Do I, Dont I????

[angel659]

Hi

As most of you know, I will be starting my nurse training in Feb 08. I am half way through my NVQ Level 3 in Health now and will be finished Sept/Oct. This will sound rambled and will make no sense. I will apologize now.

Recently I have been feeling a little low about my job. I have felt that it has been a thankless job. I am more thinking of an Auxiliary point of view, due to staff and not patients. Recently my ward is getting worse. I feel that the Auxiliary nurses are doing what qualified nurses did years ago. Do not get me wrong I love my job and I love helping other people. I do not for one-minute feel too posh to wash or anything. Its silly things like "patient x needs a drink of water, can you get him one" or "patient x needs the commode can you get them one" as they walk past you. Continently ignoring the buzzers. Some days there is more than one Auxiliary nurse, but some other days there has only been one. It has been down to them to make 27 beds, wash patients who need it, answer buzzers and take 27 observations. I have several times been behind a curtain with another Auxiliary nurse changing a patient and the buzzer has not been answered until we have been available. By the time we have got there, the poor patient is desperate for the commode. They cannot seem to share any observations especially if they are poorly. When you walk past they say “are you busy and when you have done that here is a list of obs that need to be done”. They are sat on their bums laughing and talking.

Some patients have complained to me that today’s nursing standards has dropped immensely to the point that they do not even know which staff nurse is looking after them. They only ever speak to Auxiliary nurses now days. I know Staff Nurses get busy, but surely if some nurses can do this then it can be done. I have seen many staff nurses sitting at the nurse station while buzzers go off and it is we who are running off our feet building up a sweat to get things done. I am feeling down recently and feel like a general dog’s body, which was one of the main reasons I quit secretarial work. With the less patient contact by staff nurses, auxiliary nurses are the ones that are looking out for the patients’ vital signs. If they are poorly and they have done, what was needed i.e. medication we are then left to look after them again and report if there are any discrepancies with the observations. Even though we are not qualified, we are still the ones who will spot any early warning signs.

Now I do not know whether to continue with my nursing career or change completely to primary school teaching. I might start at teaching assistant or train directly as a teacher I do not know. I really do not like the way that today’s nursing is going and I do not want nurse like that. I do not want to stay as an Auxiliary Nurse I want more now. I have learnt as much as I can and I want to learn more now, but I do not want to nurse here anymore. Not if it is going to be like that.

What shall I do.

 

[kristieuk]

Gosh, I don't envy you the choice.

To me it seems as though you love nursing and in the right environment wouldn't think twice, but it is the practical reality making you question it. I don't know how this varies from hospital to hospital - do you think working at a different place might make the difference?

I think to some extent, any job is much more than the job itself, if that makes sense - eg I quite like the 'point' of my job, but it's the day to day practical rubbish I have to deal with that makes me question if I should be doing something else. I'm just thinking this may be the same for teaching - that the 'crap' you are dealing with, from unions, the government, parents, budgets etc takes the shine off the point of the job ie teaching children!

You obviously work very hard at what you do, and I admire you immensely for what must be a very difficult job. Maybe you do need to climb the ladder so to speak, and that will make the difference? At least you will be more in control.

I know this isn't much help at all, but remember that the grass isn't always greener, and you have obviously worked hard to get this far. I think you need to think hard about what will make you most happy in the long term. Good luck with whatever you decide to do .

 

[carolfoy]

I have no real advice to give Michelle but wanted to offer a and to say that yes, nursing is a thankless task but any one of us who have needed one are very grateful for the work they do.
My best friend Elaine qualified as a nurse a couple of years ago and although whilst training she went through huge ups and downs and. like you, felt like ditching it she is soooo glad she kept it up and finds her job really rewarding.
I think caring for other people is a vocation, not a job and only you really know if you are cut out for that life.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Sorry I can't help with your dilemma, but as a Domestic on the wards I can see what you are saying. The nurses on the wards I work on are very, very busy with paperwork, admitting and discharging patients, dealing with relatives and doctors visits etc. I have often said the HCA's are doing the actual 'nursing', the only job I've not seen them doing is the distribution of the drugs which is still a nurses job. I think a lot of people go through a phase of thinking their jobs are thankless, so much is expected of employees these days and 'customers' are often quick to complain about standards not being what they expect. I often hear visitors complain about the standard of cleanliness on the wards, what they don't know is I have to clean a 35 and 40 bed ward, goodness knows how many bathrooms and ward based wash hand basins, wash and redistribute water jugs to all beds who need them, take meals off regen trolleys all in 3 1/2 hours, and then they wonder why I only 'glance' in a bathroom to see if it needs cleaning, they don't realise its done properly during the day. Hope you come to the right choice for you.

