grave as I watch Dave, Gideon and that fool Clegg dismantle everything they believed in :mad:
I agree with the first post, the problem is all the foreign nurses from Poland and Africa that don't care and just do the bare minimum to receive their pay cheque.:mad:The NHS should only employ British workers who want to do the job for the right reasons. I went to hospital myself today and I felt like I was abroad.
I agree with the first post, the problem is all the foreign nurses from Poland and Africa that don't care and just do the bare minimum to receive their pay cheque.:mad:The NHS should only employ British workers who want to do the job for the right reasons. I went to hospital myself today and I felt like I was abroad.
One of the best nurses I ever worked with was from Poland actually.
I agree with the first post, the problem is all the foreign nurses from Poland and Africa that don't care and just do the bare minimum to receive their pay cheque.:mad:The NHS should only employ British workers who want to do the job for the right reasons. I went to hospital myself today and I felt like I was abroad.
Perhaps the wages aren't enough to attract British workers.
I have very mixed feelings over nurses. I have a lot of health problems and have been in hospital quite a few times in lots of different wards.
Earlier this year, I was in a stroke unit for a week and the nurses there were fantastic and were so patient and caring and couldn't do enough for everyone.
I was in hospital four years ago on a ward that was awful. The first night in there the nurses were wonderful, but on the second night they changed and were the complete opposite. They just didn't care what was happening on the ward all night. I was next to a 93 year old lady who was crying for ages because she was cold and one of the nurses, shouted at her that she couldn't be cold because it was warm that night, and just walked away from her. In the end, I became so distressed hearing her that I got up with a drip in my arm and found her a blanket for which she was so grateful that I almost cried. She then settled down and slept. A old man in the next section called all night for a nurse and I don't think anyone came to him. One night the lights all fused and nothing was done about it and we were all in the pitch dark all night, I nearly fell over getting out of bed to use the bathroom. There is a lot more that I could say about it.
After that experience I dreaded going into hospital again, but the following year was ill and had to be admitted and everyone was lovely and really looked after everyone.
Last week, I had a small op and all the nurses were really helpful.
We also have a matron for all the depts in the hospital.
So really I think it depends on the ward and the nurses, but overall, I do get concerned about how some of the older people are treated, although having a very difficult old father myself, I understand how frustrating it must be nursing them sometimes.
There are two very different directions coming from this thread as I see it.
On one hand there is a huge fear factor by posters of what might happen if they/theirs go into hospital and aren't cared for properly .Hence the dread and almost outrage.
And on the other hand,nurses making very valid points that they are trying their best , but the old image of "Florence Nightingale's ' is just an impossible quest. Hence their almost outrage at being perceived as none caring.
It seems to me that most of the stuff, except drugs and injections, is done by porters and auxiliaries. When my nanna was dying in hospital there was 2 nurses for about 20 people and only 1 at night.
And on the other hand,nurses making very valid points that they are trying their best , but the old image of "Florence Nightingales ' is just an impossible quest. Hence their almost outrage at being perceived as none caring.
Getting the clap from the local MP, dying, then being found just as my cats were eating my body....
I agree with the first post, the problem is all the foreign nurses from Poland and Africa that don't care and just do the bare minimum to receive their pay cheque.:mad:The NHS should only employ British workers who want to do the job for the right reasons. I went to hospital myself today and I felt like I was abroad.
Why do you think that the NHS have so many "foreign workers"?
I seriously doubt that there are thousands of trained, registered, british born nurses sitting at home twiddling their thumbs...
I agree with the first post, the problem is all the foreign nurses from Poland and Africa that don't care and just do the bare minimum to receive their pay cheque.:mad:The NHS should only employ British workers who want to do the job for the right reasons. I went to hospital myself today and I felt like I was abroad.
Oh dear. Did you join DS just to slag off foreign people and blame Asians for spreading MRSA like in the thread you started earlier? I can see you will be a real asset to DS - not! :yawn::yawn:
FYI, many of the overseas nurses are more qualified than the nurses they work alongside and are employed in roles where they don't have a chance to use their skills to best effect.
Did they find out what was wrong with you by the way? I am thinking a bad case of bigotryitis. The cure is to log off immediately as the internet can make your symptoms worse.
When my mum was in hospital with a brain tumour the nurses were amazing. She bought them all a little something when she could come home because of how wonderful they were. When my stepfather was in hospital for a very serious illness they were terrific too, including coming to find him when he sneaked out for a crafty smoke which I know could tax anyone's patience ;p
You can't let one bad experience tar an entire profession, I've yet to see any job where everyone is 100% perfect 100% of the time.
