To ask Is nursing really horrific?

Everyone is unkind to each other and no one steps in or stands up.

Just look at the Sandy Peggie stuff and it gives you such a flavour of the dog eat dog environment.

The pressure everyone is working under is immense and yet there is no leeway or compassion for omissions, mistakes or hesitations. It's very much a blame culture where everything has to be someone's fault.

It is often incredibly physical - 13+ hours of sheer physical endeavour with few if any breaks - depending on where you work and who else can cover your patients. You can't even go to the loo when you want (I've bled through my clothes on numerous occasions because you can even take a few minutes away from the floor). Any admission of being tired, wanting to sit down or have a break is seen as being "lazy" or looking to skive, including in pregnancy or when unwell. No one would willingly speak up for fear of being seen as weak....(It's not as overt as this, all unspoken)

Medicine is still hierarchical in places, with some senior doctors still having an image of being untouchable. If you want to question their prescribing or the plan they make for a patient then you have to be brave enough to withstand the potential rant or attempts at belittling you in front of colleagues and patients that will come.

The organisations that you work for will not support you - sickness is punished, there's no study or progression opportunities, you can't park or have to pay huge amounts to park, even if finishing at 1am no one cares that you've got to walk a long way in the dark to your car.

There are no refreshments supplied or available - if you want a hot drink you have to bring all constituent parts to work with you. If there's a disgusting fridge to put your own milk in, there may be no mugs or spoons. Many NHS places have no real food provision and if they do it's not open to fit with shifts, a long way from work zones so you don't have long enough to get there and stand in the queue with everyone else, and pay stupid prices for something horrible anyway. You are not allowed to drink in front of patients so no breaks means no drinks, even if you are on for 12 hours and it's a heatwave.

There's no choice over what to wear, even if you are far too hot or cold at work. You can't control the environment - no way to cool it in baking conditions while you do a very physical job, or to heat it in winter when it's cold.

Very few areas have good equipment with which to do your job so you are expected to buy and supply your own - things like pen torches, watches, scissors, tourniquets etc.

If you raise any sort of concern or issue you are seen as negative, moaning, unable to take it or a trouble maker. No one will support you even if they think the same as you. No manager will believe you or give any weight to your opinion.

Absolutely everything about all the above sends the message that you are not valued, not respected, not important, every single shift.

I’m a paediatric nurse and work on a surgical ward. I love it, we have a wide range of patients from minor injuries to some awful life changing traumatic injuries, as well as new stomas, children needing IV nutrition (TPN), broken bones, anything.

I do love it but it’s hard hard, busy work. All medications in paediatrics are based on their weight. You have to be able to calculate that medication is prescribed correctly for each child and then make sure you’re giving the correct amount. I spend so much of my time telling doctors they’ve prescribed something incorrectly or suggesting what they should prescribe. It’s infuriating and takes up so much of my time. We really do stop doctors from killing you.

Also playing go between, between various different medical teams is frustrating as I wish they’d just talk to each other.

All the maths can be hard, if I’m tired it’s harder. Then theres the monitoring all the fluid balances (anything that goes in and out), calculating the urine output mls per kg. Making sure all the medication is given, calculated correctly, all the fluid and drug infusions and then putting up the TPN, which can take a while. It’s exhausting work and taxes your brain. Then in all of this you have to find time for patient care, talking to parents, dealing with any conflict or discussions, tube or bottle feeding babies.

Safeguardinf! Oh my goodness the safeguarding, it’s relentless. Children do not always come from nice, safe families. Some don’t even get visitors.

I’m fortunate to work in a supportive team but we do moan a lot. Because it’s hard work. The biggest gripe is management who don’t seem to be bothered if your ward is unsafe either due to lack of staff or too many critically ill patients. They just sit in their office in endless meetings and never help, ever. Instead of coming round for 10 seconds to ask if we’re ok it would be nice if they asked what they could do to help. That’s the part I find demoralising.

Honestly op?

I'm a nurse and it's the biggest regret of my life. I don't know how/what I could retrain in now with my mortgage and bills to pay but if I could I would.

I see my friends with less qualifications than me earning double and I honestly wonder why I've chosen this nursing life for less financial reward and a whole lot of stress.

Why is it so bitchy and toxic? Is it because it’s generally all women together?

