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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To stop working in the NHS

69 replies

Sounbelievablydull · 10/06/2017 19:12

I keep reflecting on Theresa mays comment to a nurse that the there is no magic money tree.
I am a nurse my pay has been static for ages.
I am lucky that my husband keeps our financial boat afloat but if he didn't we'd be sunk.
Many of my friends have jumped ship gone to work in industry or in private hospitals.Many of the nurses I work with are doing bank work to keep their families going and as a consequence are exhausted and burnt out.
I feel very proud of the work I do and I do receive a lot of gratitude from patients, but I am feeling like I am a voluntary worker at times when I see what my pay is.
I am thinking of doing something a lot easier for similar money-have been offered a job- but do feel guilty at letting people down

OP posts:
NurseButtercup · 10/06/2017 19:18

YANBU
Do what's right for you, your career and your family.

purpleangel17 · 10/06/2017 19:26

Of course YANBU. You are entitled to do any job you are suitably qualified for and can obtain and at any company. In a free market economy people vote with their feet and there's nothing wrong with that.

KingLouisa · 10/06/2017 21:33

Where is the job offered? if you think you'd be happier go but the nhs does have its perks ie good mat pay holidays and pension.

QuinnPerkins · 10/06/2017 21:36

Don't full time band 5 nurses earn about 30k after enhancements for unsociable hours?

YABU for saying a 20-30k job is like volunteering.

YANBU for changing to a job you think will be better for you.

Mrsmadevans · 10/06/2017 21:43

I think for the amount of training and responsibility you have yadnbu op. I would get out and not feel guilty at all, the govt depends upon Nurses feeling guilty to keep working for the wages they do , it comes with the territory.

mineofuselessinformation · 10/06/2017 21:44

You are not alone. Many public sector industries have had no wage rise for a long time.

drinkswineoutofamug · 10/06/2017 21:54

@QuinnPerkins no staff nurses don't earn that.
A newly qualified £21/22 k . We get an increment yearly over X amount of years based on further training and appraisal.
Most staff nurses are also back at uni while working full time to top up their qualifications up to degree level. Then their masters , critical care. As they want more and more out of you.
Staff nurse jobs at our trust £21-28k

QuinnPerkins · 10/06/2017 22:01

no staff nurses don't earn that.
A newly qualified £21/22 k . We get an increment yearly over X amount of years based on further training and appraisal.

But that 21-22k is basic. Any hours worked at weekends or late evenings, bank holidays etc gets paid at an enhanced rate. So typically, a band 5 nurse (before working up the increments) gets quite a bit more. Usually at least 25k.

And while it's certainly not a fortune, it's the average wage in the UK. It's far from volunteering.

I have nurses in my family. One has been qualified a year, works shifts in a hospital and earns, on average £30k (£1800 a month after tax). Not too shabby for someone who is 22 years old.

Original poster
Sounbelievablydull · 10/06/2017 23:09

In my current role I assess patients who are unwell at home. I am able to prescribe medications; I have got a masters degree so am able to do this.
I supervise other staff I am on call at evenings and weekends approx every six weeks.
I have to have a car as it's a community based job I have to pay business insurance for this. I can claim mileage which is actually less than I spend on petrol.
I pay yearly to remain on the nursing register as do all other nurses
We also pay to have union representation- as do many others I'm sure.
My take home pay is £1,800 on an on call monthits it's 1880. I do not have to work weekends or evenings any longer.
I really like the job but the responsibility is overwhelming at times
The job I have been offered is administrive in a relatives business

OP posts:
littleducks · 10/06/2017 23:20

I'm not a nurse but work in the NHS and the election campaign had me wanting to throw the towel. Professional membership, hcpc fees, petrol and car maintaince (community worker) and CPD costs coming off a wage of about £12 an hour.

Plus the endless unpaid overtime to do the job to the standard I believe people deserve.

Original poster
Sounbelievablydull · 10/06/2017 23:25

Yes I agree re the extra hours didn't even factor them in as I'm so used to doing them. I honestly never minded as felt so priveldged to be doing this job but for some reason the magic money tree comment has tipped me over the edge ( of reason)

OP posts:
Dingalingalingaling · 10/06/2017 23:28

It's not just about the money. How much annual leave do you get? Pension? Sick pay benefits - six months full pay, is it? Then another six months half pay? Entitlements for time off for this, that and the other that you wouldn't get in the private sector. The right to carry length of service (and hence pay, pension etc) between employers.
You might get more money away from nursing, but you will lose all the other benefits you have.
I'm not saying nursing is easy, but I do think people in the NHS are in a bit of a protected bubble and think they are worse off than everyone else when the opposite is true.

