Any nurses on here?

MentalHelf · 2023-02-07T18:30:47+00:00

Bit of background. I have a BSC in Psychology and work as a mental health outreach worker. Ive just started my first year training as a mental health nurse. Im feeling so tired and frustrated with the system already. I think because I’ve been treated quite poorly myself as a patient that now seeing behind the scenes makes me even more frustrated. I watched a suicidal patient get discharged from service today. I just feel like maybe healthcare in general is just a sinking ship at the minute and I’m being a mug trying to get into it. I don’t really know what else to do though. Im guessing most nurses probably aren’t recommending going into it at the minute but I’m thinking of maybe switching to pediatric nursing. Does anyone have any advice?

Twentywisteria · 07/02/2023 18:33

The NHS as a whole is sinking. You won't find anywhere that's well-staffed with people who aren't burnt out.

Orangetapemeasure · 07/02/2023 18:36

I’m a dr and I’d pay my DC not to do nursing. MH is the most underfunded speciality. It’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
a friend has just been quite £35/hr for an unqualified career to
look after her DF o/n……basically to sleep.

Rover83 · 07/02/2023 18:37

In my experience paediatrics is overall slightly better staffed however paediatric mental health is dangerously understaffed and underfunded.

acquiescence · 07/02/2023 18:42

I’m a MH nurse, qualified 12 years, working in a rare well resourced, psychology led community job. It’s hard work, there have been horrendous cuts under this heartless government which have had massive impacts. When I qualified the wards were well staffed and there were enough beds. It was still a very challenging role.

I like the job still. You can continue to learn and to build your skills and confidence. The profession needs good people. It will be hard and stressful but can be incredibly rewarding. Many of my colleagues have left in recent years to do things like lecturing and working for universities mental health support services. I feel quite dedicated to the NHS and worry about leaving my colleagues and service users. It wouldn’t feel right when I have built up so much knowledge and experience and while I still care.

Good luck with your training, whatever you decide.

Shininghope · 07/02/2023 18:50

As a mental health nurse of over 16 years I would strongly urge you to reconsider your career path. The NHS and in particular mental health is not a good place to be right now.

OrlandointheWilderness · 07/02/2023 18:53

I'm a second year student adult nurse. I know some of my cohort love it but I am questioning what I am doing more and more and more. I hate placement, wards are awful places to be but I'm trapped. I've got no career prospects without it and quite frankly I couldn't cope with telling my parents I'm leaving.

Whatthefuck3456 · 07/02/2023 19:03

Second year mental health nurse we can only hope it gets better!

Howmanysleepsnow · 07/02/2023 19:06

What service was he discharged from, and what support was he given instead? Those questions are key.

fairgame84 · 07/02/2023 19:14

I'm a paeds nurse of 14 years. It's awful. I moved to nicu 2 years ago because it's slightly better staffed.
On the paeds ward it was usually 2 qualified and 1 unqualified for 18 patients. One shift i actually was the only qualified nurse on duty with 2 unqualified and the worst actually happened. That's all I will say about that.
Before I moved to nicu we were looking after some very complex mental health patients and it was harrowing. None of us were trained to deal with these teens or their extremely complex issues and behaviours. We eventually got some training in how to restrain them to plunge feeds into them. Fucking awful, I hated it.

unfortunateevents · 07/02/2023 19:18

MY DS is a final-year child nursing student and I think that is slightly better-resourced than MH. He says his friends on MH nursing are worn out on placement, subjected to dreadful behaviours and horrendous understaffing. Most of them do not anticipate being able to work long-term in that area. Sorry not to be the bearer of better news.

whatfreshheck · 07/02/2023 19:21

OrlandointheWilderness · 07/02/2023 18:53

I'm a second year student adult nurse. I know some of my cohort love it but I am questioning what I am doing more and more and more. I hate placement, wards are awful places to be but I'm trapped. I've got no career prospects without it and quite frankly I couldn't cope with telling my parents I'm leaving.

Don't give up yet yet lovely. Have you tried specialist areas like theatres/ recovery. I'm so lucky as a recovery nurse that I get to care for one pt at a time.

Dwellingbuyingdilemma · 07/02/2023 19:21

I'm going to disagree and say stick with it. By bailing on a subject area you clearly have an interest and passion in seems silly. If everyone bailed because the system is struggling now it will simply exacerbate the problem.

If you're keen to change the system do it from within, there are plenty of paths to follow to do that

Mossstitch · 07/02/2023 19:27

OrlandointheWilderness · 07/02/2023 18:53

I'm a second year student adult nurse. I know some of my cohort love it but I am questioning what I am doing more and more and more. I hate placement, wards are awful places to be but I'm trapped. I've got no career prospects without it and quite frankly I couldn't cope with telling my parents I'm leaving.

