To think NHS workers aren’t ‘hero’s’ for working Christmas Day?!

[Reindeerlighthouse]

Just that. I have quite a few Nurses on my friend’s lists on social media and a few of them have posted today about how they’ve been working. Que loads of ‘omg, you’re an absolute angel’ ‘omg, you’re a true hero lovely’ type comments on all of their posts.

Am I being dim? They’ve been rostered on, they’re just doing their jobs on a day they’ve been rota’d onto, why are they ‘hero’s’ for that? It’s literally their job. I’m not saying their job doesn’t deserve credit because it absolutely does, but I’m sure if they’d have refused to work Christmas Day they’d have been facing disciplinary action?

My husband has worked the last 5 Christmas days (not medical related) no one has ever said he’s a hero for working it.

AIBU to think ti really doesn’t make them a hero? Just people doing their jobs on a day they’ve been told to do it?

Because the alternative to paying them is they leave and go to countries who are begging them to come. For lots more money, shorter hours and in some cases a guarantee of training

Yep, thats what my DD went and did, the NHS management/Govt and it would now seem the public think they are all scrounger ungrateful wankers so they leave.

Todays "money grabbing" Junior Doc's are tomo's consultants fixing you up after x y or z illness or accident....... they are leaving the NHS because of the attitudes shown on here & the simple fact that they can double their pay abroad AND be appreciated.

Todays waiting lists and AE wait times will seem like utopia in a few years time.... whoever gets in next year.

Why are you so bothered @HeadNorth about other people’s opinions? We’re on an online message board, so naturally people are going to offer different perspectives.

they are leaving the NHS because of the attitudes shown on here

No one is leaving th NHS because some people are sitting in their living rooms thinking they do a difficult job but aren't 'heroes'.

I think I you did a poll of NHS staff I’d be confident a large proportion of them don’t like it ether
most of my NHS friends don’t and numerous NHS staff that have replied on here don’t ether

I think we can all agree that a medical professional fulfilling their role is not technically a hero in the truest sense.

But who the fuck actually cares if someone says that they are, to a friend, in response to a social media post?

More than 400 posts from people utterly galvanised into action by this, most just tripping over themselves to say 'they're not fucking heroes' or 'I work hard too'. Imagine being a person this outraged by someone being paid a hyperbolic compliment.

Some people just can't wait to tear people down and make the world a bit more miserable.

Can't anyone just ignore the stuff they don't like anymore.

I think it depends what people mean by "Hero" Superman or Superwoman? perhaps not but someone who sucks up a lot of shite doing their day to day job, for little financial reward, who will be expected to risk getting ill/attacked, who is someone we will all have to rely on at one point or other and who then has to be at their very best on weekends and bank holidays? Yes i think thats very much worthy of respect and perhaps a little admiration.

Does it really matter what people call it, heroes? so fucking what.

Whether you re an ardent labourite or a free marketeer tory, we all need healthcare, its one of the very few jobs that truly is 24/7, 365.

Our nurses choose this profession as they understand all it entails. Working Christmas and missing out at home etc.

Dont they say it's a calling not a job. I mean you are pretty selfless to do this as a job.

I do think they are angels as they choose this knowing it's going to mean missing out on at home things and it's going to be badly paid and it's going to be thankless a lot of the time.

Thank you all our hospital staff. Xxx

@jasflowers I think a hero is courageous and risks danger to themselves. Which may be true for an NHS worker during covid, or a young female care worker caring for a strong elderly man with dementia, but it's no more or less true because it's Christmas.

More than 400 posts from people utterly galvanised into action by this, most just tripping over themselves to say 'they're not fucking heroes' or 'I work hard too'. Imagine being a person this outraged by someone being paid a hyperbolic compliment.

This is an online forum, didn’t you realise? You do know how these things work? And using the phrasing here of ‘galvanised into action’ is just as silly and O.T.T as saying NHS workers are heroes.

As someone pointed out earlier, though, unfortunately the 'calling' attitude is part of the problem.

It's not a calling for the majority of people who go into it. It's a career for which they have taken on years of academic study and debt.

And idea that people who go into nursing are 'selfless' enables them to be exploited and taken advantage of. After all, only a selfish person would complain...

