To think it's not worth it to become a nurse

[Emily786]

3 years of graft in university to only get paid £14 an hour m I had my heart sat on it till my father was like the NHS is going downhill and there will be no jobs by the time you go out into the world 😭 . So I don't know whether I should re-evaluate my choices

@crispmornings. 25 years ago neither midwifery or nursing was a graduate profession. So perhaps your experience demonstrates it needed to become a graduate profession. I don’t think anecdotes from a quarter of a century ago are in way valid when talking about nursing as a career in the present day.

Even the more recent experiences such as with the MH nurses, they could well have been non graduate nurses. Not that I’m saying non graduate nurses aren’t as good as graduate ones. There’s some fantastic, extremely competent non graduate nurses. Same as I’m sure there’s some individual incompetent nurses. Like there’s incompetent people in any profession.

CAMHS and A&E sister were inlast two or three years. So were outpatients. Pretty sure they came theough the access routes.

Specifically the experiences of 25 years ago were very much grad nurses. They told me so and literature from St G's and Chelsea &Westminster were confirmatory. Thwy were however pribably ten years younger than me and rather "right on" except for the skank midwife who raised hef arm to dwmonstrate what my vag might feel like.

Lest I forget more recently I saw the lovely nurse who chaperoned my bowel consultant at the local private hospital a week later in Sainsbury. She crouched onto her haunches when she saw a bloke she knew in the biscuut aisle. "Aah, you ponce, wot you doing in here". Needless to say I made it clear she wpuld never chaperone another appointment of mine. Utterly ignorant and vulgar. And she scdewed up my blood test the week before. Didn't request all she shoukd have.

Have also remembered the midwife who sat in my drawimg room and asked if the baby had the same father as ds1. Lost at 12 weeks and the nurse in recovery told me to stop crying and if I"d wanted it. IT.

As you were. Professional my backside. I don't think so. The ignorant vulgarians have outnumbered the good ones three to one.

Oh and the ora tice nurse who laughed at my retroverted uterus and told me it was my fault it hurt and bled.

Most nurses need lessons in basic manners afaiac. I try not to deal with them nowadays and take no shit. They certainly don't behave professionally ime. And if they are post grad god knows how.

One very strong and compelling reason not be bother wasting your precious potential on becoming a nurse is all the random people with gripes about nurses who come out in force on every single post on any platform, that so much as mentions nurses. Reading these things has a cumulative negative effect and makes a lot of us wonder why we bother.

1. You don't have to work for the NHS
2. £14 an hour isn't that bad when you add anti social payments
3. It's possibly the best career if you love what you do. I LOVE my career and am now middle band 7.
4. Uni is the worst bit along with your first 6 months after that it's awesome.
5. It's a lifetime job / career
6. You can do it anywhere in the world
7. There is a 40,000 job shortage at the moment, if your dad thinks that will be sorted in 3 years he's high
8. Have I said how amazing the job is

For those who say nurses don't nurse for the money, we don't do it for the pat on the head either. I work long beyond my paid hours, am passionate about what I do but deserve to be paid a respectable amount for what is now a job with huge responsibilities. We aren't doctors assistants anymore, we run care. People who say it's a vocation aren't wrong but along with teachers we are one of the lowest paid professionals and are literally trained to keep you alive. We work long hours and anti social ones. We deserve to be paid like professionals and this old rhetoric that we do it because we are angels with good hearts keeps the govt paying us the way they do. We have bills too.

What about those have to suffer it "darlin" as the average profesdionally educated nurse refers to a patient. They don't call the Drs Darlin or Love or Sweetie do they? Just the scummy old patients. Why is that? Oops. of course, it's a lack of basic respect. Professionally educsted people would realise it's inappropriate. I can't remember the last time an actual doctor called me "dahlin".

@CrispMornings that's highly frowned upon amongst nurses. People should be using names/sir/madam. That's been part of basic training since at least 2010.

Beccarocksbaby I agree that professional nurses should be paid a professional wage. When all nuses conduct themselves like professionals I'll happily fight for it. For as long as any nurse looks at me like shit and says "you mum?" I won't.

