AIBU to leave the NHS for the private sector?

[FlorenceNightshade]

I’m a nurse with years of acute experience but feeling totally fed up with the NHS and all the stress that comes with working for it.

I’ve an interview for a promoted post in the private sector (care home) this week. AIBU to go for it? Yes the NHS is a shit show just now but it’s also so precious and I’ve always been proud to work there.

Any fellow nurses made the change and have any insight?

Nurse here. Worked in critical care and moved into education. How old are you op?

@Origamiheaven did you? I don’t think I’m academic enough for that. I’m nearly 40 so still got 20 years plus to go ha!

I would never take a NH job again. A colleague ended up for 24 hours straight when all he HCAs pulled a sicky and there was no one else. I think it was actually Christmas. The care is not as up to date. Homes can be ran for profit by unscrupulous owners who cut corners on training. There can be a real bullying culture.

@Spudina god thats awful! I think going from a dynamic where there are more nurses than hcas on a shift to having just a couple of nurses and loads of carers must be tricky to manage. I know when I’ve done shifts some carers act like the manager and talk shit about the nurses

@Spudina did you go back to NHS? Was it hard to get back in?

I never left tbh, my NH job was pre my NHS one. But the colleague I mentioned above left and came back. In my experience most NHs are effectively “ran” by the HCAs who have been there the longest and the culture is set by them. So they can be very caring but also very frankly uncaring places. Most HCAs are fabulous but there is always one who rules the roost.
Do you work shifts? Have you considered a Day Case or clinic type job. I’m in research and I love it!!

@Spudina yes that’s exactly the sort of carers I’ve met! Think nurses are pen pushers and that they know best! I do work shifts at the minute and again jobs with set hours are like gold dust on my trust

Yeah that’s the problem isn’t it. I did 6 years of shifts and that was enough. I sometimes miss nights but on the while I’m glad not to work them anymore. And I love having my weekends free too (though miss the unsocial hours pay!) Phase 1 clinical trial centres are often looking for staff.

Yeah I’m year nine of shifts now and I’m definitely ready to have regular days and hours and maybe even weekends off! I genuinely love nursing and caring for patients is such a privilege. It’s just all the bullshit. Is there a bullshit free job anywhere?????

@Spudina I completely agree, they can be very bitchy places aswell. While I’m not a nurse I’ve spent 22years in both care homes and nursing homes to be fair I loved working in the nursing home I learnt and gained so much knowledge and training from the nurses I worked along side, what I carried through into my managers role with me, in fact the knowledge I gained helped me turn a massively failing care home that the district nurses and other professionals hated round into one they loved coming into and the nurses would recommend. When I took over the staff didn’t even know what basic pressure relief was 🤷‍♀️

@Mumofgirl1 see that’s kinda what I want to do! The place I’m interviewing for had a not brilliant inspection lately and I’m torn between thinking ugh shithole swerve it and oh wow I could maybe do some good here! I just don’t feel in my role now that it matters if I turn up or not

@FlorenceNightshade the thread only got one reply 😂. Have you thought about a specialist nurse role? I did a hospital & community nursing rotation then got a specialist role, which I did for 3 years. I only did 8-4 mon-fri with no weekends or bank hols. I left as it got too repetitive. I’ve come back to community in a management role & I just don’t enjoy it. Too many staffing issues to manage, too many budget cuts & too many patients not getting a good service. The council role is another specialist role but in a slightly different field.

@Offredismysister so will you take it do you think?

The advert hasn’t closed yet so I’d have to see if I got an interview. Then I guess it’d depend on the pension/annual leave situation.

@Offredismysister ah ok I see. I’ll definitely be grilling them on annual leave and pensions too when it’s my turn!

Also maybe this actually IS ridiculous but I feel almost embarrassed to be even considering leaving our NHS. I do love it but I want more for myself than chronic understaffing , morale in our boots and no training or progression. Anyone else felt that almost guilt too?

@FlorenceNightshade they had a really bad CQC inspection when I took over lots of medication errors, if I remember rightly they'd been given an enforcement notice by CQC their old manager had basically left the staff to run it while she was off getting her nails and hair done. It took alot of work and a lot of hours I defiantly had no work life balance, I remember reading the daily care notes and all the way through them it just stated no change for every residents. Food and fluid charts where either not filled in or had very little detail in them one was ticked 200ml but nothing to say what it was I remember thinking WTF have I let myself in for. They was even double padding residents I'd never seen anyone do that before. But it was worth it in the end. If your wanting to make a change then I'd maybe suggest more of a managers role rather then a deputy as a deputy there's only so much you can do you may come across a brick wall from the manager if she's always run it her way. People don't like change I found that out I lost a lot of staff those first few months but they needed to go those where the ones that thought they new better and it should be there way.

@Mumofgirl1 thank you for sharing that’s so interesting! I feel like nursing home nurses get treated like it’s just a nursing home job but actually it’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of decision making without out such a huge team on tap. Also if all care homes were horrendous we wouldn’t use them so there have to be some good ones right?
The manager seemed really excited about my skills and experience on the phone and I definitely got good vibes from her. I guess I’ll see if the home gives me good vibes when I visit it later

@FlorenceNightshade exactly we wouldn't sadly those bad care homes over shadow the good ones and it's only the bad ones you see in the press why because good doesn't sell papers. There are some pro's of working in care you get to know your residents and build a repo with both them and there family's but with every job there's down sides. As someone said before they are massively under funded, can be extremely short staff. But then there's a lot of upsides to. If the manager sounds excited she may well be on board with the change she'll probably be glad of the support. I think if I was you I'd get as much information as possible on the expectations of the position at the interview come home weigh it all up with a pro's and con's list and make a decision from there.

I just want to add you've actually just made me realise why I did the job for so long - Covid made me forget that and I lost my love for it.

@Mumofgirl1 oh bless you! You’ve been really helpful and honest. I always always say that everyone’s dream role is someone else’s nightmare and there’s no right or wrong just what’s right for you. And sometimes our priorities and dreams change and evolve and that’s ok too. You’ve done your time and I wish you luck in your new adventure

@FlorenceNightshade you are absolutely right in what you are saying. Good luck in whichever way you decide to turn please keep us updated on your decision x

@Mumofgirl1 thank you so much I definitely will. My interview is Friday and if I’m successful I’ll be taking the weekend at least to think about it! I just wish I knew more people who’s made the jump from nhs to care home and vice versa

@Mumofgirl1 you sound awesome. Well done for turning the care around. I can only imagine how difficult that was.

@FlorenceNightshade just one last thing to add if there recent inspection was poor this could of been because of pressure covid put on the home a lot of homes struggled throughout the pandemic and it would of been all hands on deck and because of that bits may well of slipped. You can actually go back years on CQC’s inspections reports you could probably look at there pre-covid one to give you a better picture maybe.

I've just left the private sector for the NHS. The private sector isn't all it's cracked up to be. The pay is marginally better dependent on role or equivalent.

@Mumofgirl1 yea that’s exactly what it looks like. Just can’t imagine how horrible it must have been for care homes to lose multiple residents during the first waves. The impact on staff must have been something else. In hospitals yes we had high numbers of fatalities but not usually with the emotional connection or relationship. Just heartbreaking