You only have to read the threads about teachers being called selfish and uncaring for not wanting to do hours of unpaid overtime by running evening events to understand how the idea that a profession is a 'calling' and a 'vocation' can be problematic for those who work within it.

The language around people who work for the NHS is problematic.

That is a large part of why I disagree with calling them 'heroes'. Aside from the fact it sounds ridiculous.

I’m an NHS worker. Fortunately now in a role where I don’t work bank holidays or weekends but I have worked many Christmas shifts 12 hr Christmas Day shifts, 12 hr Christmas night shift, Boxing Day you name it I’ve done them all. I fully accepted that this was part and parcel of a career I chose (and love) and never expected any hero praise but any amount of appreciation always went a long way with myself and my colleagues because actually working Christmas is hard. We didn’t get any extra time off, we didn’t “break up for Christmas” because we just worked the same number of hours we worked every week. We would have days off but not always the ones we wanted and generally we weren’t allowed to book any leave over the Christmas period.

my kids definitely missed me being around at Christmas and I feel massively grateful that I am now able to enjoy Christmas with my family.

massive respect for anyone that works at Christmas no matter what they do

@Reindeerlighthouse

What a nasty 😳 mean spirited thread to start up ect .

@Ohchristmastree23 yup! People love a good nurse/nhs bashing thread!

Hope you had a lovely Christmas Day OP

I had a stressful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at work with poorly patients in their own homes trying to keep them out of hospital ...I am off today and a lovely 13 hour tomorrow...which will be a nightmare as the GP surgeries are open again and bank holiday is over.
Been qualified 13 years! I do my job well and give my patients excellent care.

We give up/compromise time with our loved ones to care for yours! It's a privilege!
Kind words make all the difference especially at this time of year. It's nice to be appreciated.
The people praising the nurse sound like lovely people!

Of course. I've been here for a long time. It just feels like a new low to be this cross about someone being paid a compliment that you don't think they deserve. Just joyless and petulant somehow.

Quite

People love a good nurse/nhs bashing thread!

I don't think anyone has said anything negative about nurses or the NHS...

I worked 13.5 hours yesterday as a doctor, and I don't seek or expect a medal or any praise. It's my job and if I didn't do it, someone else would have to, because people will always be unwell.

However, I do agree with previous posters that this feels like a mean-spirited thread to start.

Perhaps but at weekends and especially Christmas, the NHS is very understaffed, AE also have to deal with far more drunks than normal.

Yes its also true that during CV they had to look after patients without suitable PPE, defo putting themselves in harms way for the good of others.

Again, they chose this profession and its why the drop out rates are so high, after first placement many think "Fuck this" and then later on, so many leave the NHS.

imho if people wish to call NHS staff Heroes, again, so what!

Yes agree on carers, male or female, young or old, some patients in the community or CH 's can be quite violent/aggressive, my Mum used to tell me about a former Priest who would wank into his hand and then throw the cum at the carers/nurses as they entered his room

(sorry if your eating atm)

Yes Heroes (for want of a better word)

Lol, you have and plenty too.

Tbh, my issue with with people who call them 'heroes' not with appreciating the hard work they do.

That, along with the pointless and frankly embarrassing act of standing on doorsteps banging pan lids just brings to mind images of people wailing in the streets for 'The People's Princess'.

None of that is what respect, valuing a profession or appreciation looks like.

I'd rather think of them as highly skilled professionals doing a demanding job whilst, largely, balancing the demands of the nature of the job with the, sometimes unrealistic expectations of the general public and limited frontline resources than 'heroes'.

Show me one negative thing I've said about nurses.

I've been critical of labelling them as 'heroes' for many reasons but nothing I have said has been critical.of nurses.

You're a real joy, aren't you?

They're heroes everyday.

The 'better words' you are looking for are highly skilled professionals deserving of respect and appropriate remuneration.

Calling them 'heroes' implies it's a special quality within them and that they don't require respectful recognition because they are 'heroes'. The implication being that they are selfless and somehow different to (better than?) the rest of us and so they dont mind.

That s a dangerous way of thinking because it offers a justification for the lack of respect/appropriate pay and substandard working conditions.

Language is important.