I've been called "dahlin" "love" "sweetie" "mum" by every nurse I've come across since 2015. St Georges, Queen Marys, Kingston, Epsom, Surrey and Borders. And when I've asked for my name to be used the response has been an eyeroll. Dark blues and light blues. At least the Drs use my first name whilst expecting me to use their titles. It really isn't consistent with professional behaviour.

@crispmornings You need help and to direct these numerous gripes to the organisations where they happened.

Also @CrispMornings you've talked about a few nurses out of hundreds of thousands of them.

People aren't perfect. Some are not so educated. Some have different backgrounds and upbringings. Some are just assholes. Some are burnt out by a system which is crushing them.

I've been looked after by good and bad nurses. I learn from both of them.

Some of us are incredibly passionate. I am educated to MSc level. Am an advanced practitioner and direct care for an entire service well enough to get an outstanding with ofsted.

Imagine if someone decided everyone in your chosen field of work was a vulgar ignorant idiot based upon very limited experience of them (unless you've travelled the country assessing them all all the time).

Maybe it's a London thing then. I've not ever called anyone anything like that unless they've asked me and I've never even used a shortened name.

I deal with some incredibly challenging people to.

You probably need to direct your complaint to PALS rather than writing off an entire profession.

My friend has just qualified as nurse. She went to a hospital open day for nurses interested in work and had three wards /areas competing for her to work for them. She isn't even experienced yet!!

Nurses will always be needed. Even if health care is privatised ( really hope.not) they will take on NHS nurses as they are well trained. There is no way private companies will want to invest the funding in.training their own nurses anywhere near as well. In fact if the NHS does fall, NHS trained nurses will be in massive demand as the quality of nursing care is very likely.to fall ( at least in the short to medium term)

Really. What sort of help would that be. Perhaps the same sort of help my dd got when she was cutting and od'ing - nada, zilch. Decent, respectful care perhaps? Actually I'd rather die in agony than have to deal with a super duper competent nurse NOT ever again. Least of all have a nurse touch me, debase me or treat me like a moron again. I expect care to be delivered by people who are kind, professional and reasonably well educated. It is very very rare

I had my heart sat on it till my father was like the NHS is going downhill and there will be no jobs by the time you go out into the world

Does your Dad always talk crap?

What are you achieving now @CrispMornings ? Probably much less tbh.

MH services are crippled by the current structures and funding. Direct your anger at the CCGs rather than those still willing to work in them maybe?

I don't know why I am bothering ramming my own head into a wall tbh. I'm going to stop now happy in the knowledge that I don't think entire professions are dickheads because a few of them were rude to me.

I’ve met a few crappy teachers but don’t think that all teachers are like that.

I’ve met some rude arrogant and incompetent doctors but am well aware they are an exception.

I can’t believe people being stupid enough to think that their limited experience can be extrapolated to the entire population.

There are 690,773 Registered Nurses in the UK, no one has met them all.

Maybe rudeness begets rudeness crisp.

Young women SHOULD care about the money. The more women who speak up about this the better.

Agree with you Newgirls.

I was a nurse and got out... one of the best things I ever did. I am now in a profession where I earn more for less hours and less stress.

There will always be jobs for nurses! Yes the training is hard and the starting salary isn't amazing but the career options are great and it's job security. I don't regret becoming a nurse.

I do agree MrsCasares. It's very difficult to remain gracious when people are rude but I am invariably gracious. I think that's part of the problem.

where was your dad when you started studying to be a nurse? why does he say it now.
also there will be need for nurses all the time.
your dad is unreasonable.
(havent read the whole thread)

In my experience (I have been hospitalised 5 times) the nurses have been beyond amazing. Every single one of them.
The only time I have been called anything other than Mrs Serin was when one of them called me sweetheart as she held the hair back from my face while I vomited. I wasnt offended by that, she seemed sincere.
I'm proud that my DS will start his training in 2 weeks. He had the grades to do pretty much whatever he wanted at uni and he chose this after doing voluntary work for months.
It's no doubt a challenging role but the pay is the same as physio, speech therapy etc and he likes the shift pattern of 3 x 12+ hours a week.
If the NHS is privatised I expect it will follow a USA model where nurses are paid much more.