What is it like to be a nurse these days?

[Itsmitneymitch]

I'm thinking of going back and retraining as it is something I've wanted to do.

Thanks!

I've been a paediatric nurse for 20 years, I love it. No day is the same. Kids are unbelievably resilient. It's hard work, but not as stressful as adult nursing is. We have a much smaller workload. Usually a maximum of four patients.

I am now an advanced nurse practitioner and love it. I worked 20yrs in A&E which was always my passion but it’s not a speciality I could imagine entering now due to pressures and levels of abuse. I think junior nurses have a very difficult job on the wards but I a magi r different areas can be less difficult to work in

I’m an RMN and have been for more than 20 years. To be honest, it’s brutal and expectations from the Trust are so high with resources stripped to the bone! I’m not sure I’d recommend it really but lots still seem up for giving it a go and we always need nurses.

I’ve moved off the wards recently though and found a little niche I really am enjoying. No progression beyond band 6 but I did band 7 and it nearly broke me so I’m happy to stay put.

I'm half way through my 1st year of a nursing degree. I'm 45. It is hard work, but I'm enjoying it so far. I start my first placement next week. I've worked in care sector for a decade, and as an auxiliary for NHS for just over a year. I think if you want to, go ahead and do it. Lots of luck!!

It’s fine as long as you specialise and get away from the wards. They are horrendous and very stressful. Short staffed, abusive patients and relatives, no support or back up from management. Each area will have its own pros and cons. Good maternity leave. I like the long days as condenses the working week. Always will have a job.

I still love being a nurse - and in particular emergency medicine

Thanks so much for the answers. I have one question.

Nursing is a job with a lot of responsibilty as we all know. If you make a mistake in a different job, it doesnt cause that much harm.

if you make a mistake in nursing, it could potentially cause a lot of damage to someone. If i do something wrong, it could literally make someone sicker.

I'm worried about making mistakes.

How do they protect against mistakes.

Does someone else check everything that you do? Before you do it.

Does someone else check everything that you do?

no, of course not. You’re expected to be a competent, safe practitioner. There are a small number of tasks which involve a two person check such as paediatric or controlled drugs.

Not at the start, youre not expected to be a competent safe practitioner. Youre just learning!

What i mean is , i have a nurse friend.

And she told me that a senior nurse checks things before she does them, and she also told me that she must get a second nurses signature before she administers drugs etc.

My friend that's a nurse, lives in Australia now, so I don't have the chance to ask her detailed questions.

She has just told me a little bit about her job on facebook. She is a newly qualified nurse.

What kind of days do you work? Is it 3 days on. 4 days off

"does someone check"

No not for most things and with increased pressure, fewer staff and more, sicker patients, it's increasingly easy for mistakes to be made. By all clinicians, not just nurses. In some areas you risk your PIN every shift because there just aren't enough qualified staff on or the skill mix is totally off.

I’m not a nurse but my son is just coming to the end of a 10 month long hospital stay so I’ve been around nurses non stop for the better part of a year.

My son has been on PICU and 3 different wards during that time. PICU is slightly different as the children on there are very poorly so it is 1:1 but the wards are 1:4. All the nurses I have been around are amazing but incredibly overworked as they are short staffed, they also don’t get paid anywhere near enough for what they do.

When my son was at his sickest in PICU, student nurses or newly qualified nurses weren’t allowed to help care for him but as he made it to the ward, he became a nurses first ever patient a few times and they were checked and monitored very closely. Not to mention even senior nurses check with things such as meds, TPN, allergies etc.

@Itsmitneymitch, your newly qualified nurse friend is probably doing a preceptorship in Aus and may well have someone checking her work. However that's very unlikely to happen here once you qualify. You will hit the ground running and be expected to be a safe, autonomous practitioner, only using the double checks for mandatory things like controlled drugs and IV drugs.

Nursing is a hard job. The training is hard. The career is hard. It will also give back to you in ways you can't imagine and is really flexible in terms of shift patterns, specialisms, clinical environments and where you work. However, burn out is a huge issue and retention is a problem across nursing at all levels (from nursing students to long-term qualified).

Thanks for sharing your experience!

It totally depends on what area you work. I loved PICU and was there for 30 years before I retired. But I wouldn't have worked on the wards for a big clock. I really enjoyed the multi disciplinary team on PICU, the responsibility, the autonomy and the fact that it kept you on your toes. There was always something new to learn or do.

What are you looking for?
There are so many different areas in nursing

You are expected to be accountable for your own actions as a nurse. You will be working as part of a team but there won’t be someone checking everything you do. You will be dispensing oral medication independently for example.

As an RMN I think our greatest fear is probably someone under our care taking their own lives. It’s horrific, the biggest trauma I’ve faced as a nurse and no one can protect you from that, even newly qualified nurses can find themselves involved in incidents. Coroners court can be very distressing for nurses, most of whom are just doing their best but the process of investigation can feel overwhelming.

Thats the reality of mental health nursing! General nursing has different challenges but I’m sure it can be equally tough in different ways.

I think I may be too anxious to be a nurse. I would like caring for people, but Im an anxious, shy person. And i dont have a lot of confidence in myself. I'd be worried so much about making a mistake. I'm also worried about dedicating three years to training and then feel like I can't do it. That I've wasted three years. It's so hard to know would I be able to do it, until I did it. Maybe it's not the right career for me.

Encouraging of the positive posts. If you’d asked about teaching the responses on the whole would not have been encouraging.

Yeah. Is there any good job though. Every job is stressful in its own way. Teaching is one if the more stressful ones for sure.

The tough thing about any job, is that you can't really know what it's like until you're in it

Do you have any care experience OP?
A lot of times what people think is 'nursing' is more akin to a HCA role these days.
A nurses role depending on the area has become more specialised.
EG in My role I took bloods, and arterial samples, inserted cannulas, catheters, and NG tubes, sampled VP shunts, ran dialysis and ECMO machines, altered ventilation depending on blood gas results, titrated blood pressure meds up and down, gave IV supplements depending on blood chem results, gave fluid bolus in response to observations. There was a lot of autonomy and a lot of technology to deal with, we worked closely with our medical team. It's a different job than working in a ward, clinic, or theatre. Put me on an orthopaedic ward and I would be lost. its totally different knowledge and skills.
What do you envision nursing to be and what parts appeal to you?

PICU nurses are extra special. My son was in PICU for 7 weeks and during the early days was on a ventilator, ECMO and dialysis.

Thanks for everything you’ve done for children like my son.

Well you’re not just learning are you. You’ve done three years of training and practice on your own pin. When I was NQ yes of course you could ask a specific question if unsure but generally given your bays and expected to get on with it. certainly not getting everything checked.

Friend of mine was the only qualified member of staff on a night shift two weeks after qualifying!

To go onto the nmc register you have to be proficient at the expected standards. You may well have some stuff to get signed off in preceptorship such as IVs so won’t be able to do those on your own until the pack is completed. Never heard of a second signature for ordinary oral drugs though

Don’t discount the idea just yet @Itsmitneymitch, you train for 3 years to gain the skills and knowledge you need. Working as a HCA does give a really good understanding of the challenges of working in healthcare and the realities of being a nurse which you might find really helpful.

Being a nurse has given me a lot and I’ve had a successful career. I’ve had some really difficult times but I know deep down that I’ve made a difference to so many people and that’s why I do it.