Resigning as a nurse

[JEB123]

Hi. After 27 years, I have exhausted all my options! I can’t cope with the pressures anymore, I’m so unhappy and want to take a step back from it all. I had a depressive episode in 2014 which stripped my confidence and left me with anxiety, which i’m sure was the job. I had a 6 month break from nursing and decided to try again! I have had 3 jobs since and fail to settle in all of them. I was in a post 10 years prior to the breakdown, which I loved, but the culture became and still is toxic. I hate the thought of going to work and my mood slides. Has anyone ever given up their pin and become a home carer instead? Advise please will be very welcome.

I don’t know - home caring does seem quite stressful and I thought there were some issues about some companies not wanting to pay their employees for the time it takes to travel between patients. But that may have been sorted now.

Any research or clinic positions? The pressures on nurses are really big - you have my sympathies. I left a medical job and will start at a non medical one next month.

Thanks, Namenic I’m laid here trying to snooze ready for the night shift, but getting anxious instead!
What job are you off to do? Good luck by the way.

Thanks! It’s Software/IT - it’s been my hobby for a few years. I used to look on indeed.co.uk when I was fed up with hospital stress. Out of the blue I found a big company we’re hiring and would give training to people without software degree. Look around and see what is out there! Ps there is an alternative careers for doctors forum on fb - maybe if you explain your situation to the admins they might be able to let you on. There are interesting ideas from aesthetic and lifestyle medicine to teaching to accounting, software. Perhaps some of the aesthetic or lifestyle jobs would also need nurses/hcas to do obs, ecg, measure bp? Though I guess you’d need to make sure it was all regulated and stuff. Maybe there are jobs out there teaching hcas? Do look around!

Thank you so much! All the best.

Just a message sending solidarity, also a nurse here and feeling in a very similar position! Every day before work i feel a sense of dread like I'm going to be told I've messed up - such a horrible feeling!

I'm a band 5 and looking at a band 3 admin role in the NHS so i can keep in the pension but have none of stress and responsibility of being a nurse. And when the salary is calculated I'm not even that much worse off financially! But i am low end of the Band 5 pay scale x

I feel the same, the dread and nerves of going to work are awful and I would give it up if I could financially. Hope you find something that you like, I have known people become support workers for people with learning disabilities, HCAs or disability assessors.

I went back into the NHS after 20 years out in industrial OH.
I took a massive pay cut and only do bank. I really enjoy the work but I'm amazed at the absolute chaos and lack of leadership. I work in the community in a specialist role. I'm surrounded by women with a huge range of experience and knowledge and we're all band 5. No wonder staff retention is an issue.

I'll stick with it for a while but don't think I'll revalidate again.

Are you a hospital nurse or a GP Practice Nurse. One of our Practice Nurses is off on compassionate leave and the other on holiday. We can't find cover and have had to rely on an agency. It's not ideal having a nurse for 2 days out of 5. No shifts and only Saturday morning working during flu clinic season. Is that something you would consider?

I think care work can be really hard and pressured, and the pay is usually poor.
Sorry, - I'd look elsewhere for a happier work/life balance.

@swishyswash yes completely agree, the lack of leadership is appalling. I work in the community and feel totally unsupported and lacking in knowledge. Whenever i have to do something I've never done before there's no document to go to for guidelines, the managers have no clue because they're all new, so you end up scraping around asking other staff and googling! I hate it and feel completely rudderless. I hate not knowing what I'm doing, which adds to my anxiety of worrying I'm going to f*ck up at some point.

Hi guys. I’m ward based, I was community up until 5 years ago, therein started my problems, when management changed. I think I’d still be there otherwise.
I’ve spoken to my manager since posting, to have a meeting with him, try and iron some stuff out, including shift patterns.
I have all the feelings each one of describe.
Troysmammy, Practise nursing really isn’t for me I’m afraid, but thank you.
Aabidah86, it’s really hard isn’t it to say no? but you need to work to your competence, no matter what pressure they put on you. With all the pressures of the job it’s difficult to say no, I can see why NMC cases are increasing, but the culture in the job creates the risks we are having to face.

I am about to give up my PIN after 30 years of Nursing. Like you I just couldn't stand the stress of it all. For the past two years I have been doing a different career but still doing some bank nursing but then last April I gave up the bank Nursing altogether. I have had an episode of depression recently and I honestly think it is just the stress of 30 years of dealing with horrendous situations and the long term anxiety this has caused. If my new career doesn't work out then I will just do care work or something until I retire. I am in my early fifties. I feel sad that it's the end of an era but then again the thought of ever nursing again fills me with horror so I now I'm doing the right thing !! Good luck in escaping.

Same here.
30 years nursing and I am overwhelmed and feel trapped.