I mean the NHS doesn't allow for this!

I've worked in the nhs for over 30 years. I moved from nursing to midwifery. I used to be resilient but now my menopausal brain is frazzled and burnt out. I'm in a leadership role.

The nursing career is attractive for kind, loyal people - we want to care for people. However, we struggle to put in boundaries and work that bit extra to keep things going. It's in our nature to stay on a bit to help someone.

There is a term - moral injury. It means you feel guilty as you provided awful care that wasn't your fault (ie short staffed etc). This is a very real experience that will happen most days within our profession.

Good care takes time, unfortunately the NHS does allow for this :-(

You know that robot that had to clean its own oil up, it started out happy, did little dances often then slowly over time it couldnt keep up and just died. That's nursing.

Nursing is amazing and rewarding in the right environment. In the wrong one it will eat you from the inside out.

No. I’ve been a paediatric nurse for 21 years and I still love it!

Gosh where to begin to explain this....I have only ever worked in theatres my whole career so perhaps a ward nurse could also reply but I honestly think there isn't another profession/sector where such toxic behaviour is seen and tolerated. A few examples...
Surgeons throwing instruments, reported, no action
Surgeons and anaesthetists being rude to or shouting at other staff, no action
Other nurses refusing to help a low staffed theatre or overrunning theatre
A culture of blame where no-one will take responsibility and will allow others to take the blame for mistakes (no consequence to patients thankfully)
Mentors bullying student nurses or just plain ignoring them, refusing to sign off competencies
A culture of not challenging or speaking up about bad behaviour or outdated practice
After raising an issue regarding safety during nightshifts, being told by my band 7 "if you don't like it just leave" (what support eh? Especially as we were short of experienced nurses as it was)
I could go on and on. As previously said you need to be tough and it's not for everyone.
I can remember as a student many years ago a mentor saying to me "ffs not a student, I don't get paid anymore for doing this you know", that was a long placement!
Also some surgeons see scrub nurses as the punchbag when the surgery is not going well, they know you can't challenge them and have a row in the middle of an operation! As I got more confident I would speak up for myself afterwards and earned their respect eventually. But only after crying in the loo many times!
After the shitshow of Covid I left and am now in a lovely private clinic with an amazing happy team where we are all supported and valued. I will NEVER return to the NHS.

I was in nursing for 30 years. I did elderly care, disabled adults and palliative care during that time. It was hard, but very rewarding and I loved caring for people. I wasn't in the NHS though, so perhaps had it a bit easier in terms of no bullying cultures and assaults.

I work in the NHS alongside nurses. Specialist nurses and nurse managers though, not Band 5. It appears most, understandably, want to get off the wards as soon as they can.

Years ago I actually did start a nursing degree. Liked the theory but the placements were awful. The majority are ward based. Never enough staff, no one to double check doses etc, shifts and night work. It wasn't for me but as I say I'm now another line of staff with nurses as colleagues.

If you enjoy the placements and realise if you can get a job as a lot of Trusts have a recruitment freeze, you might be working on the wards, either for an amount of time to start with, or maybe forever, as where I am it appears to be the number one aim to get away from the wards and shift work.

Ps mental health nursing has changed so much. Often in the community I felt like a cross between a nurse and a social worker or accountant, always working on housing issues, personal budgets etc. Also, the shortage of beds is frustrating. 10 years ago I was shocked to find to ensure a bed for a patient you had to detain someone under the MHA. Now, even detention doesn’t ensure a bed. I worked in a Home Treatment Team in Hackney and would often have to care for people at home who were actually detained under the MHA but we couldn’t get a bed for. Often by the time a bed was found, 2 weeks or so later, it wasn’t needed. Shortfalls in beds meant an increase in stress for community teams.

I’ve been in in since 86. First as a HCA in Learning Disability, then in 1990 training in mental health, qualified in 93.

I admit last few years I’ve felt burnt out. Once my mortgage was cleared I went part time. I’ve since relocated from London to Somerset. I’m collecting my NHS pension next year and thankfully no longer need to work full time. I’ve registered to work Bank, so only want to work part time and in teams where I don’t have the stress of care coordination or working on the wards. I’m being booked a lot (well 2/3 shifts a week) on mental health liaison which involves assessing people in a&e or on the wards, so short term assessments and signposting. Suits me fine!

