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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do you agree with the nurses strike?

686 replies

borderterrierr · 05/11/2022 20:10

Guardian reporting that the rcn strike has resulted in a yes vote and we'll be striking before Christmas.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/05/nurses-across-uk-vote-to-strike-in-first-ever-national-action?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

Patient's emergency care will be protected but it's a strike vote

OP posts:
Raddix · 06/11/2022 06:59

I don’t support them at all. People in the private sector aren’t getting pay rises and they aren’t whinging about it. Anyway where do they think the money is going to come from to increase their salaries? There isn’t any! We’re in one of the biggest recessions ever, they just have to suck it up like everyone else.

RedRiverShore2 · 06/11/2022 07:03

I do support them but I don't quite understand it about the pay as on this thread it seems low but when there was the thing with the vaccines, many said that nurses wouldn't leave as the pay and everything was so good that people would choose the vaccine because they wouldn't get such a well paid job elsewhere so is it good or bad.

deflatedbirthday · 06/11/2022 07:09

I support them absolutely. I get the impression from the nurses and healthcare staff I work with that money is a secondary issue. After the 10th shit shift with unsafe staffing, no breaks (which are unpaid so they are down an hour anyway) and appalling abuse from patients and families, the pay they receive is just an added insult.

Kitesk · 06/11/2022 07:13

RedRiverShore2 · 06/11/2022 07:03

I do support them but I don't quite understand it about the pay as on this thread it seems low but when there was the thing with the vaccines, many said that nurses wouldn't leave as the pay and everything was so good that people would choose the vaccine because they wouldn't get such a well paid job elsewhere so is it good or bad.

Who did you hear saying that? I agree with even from this thread there seems to be a lot of confusion about a nurses salary but during covid nurses was worried about dying themselves, lack of PPE and bring forced practically to have the vaccine it was not because of the wages!

Butterlover1 · 06/11/2022 07:14

Yes

They cant keep going as they are now

And pot banging doesn't pay the bills

Tumbleweed101 · 06/11/2022 07:21

My daughter has been a Nursing Assistant through the pandemic and just left the NHS. Not so much due to pay but because of the stressful working conditions. Too
few staff caring for too many patients. Too many elderly patients stuck in beds waiting to get care placements so they can leave. The more she told me the more worried I’ve become about how my mum might be treated if she needs help - she is blind, deaf and needs oxygen for COPD.
It does need a major sort out and for the staff on the ground to be given the respect they deserve for the job they do. They are keeping people alive and comfortable in what will be a fairly traumatic situation for those being cared for.

dottiedodah · 06/11/2022 07:28

I was pleased the old girl rishi went to see in hospital asked him straight out when are you giving the nurses a pay rise.he looked uncomfortable and tried to change the subject she wasn't having it and said twice more .I support a strike .years ago they were told it was a calling ,and paid very little. Now you need a degree.they should be paid in accordance to that.also bollocks to the calling they have bills as well

Feffalump · 06/11/2022 07:35

@tiredwardsister I struggle to accept that when I see the salaries earned by some of those non-medical in my trust. Don't get me wrong, I'm aware these people do important work too, and im aware they work hard. But the truth is, the NHS will find the money for these roles because if they don't, they will just go elsewhere. As a nurse, going elsewhere means going private, which for many is a completely different career.

I didn't go into this for the money. Im happy to live a humble lifestyle in exchange for doing the job that I love. I don't want to go private because my work involves supporting people who need me. But when I am a fully qualified professional with 5 years experience, crying every month when trying to work out how my bills are going to be paid for my small property in an affordable area, something needs to change.

And don't even get me started on how working conditions impact me doing my job, because I'll end up writing an entire book!

OchreDandelion · 06/11/2022 07:40

borderterrierr · 05/11/2022 20:10

Guardian reporting that the rcn strike has resulted in a yes vote and we'll be striking before Christmas.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/05/nurses-across-uk-vote-to-strike-in-first-ever-national-action?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

Patient's emergency care will be protected but it's a strike vote

Yes. Absolutely! United we stand, divided we fall. Am standing with the nurses.

Leggingslife · 06/11/2022 07:40

Yes.

dontcallitsavvyb · 06/11/2022 07:44

user1471505494 · 05/11/2022 20:31

No I don’t. Where will the money come from for any extra pay. This country is on its knees. There is not enough money in the Government pot

But we have heard this for years now.

RedRiverShore2 · 06/11/2022 07:50

Kitesk · 06/11/2022 07:13

Who did you hear saying that? I agree with even from this thread there seems to be a lot of confusion about a nurses salary but during covid nurses was worried about dying themselves, lack of PPE and bring forced practically to have the vaccine it was not because of the wages!

