To think nursing will never be the same again

[missmeg3leg]

Like all other frontline workers in my position, I cannot comprehend the enormity of the mental health fallout of workers at the end of all this, I’m physically & mentally wiped out from 12hr ICU shifts in PPE, colleagues are patients on the dept, some have lost the battle, on days off we are well aware of the chaos we have left for the day, feel guilty not responding to continual requests for staffing 24/7 we cannot keep going til burnout yet there is simply not enough staff for the tidal wave of patients.....panic attacks & tears, its suffocating me

[RandomMess]

The impact will be far reaching.

Thank you for all you are doing.

[FOJN]

I'm currently waiting to hear about returning to clinical practice but I have thought about this a lot. I think there will be a mass exodus from nursing when the dust settles. People cannot work at this level of intensity and then return to trying to do their best in an under resourced service.

Thank you for all you are doing. It must be so hard to care for colleagues who don't survive. Take care of yourself as best you can.

[DeRigueurMortis]

Firstly thank you for all you are doing

As to your question, I'm not a HCP but I hope it's not the same after this.

After all the clapping has ended I hope people put pressure on the govt to properly fund the NHS and its staff.

That people appreciate that some staff will need both time and therapy to come to terms with what they have endured.

That everyone stops ignoring the bills passed in Parliament cutting nursing bursaries, staff wages, contracting out services to the lowest bidder at the expense of quality etc.

[sunshinedaisyfatrat]

Totally agree. I'm not a nurse but I am an AHP in an acute hospital and I'm completely overwhelmed by what is happening. Everyday everything changes. Rules and procedures change at least 3 times daily. We go on and off wards all day and every ward is interpreting it differently so we are always trying to catch up. PPE for our role is recommended as one thing but only a downgraded version is allowed by the trust.

People are crying all the time, heightened alertness to everything, real fight or flight stuff. No end in sight and all our usual patients are nowhere to be seen. Trust is also using the pandemic as a route to forcing in things that previously they were not allowed to due to lack of funding and resources. Apparently now, it doesn't matter and we have to get on with it. No support, no managers helping. I could go on. I can't sleep, I'm anxious and tearful all the time and I want to leave. Used to love my job and all the good I did.

[sunshinedaisyfatrat]

And in addition - working in PPE is just awful. I can't breathe, I feel like I'm going to faint all day.

[PuzzledObserver]

There is no doubt that what you are doing at the moment is traumatic, draining and disorienting. Hopefully with 12 hour shifts you only need to do 3 or 4 each week? The rest of the time - I hope you can find ways to relax, unwind, enjoy things. But it would be surprising if you never spent a night lying awake or a day slumped on the sofa.

Please don’t feel guilty. Look after yourself, as best you can. Know that your efforts are hugely appreciated by the population. And I hope that, when this is over, that will be demonstrated by government action, not just a token gesture but a fundamental shift.

[LucheroTena]

It’s awful, I’m seeing it through then I’ll leave at the end. My own patients have been thrown under a bus for this. Hospital management throwing out hero rhetoric on twitter and daily email, to ensure staff toe the party line and accept deployment. The deployment itself is a joke, all about filling shifts. They don’t have enough people with the right skill set, but apparently that doesn’t matter anymore. All the normal work has ground to a halt. Staff without PPE commuting on overcrowded buses and tubes. There is horrific lack of care towards staff.

[Hearhoovesthinkzebras]

I am an ex nurse. The worst that I ever experienced was three deaths in one night shift. I don't know how any of you will cope, mentally, with what is happening now.

[sunshinedaisyfatrat]

@IheartNiles completely agree. We are being bombarded with messages of heroism and 'being so flexible - aren't you wonderful' from management but in reality we have no choice in anything, skill set is irrelevant, free will is irrelevant and yes - all non covid patients have been totally thrown under the bus. I honestly don't think there will be an NHS left after this.

[Tajiri]

I wish they could shut the NHS for a week after this to deep clean it all and give us a day or two to get our heads round it all and try to de stress.

[sunshinedaisyfatrat]

I don't think there will ever be a point where we are 'after covid' as it's always going to be part of the health service unless it's eradicated. That's not an NHS I want to be part of any more.

[Orangelover]

Finishing a 62.5 hour working week this weekend. I'm on an admissions unit and it's been up and down but when it's bad the volume has been insane. We've got loads of redeployed staff, none of which have a clue but all our regular staff are burning out. Chaos. But I will keep going as long as I'm able.

This has to bring about some epic changes though, some good some bad I imagine.

Ah I don't know

[ChestyNut]

I said this to OP, I think people will leave in droves.
The trauma, the inhumanity of it all, the sadness, the fear, the dismissal of that fear by managers. Lack of PPE, how we’re all being treated.

I LOVE being a nurse but I didn’t know I’d be expected to risk my life (have health conditions) and the management support is appalling

Don’t know what else I’d do though.....I’m a nurse

[LucheroTena]

@sunshinedaisyfatrat totally. People are being played like fools. All the #1team bollocks while the ‘top team’ swan around with clipboards and seem to have free time in the day for endless Twitter. Certain staff ‘working’ from home while everyone buckles. The lack of testing staff and their household is a local and national disgrace and has led to huge amounts of clinical staff off work.

[Maggie90]

I honestly do not think they’ll be an NHS left after this is all (somewhat) back to normal.

It was already buckling and I was wagering maybe another 5 years but I think it will be done within a couple of years. They will not have enough staff and people will feel the need to go private to seek appropriate medical care as NHS will just be in a hole.

I think best case scenario would be to have half NHS, half private (like Germany) when the dust settles. Still, I do not know where the staff will come from to even semi rescue NHS and offer private care.

[Maggie90]

*there will

[missmeg3leg]

....& so it starts again tomorrow 😢just had 2 days off & back to 2 x 12 hrs tomorrow....anxiety through the roof tonight & stomach churning at the thought of work....working in itu (not my normal scrub) role I’m lost 😨 I can’t be the only one feeling like this....so not like me

[RandomMess]

[raviolidreaming]

...the dismissal of that fear by managers

Absolutely this. The lack of support / validation of feelings has been astounding.

[Pomegranatepompom]

It’s all horrid - I’m so stressed about working tomorrow that I don’t want to go to bed.
Sorry it’s so tough for people - I do think people will leave - sadly.

[Jamclag]

So sorry for all HCPs dealing with this - just feel really powerless to do anything or say anything helpful.

I've emailed my MP and signed petitions over PPE shortages, other than staying at home is there anything else us 'civilians' could be doing to help? (Other than voting for political parties who will honour their pledges to fund and resource the NHS properly)