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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pissed off at being 'just' a nurse?

613 replies

bottleofwater · 18/12/2017 22:45

Three times in the last week Ive had different family members making sarky comments regarding some recent achievements & promotion at work.

Usually comments along the lines of "Oh Florence Nightingale you will be telling the Doctors what to do now" " You will be a surgeon in no time" & " What do nurses know about blood pressures, they are not doctors".

Im so fed up of how its like being a nurse is rubbish & that only Doctors are of any value Angry

Also comments regarding how I dont make the same amount of money as other family members but thats probably another thread!

Not sure what they think nurses actually do but aibu to be pissed off at the constant sneering at me?

OP posts:
AmeliaFlashtart · 19/12/2017 16:38

A nursing degree isn't as demanding or rigurous academically or otherwise as a medical degree, that includes getting accepted onto and the levels required during. The standard response on this thread is that nurses tell doctors what to do, what the patient needs, have saved many a patient from certain death at the hand of a bungling doctor, the attitude that caused the relatives to take the piss out of OP is loud and clear here.

Nurses you mostly do a good job but you aren't on the same level as a doctor, get over yourselves, you aren't trained to the same level, your training isn't as rigorous or demanding, you don't have to be as bright to get on a nursing degree as you do in medical school. You are a cog in the team. No wonder the rellies took the piss.
I've seen more god complexes on this thread than I've ever encountered in doctors. And as for badly paid????!!!! I always assumed nurses were on about £14k but no it's much more, I was surprised when I found out. Many Many trained, skilled people earn less, so stop whingeing, you will never have the status of a doctor, accept it.

Grapeeatingweirdo · 19/12/2017 16:44

Nurses are my heroes, for so many reasons. Be proud OP

SunnySkiesSleepsintheMorning · 19/12/2017 16:49

Amelia why so bitter? Did a nurse piss in your cornflakes or something?

FruitCider · 19/12/2017 16:52

I always assumed nurses were on about £14k but no it's much more, I was surprised when I found out. Many Many trained, skilled people earn less, so stop whingeing, you will never have the status of a doctor, accept it.

😂 I don’t know whether you are being serious or trolling. Either way, £14k for being a nurse made me laugh so hard I nearly wet myself. Are you “he who must not be mentioned?” If I wanted to be a doctor, I would have trained as a doctor!

BiglyBadgers · 19/12/2017 16:58

I really don't know what you think nurses do as you seem a bit confused about it, but I don't know any graduate role with responsibility for running a complex department like a ward, that would earn £14k. Certainly not one where a tiny mistake could easily result in some one dying.

If you are doing such a job Amelia I would definitely support your fight for better pay and recognition. Of course if you want the pay of a nurse you could train as one. It is so very easy after all.

crunchymint · 19/12/2017 17:01

Many people when they talk about nurses, are actually talking about HCAs. It is the HCAs who do what used to be called nursing. And yes they are very underpaid and under appreciated.

Trulymadlymotherly · 19/12/2017 17:07

I’ve never understood this ‘them and us’ attitude fostered by some.
I’m a doctor. I couldn’t do my job without the nurses. I also couldn’t do my job without HCAs, domestics, radiographers, paramedics and clerical staff. Equally, none of those people can do their jobs without doctors.
I’ve never felt the need to belittle another professional. I have however found myself irate about the opinion held by SOME (not all) nursing staff that they’re running around stopping doctors kill people 🙄.
I need you to tell me what you know about the patient. It’s valuable. I’ll listen if you have an opinion on treatment. You might have recognised something I haven’t. Ultimately though the responsibility for the decision lies with me.

BiglyBadgers · 19/12/2017 17:07

Amelia you do know that £14k wouldn't even be minimum wage for a full-time job don't you?

The average graduate starting salary is estimated at £19-22k, though there is actually huge variation depending on industry. Nursing starts at just over £22k, so not huge for a graduate role. It tends to be the progression that nurses complain about rather than the starting salary in my experience.

liz70 · 19/12/2017 17:11

Hospital cleaners are on more than 14k p/a, Amelia. You really have been parachuted in from the 1950s, haven't you?

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 17:11

AmeliaFlashtart - what job do you do out of interest?

