New career in the NHS.....am I crazy?

Don't let it stop you. I'm a nurse, though not on wards, so the few transgender patients I have don't require any special arrangements other than use of their preferred pronouns, which I am quite happy to do.
I still share my opinions on social media, but never in an insulting or discriminatory way (not that I would any way). I do slightly worry about the future in terms of progressive wokeness, but I'm currently in a small organisation and despite having a trans colleague, no organisational 'right think' has been dictated nor preferred pronouns mentioned.
Which is better than uni, where they were giving out pronoun badges...

It’s not something you come across on a daily basis.

I'm sure you will meet with much bigger challenges than the occasional TW. Just enjoy the work and good luck to you.

Perhaps nursing is not for you if you feel so strongly.

Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates:

1.3 avoid making assumptions and recognise diversity and individual choice

20.2 act with honesty and integrity at all times, treating people fairly and without discrimination, bullying or harassment

20.4 keep to the laws of the country in which you are practising

20.5 treat people in a way that does not take advantage of their vulnerability or cause them upset or distress

20.7 make sure you do not express your personal beliefs (including political, religious or moral beliefs) to people in an inappropriate way.

With regards to transgender staff treating patients who have requested same sex nurses, have you encountered that issue?

Again in practice, no. The HCP concerned were a junior doc on a medical team, a theatre nurse and a plaster technician. So not in roles where they would be the only people providing intimate care.

If all the biologically aware people avoid working in the NHS, then there will be noone left working in the NHS who is aware of biology. Which would be pretty crap all round.

😳 😂

I don't understand your first post, you state that you would be angry about a trans-man being on a woman's ward, and then you go on to state that sex matters, i.e. biology. A trans-man was born biologically woman, so it doesn't make any sense.

I'm a nurse and in 30+ years I've come across nearly as many staff as patients under the umbrella.

What I would say is that although The numbers maybe small, I have however encountered some incredibly vulnerable individuals who genuinely believed that "just one more procedure" would make them happy. These are people who have usually led difficult lives, would benefit from psychological care and deserve to be treated with same dignity and respect as any other patient.

I vehemently disagree with the pathways these vulnerable people have been funnelled down, but as individuals needing care I will always do my best.

As PP have mentioned, in practice, care happens in a sideward. I have far more issues with transgender staff caring for patients who request same sex nurses.

How exciting for you to go for a new career. I’m
Glad other nurses here have been able to reassure you. I work in a public facing role where I am afraid to air my views, but I feel a huge responsibility also not to just collude. I am just gradually educating myself and waiting for an appropriate opportunity to challenge some of the groupthink, and I think there are probably many of us in the same boat in these roles.

I don't think you should focus on this and let it put you off.

The wards at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital are all single rooms anyway, so the problems you are imagining with regards modesty and privacy are not as bad as they would be on a ward with shared beds.

I also have a friend who is a consultant in a hospital where a TW is a regular patient. They always put them in a private room.

I can say though, with 100% honesty, that another person's beliefs would have no bearing on how I treated them.

That's lucky as it should be the bare minimum requirement of a nurse!

I've been an RN for 15 years and never encountered this as an issue.

There is of course the policies and procedures and collection of "gender identity", and maybe your more likely to come across it in some areas than others.

There are a few members of staff who have put pronouns on their email signatures, but I notice that more because the majority don't, nor have we been asked to.

More than anything, although I am definitely gender critical, I'm careful what I post / retweet / like on Twitter as it's public (we are encouraged by the trust to use Twitter) so that I don't get dragged to HR by someone complaining about thinking wrong.

Nursing is mainly a great career - lots of possibilities, lots of different areas to work, if you don't like one speciality it's pretty easy to change to another. And let's face it, despite the endless cycle of change in the NHS, it's a pretty secure career choice.

I’m a nurse and the only time it has happened in my experience we put them in a side room.

I wouldn't let it put you off. It's hardly likely to be an issue. The wards I worked on were mixed sex anyway (no idea if it's changed). Male and female bays and several side rooms. You could choose many areas of nursing where it's unlikely to ever be an issue.

I dont think it's a day to day issue in most settings to be honest

Yeah this is what I was trying to say in my essay

I think you should go for it. This is a hot topic right now and very much on the radar of the frequenters of the FWR board. It's an incredibly important issue and one where I am happy to be involved in the movement to protect and preserve the rights of women and children.

That said, you cannot let this one issue determine YOUR life and life choices about something as important as becoming a nurse. Even if it crops up at work, it will be managed and dealt with by others (including management) and you can cross that bridge if and when you get to it. Sometimes we do have to deal with things at work we don't necessarily want to or agree with, but we deal with them, seek help, escalate it.

Health Board oolicies are policies, they'll be updated in a year or two, but nursing on the floor is varied and busy and rewarding and filled with a million difficult issues daily. At the end of the day providing quality healthcare is the ultimate goal of you and your colleagues and social issues such as these will wax and wane over the years, your team will deal with them when they crop up and then you'll move on to the next thing.

I do understand your concerns, it can feel overwhelming and hopeless at times, but it's not.