NHS Nurse total burn out

[BurntToAWalkersCrisp]

Name changed for this!

I am currently off sick from my band 6 role in a community nursing team. I have never had time off sick in my working life (prolonged sickness, I’ve obviously had time off for /flu etc). I am 2 weeks in to a 4 week sick note.

My anxiety is totally through the roof. I have been in my current role for 3 years, I have been qualified for 6 years. It is a busy case load palliative care team however I find practice very rewarding and enjoy the clinical side of my job. However the usual cost cutting, pressure in the NHS etc, managing a team, dealing with rotas, annual leave, queries from other teams, pressure from
above, capacity, highly emotive situations etc has caused me to lose sleep, lose my hair, crying at work, being miserable etc. this is not just me, a lot of people in my team have been feeling this way for a very long time. I have been very vocal about how I’ve struggled mentally but it all came to a head a couple of weeks ago after a particularly awful day and I have been off sick since. We have 5 band 6 nurses in my team, 4 of us are currently off with stress.

I have been referred to occupational health, I have just started counselling and due to start CBT in the next couple of weeks (this is through our trust). My manager has been calling me every other day to check in which is fine, she is nice but obviously her priority is getting me back to work

I don’t WANT to be off of work, I feel guilty and like a failure. I have been desperately looking for new jobs but in my trust currently there is no band 6 jobs in a 20 mile radius, I have also looked at dropping down a band but there are no band 5 jobs in either of my 2 local trusts

I feel sick at the thought of going back to work but also don’t want to be off too long as it makes it harder to go back. I am also now worried that I’m going to lose my job because of being off sick, I have only had one other period of sickness in the last 12 months which was 3 days for d&v.

Not too sure what I am asking, maybe for some reassurance that I’m not going crazy and that I’m not going to lose my job for being off sick.

i love being a nurse and I’m so proud, I put myself through uni as a single mum of 2 kids and it’s changed my life but it has also seriously destroyed my mental health in a way I didn’t think possible! My current plan is to continue with my therapy and look at either dropping my hours or dropping down a band But would need to discuss this with my manager

Hi, qualified NHS nurse here (17 years - yikes!)

So sorry you are going through this, you are not going crazy the NHS relies heavily on staff bending over backwards, usually at their own wellbeings’ expense.

You won’t lose your job if your sickness record is as you’ve stated, especially as you are working with the Trust (CBT) to get yourself better. Try not to go back too soon as you may end up back off & that yo-yoing isn’t great, take the time you need.

I’d speak to your manager re the calling every other day, maybe agree to a weekly email “check in” the phone call every other day seems intense & will not be helping your anxiety. And you’ll find it easier to articulate your feelings over email.

It sounds like you do need some time away from this role, being realistic things aren’t going to improve at work (work load, people management etc) can you speak to Occupational Health about being considered for the re-deployment list within the Trust?

And I’m going to say something here which isn’t particularly sympathetic but a trend I’ve noticed since Covid, is relatively newly qualified staff accepting higher roles, you said you’ve done the role for 3 years & qualified for a total of 6, so you took on a senior role 3 years post qualifying, given the first year of nursing is about preceptorship/getting signed off with clinical skills, that’s really quick. You may have had the clinical knowledge in that role to work as a 6 but on reflection do you think you had the nurse leadership, staff management & patient delegation/prioritisation skills?

Good luck

Thank you for the response, much appreciated!

I do definitely think with hindsight I was may have been too quick to move into the role although in the first 18 months I totally thrived, I had excellent support, a well staffed team etc but over the last year, we have had several people leave and not be replaced, a lot of challenging behaviours within the team, budget cuts, more and more responsibility, working hours changed so we do less days but compressed hours which has made it difficult with the the kids (who are now teenagers and need ferrying about/have a lot of clubs which is difficult when I don’t get in till 7pm and don’t have a partner).

However I am in my mid 40’s and spent 10 years prior to completing my nurse training as a manager of a very busy, complex team in a job similar to social work (just trying to be a bit broad as I’m aware some of my colleagues are mumsnetters!) so although relatively new to nursing, I am not new to managing a team, delegating, mdt’s, rotas, staff issues etc but I think for me, the pressure of being asked to do more and more each day, the buck stopping with us (our senior team are not very present), staff struggling which makes me guilty so try to lessen their work load which we as the senior nursing staff take on to complete, the highly complex patients plus the emotional side of the job has just gotten to me. Although my next door neighbour has been qualified for 13 months and is now 6 months into her prescribing/masters (i am not sure exactly what the course is) which the trust has funded and where once completed she will be a band 7 which is crazy to me so you definitely have a point

Hi, I am a nurse and was in the same position as you. I was a 6 in a community team, and due to staffing in the team ended up completely burnt out. I was acting up as 7 half the time as the team lead had their hours temporarily reduced due to stress. The other 3 Band 6 in the team - one was off LT sick, one was suspended awaiting investigation and the other was only doing 3 days a week and winding down to retirement.

I was off for 3 months, but really could have done with more. During this time off I was successful in applying for another role. I only had to go back to my community job for 2 weeks in between. I am so glad I changed roles....my first day back after 3 months off with stress and anxiety, there was no one there to greet me, and I was left in charge, running the teams!! I couldn't even remember how to log in or use the computer systems 😳

You need to take the time you need. 4 weeks off is nothing, you need to completely detach from work and focus on yourself. Your manager should not be contacting you every other day. Explain you need to switch off from work and she can contact you every fortnight/month. Put yourself first. I am so so proud of being a nurse, but it is only a job. Do not feel guilty for looking after yourself!

This, and that the NHS are cheeky feckers expecting this level of clinical/leadership/management work at a band 6.

You might love your job, and be proud of being an RN but that doesn't mean that the job and/or role is good/right for you any more. I agree that your manager needs to back off, it might be worth discussing with employee health how to manage this.

Your body is giving you signals that you're hugely stressed and not coping. It's okay to take the time off to focus on you and what steps to take next, it's exactly what you'd advise a friend to do, take care are💐