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 17:13

I would love to know what “many, many, skilled people” earn less than 22k which is a band 5 healthcare professional starting salary.

ginteresting · 19/12/2017 17:17

Truly- I agree I work on a specialist nurse led unit (CQC outstanding, no less).The Doctors and clinical nurse specialists linked to our unit are amazing, I truly admire them. I certainly don't agree with the them vs us sentiment either.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 17:21

But nobody is “just” anything are they? People are paid for doing a job because it needs doing, therefore all occupations matter.

notanurse2017 · 19/12/2017 17:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ginteresting · 19/12/2017 17:23

I think you could be right.

missyB1 · 19/12/2017 17:26

OP your in laws are ignorant and know nothing about HCPs, so tell them to stop embarrassing themselves with their stupidity.

In reality Doctors and Nurses on the whole work extremely well together, not in competition - why would they be they are two very different roles. It’s all about teamwork in healthcare, if the team doesn’t function well the patient suffers.
I met a few twatty Doctors and Nurses in my 26 years in healthcare, after all you get twatty people everywhere, but the vast majority were just bloody briliant!

tehmina23 · 19/12/2017 17:52

Your family sound strange OP, & snobbish!!

I'm only an HCA and my extended family are impressed by my job & very proud of me, despite my lowly status & wage.

I'm lucky though - on my unit if I feel a patient is poorly the nurses & Drs usually listen to my concerns.
We HCAs are respected as part of the team & they couldn't cope without us as we do most of the hands-on care.

The patients seem to get mixed up about the roles and I'm usually called 'nurse'. I correct them but they still say it.

Maybe OPs family are similarly mixed up over what a registered Staff Nurse actually does & don't realise Nursing is an actual Profession.

Or, more likely, they are just total arses.

BiglyBadgers · 19/12/2017 18:01

And another point on the subject of graduate wages for nurses it is also worth remembering that on top of doing a full-time academic degree nursing students also have to do clinical placement hours, I believe it is 2300 hours. This is means nursing students have much less holiday than an average student. It also means they finish their degree not only with the academic qualification, but over a years work experience with progressive levels of responsibility throughout those placements. The starting salary reflects this.

Headofthehive55 · 19/12/2017 18:42

you do realise that the people who often teach the medical students are nurses don't you amelia ?

AmeliaFlashtart · 19/12/2017 18:48

14k was a random low figure I plucked from the air to illustrate how low I assumed nurses pay is constantly hearing nurses go on about how poorly paid they are, you aren't poorly paid, a sister can earn what around £50k? Plus. Succession? The good people will rise to the well paid roles. Succession isn't automatic, There's always a pyramid hierarchy of roles and salaries. Same for any job, some will stay lower grades all their life, others will prove capable of taking on more and more responsibility, leadership and decision making and earn more.
Its so clear OPs relatives weren't putting down the profession of nursing but taking the piss out of OP herself and her very over inflated self importance. OP seems to have been held up no doubt training a Brain Surgeon how to do their job properly.

AmeliaFlashtart · 19/12/2017 18:52

Headofthehive55
I do thankyou.I'm very well informed, my close friend is head of training at a large teaching hospital.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 18:55

AmeliaFlashtart - sisters/ward managers used to be a band 7 but in my old Trust they are a band 6. They earn between 26 and 35k.

Specialist nurses used to be a band 7 - now a band 5 or 6 due to downgrading to save money.

Most nurses so spend their entire careers as a band 5. The band maximum is £28.5k. Sure, unsocial hours payments (if you work them) bump up pay a little but there is talk of scrapping these allowances.

Polarbearflavour · 19/12/2017 18:56

AmeliaFlashtart - but you don’t work in healthcare and have no idea what it’s like.

iniquity · 19/12/2017 19:04

While I agree basic nurse training is a lot less difficult than medicine, I disagree in the whole nurses are therefore a bit dim as suggested. At the end of the day people train to be a nurse as that's what they want to do and therefore nurses have a range of intelects.
However nurses and HCAs probably do the most important work in the hospital. If staff nurses went on strike there would be a lot of deaths.

BiglyBadgers · 19/12/2017 19:06

I do thankyou.I'm very well informed, my close friend is head of training at a large teaching hospital.

Perhaps you should spend some more time talking to her as your assumptions on nursing pay show you clearly have not got a clue about what qualifications and training nurses have to reach senior levels or what their job involves.