Dropping my band in nursing & going back the hospital

[Nikkiw76]

Any nurses out there who have left a community band 7 managers role & taking a staff nurse job band 5 back in the hospital? I’m excited but nervous am I making the right decision, interested in hearing from anyone who has dropped their band and gone back into hospital setting. I’m leaving a 9-5 job as very little nursing care and all’s I do is deal with moaning staff, community & regular hours great when kids where little, but know my youngest 18, so don’t need to worry about childcare & im wondering if long days on a daycase Ward as staff nurse will be not only more fulfilling but also give me more time off, or am I making a huge mistake, any advice appreciated xxx

I work in community. It is increasingly pressurized and is a million miles away from the slow paced days of yesteryear. If it were me these are the things id be thinking without the limiting effects of childcare. Could i work longer days and have more time off. Could i get more money working weekends periodically than as a 9 to 5 band 7 with all the stress etc. There is alot to be said for having a life, even with a bit less money, would i have a lot less stress . A band 7 manager told me her staff nurses earned more money than her because they did weekends. I recently spoke to one of my community colleagues who works in a large team of community nurses covering a number of gp practices and in an inner city area. She told me every day, without exaggeration, someone in the office was crying and several members of the teams were off with stress. Management told her to look for another job when she suggested finding different ways of working to help the staff and her patients. She LOVES her job and never thought she would see a day where she would leave it. But that was the straw that broke the camels back and so she got a new job and left. Such a waste of her skills and knowledge. She told her manager youve failed me and our patients. I think its time we started looking after ourselves too. Nursing may be a vocation but it shouldnt make you into a non person who doesnt deserve a life or respect. So if your answer to the questions are a 'yes' ... go for it. Even after 6 months or a year and you dont like the job ...im sure you'd get another job no problem with your experience. Nurses are leaving the profession in their droves because of things like the above. Good Luck.

When I first read your op, I though “Noooo!” As a, now retired, nurse who went from hospital to community, I always knew I could never have gone back to working in a hospital. But your experience is different to mine.
You seem to have thought through the financial aspects (presume that includes the affect on your pension?) and decided that the longer salary is worth it for the lessening or stress, and the knowledge that you would be more satisfied emotionally with giving hands on care to patients than wrestling with rota’s and all the crap that comes with NHS middle management.
Working in a daycare unit sounds like a good plan - hands on care but with a distinct ‘start and finish’, not worrying about leaving your patients at the end of the shift etc, no ‘critically ill’ patients to worry about and ‘take home in your head’. I think it could be very satisfying for you. Good luck with your new venture.
And as the op said, you will have no trouble changing jobs if it doesn’t work out for you.

longer - lower*

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply it’s really kind of both of you, retirement now that sounds bliss, unfortunately I’ve still got about 12 years left to do, even though I’ve done 28 so far, my pension is a worry but 12 years is a long time to feel miserable everyday & even when I’m off, I can’t switch off, then I go back to all the work waiting for me as no one does it when I’m off, just means after leave I have to work twice as hard, so don’t feel like you’ve had a break, I’ve been really lucky in my career and enjoyed all my roles & I knew I never wanted to go into management, but when everyone around me thinks I’m making a mistake, it’s hard to wonder if it’s out of the frying pan into the fire 🔥 other option is a disability assessor as money & hours good & id get to asses patients but some shocking reviews on line about the role, but I suppose not many people leave good reviews when they are happy doing there job. Hopefully I’ll be happy working again soon, huge thanks again to you both xxx

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply it’s really kind of both of you, retirement now that sounds bliss, unfortunately I’ve still got about 12 years left to do, even though I’ve done 28 so far, my pension is a worry but 12 years is a long time to feel miserable everyday & even when I’m off, I can’t switch off, then I go back to all the work waiting for me as no one does it when I’m off, just means after leave I have to work twice as hard, so don’t feel like you’ve had a break, I’ve been really lucky in my career and enjoyed all my roles & I knew I never wanted to go into management, but when everyone around me thinks I’m making a mistake, it’s hard to wonder if it’s out of the frying pan into the fire 🔥 other option is a disability assessor as money & hours good & id get to asses patients but some shocking reviews on line about the role, but I suppose not many people leave good reviews when they are happy doing there job. Hopefully I’ll be happy working again soon, huge thanks again to you both xxx

Another role that DNing is good experience for is Practice Nursing. You do have to be careful as GP practices vary, but it can be very satisfying role, though the lack of investment in GP practices have increased the stress for those working in it.
You can continue with your NHS pension, but A4C pay bands/ pay rises etc are not mandatory in GP land.

I did the assessor job. It is mundane after a while. It is not nursing care and what i found hard was switching off the 'care' aspect ...not that you dont care but that you arent there to provide care, youre there just to assess people. I left after 2 years. It wasnt for me but filled a gap for me while i was changing job and country. At the time it was ATOS and the public profile was particularly bad because the public see you as being there to do them out of their benefits. It suits some but not others.

