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

[bottleofwater]

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

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?

The further we get through this thread the more I see that people don't understand the role of a nurse People seem to be surprised that nurses are in charge of the wards - that's been their role for a very long time. Matron was in charge of the wards back in the day too. The ward manager will always always be a nurse if you ask for them.

Doctors do not do that and nor should they, we're spread over more places than the ward (eg. theatre, clinic, outliers on other wards, medical student teaching) so we don't know what's going on there as much as the nurses do. "Why didn't x receive their medication?" isn't a question I know where to start with unless it's because I'm a divvy and didn't prescribe it.

Also nurses were absolutely fuming about the loss of the bursary where I work. They know it means less future nurses, less of a skill mix (more likely to be very young people training where the older trainees are very valuable too!) and less loyalty to the NHS in the long run.

I have read nurses saying they are glad there is now no bursary as it was attracting the wrong kind of people. No idea of this is true by the way.

No idea where you've heard that. If anything it's the opposite. I've noticed in my trust the current crop of first year student (ie the first that have full tution fee loans etc) seem to have so many more direct school leavers than before. I do teaching sessions for students on placement and not a single one I've had this year has had any previous and are all very young. Obvioisly im not saying that they won't make good nurses but in the service I work in coming in with little experience of work never mind care work and the naivety of young age means many of them get targeted massively by the service users. It can be very difficult.

It also saddens me that I see so many hcas who would make amazing nurses but won't go to do the training because it just isn't financially worth it.

Exactly get outofmygarden

The doctors cover dozens of outliers, emergencies as well as clinics, this idea that theyre makinh all the ward based decisions and nurses merely carry out their orders is just bonkers! How on earth do they think docs would find the time to "mind" us and keep a personal eye on every patient?

On nights doc are covering hundreds of the sickest patients. Since docs cant split themselves into 100 a lot of the decisions about escalation and monitoring and monitoring HAVE to fall to the nurses who are physically there with the patient on front of them!

Dont people see this at all when theyre in hospital or visiting?

I have read nurses saying they are glad there is now no bursary as it was attracting the wrong kind of people. No idea of this is true by the way

Its not
I know no nurse or doc or physio or ot or odp or any other hcp who even slightly sees any silver lining in the removal of the nursinv bursary

I do think all the extra grants was attracting the wrong sort of person. . Somebody I knew told me about this person who did all the training because she was getting so much in benefits and grants then after she qualified gave up after about three months because it was too much like hard work and she was getting less pay than when she was a student. So what a waste of time and taxpayers money that was.

Lets face it, I'm not psychic. A nurse has to recognise that a patient is unwell enough to bleep me when I'm on call, don't they? I don't know that the title old lady in bed 3 that I've not met before 'just isn't right', do I?

The more experienced nurses know what I need to know to do my job and sort their patient out the fastest and it requires quite a bit of thinking to do. They know what I'm going to ask for on the phone, so they'll have the notes in front of them, a fresh set of obs done, the drugs card there, the last set of relevant bloods up and it's an absolute dream to deal with. The ones who can't be arsed to do this really shows and it's a bloody nightmare asking them to do a set of obs before I come to the ward. Had one tell me she doesn't do obs

I think the nurse bursary does not have much to do with the status of nursing. One great thing about a nursing degree is that you are guaranteed a job at the end of it. There are promotion prospects so it is worthwhile as a career. Anyone who dies not see this is missing the point of doing the degree. This makes it a far better bet than some degrees so it should be on the same basis as other degree that we value. You have to get a loan. All other professions have to take out loans. It is important that it is seen as professional and not just on the job training.

Somebody I knew told me about this person who did all the training because she was getting so much in benefits and grants then after she qualified gave up after about three months because it was too much like hard work and she was getting less pay than when she was a student.

Then that person you know is chatting absolute bullshit, because I've seen most nursing students crossing their fingers that their travel reimbursement comes through this month with their bursary because otherwise it's pasta and cottage cheese for lunch for the next month.

Also, NHS bursary in my last year of medical school came to the princely sum of £5k a year. No nurse earns less than this unless they do about 7.5 hours a month. And the nursing students have to do nights and weekend shifts while they're training...

Somebody I knew told me about this person who did all the training because she was getting so much in benefits and grants then after she qualified gave up after about three months because it was too much like hard work and she was getting less pay than when she was a student.

