To be sick of the stereotype image of nurses

[GoldenZoe]

... as poorly paid bed-pan changers?
Another debate on Twitter today where the media is peddling poor nurses working extra shifts and visiting food banks (which of course happens and is horrible but is not the everyday for most nurses) now giving rise to astonished cries of 'what a nurse only earns £25k'? Firstly £24k+ is the starting salary of a band 5 newly qualified nurse. This constitutes basic salary and does not include fairly generous enhancements. The top band 7 salary rises to £43,772 basic plus enhancements. Now I know a lot of nurses don't reach a 7 (or even a 6) but this media chestnut darling of the chronically under-paid nurse does my head in. For perspective my son recently graduated from Leeds university with a BSc in Economics and has a job earning £24k at the moment. So what is the uproar?
And as for the wildly out-moded public concept of the nurse as a doctor's handmaiden running round making beds and doing commode runs don't get me started! The general public have NO IDEA of how complicated and skilled most nursing jobs (of which there is a huge variety). And this fault lies entirely with media portrayal. Advanced Nurse Practitioners who have non medical prescribing qualifications who are working in posts the old junior doctors used to do. Cannulating, prescribing, placing PICC lines, undertaking complex medical procedures not to mention running wards and in charge of patient flow/beds trust-wide!
The continued false media portrayals infuriate me. Thoughts?

[lizzyliz2]

@IheartNiles I know from experience within my trust and another locally, that every nurse advert that was put out there was multiple applicants and every single one was filled. I work with a newly qualified nurse at the moment who's covering bank and she's struggled to get a job for months and there's no major reason why, The only ones there was ever an issue with if any of the fixed term ones, so it confuses me when people always say that.

[MitziK]

Well, that's not the stereotype image I was thinking of - I decided against nursing on the basis of the misogynistic hypersexualised portrayal of nurses as always up for screwing the male patients and doctors. I didn't want my job to be the subject of pervy comments about uniforms.


I think they should probably get extra for there still being a few pigs that think like that in the world.

[EnthusiasmIsDisturbed]

Your son has the potential with the degree he has chosen to earn a lot more than 43k a year

Nurses are not paid well many go above and beyond their job description (as many do who work in any form of caring for others)

Not all are angles or wonderfully empathetic and great at their job but most are

I work in mental heath and the cpn’s absolutely hold everything together and are run off their feet when one is off things just don’t work as well (that’s not to dismiss all professionals but what the cpn’s (or most of them) do is way beyond what’s expected)

[NannyPear]

ichifanny try being a vet. Now that's a profession frequently torn apart.

[GoldenZoe]

@MitziK I think the hideous flammable standard tunic and trousers uniforms of today would likely put paid to all that 😂

[lookatthebabypenguin]

Loved how it turned into a ruse bashing thread and how people feel the need to tear us apart . You don’t get that as much with any other profession

Teachers are bashed far more - sadly for them.

try being a vet. Now that's a profession frequently torn apart.

Might get some coppers along soon to assure you they have it worse than those professions.

[NaviSprite]

I think I get your point OP but I’m not a nurse nor have I worked in a medical field. From my experience as a patient/mother to twins who spent 4 months in three separate NICU wards I see nurses as - well - people.

People in a role that is highly skilled and demanding physically, emotionally and mentally. Like in any sector there are those who choose to disengage from interaction as much as possible, given the treatment they can be subjected to, I don’t blame them.

There might be shirkers and likewise those who go above and beyond to the point where they risk their own health. So many variables, too many to make a sweeping generalisation of what it means to be a nurse. What I don’t agree with is dehumanising them by generating the stereotyped image you have referred to. I think it minimises the complexity of the role as - from what I understand based on my limited experiences, a nurse specialising in NICU care is different to a nurse in A&E who is different to a nurse in an end of life care ward etc. so shoving them into the “angel at the bedside cleaning up bedpans” box is insulting.

I’ve had some not so nice experiences with nurses, but on the whole as a profession, they have my respect.

As for how well they’re paid I couldn’t offer any useful comment either way because I’m not informed enough. But I gather that like with any workplace there are probably plenty deserving of more and plenty who earn more than others (more qualified to comment than I) think they should.

[JenniferM1989]

Junior doctor - Almost £5k payrise after 1 year, further £5k payrise after 2 years (basic hours)


Nurse - £4k payrise after 6 years. No further payrise unless they move bands/the pay increases within their band


Yes being a doctor requires more studying and more responsibility but to put a £4k payrise in 6 years on par with a £10k payrise in 2 years is just silly.


No they aren't paid enough. £24k a year is like £1550 a month after deductions or something. You can get that working as a binman or shop supervisor for christ sake

[PixieDustt]

YABU about how much a nurse gets paid.
The hours they put it in they really do get pittance back.
Most hospitals now struggle to cope with how much demand is on them.
The things they have to see daily is unimaginable.
You mentioned your son gets 24k but is he doing 12+ hrs a day for that?

[GoldenZoe]

@PixieDustt a 37.5 hour week is just that. A full time nurse will typically work three 12 hour shifts per week with four days off. Or they can work five 7.5 hour days a week (for example in a clinic job). So we don't get paid at pittance' as you say. We get paid for three 12 hour shifts a week or for the five standard days a week.

[GoldenZoe]

@JenniferM1989 good point.

[Fallofrain]

Its also the limit of progression. When i graduated on 21 that was a really decent wage. I climbed to band 6 fairly quickly due to the area that i worked in (which isnt that common for the nhs). Whilst a band 6 wage is good for a mid 20's person, its worth noting how few people make it to a 7 (in my rota of 30 community nurses there is 1 band 7)

Not many other people get stuck at 50 at the same wage they earnt at 26.

[Fallofrain]

My area also has massive sick levels and under staffing. We literally have a rolling job advert and still cant fill our vacancies. We are currently just above half our staffing levels, that burns people out thus they go off sick.

[bellalou1234]

Tired

[Sidge]

I get fed up of the common public perceptions that 1, all nurses work in hospitals; 2, if they’re not making beds and changing bedpans they’re not proper nurses and are lazy cows leaving the “proper” nursing to the HCAs and 3, we should be grateful for being paid at all as we should be nursing for the sheer love of the job. It’s a vocation, dontchaknow?

[Mabbers]

Why does this always focus on pay? Even when they surveyed staff most people said the pay wasn't the issue it's the understaffing, the difficult working conditions.

I'm a hcp on the same pay scale as nurses. Not one of my staff ever really has an issue with the pay, it's the level of responsibility, the unpredictability of the work, and the death from a thousand cuts of petty bureaucracy.

Half my staff are currently off on sick, it's endemic in our trust and some days I worry where we're all going to end up. I also really fear for when my loved ones or myself needs the NHS as I see the mistakes; good staff leaving and bad staff able to fill the gaps.

[Paperchainpopp]

The thing is with nursing I’m not sure you can relate unless you are a HA/Nurse. Nurses tend to complain about the poor pay probably because of the tough work load and the lack of staff on the wards. If nursing was staffed properly it wouldn’t be such an issue. The training is also really rubbish and one of the most time consuming degrees due to having to do assignments, placements as well as squeezing a possible job in to earn extra money. Most nurses will be Band 5’s unless they go on to be bed managers but that takes a certain type of nurse. I do agree that the unsociable hours definitely do help nurses make their wages up.

They also definitely do have more responsibility than a lot of jobs and some nurses will work harder make no mistakes about that. If a nurse gave a patient the wrong medicine and it was fatal enough they probably would be in the firing line.