Nursing should be re-named?

[SunshinePie]

Was pondering over this recently, is calling “nursing” is a bit old fashioned? You now need a degree to be a nurse, and they often are pretty much doing junior doctor jobs. Calling it something else that recognises it’s academic demands, and also more inclusive to males wanting to work in the field…something like Healthcare Medic / Healthcare Practitioner/ Assistant Medic…. Or similar, you get the idea….

-YABU, it should be kept “nurse”, it’s traditional and has roots in “nursing an infant” ie breastfeeding (that reflects the caring nature)

-YANBU it’s old fashioned, insulting to people with degrees and esp males.

I dont think people associate "nursing" as bf an infant any more, certainly not in the uk.

I think the term Nurse is well understood and most people fully understand the role carried out by modern registered nurses.

I think in situations where formality/rigour is being emphasised I've seen the abbreviation "RN" used to indicate the level of qualification very effectively.

De-emphasising the caring element of the job does it a disservice, it's an extremely important aspect of the work nurses do.

Yet, raising someone's wage is not enough to raise morale if the conditions aren't good. You can't really pay someone enough to make a stressful or depressing job no longer stressful or depressing

Very true.

If Bank Staff are needed on a Sunday the rate is £35 an hour. You multiply that by 13.5 hours and it’s a nice little earner for one day.

However, staff still won’t volunteer to do the shift because no amount of money compensates for the absolute shit day they know they will have.

I was a mum at 18 in the 70s. You seriously think I don't know what it is like to live on not much money.

Hilarious.

Instead of looking at recruitment and retention we get ‘wellness’ managers and emails telling us to do a Teams yoga session before work or lunchtime mindfulness. When the fuck have ward staff got the time for that?

God we get this all the time too and you can’t help but think Managers and Trust Directors are on a different planet if they think a bit of yoga is going to make our job any more pleasant.

We’ve just had two wellness practitioners start at our Trust and they have allocated each member of staff a one hour session to talk to them so we can get things off our chest to try and relieve the stress we feel. That’s all well and good except we only get one session a year! What bloody help do they think that’s going to do?

We can walk onto a ward with 21 sick infants and only four nurses be on shift. Sometimes it’s just 3 nurses and a nursery nurse.

It is so, so shit.

Yes the profession needs more nurses but sadly nobody wants to be a nurse anymore…..or they come into the profession, realise how bad things are and leave again.

Our Trust used to have an initiative where newly qualified nurses were given £1’500 when they started under the agreement that if they worked for the Trust for at least two years they could keep the money, but if they left before two years then they’d have to re-pay it.

That’s how desperate the NHS is to attract and retain staff.

The sort of childcare you need when working nights or starting a shift at 6 am isn't really covered by benefits.

This is insulting and not true. Personally I work in a team without HCAs, and I assure you care takes place. I have worked alongside many excellent HCAs in my time, but we worked together as colleagues.

Yet, raising someone's wage is not enough to raise morale if the conditions aren't good. You can't really pay someone enough to make a stressful or depressing job no longer stressful or depressing

People do all sorts of stressful and difficult jobs if the pay is high enough. I think it is a fallacy to suggest pay is nothing to do with nurse retention.

@lameasahorse

You really need to stopaking statements as fact when you clearly don't have a clue what you're talking about

Nurses nurse. They provide basic nursing care. They help with bed baths and toileting. They assist with meals and monitor nutritional intake. They reposition pt. They do all that on top of the extended role.

Saying you can't pay someone enough to do a shit job is clearly nonsense.

Lots of higher earners say they deserve their wages because of the hours worked and the stress and responsibility involved. They wouldn't do their jobs for what I get paid for mine.

It shouldn't be one or the other. A fact you seem to be struggling to comprehend.

Better pay would help with the recruitment and retention crisis which would improve conditions.

You also can't say its a fact someone on an average wage could only struggle if they are mismanaging their finances. Cost of living has jumped massively and wages aren't keeping up.

People do all sorts of stressful and difficult jobs if the pay is high enough.

A nurse’s pay isn’t high enough to compensate for the environment we have to work in.

And I bet all these people who do “all sorts of stressful and difficult jobs if the pay is high enough” are getting paid a lot more than a nurse does.

Thankfully, now I don’t do general ward work anymore I’m so, so, much happier and my health and mental state has improved in lots of ways. My pay is significantly less as I don’t do shifts or weekends but it’s 100% worth it.

I actually did a Bank shift the other week, I thought it might be nice to dip back in to doing some work on the wards and within about 3 hours I just wanted to leave. Thankfully my shift was only 10 hours long but it will be the last one I do.

"People do all sorts of stressful and difficult jobs if the pay is high enough."

But those people are miserable, no?
There are also some who leave those jobs, get burnout, etc.
And keeping people isn't necessarily the same as raising morale. People tend to stay in the civil service because leaving would mess up their pensions, etc. but that doesn't mean morale is always good.

@lameasahorse

You keep saying you're not saying something then saying the thing you've said you're not saying.

'Extensive' experience as a relative is a very limited experience.

I have over 20 years experience as a nurse. I nurse. All my colleagues nurse. Regardless of how busy we are with the extended 'skilled' role. Basic pt care is fundamental to our role.

I was talking about a nurse who was a single mum. She also lived 200 miles away from her mother.

How nice of your mother but do you think that helped the financial situation of the nurse I was talking about. You don't think nurses should need a foodbank but some do and for very obvious reasons.

I reckon that first year nurse would take home £1,700 this month without taking student loan or pension contributions into account and they would bring it down to just under £1,600. Where I live she is likely to be paying in the region of £900 rent, then council tax, gas/elec, running a car, clothing for herself and kids, paying for childcare. That £700 needs to stretch quite a way doesn't it.

I'm as disgusted that she needs benefits as much as I am that she needs a foodbank.

If I'm seriously ill in hospital I'd like to think the staff aren't distracted by worries about next months rent or if they can stretch to buying their child new shoes.

@lameasahorse

Maybe you should answer your own question?

Why should a hca be paid the same as a nurse when a nurse has done extensive training?

Carers and hca should be paid more too.

Double at least.

Do people think that only 22 yo with no families are NQN?

You do realise there is a fairly significant amount of 'mature' nursing students with families?

And that most band 5s will never progress past a band 5?