Sorry what??? Every student seems to have barely scraped by on the bursary and what additional benefit etc? Some were working upwards of 38 hours per week on the wards training and still having to fund their way with bar work elsewhere.

BubblesBuddy, its NOTHING like doing a regular degree, Ive done both. I held down a job with my non nursing degree, doing a nursing degree is like working a full time job! THATS why no bursary completely prohibits people who dont have other financial means from going into nursing, not because they dont value it!

BubblesBuddy, its NOTHING like doing a regular degree, Ive done both. I held down a job with my non nursing degree, doing a nursing degree is like working a full time job! THATS why no bursary completely prohibits people who dont have other financial means from going into nursing, not because they dont value it!

GetOutOfMYGarden

I don't know that the title old lady in bed 3 that I've not met before 'just isn't right', do I?

I presume you mean “little” in the above? You do realise the little old lady reference is pretty patronising, don’t you? It all sounds a bit ‘Carry on Doctor’ to be honest.

The myths just keep on coming on this thread!
No. It is (was 😔) really really hard to survive on the old nursing finance package. Hard but just about doable. And you WORKED for it: nights, weekends etc. Now its just not doable at all for many

It's a fact. She was the wrong person because she was attracted by all the extra money. Maybe it varies from area to area.

The nursing degree isn’t like any other degree, other than midwifery. I was in uni 42 weeks a year not 30, and 21 of those weeks I was on placement for 37.5 hours per week. In my final year final placement I was working 37.5 hours a week on placement, doing bank HCA work 12 hours a week, and had to write my 8000 word dissertation and 10000 word portfolio at the same time. I had a 3.5 year old at the time. How it didn’t break me I will never know.

RoseWhiteTips if that's the most offensive thing I've said on here I've done bloody well. Most of the ladies I get the 'she's not right' call about are in their 90s and weigh about 6 stone wet through - and that is very much relevant to the cause in a lot of cases.

viv I was “lucky” because I received DLA, DP worked 16 hours a week, he claimed caters allowance and we claimed tax credits. Including my student finance our income was £23k. It’s now £50k combined so even after I’ve paid tax and ni I’m still miles better off!

Fact: you get more money working part time in tescos than you do/did as a bursary student working 37.5 hrs a week (shift work incl 11.5 hr nights) on the ward and doing coursework.

Someones pulling your leg! Maybe she didnt LIKE it or got struck off or something but doesnt want to admit it?

A traditional degree is a doddle by comparison

All the extra money compared to what, Viviennemary? If you want money then you're better doing a plain old degree (which nets you more in student finance) and then having a job on the side since nursing is about 40 hours a week where a regular course is maybe 15. Then going onto a grad scheme, earning more than a nurse the first year of that, and progressing right up...

Accept it, the story's bullshit.

A "little" (physically) old lady who is deteriorating takes a lot of skill to recognise

A 70kg young man will in most cases show classic signs if sepsis that a basic algorhythm could pick up, a little old lady though, whose BP is always in her boots, who always avoids drinking enough because shes worried about incontinence, who is usually SLIGHTLY muddled...is going to need nurses who know the difference between her baseline and potentially fatal shock before a doctor will ever even hear about her!

This I presume is what garden meant!

My first class honours degree from a Russel group uni was a complete doddle compared to my nursing degree. How people do it with dependants I'll never know.

I haven't RTFT, but from what I've seen, how nasty some posters can be! The OP is not saying that doctors are not better qualified, she knows the difference between doctors and nurses! That's not her point. She's feeling hurt at family members belittling her job just when she's had a promotion, why didn't they just say 'congratulations' and not try to undermine her by saying 'but you're still just a nurse'.

YANBU, OP.

It's a fact. She was the wrong person because she was attracted by all the extra money. Maybe it varies from area to area.

That's the funniest thing I have read on mumsnet for ages. All the extra money. Yup, I bet she was just sitting back burning £50 notes while she worked full-time, studied full-time, and got the outrageous sum of £5k a year. You're idea of a fact is seriously dubious.

The point that people seem to miss with the introduction of the student loan for nursing is that a nurse qualifying in 3 years will take home less money than a nurse qualifying a year earlier even if they earned exactly the same amount. How does this encourage the 'right' sort of candidates? Do nurses have to have some sort of competitive martyr complex where they just love being paid less than other people doing the same job in order to prove themselves worthy of saving your life?