 

[wideeyes]

Now I do not know whether to continue with my nursing career or change completely to primary school teaching. I might start at teaching assistant or train directly as a teacher I do not know. I really do not like the way that today’s nursing is going and I do not want nurse like that.

Hi, I am sorry you are having a hard time at work, I think you need to think if teaching is any better though your comment about not liking the way today's nursing is a comment I have heard many teachers say about teaching, as they are not able to get on with the job they are trained to do due to educational policies, government and parent interference, budgets, paper work, large class sizes and also they is very few primary school jobs and it is very competitive, there is more trained primary school teachers than jobs. The number of primary schools have decreased a lot in recent times.

Also they has been research that shows that teachers are less respected careers than nurses.

Hope you find a descion you are happy with,

 

[angel659]

I think caring for other people is a vocation, not a job and only you really know if you are cut out for that life.

Please dont get me wrong. I am never saying this from a patient perspective. Only from the way colleagues are treating us at the moment. Things like they are standing right near the sluice and they ask us to put the linen bag back even though they got it out in the first place and they are right there!!!!!

I love helping people and caring for people. Its very rewarding. Especially when you have had a poorly patient in and you have been able to save his/her life as a team. See them being discharged from hospital, when we all thought they would not make it. Its great. I really like it. I am just upset that the staff nurses are not helping at all. Leaving it all up to us. When we offer advice or say something we get the remarks " I am the nurse I am qualified your not" type of comments. Its down right hurtful. Yes I have not studied for the last 3 years, but the staff nurses do not like us being called 'Nurses', because we have not studied for the last 3 years. Hence why we are not allowed to be called Aux Nurses anymore. We are now called either Clinical Support Workers or Health Care Assistants. I am just worried that one day I might be like that or worse at a conors court.

There is no doubt in my mind that I have it in me to care for people. Its just the little things that are not nurse related that is just annoying. There does not seem to be any respect between health staff regarding HCS or SN anymore. I think I heard someone say that the staff nurses are carrying the slack of the Aux nurses, because they have children I didnt say anything, because I dont like to cause arguments. I could not believe it...............

 

[CustardTart]

I trained as a Psychiatric Nurse many years ago but, due to a variety of reasons, decided I'd had enough and retrained as a primary school teacher. Big mistake!

I thought I'd enjoy it for the same reasons I'd loved nursing but OMG was I wrong?! In fact I found the job overwhelmingly depressing, frustrating and boring. Compared to the rewards I'd experienced on a day-to-day basis whilst nursing, teaching for me was a complete let-down - I felt as if I was treading water constantly , papering over the cracks and not really achieving anything despite my best efforts. I felt unappreciated, detested the bureaucracy and paperwork plus I missed the camaraderie I'd enjoyed on the wards...

I can only tell you that it didn't work for me and I wish I'd taken my nursing career further...

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

Okay, I'm going to jump in here as an ex student nurse. I studied Nursing at Uni for 18 months before I quit. I am now a Law Student. Anyway, one of the main reasons I quit was because of the nurses basically doing aux work plus there own and some doctors work. I would work 12 hour shifts in an Infection Unit and I always bathed, did beds, fed etc, then I was expected to give meds, write daily reports, clean wounds etc, on top of this I was expected to be by the docs side while doing rounds, and constantly monitor and update the doc on progress, and suggest other things for the doc to do!!!
For the money that nurses get, I noticed that many newly qualified Nurses don't get much more than an aux, which I find disgraceful. Many nurses have very low morale now, the NHS is in crisis and when we qualified here you have to be admitted on to the Staff Development program, meaning you can't choose where you want to work for 2 years, much like your placements.
At the end of the day, you get very little thanks for so much hard work. In my cohort, by the end of first year 70% of people had dropped out.
Now don't get me wrong there is the up side, helping people, but I found that quite often the care was disgraceful. I was not allowed to offer baths to patients every day, cause we just couldn't do it, (not enough staff or time) Many patients lay for days with no proper bath, only a bed bath Docs and Nurses not wearing gloves, constantly spreading infection, this really p****d me off. I saw many Nurses that I couldn't believe still had a job, their treatment of patients was horrible.
It may be different where you work, but here the nurses do everything. There is so much paperwork and meetings and training courses etc, there just isn't enough time in the day.
Forgive me if I sound so down on Nursing, but I gave it a chance, I even took 6 months out hoping to go back feeling refreshed. 18 months in and I couldn't go on, I loved the theory and exams but I hated the placements.
I really wish you louck in this decision as it's not easy to totally change direction, trust me, going from Nursing to Law However this is the best decision I have ever made, I am so much happier.
I would say that as an aux, you should have first hand knowledge about this, if what you witness isn't appealing, then I seriously suggest looking at your Primary School teaching. Nursing is not at all what I expected.