If I don’t give up my PIN is at risk on a day by day basis anyway due to the work conditions I am forced into.

I finish every shift worried about what I will be in trouble for, what incidents will be submitted about me, what will I be dragged into the office about when I’m next in.

My record is completely unblemished by the way. My sick days can be counted on one hand for those 30 years too.

Bullied out of my dream job after 23 years by a new manager. Now being bullied out of another.

I went to work at my regular (2nd job as the 1st pay is so poor) the other night and was moved to a ward. Even though it’s been over 20 years since I’ve worked on a medical ward...given a bunch of Keys and told to crack on.
Giving unfamiliar drugs..with the bnf in one hand, giving controlled drugs, restricted drugs and doing obs as none of the hcas are obs trained.
Iv Antibiotics due at 10pm given at 2am because I just couldn’t get to do them...incident report worthy.
There were wanderers and climbers, some very poorly patients.
Myself and an agency nurse on a 28 bedded medical ward.
None of us had been on that ward before.
Matron told of my anxieties and inability to deliver safe and timely care... not in the least bit interested. I was told that there was absolutely no one else anywhere to work that ward so I had to carry on.

So. I cannot sleep for worrying to death about it.

I’m applying for jobs out of nursing.

I’ve had enough.

crosser - It was one of these nightshifts that prompted me to hand my notice in finally. I had numerous terminally ill patients climbing out of bed, patients waiting for pain relief, patients at risk of falling, a patient who took four staff to move, IV antibiotics given late etc. I just had had enough and quit.

Terrible. Nurse Amaro and Dr bawa garba were forced into situations where they had to do unsafe care because management didn’t give them other options. Maybe ask unions what exactly you should do if you are faced with an unsafe scenario? Bma are useless as they abandoned Chris day when he complained. MPs should legislate for minimum staffing. But yeah - I wouldn’t work for a hospital who did that to me crosser.

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Something really needs to give with the profession, the pay is poor compared to other graduate and postgraduate jobs, the revalidation process is onerous, and I often find myself spending hours filling in paperwork that is of absolutely no benefit to the patient rather it just makes us easier to audit.

Couple with that the retention rates are terrible so newly qualified staff move up the bands quicker than they would have a few years ago. Leads to an inexperienced and burnt out workforce.

I am in mental health and have moved from ward to community fairly recently. I thought it was less stressful initially but then the workload ramped up and I find myself just as stressed as on a ward and feel like I have such a heavy weight on my shoulders. I am looking for care/support work, will just have to take a financial hit.
I am also seeing younger staff move up the ladder quickly due to retention issues.

@tartan333 i am also mental health and band 5 in community. Our Trust never used to take band 5 in community, only band 6, but yep retention issues forced the change! I feel way in over my head. A band 6 social worker is on long term sick and everyone has had to pick up their caseload. I'm trying to do commissioning of care which I've no clue about. The managers and senior pracs are all new and from forensic or CAMHS so have no idea about our service and can't offer help. Everyone is in and out of the office on back to back visits so hardly anyone around to ask for help. I feel so so isolated and inexperienced.

aabidah86 Yes I'm a band 5 too and community nurses used to start on band 6. Even though I am experienced in nursing on wards, I feel inexperienced on community, isolated and expected to have knowledge of everything. I still enjoy the time I get to spend with patients and have the desire to make their lives better but most of my time seems to be spent chairing care co ordination meetings. I am very unhappy and want out.

Band 6 community posts in my trust are becoming a novelty. Everytime someone retires out of a post it gets downgraded to band 5. The caseloads are astronomical.
I'm lucky, I got one of the rare as hens teeth band 6 clinical posts on a forensic ward. I love my job but everyday I see the price we have to pay for the underfunding (especially in mental health) of the NhS and I'm knackered all the damn time.

If I ever leave nursing I doubt I will stay in healthcare. Even our support workers are running on fumes and are having to pick up more and more responsibilities with no extra pay.

@tartan333 @formerlyfrikadela01 I'm actually glad to hear its not just me whose struggling and had enough!

Am also following with interest, although I know I couldn’t transfer into caring, I have wondered about going back to the wards, but you’ve reminded me why that might not be a good idea!

Am currently trying to consider what jobs might not involve working with the general public tbh.

I've been nursing 32 yrs and also seriously considering giving up- however ds still has 2 yrs left at Uni and dh is self employed
Been in research for past 12 years and changes in management structure have seen morale hit rock bottom and many staff leaving.
There's no career development, poor ie non existent training and unrealistic recruitment targets to be met...I'm in the job to improve patient outcomes and develop new treatments but feel so undervalued by senior ( non nursing) management who really have no idea what the job entails or the knowledge I possess ...I feel the experience I have is not recognised or valued . If colleagues leave the post is advertised at lower band to save money . Wish I'd left nursing years ago