Many thanks for your advice, I think the assessor job maybe something I’d consider if all else fails. Although I believe probation period is 6 months with only 50% being kept on🙈 I’d like a PN role, but a lot are part time & I need full time, so if I do 3 long days I maybe able to look for one on my days off. Again thankyou for you advice xx

Nikki i should have said it is very targets driven and if you dont matvh up theyre prwtty ruthless. During my training a few didnt pass on to the next stage. While working there were a couple of pwople i had met who didnt pass muster in doing enough assessments per day and were asked to leave. The company has invested in you and your training so they dont do it willy nilly but if you consistently dont match up then you have to go. Anyway good luck whatever decision you make.

I went from a very well paid job as a private OH manager to a band 5 role.
The OH job was getting very difficult, I was trained in industry but ended up working from home doing phone referrals. It was so isolating.
I'm now in a specialist community role working with a lovely team of people.
I've taken a massive pay cut but it's been worth it.
For the 1st time in many years I can say I love my job!

Probably not helpful, but my gut reaction is - are you totally crazy?

But but, I am absolutely a community nurse, the thought of working in a hospital fills me with utter dread.

Would you not be better dropping a band and going back to band 6 community and seeing patients. Or band 7 as a specialist nurse in the community? So management needed, but still a lot to clinical work?

Obviously I am projecting, but if I needed a change, going to work in a hospital would be my absolute last choice!

Many thanks for all your replies, I loved my job as an immunisation nurse with a small team, then got team leaders role which was fine as still clinical and a little bit of management, then our trust won tenders for 3 other boroughs and their idea was I’d be band 7 over 3 teams with 30 staff over 3 different boroughs based in 3 different areas with 3 different service specs, develop 2 brand new teams & report to 3 different heads of service, it’s an impossible role for 1 person, unfortunately their are no band 6’s to delegate anything too & no option to step down to lower band as I’d love to do that as I loved my job and team, just such a shame as I thought I was there till I retired & now I feel like it’s a backward step but hoping it’s happening for a reason and hopefully once I find my feet in day surgery I’ll be happy again, fingers crossed, thanks everyone xxx

I'm a band 5 ward nurse in day surgery, I absolutely love my job. I get good quality time with patients to provide patient cantered care, we regularly get comments saying that patients feel like people and not just numbers which I feel is one of the best compliments to get.
I previously worked on a high pressured medical ward and my life has changed so much since transferring, I have nights and weekends off with my family and feel like I'm being a good mum again. One of the most important things for my mental health has been gaining the ability to switch off when I leave the unit, mostly the patients are discharged after their procedures so no more laying awake worrying about their condition. I earn less than when I worked the nights and weekends but the happiness of my family and myself has been worth every penny. Good luck in your new role

Thanks for reply, can I ask if u do long days on your day ward? I’m hoping to do 3 long days but after being community based for the last 20 years, I’d be interested to know how long days are. My thinking is hopefully on a day ward as you start to tire patients age getting discharged so workload becomes a little less frantic xxx

My ward is very flexible, some do 2 x 12 hr shifts but I do
1 x 8-8
2 x 8-6
1 x 8-4

Would you not be better dropping a band and going back to band 6 community and seeing patients.

I'm and ex-RMN but Dh is a Band 7 Community Team Leader and certainly your description of the pressures matches his role. He certainly wouldn't consider going back into a hospital though as he he like his bed at night too much!

How about finding a nice band 6 DN role in a pleasant practice and getting back into managing a clinical caseload?

Thanks for advice, all community band 6 jobs in our trusts require a specialist community health nursing degree in that speciality. So not really an option and I’m hoping to reduce stress a little and we can’t recruit to our band 6 roles due to increasing pressures they are being put under so I think that would definitely be out of the frying pan and into the fire. No nights in hospital role I’ve applied for or weekends so that’s a plus xxx

Hi Nikkiw76. I've just read your post and wondered how you had got on with your change in post. I'm in a similar position but the other way round. I'm currently a band 7 manager of a busy acute cardiac unit and stressed beyond belief with targets, administration and frustrating beaurocracy. I'm seriously looking at a band 5 community nurse role to reduce my stress and try to regain some joy in my job. How have you found the move from band 7 to band 5?

@Nikkiw76. I have been a nurse for over 15 years and I have tried just a number of different roles. Returning back to the hospital from community is a brave move. I currently do agency and I travel to both NHS and private hospitals to work and the one thing that both hospitals have in common is the consistent moaning, bullying and harassment, not to mention staff shortages (some staff are leaving after less than six months) and the usual politics. Stress is everywhere when it comes to a nursing role. :(