Do I regret it? 70% no. It’s a job for life and while I don’t have a degree or diploma ( I trained under the traditional system) my skills and experience are easily transferred to loads of different environments. But I’m also only experienced at nursing. Sometimes I think I’d love to work in a pub or shop because at my time of life money isn’t essential as I’ve cleared my mortgage and don’t have kids but worry if I wanted a supermarket job (which I’d be happy to do) employers would think I’m overqualified for and wouldn’t look at me!

Tldr: yes it’s great if you know it’s your field and a job for life especially if you want to remain hands on. They’re always looking for hands on nurses.

I’ve been a nurse for 15 years, I still love it. I specialised early, did about 6 months on the ward before moving in to interventional cardiology. I’ve been a CNS since 2017. It’s rewarding but stressful and resources are stretched. It’s hard but I can’t really see myself doing anything else, hearts are my thing

I’m a nurse lecturer with many years’ experience as a nurse. Our nursing students drop out for a number of reasons, the biggest one in the first year is that they didn’t realise what was involved. They go on their first placement and are shocked that it’s not like on TV dramas or how they imagined it would be. I would recommend getting some exposure to ward work so you can see what you’re getting involved in.

Another big reason students leave is they aren’t committed enough. You are expected to essentially sacrifice a lot. You will have to work shifts, write coursework, attend lectures and deal with a lot of difficult experiences. If you add in worries about academic performance, it can all get a bit much.

I’d say the next biggest reason for dropping out is childcare issues. There is no allowance made for your family needs. You have to do the shifts you are given and attend all lectures. This can be hard when you have to get kids to school and pick them up.

Then there is the problem of failing modules and having to leave for that reason. Some people struggle with the academic side.

A few of my students have had to leave due to financial reasons as being a student is very hard on the money front.

My advice to you would be to make sure it is what you want to do and that you are willing to sacrifice your life for 3 years and not be as present in your family for a while. You have to know that it will be worth it. Read the Nursing Times or Nursing Standard to see what is going on in the nursing world. Go on a university open day and see what you think there. Checkout what finance would be available to you and see if you could budget for it.

I personally don’t regret being a nurse and I still love it, but it isn’t for everyone.

When people refer to bullying on wards and ‘toxic culture’ can someone explain a bit more what this means? Sorry to be thick but as someone not from an nhs background it’s hard to completely appreciate what the reality and context of it is - so are nurses bullied by other nurses? Sounds dreadful

Erm…. Yes sadly. I started as HCA aged 18, now been a nurse nearly 16years, only 39 and it scares me I’ll probably have another 30yrs to go. I’ve suffered with stress and MH issues related to work. HOWEVER, most of the time I find pleasure in what I do, self-fulfilment, and I’m passionate about being a nurse. However as nurses we are let down by management, society, the Government, we are severely undervalued and disrespected and don’t we know it! Would I do anything else tho? Probably not…… I do love being a nurse and proud to be one.
I realise this is a very confusing jeckyll and hyde answer, but it sums up how I feel.
Give it a go if you feel you have a calling, if it’s not for you then leave as many others do x

I'm 25 ish years in.

Pay is insulting, progression is glacial, shifts are brutal, autonomy is absent, the physical environment is crumbling, equipment is scarce, the healthcare and social care landscape is post apocalyptic.....

The NHS is absolutely falling apart. Nothing feels safe, nothing feels productive. You end up delivering care you know isn't good enough, while also never getting any breaks or thanks.

I wouldn't recommend anyone paying for their own training, getting into large amounts of debt in the process, while working for free on placements where the staff can't and won't teach or support you, paying for parking to stay up all night and be on the receiving end of abuse and aggression from patients and their relatives. Once qualified you will struggle to get a job (most trusts have recruitment freezes), have next to no say in your working hours/days/annual leave, get no CPD opportunities and be paid what you could have earned working in a leisure centre or something.

I’ve been a ward nurse for 3 years and it’s soul destroying and really effecting my health if I’m honest and I’m relatively new, only 3 years in 🙈 I do work on geriatric though and think it’s time I had a change soon.