ChristmasFluff · 10/06/2017 23:29

Worked in the NHS. Don't now. Gave up the pension and working conditions because of the constant moving goalposts, pointless monitoring, constant re-organisation crap. Work in the voluntary sector now and love my job, love how I answer to one person (my chief exec), even though I was previously an NHS head of department it came with little freedom. No NHS stress now. Pay until last year was pegged to NHS, but last year management recognised that this was completely unfair and they wanted to keep me. Leave, don't look back. Band 5s on 30,000? I was pegged to Band 6 and wasn't getting that.

MoreProseccoNow · 10/06/2017 23:32

The effects of continuous pay freezes & low-inflation pay rises are really biting now. And of course the increased pension contributions to the career-average-earning-scheme. no, they are bloody well not final salary.

Not to mention the increasing demands, unpaid overtime, low morale. Being told we are "inefficient" & constant criticism.

And don't even start me on Jeremy Cunt.

No, YANBU.

ChristmasFluff · 10/06/2017 23:34

Just read the message above mine from Dingalingetc. I willingly gave all that up. THAT'S how much I'd come to hate working for the NHS. There are things 'security' cannot buy - like sleep, job satisfaction (not being told how long an appointment must be, or how many treatments I should give - erm I'm a professional, I'll decide that for myself, thanks, not be told by a commissioner), mental health, health in general. I don't need to worry about sick leave, because my job isn't grinding me down to the ground on a daily basis any more.

PlymouthMaid1 · 10/06/2017 23:35

Agree with the post above as in be careful what you wish for. Many jobs now have barely any paid sick leave, I get one week for instance but I know of places with none. A lot have minimum annual leave of 28 days which includes bank holidays. And many have also had no pay rises for years. I do think public sector workers live in a bubble a bit.

Original poster
Sounbelievablydull · 10/06/2017 23:38

Luckily for me I have been well up till now so have never taken sick leave. But you are corrrect the current arrangement is 6 months full pay then 6 months half pay. I don know what the this that and the others are? I have not had a day off other than annual leave since 2016 - fractured arm- this includes when my dad died so I'm not sure where you're idea of limitless leave comes from.
In my experience most people go over and beyond to provide a service

OP posts:
ChristmasFluff · 10/06/2017 23:39

Those of you in the private sector - if the public sector is so cushy and fun, and loads of great sick leave, you could, you know, go work there? Rather you than me.

Original poster
Sounbelievablydull · 10/06/2017 23:40

Sorry meant to say 2006!

OP posts:
PortiaCastis · 10/06/2017 23:40

I cannot comment realistically as I don't know what being a nurse is like but I have been in intensive care for two weeks and think nurses are worth their weight in gold. How do you do it?

All that screaming all those alarms all day and all night by God when I was nursed enough to go to a general ward those alarms stuck in my head.
So, if Jeremy cunt won't thank you ladies I will
Flowers Thanks

123MothergotafleA · 10/06/2017 23:40

Yes he is a cunt isn't he, hehehe.

Babyroobs · 11/06/2017 01:07

I used to earn around £22k as a qualified nurse for a 3 day week. The money is not bad if you work plenty of nights and weekends to boost pay through enhancements. There are some perks like good sick pay , I have collegues who have had six months full pay on the sick following a bereavement. The annual leave was good and maternity pay good. When I was pregnant with my first child I lived abroad and got no sick pay at all !

Itscurtainsforyou · 11/06/2017 01:20

Similar to Portia - I spent over 6 months in newborn intensive care, encountering the skills, care and professionalism of nurses every single day. These people were amazing. They are truly worth their weight in gold, from regularly saving babies lives through diagnosis and resuscitation, to caring for those whose babies weren't going to/didn't make it.

I earn more than nurses do (like many I suspect) and feel guilty for doing so because I don't have that kind of immediate impact on life or death.

Icallbullshit3 · 11/06/2017 02:02

Can't say I blame you. Both DH and I work in the NHS and currently thinking about leaving the country!

5BlueHydrangea · 11/06/2017 08:41

I'm a nurse. I had 6 months off sick on full pay with a bad back. Then lost my job. The 6 months on half pay I was told is at 'managers discretion' even though it doesn't say that in writing anywhere.was too depressed with the whole situation to pursue that but felt like I'd been chucked on the rubbish heap after working in that unit for 15 years. Not good for my mental health!! And a few years on I still feel unhappy about it all.
That said, the NHS is far from perfect but does do a lot of good . I work in the NHS now but in a very different role (still nursing).

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