Why don't nhs night staff want you to sleep?

[ICaughtTonsillitisFromAFriendsKid]

Sleep is a great healer.
So why is everything done to keep ward patients awake all night? (Well it feels that way)

In the day the wonderful staff are very kind, but overnight, why no whispering, at all? Not even stage whispering? I've just staggered out of bed trying not to rip out my cathetera and canula to pull the bible sheet curtain round a bit, but everyone else is left with curtains pushed back to the walls.

Everyone is so kind and happy to help, I don't even want to say anything, but I'm just exhausted, as are all of these very poorly ladies.

It seems the doctors are not too bad at whispering, I must concede.

What part of it?

Dalint its sounds like you being confrontatonal here. What shes telling you are facts.

I have met a few lazy uncaring nurses in my time by far the vast majority are kind and some are struggling with burnout. There are some unpleasant patients I was struggling caring for someone with delirium they were very unwell and distressed.

Another patient kept shouting "Nurse I need a fresh drink and help with my pillow case " I only had two male members of staff with me and they kept refusing the male members of staff even for basic non personal care adding immensely to my duties. They weren't seriously ill , some people are very entitled. Some people take care away from the very sickest people who need it.

Thanks @TurboQueen. Not sure why I bothered really!

Lovely to see such solidarity

You have posted on here and had your say like everyone else, yet when another poster refutes one of your posts you don’t like it.

@workiskillingme @LakieLady Single rooms are brilliant for allowing patients more sleep, and also from a privacy/dignity point of view. They are also necessary when dealing with infection, for example. However, they make it harder for nurses and can cause some patients to feel isolated.

If I have six patients in a bay I can keep an eye on them all at the same time, I can see at a glance that they are all conscious. I can be checking one person’s blood pressure while still having a good idea what’s going on with everyone else. I spend a lot of time in the bay and am therefore more visible to my patients. I am also more likely to be present should anyone need help. Patients can also be a support to each other. It’s not unusual for a patient to pull a call bell for someone else if that person is struggling meaning they get help quicker.

If I have six patients in single rooms and I spend 10 mins with each while doing obs or a drugs round, that’s 50 mins that my other patients can’t see me or speak to me. And that time away can easily stretch should any of my patients have a problem. And that’s when we get complaints from people who haven’t seen their nurse for 2 hours or however long it might be. I’ve had situations where I’m with one patient and another has fallen and I have no idea because I can’t be in two places at once.

It all comes down to staffing again. Sadly, it’s not unusual in some wards for one nurse to be caring for 10+ patients. This would be so difficult in single rooms and not at all safe for patients. There’s not a single area I’ve worked that staff levels are such that I would be comfortable having all patients in single rooms.

Sorry that turned into a bit of an essay! 🙈

Isn’t it though! A pleasant change after you have tried consistently to tear me down.

Agreed.

It's like anything, some are good and nursing is clearly a vocation that suits them, others are awful and really shouldn't have gone into the profession.

Most nurses are not on 33.5k! I’m sure this has already been said earlier in the thread but… a band 5 (ward nurses are band 5) will start on 26k and can earn up to just under 33k. You’d have to be band 6 (deputy charge nurse or specialist nurse level) or above to be earning more than that. If we started on 33.5k I don’t think anyone would be complaining!!

(This is based on Scottish pay - the rest of the UK may be slightly different.)

How awful of you ! I am a hospital night staff person , albeit I don’t work on a ward , we work at night because we are the only people who generally want to do it , if we went about whispering for 12 hours that would become very wearing and no one would here. Let’s just have another dig at the staff of the NHS

But don't nurses work night shifts and weekends?

If you assume you need 24-7 cover for nursing but say 50% more on weekdays during the day than at weekends and at night (to account for all the outpatient appointments etc that happen during the day) then (assuming 12.5 hr shifts, 8-8 plus half an hour for handover).