Im constantly one nurse for 15 patients because of constant staff movement, miss breaks, don’t leave on time because of documentation and some of those patients I barely see for 10 minutes in a whole shift other than giving medications. Patients meant to be turned and checked every 2-3 hours but you can’t do that because you’ve got multiple poorly patients where it’s literally life or death. Confused patients assaulting your colleague and security don’t have enough security to come and help. Spending time away from patients that need me to deal with complaints from relatives that often aren’t our fault but the fault of the system or staffing movement. It’s just relentless and I can’t recall the last time I had a ‘good shift’. HCA’s in my trust are lacking and often we’ll have an extra nurse instead of a hca as they don’t want to do it anymore for the same pay they can get in Aldi and I don’t blame them, so many of them left during Covid. Writing this I definitely need a new area and I used to think yeah right when mentors during my training said if they had their time again they wouldn’t do it again. But whatever the general public think is overstretched and lack of resources in the NHS, it’s even worse than they could ever imagine on the wards. I don’t know what else I could do other than be a nurse but it’s really really hard going the majority of the time and the stress doesn’t stop when you leave work. It’s not a job you can just leave there when you leave duty

I have 2 friends (they don’t know each other) who are qualified nurses but who never practised. I guess it’s not for everyone, but yes- very expensive mistake. Neither of them do jobs that involve their nursing qualifications at all.

Palliative care nurse here. For the last 15yrs.
I adore it and would do it for free.
It had absolutely been my calling in life.
The biggest privilege there is.
🥰

I was a children's Nurse. I tried different roles on the wards, and ended up as a Clinical Nurse Specialist with vulnerable adolescents in community services before eventually leaving the profession for good in 2016.

Firstly, I really enjoyed my nursing degree but a lot of my peers were not prepared for how demanding it was, academically and in terms of time commitment, and quite a few dropped out at various stages. You need flexible and reliable childcare, and a really good support network, to juggle parenting with working shifts on the ward on placement and studying for exams and assignments. I loved it, but I didn't have children yet at that stage and I had done a previous degree so wasn't phased by the written assignments, volume of reading etc. For those who found the academic side difficult there was a good level of support from the University though.

I loved the actual work with the children, which was interesting and rewarding, but as the years went on budget cuts and lack of staff made it increasingly difficult for me to do my job to a standard I personally considered acceptable. With every year that went by I had more patients, with more complex problems but less time to dedicate to them and fewer resources to offer them. There was endless talk from Managers (who were Nurses once upon a time but hadn't worked on the front line for decades) about "efficiency" and "throughput" and needing to run the services with a "smaller financial envelope" to justify taking away services from people who needed them, and would have been able entitled to them a few year earlier. Our concerns about the safety and quality of the care, along with concerns about workload and staff wellbeing, fell on deaf ears.
I got so demoralised by having to constantly apologise to desperate and often angry (sometimes aggressive) parents for things that were not my fault and totally out of my control. I was Line Managing a team of unqualified support workers (who had replaced experienced Nurses who left or retired) who were, frankly, shit, a nightmare to manage and increased my workload but the powers that be didn't care because they were cheap. Staffing levels went from being challenging to being unsafe, and I started to have re-occuring nightmares about vulnerable children on my caseload dying. I was bringing paperwork home with me every evening and weekend to keep my head above water but still always felt like I was chasing my tail trying to keep up. I reduced my hours to part time in an attempt to manage stress but basically ended up still trying to do a FT job for a PT wage.

I don't know what things are like now but based on my experience its not a profession I would encourage my DC to go into.

I’ve been nursing 14 years and absolutely love it - have worked in extremely toxic environments though :( but overall the difference you can make it such a great feeling. I did go into a very very specialist area though

Paeds nurse here! I’ve recently changed jobs actually I spent 7 years working On a high level NICU and I just got to the point where I was thinking “all this stress, making me mentally ill, why am I doing it”

I now work On general paeds ward and I am loving it. I was so so worried about the change and if I was doing the right thing. But I absolutely love it. It’s so much less stressful and I’m really enjoying being around the older children as much as I loved working with the babies too! It was the stress of the intensity of that role couldn’t take anymore!

paediatric nursing has so many different opportunities. I’d say go for it!

I left the nhs 12 years ago & i would never go back. Lots of girls i qualified with have also left and the ones i know still in it hate it