There were some threads on here, it started when the care home workers were sacked for not having vaccines and there was a chance that the same would happen to nurses and several nurses were posting that the pay and benefits were so good that the nurses that didn't want the vaccine wouldn't leave and they would relent and have the vaccine.

Overthebow · 06/11/2022 07:52

I 100% support strikes over conditions for nurses. It is terrible what we as a country are expecting them to do in the time and also give up their own time to do more.

I don’t support the RCN’s demand over pay however. Asking for an above inflation pay rise at the moment just unrealistic. Of course everyone in the country wants above inflation, me included, but we just don’t have the money. Taxes will already go up before any increased pay deals.

strawberry2017 · 06/11/2022 07:56

Yes- I agree with all the NHS Striking because we are taken the piss out of constantly. If striking is what it takes to be taken seriously then so be it.

treenu · 06/11/2022 08:03

Yes

FanniesFlaps · 06/11/2022 08:04

Yes. 100%.

Pickledhen · 06/11/2022 08:12

RedRiverShore2 · 06/11/2022 07:50

There were some threads on here, it started when the care home workers were sacked for not having vaccines and there was a chance that the same would happen to nurses and several nurses were posting that the pay and benefits were so good that the nurses that didn't want the vaccine wouldn't leave and they would relent and have the vaccine.

Care home staff are underfunded, undersupported and have less say on staffing as the Homes are generally run by companies interested in profit and little else.

PerfectlyPreservedQuagaarWarrior · 06/11/2022 08:15

RedRiverShore2 · 06/11/2022 07:50

There were some threads on here, it started when the care home workers were sacked for not having vaccines and there was a chance that the same would happen to nurses and several nurses were posting that the pay and benefits were so good that the nurses that didn't want the vaccine wouldn't leave and they would relent and have the vaccine.

There were, but that was complete bollocks and those people were wrong.

nojudgementhere · 06/11/2022 08:15

Yes - I'm 100% behind nurses, teachers, postmen and railway workers striking. It's no coincidence that so many sectors are striking at once. This government have treated key workers atrociously, running critical services into the ground. It's time for everyone to fight back.

avocadotofu · 06/11/2022 08:16

Yes absolutely, they are paid a pittance and they work incredibly hard.

Bretonstrip · 06/11/2022 08:18

Support them 100%

junior doctors are also balloting to strike

Unison balloting NHS non-clincial staff to strike too

Spanielsarepainless · 06/11/2022 08:22

I don't agree with strikes in general but for this one they definitely have a point.

BeesAndBirds · 06/11/2022 08:26

Support the need for better working conditions.

BBC running this article at the top of their news feed this morning.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63403850

Ughnamechange256 · 06/11/2022 08:26

I’m pretty neutral towards the whole thing. I don’t think they’re particularly badly paid (they seem to be at least on a par with other BSc graduates), but also if they want to strike, then ok, up to them.

Pickledhen · 06/11/2022 08:34

Overthebow · 06/11/2022 07:52

I 100% support strikes over conditions for nurses. It is terrible what we as a country are expecting them to do in the time and also give up their own time to do more.

I don’t support the RCN’s demand over pay however. Asking for an above inflation pay rise at the moment just unrealistic. Of course everyone in the country wants above inflation, me included, but we just don’t have the money. Taxes will already go up before any increased pay deals.

If you want the mass evacuation of nurses from the NHS to continue then dont support a pay rise. Nurses in the main experience, coming in early, going home late, little to no breaks, ridiculous stress, verbal and physical abuse. Any error potentially disastrous.
There is nothing like the worry that any mistake you may have made has affected the wellbeing of another, by ommision or action. Throw into any busy day all of the above factors, ongoing and recurrently, and the likelihood of error increases significantly. Nursing is not a predictable environment, people suddenly deteriorate in any number of ways, if you're stretched to capacity you wont have the 'luxury' of being around any one of the number of patients you've been assigned to pick up on the early signs that this may be happening. Giving out medicines to a ward full of patients can take the best part of 2 hours or longer depending on how many interruptions there are and that's only if everything goes to plan. Phone calls, Drs rounds, falls, patients who have dementia, actively dying patients, dealing with other disciplines, organising discharges, etc etc etc etc etc and drug rounds happen 4 times a day. Where does basic nursing care come in this environment ? Nowhere.

Nurses have personal lives too and I dont want any nurse already exhausted who has to take extra work to survive looking after me. The mental toll of looking after patients is draining enough.

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