Time during the day in the week: 60 hours - weighting 1.5 pay weighting 1

Time during the night during the week 60 hours - pay weighting 1+(0.3*10/12) = 1.25 (because after 6 is at plain time)

Weekend time - 24 hours sat - pay weighting 1.3 and 24 sun - pay weighting 1.6

Total hours 198

So you'd expect to work 45% of your hours during the day - on plain time (90/198)

You'd expect to do 30% of your hours during the night in the week on 1.25x pay.

You'd expect to do 12% of your hours on Saturday at 1.3x pay and 12% Sunday at 1.6x pay.

You're then missing 1% due to rounding, so let's add that to the plain time pay.

So overall we have 10.46+1.250.3+1.30.12+1.60.12 = 1.183

For an entry grade band 5 the pay is £27k following the payrise, or 25,655 before.

At 1.183x that as an average to include anti social hours that's then £30,349 before the rise or 32k after.

Add on a pension which includes the impact of unsocial hours payments which would need payments of about 12k possibly 15k (you'll be paying about 3k for this) to achieve in the private sector and that's a total package of about £40k.

It's not actually as low a pay arrangement as it first sounds, especially considering there's an increment after 2 years. Obviously anti social hours payments are there to compensate for the anti social hours - but people choosing to go into nursing must be expecting to do night shifts etc, so I think it is reasonable to account for them.

That's not to say I don't think nursing is incredibly hard work, and especially so at the moment when everyone is so short staffed. But I think the solution to that is probably to reduce the stress everyone is under by increasing staffing levels rather than thinking paying the staff there are more can fix a chronically under staffed service. Obviously to do that they would have had to start training staff years ago, so it's going to be a long fix.

The maths has gone missing, sorry let's try that again - the bit with the weird bold should be:

1x0.46+1.25x0.3+1.3x0.12+1.6x0.12 = 1.183

It didnt take you lot long to stop clapping did it ?? I really feel you have no idea what it is like to work in a hospital. maybe go abroad or pay for private treatment

The clapping lark was a pathetic attempt by the Tories to distract attention from the NHS being underfunded and unfit for purpose. No one sensible gave it the time of day. Wouldn't you rather have decent wages than applause?

Never did clap - and tbh if you went into healthcare without ever considering that you WOULD be on the frontline in case of a pandemic - then you probably should’ve been paying attention.

Because it’s not a hotel, it’s a hospital and it’s a 24/7 business.

It is a hospital not a hotel. Patients don't suddenly become 'well' at night. Care is 24 hours and as such will need checking. The reason you don't hear the doctors is mainly because they're unlikely to be on the ward unless needed ie taking bloods etc. Nursing staff are there to provide nursing care which unfortunately is sometimes noisy particularly if there are elderly who are deaf, confused or patients who need keeping alive

I stayed in hospital for 2 weeks post major surgery, and couldn't sleep for the noisy staff and bright lights. Then they forced me up out of bed during the day and wouldn't actually let me sleep.

It's not about forcing you out of bed it's about getting you moving to aid the healing process and to thus preventing you developing post op complications such as a chest infection, pneumonia, a DVT or other embolism, pressure sores, constipation. Most of which would keep you in hospital much longer than 2 weeks needing uneccesary further treatment

No they certainly have not. Not disregarding their claims on here, everyones entitled to their opinion, however there is always two sides. The other side patients don’t see. Theres a rationale for everything. Although loud voices and a radio on at night is unacceptable. Theres been so much negativity on here its unreal. So many intense posts I suspect some are genuine and some just like to bash nurses just like they bashed teachers. I wonder what profession they will bash next. Typical mumsnet. 🤣

GPs are due a thread 🤣🤣

What are you in for?
When I was in after having my son by C-section. They had to come around, every so often, to check my blood pressure. They would wake me up.
Do you have some cotton wool, if so Bob some in your ears, it doesn't stop the noise, but helps. I do this, when my partner wants, to stay up watching telly and I am trying to get to sleep.

Well bring it on 🤣🤣🤣 why stop there 🤣🤣🤣 lets go round all public service professions then all are covered 🤣🤣🤣

Whos your responce directed at?