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 haven’t agreed or disagreed with you - was just supplying facts !
I did my MSc while pregnant and with a toddler and Phd with young family. Tough but doable imo but have huge sympathy for the pressures of further academic training.

God no - am eyeing up retirement.

Majority of people in nhs - retirement age is 67 too.
Have gone hugely off thread. Apologies OP

I did my professional qualifications in my 20s with two kids. We used to sit at the table and do our homework together, good example for them and they have degrees and post grad qualifications. My boss agreed to me doing dayrelease if I agreed to do 5 days work in 4 days so I got in early every day, worked my lunchhour. It is doable.

I'm 70 next year and still working.

I don't know if it is still available but when nursing degrees were introduced a friend of mine with the diploma did a conversion course. Her diploma gave her credits as did her previous experience. She did it while working and it certainly didn't take 3 years.

@lameasahorse

Yes, my diploma gave me credits towards the degree.

I did it while working full time

Stupid comment. You can't live in food can you? The travel expenses in London are astronomical also.

You get paid extra for nights ams weekends in NHS. You don't work every bank hol either. Working long shifts works well as you get more days off although when you have kids and little family support nursing isn't practical. Nights also take their toll too!

Yes, that's unfair.

"Stupid comment. You can't live in food can you? The travel expenses in London are astronomical also."

You say my comments are stupid, but nobody has explained to me why someone on 26k++ needs a food bank.

Because they’re spending all their income on rent or mortgage and bills. NHS staff have had a massive real terms pay cut because of austerity measures and Conservative party ideology. Quite simple really.

"Because they’re spending all their income on rent or mortgage and bills. NHS staff have had a massive real terms pay cut because of austerity measures and Conservative party ideology. Quite simple really."

I still don't get it because under that logic at least half the population would be going to food banks, but they're generally only used by the poorest in societies and...nurses apparently.

I'm an RMN. I qualified in 93. I was one of the last to do the traditional training-they were piloting P2k around the time I trained so you could choose which one you went for.

I've never converted to a diploma or degree mainly because I'm too lazy 😏. I'm not particularly ambitious and I like the grass roots nursing. I hate the idea 9f being a manager, the higher up the ladder you climb the less nursing you do. I trained to be a nurse, and that's what I'm going to continue doing.

I'm a band 6 CMHN. Yes it's unlikely I'll be a manager without a degree but I don't want to be, thanks, I'm just looking forward to retiring!

I do believe though there are a lot of patients, managers, consultants etc who appreciate having highly experienced staff on the 'shop floor'..

On the degree point, I was treated by a lovely advanced nurse practitioner in A&E last year who was the same age as me. 62. She told me that she started as an SEN, was converted to SRN automatically due to experience when SEN posts were abolished and had done a few short courses since. Perhaps she was lying, I don't know, but she was very good, knew what she was doing and gave excellent advice. Head and shoulders above the somewhat superior attitudes of nurses in their 20s/30s who just seem to want to complain and rely on theoretical knowledge rather than practical nursing and people skills.

The mother of a school friend of dd was a midwife. She did three night shifts - Friday, Saturday, Sunday. They never had to spend a penny on childcare and she did a few additional clinics Monday to Friday for extra money. Whilst I am going back 15 / 20 years I can remember her telling me she earned close to £45k back then. It didn't seem a bad deal. She went into it via degree nursing and I don't think the A'Level requirements for degree nursing in the 80s were very high. Two Cs and a D did it.

Accommodation is very expensive in London and perhaps that's why there are so many very young nurses. They may live in flat shares and as they settle down, move out and take their experience with them.

There are also many nursing degrees being run that require access courses and NVQs rather than GCSEs and A'Levels which is changing the demographic, making the profession more diverse and bringing with it some life skills which seem to be missing in the nurses in their 20s who have gone in via teaching hospital nursing degrees with highly graded A'Levels and fresh from the Counties.

Well of course it’s not many of them is it!! It’s just the ones who do hit the headlines. What, we’re meant to be happy if people with professional qualifications responsible for looking after the sickest in society should be happy as long as they’re not poor enough to need a foodbank?

SENs usually had to do conversion courses to be a Registered Nurse. I don't recall any of them automatically getting the title through experience.

Funny how with Associate Nurses we're going back to SENs though......🙄There was absolutely nothing wrong with the role. These days Associate Nurses and HCAs are doing the work SENs and Student Nurses (on traditional training) did.

They should call nurses something cool like EMTs or ACTs or similar. "Nurse" brings to mind Florence Nightingale and Carry On movies and the like. The profession needs an image overhaul to make it more dynamic.

Would “Grand Vizier” be a more suitable job title?

after reading message after message it is quite clear a nurse is not a degree level job. A basic science degree and you would know more. It is irritating because half the training is stuck into the degree, that is not normal in most subject areas.@Topgub you may be a fine nurse, but that. is your remit. Stop diagnosing if you are doing it. vAnd if you want to do it train up please.

Take home pay for a recently qualified nurse (or any other AHP) is about 1650 per month, take out 150 for parking, 750 to 1000 for rent (more if in London) 130 for council tax, 150 to 200 for gas electric and whats left for food, petrol, car insurance etc etc..... ?

I know this, because these are the expenses my DD faces, once she progresses (min 2 years) she will pay back her loan with 13% interest rate and threshold frozen.

She did community care work whilst at Uni, she got approx £1.50 per hour less than working in the NHS, had no parking costs either.

Its little wonder so many leave for other jobs and or go abroad, which is her plan once rotation finished and she has the necessary experience.

Working in the NHS (as a healthcare professional, with 3 years tough expensive training) is fast becoming a min wage job.

@Alexandra2001 Take home pay for a recently qualified nurse (or any other AHP) is about 1650 per month,

A newly qualified, that take home pay is normal, in fact normal for most newly qualified anythings. Where did it get lost on people that you do your study and work your way and experience and money up after that? You have qualified for a pathway. Look at ambulance drivers, look at scientists, look at electricians. Every single person has to work up, you don't get excellent money because you have a degree. Unbelievable what people expect nowadays.