As a registered nurse - formerly band 7, but no longer in the NHS these days - I suppose I should leap to the defence of my fellow nurses but there are some valid points made on this thread.
With any profession, there are both good and bad people, and when one is ill and frightened, to be 'cared for' by one of the bad 'uns is a devastating experience.
I'm not impressed by the racist comments, however - does it really matter what nationality your nurse is?
And in case anyone is wondering, I left the NHS following a traumatic assault by a patient in A&E, in which I sustained fractured neck vertebrae and a head injury. I now work in an office, using my nursing skills in a completely different way, and the only risk of abuse is of the verbal kind.
I suppose I should leap to the defence of my fellow nurses but there are some valid points made on this thread.
I don't think anyone is denying that there are some bad nurses out there, but I think the main objection is to the statement that the majority of nurses are like this.
I've had so many bad experiences with nurses. My daughter spent the majority of her first year in and out of hospital. I was lucky I was able to stay there with her 24/7. The only times I left her was when either my mum or husband could be with her instead so I could have a break.
I only left her one time when I had an appointment at another hospital and both my husband and mum were working. I fretted the entire time I was away and rightly so as when I returned she was bawling her eyes out, was laid in milk puke and her nappy had leaked. Where were the nurses?? Oh yeah that's right sitting round the nurses station eating quality street and gossipping. That's where they spent the majority of their time.
I trusted them with the care of my premature poorly baby and that's how they took care of her! I could hear her fcking crying as soon as I got out of the lift!
Most of my days were spent with a row of babies in rocking car seats in front of me as one crying baby set off another and another until they were all bawling. WTF I didn't get paid I don't know.
One of the nurses even had the bare faced cheek to say to me "I don't know what we'll do without you when your daughter is discharged". How I held my tongue and stopped myself from saying "maybe you'll have to get off your fat arse and care for these babies yourself" I'll never know.
The paediatric doctor on the other hand I couldn't praise enough, I once saw her work right through the day and night, they clock up some hours.
Nursing is no longer the job it used to be. Once upon a time nurses spent most of their training working in wards alongside experienced staff. Then they changed it to a university based degree course and that is when the rot set in, effectively dehumanising the training programme.
Add to that the increasing tendency of management not to replace NHS Nursing staff and instead hire from "agencies" who have no loyalty, commitment etc to the ward or hospital they work at and you have the system that's developing.
Ask any retiring age nurse now if they'd choose the same career again and see what response you get...
Comments
Yes, I am defensive. And proud to do so. There are some fantastic nurses out there and I applaud them.
There are bad apples in any profession but to say the majority of nurses are lazy and uncaring is crap.
As for banding, the grading is all different now. We have band 2 and band 3 which are HCA's, we don't currently have band 4's but i think they are looking into it in our trust. When I qualify as a nurse i will start at a band 5. Deputy managers are band 6, manager band 7 and after that i have no idea.
Long days, poor pay = shit moral
Unfortunately nursing gets a lot of stick because it affects all of us at some time.
And to see anyone suffer or be ill makes us mad and shouty.
There are very good NHS hospitals and Bad ones .
Personally sometimes I don't think Private is much better .
It all comes down to leadership and moral , the same as in any walk of life.
Thanks Joey, I did wonder what band our modern matron was.
No, I know what I meant, a matron. No need to speak for me
Probably also, there's still an expectation that nurses should all be selfless "angels" who are responding to a calling rather than as people who need to scrape together a living.
When I was nursing, there was less emphasis on filling in stupid pieces of paperwork in order to comply with various guidelines and more time to spend with patients. Sadly though, in order to progress professionally and financially, you need to embrace the regime of documentation and jump through all the managerial hoops until suddenly one day, you waken up and realise that you scarcely ever lay a hand on a patient.
Some nurses are brilliant and you can see the exhaustion in their faces because they are working so hard for their patients and I applaud them.
And AGAIN with mild aggression. I'm starting to think that maybe you have a chip on your shoulder!
Perhaps some of us are worn down at years of no appreciation and poor pay and coming to a site where we can relax we find ourselves criticised
Perhaps you'll be careful with your vote and put healthcare further up the agenda rather than bailing out bankers and f*cking up those who actually require the NHS to do it's job.