Keep going, my son was the same, absolutely hated ward placements (one was so dreadful that I worried about him, I'm HCP in NHS and the situation he was put in was appalling) but once qualified he found a niche out patient role that suits him well. There are plenty of nursing roles outside of the normal ward work and having come this far you may as well finish training. You will never be out of work that's for sure and lots of variety to choose from👍

MurderBot · 07/02/2023 19:31

MH nurse of 13 years. My advice...run far, run fast. Wards are dangerously understaffed, patient acuity is through the roof, and the knock on effect of the lack of beds is meaning community teams are managing far higher risk with huge caseloads. Everyone I meet is burnt out to some extent. I'm now in a non-clinical role in a MH trust and its the only thing that has saved my sanity, but it comes with its own challenges.

I dream of retraining but can't afford it for the forseeable.

IwillrunIwillfly · 07/02/2023 19:33

I'm a paeds nurse and I love my job. I hate the management and bureaucracy within the nhs and I find it deeply frustrating how much time and money is wasted, I have days where I come home and cry or rant or just feel exhausted, but at the core I love my job which makes me keep going back.
As someone else mentioned, paeds mental health services are hugely under staffed. If you have an interest in paeds that could be a route in? In Scotland certainly, you don't need a paeds degree to work in CAMHS, so could be an option? Also bare in mind that paeds tends to be over subscribed (my local uni had over 500 applications for 50 places) so no guarantee you'd get in- so don't leave one course without being sure you have a place elsewhere! Good luck!

OrlandointheWilderness · 07/02/2023 19:36

Thanks. I've had a placement I really enjoyed - in UTC, but I'm out for 9 weeks at the moment and it is nearly unbearable. It's mind numbing, dull repetitive work with staff who don't appreciate having students around and care being pushed to unsafe levels.

Dinneronmybfpillow · 07/02/2023 19:44

RMN for 12 years (albeit currently on Mat leave). I still love my job, but I'm lucky to now be in a really interesting role where I get to a) work independently and b) not carry a caseload. I'm not looking forward to leaving my babies when I go back, but that's just the joys of shift life and I'll take that over CMHT caseload holding, which only bleeds into your home life anyway.
My job is increasingly difficult as resources become more and more stretched or disappear completely. I make assessments and recommendations, but my options for treatment and support are limited to say the least. That in itself gets weary, constantly being the face of a service which isn't meeting the needs of the public. Luckily most people don't blame the person in front of them.
I won't be recommending it as a career to my children. But it is paying my mortgage and fuck knows what else I'd do now.

overthinkersanonnymus · 07/02/2023 19:50

This thread has come at the right time for me! I've literally just been on the NHS website as I've always wanted to a vocational job, something that fulfils me and means I'm not sat on my arse all day!

But from speaking to my friends in the nhs, and this thread, I'm probably glorifying a job in my head that I know nothing about

Supernova23 · 07/02/2023 19:54

I’m an A&E nurse. Love many aspects of my job, but it’s mostly hell on earth. Propped up by burnt out skeleton staff that haven’t recovered mentally from the pandemic. All areas are dangerously understaffed.

Original poster

MentalHelf · 07/02/2023 19:58

Thankyou everyone. A lot to think about.

OP posts:

BlueDragon1 · 07/02/2023 20:34

How do you know that the person was suicidal?

Original poster

MentalHelf · 07/02/2023 20:46

BlueDragon1 · 07/02/2023 20:34

How do you know that the person was suicidal?

Because she told us?

OP posts:

MrsMorrisey · 07/02/2023 21:03

Placements are mostly crap because you have to do it for free but I do think that you learn a lot.

I went into nursing thinking I could change things 😂😂

You can't BUT you can change one persons experience as a patient.

After a while you'll find what's right for you. I do in home care now.

Ward nursing is hard but it really sets you up in your skill set.

I'd be lying though if I didn't say there's days where I think WTF? But if we all quit, who is going to do it?

Doyouthinktheyknow · 07/02/2023 21:14

RMN for more than 20 years here.

For sure, it’s tough and difficult decisions are made every day. Prolonged admission is not always the best thing and there are patients for whom inpatient admission can be more risky. Community support is patchy however and all services are managing more and more risk and acuity. Touch choices are made every single day, it’s incredibly hard.

I would gently suggest it may be difficult for you coming from a psychology background as inpatient care is very focused on a medical model with often limited therapeutic interventions. This can be difficult to accept. You obviously have a passion though so it would be worth sticking with the training if you can and focusing on a specialist service for when you qualify: early intervention psychosis or forensics for example.

I certainly wouldn’t do mental health if I had my time again but I do still enjoy some aspects of my job and definitely feel I make a difference overall.

I wish I’d done adult nursing but everything I read suggests that’s at least as bad🤷‍♀️

Lannielou · 16/04/2023 15:09

My daughter is a children's nurse, hasn't been qualified a year, she said children's nursing is hard, hard work. Lots of mental health issues and not just caring for the child but constantly dealing with families. Her advice is don't switch