I bet poor Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan are turning in their grave as I watch Dave, Gideon and that fool Clegg dismantle everything they believed in :mad:
One of the best nurses I ever worked with was from Poland actually.
Perhaps the wages aren't enough to attract British workers.
Not being British myself I can't answer that
Earlier this year, I was in a stroke unit for a week and the nurses there were fantastic and were so patient and caring and couldn't do enough for everyone.
I was in hospital four years ago on a ward that was awful. The first night in there the nurses were wonderful, but on the second night they changed and were the complete opposite. They just didn't care what was happening on the ward all night. I was next to a 93 year old lady who was crying for ages because she was cold and one of the nurses, shouted at her that she couldn't be cold because it was warm that night, and just walked away from her. In the end, I became so distressed hearing her that I got up with a drip in my arm and found her a blanket for which she was so grateful that I almost cried. She then settled down and slept. A old man in the next section called all night for a nurse and I don't think anyone came to him. One night the lights all fused and nothing was done about it and we were all in the pitch dark all night, I nearly fell over getting out of bed to use the bathroom. There is a lot more that I could say about it.
After that experience I dreaded going into hospital again, but the following year was ill and had to be admitted and everyone was lovely and really looked after everyone.
Last week, I had a small op and all the nurses were really helpful.
We also have a matron for all the depts in the hospital.
So really I think it depends on the ward and the nurses, but overall, I do get concerned about how some of the older people are treated, although having a very difficult old father myself, I understand how frustrating it must be nursing them sometimes.
On one hand there is a huge fear factor by posters of what might happen if they/theirs go into hospital and aren't cared for properly .Hence the dread and almost outrage.
And on the other hand,nurses making very valid points that they are trying their best , but the old image of "Florence Nightingale's ' is just an impossible quest. Hence their almost outrage at being perceived as none caring.
That was my experience anyway.
Getting the clap from the local MP, dying, then being found just as my cats were eating my body....
...yeah, that I could manage
Why do you think that the NHS have so many "foreign workers"?
I seriously doubt that there are thousands of trained, registered, british born nurses sitting at home twiddling their thumbs...
Oh dear. Did you join DS just to slag off foreign people and blame Asians for spreading MRSA like in the thread you started earlier? I can see you will be a real asset to DS - not! :yawn::yawn:
FYI, many of the overseas nurses are more qualified than the nurses they work alongside and are employed in roles where they don't have a chance to use their skills to best effect.
Did they find out what was wrong with you by the way? I am thinking a bad case of bigotryitis. The cure is to log off immediately as the internet can make your symptoms worse.
You can't let one bad experience tar an entire profession, I've yet to see any job where everyone is 100% perfect 100% of the time.
With any profession, there are both good and bad people, and when one is ill and frightened, to be 'cared for' by one of the bad 'uns is a devastating experience.
I'm not impressed by the racist comments, however - does it really matter what nationality your nurse is?
And in case anyone is wondering, I left the NHS following a traumatic assault by a patient in A&E, in which I sustained fractured neck vertebrae and a head injury. I now work in an office, using my nursing skills in a completely different way, and the only risk of abuse is of the verbal kind.
I don't think anyone is denying that there are some bad nurses out there, but I think the main objection is to the statement that the majority of nurses are like this.
I only left her one time when I had an appointment at another hospital and both my husband and mum were working. I fretted the entire time I was away and rightly so as when I returned she was bawling her eyes out, was laid in milk puke and her nappy had leaked. Where were the nurses?? Oh yeah that's right sitting round the nurses station eating quality street and gossipping. That's where they spent the majority of their time.
I trusted them with the care of my premature poorly baby and that's how they took care of her! I could hear her fcking crying as soon as I got out of the lift!
Most of my days were spent with a row of babies in rocking car seats in front of me as one crying baby set off another and another until they were all bawling. WTF I didn't get paid I don't know.
One of the nurses even had the bare faced cheek to say to me "I don't know what we'll do without you when your daughter is discharged". How I held my tongue and stopped myself from saying "maybe you'll have to get off your fat arse and care for these babies yourself" I'll never know.
The paediatric doctor on the other hand I couldn't praise enough, I once saw her work right through the day and night, they clock up some hours.
Add to that the increasing tendency of management not to replace NHS Nursing staff and instead hire from "agencies" who have no loyalty, commitment etc to the ward or hospital they work at and you have the system that's developing.
Ask any retiring age nurse now if they'd choose the same career again and see what response you get...