Good Luck

 

[wideeyes]

Hi, it sounds to me that because they have been in higher education, have degree etc that they feel certain jobs and tasks are beneath them, that going to university makes them overqualified for doing the less pleasant tasks, I have heard before that this is a problem with nurses today which has led to the decrease in quality of care.

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

Hi, it sounds to me that because they have been in higher education, have degree etc that they feel certain jobs and tasks are beneath them, that going to university makes them overqualified for doing the less pleasant tasks, I have heard before that this is a problem with nurses today which has led to the decrease in quality of care.

I would agree with that to a point as I noticed some Nurses totally leaving all that stuff, definately to posh to wash. However many times, there really is so much to do, I often thought about leaving Nursing and getting a job as an aux instead, I mean I was doing the same thing there and I wouldn't have had to study for 3 years.

 

[carolfoy]

Michelle please don't think i was suggesting you weren't cut out for the job or that in anyway you weren't a caring person.
I just wanted you to think about the fact that this is a longterm commitment you will have to make by going ahead with your job.
I totally understand that you feel like your job is being undervalued and that you and your colleagues work very hard for no reward but we, the general public, DO value you, very much

 

[natalielongstaff]

i can't offer any specific advice good luck with your choice

 

[angel659]

Michelle please don't think i was suggesting you weren't cut out for the job or that in anyway you weren't a caring person.
I just wanted you to think about the fact that this is a longterm commitment you will have to make by going ahead with your job.
I totally understand that you feel like your job is being undervalued and that you and your colleagues work very hard for no reward but we, the general public, DO value you, very much

Oh of course not When I read my op I thought it came across funny, so I clarified what I was writing. Honestly

 

[carolfoy]

I don't think i put my point across well either Michelle I just think you need to feel really happy in whatever you decide to do and like another poster said teachers get less respect than nurses so you need to think carefully before making any decisions. whatever you choose I'm sure you'll be great at it and I hope you're happy in it

 

[TotallyAngelic]

As a midwife and a qualified nurse I am so sorry that you are feeling disillusioned with your role at the moment. It is a reflection on the state of the NHS that real "nursing" is only being done by the health care support staff, because qualified nurses are too bogged down with paperwork and the like to actually have any contact with the patients, and the wards are too short staffed to actually allow the nurses to be nurses. I am sure that many nurses would prefer to be working directly with the patients, but the time and staff constraints make it impossible, and they have to devote their limited time to paperwork, medical rounds and medication rounds. As a nurse I know what I would rather be doing - if I had wanted to do admin then I would trained in admin. Of course there will always be staff who are superglued to the nurse's station, and maybe these should question their choice of career, but I am sure there are an equal number of very frustrated nursing staff who would love to be able to nurse their patients.

As a midwife, patient contact is a necessity, and even though the management is trying to push our health care support staff to do more nursing skills such as taking observations etc, I for one prefer to do my own. Working as a midwife means working "with woman" and not with medical notes and with computer, and I would not prioritise this over being with the patients.

Having worked as a health care support worker, if and when you qualify as a nurse you will see things from both sides, and you will be able to see what makes a good staff nurse. Just because you work with those who may not give the profession a good name, it does not mean that we are all like that and it does not mean that you will be like that! For what it's worth, a lot of the best nurses I have worked with have started out as health care support staff or auxilaries, and they are often the ones who put hands on patient care as a priority as they know how much it means to the patients! You do not have to compromise your own standards, and it sounds to me as you have some very worthwhile standards.

Working in the NHS means daily frustrations and disillusionment from always being short staffed. But what makes it worthwhile are the many moments when you know that you have actually made a difference to a person.

Whoops - time to get off my soapbox.

 

[fizz13]

Hi hun,
wish i could give you proper advice but I will send you big hugs for a very hard decision. You seem to be getting some good advice here, and i can see how frustrating it must be for you. For what its worth i think you would be a good teacher, you have a way with children. Good luck

 

[angel659]

Hi hun,
wish i could give you proper advice but I will send you big hugs for a very hard decision. You seem to be getting some good advice here, and i can see how frustrating it must be for you. For what its worth i think you would be a good teacher, you have a way with children. Good luck

Thanks Claire. Still have not made my mind up.

Dh said as long as I finish my Level 3 in Health and perhaps do some volunteer work in September at my local school then I should have an idea what teaching is about. I can see teaching from the inside rather than from a parents point of view. My local adult education centre start the courses in September for teaching assistants and teachers. I am sure someone can offer me the NVQ for teaching assistant in January should I change my mind. I think this is a good way to test the water before I took a huge leap. Either way I am quitting my ward in November to either go full time Flexi Aux Nurse until my training starts in Feb or until I have gained my NVQ Level 2 in Teaching assistant to see what steps to take after that.

Thanks for all your advice. I can see your point the grass isnt not always greener. Its the what if's that will annoy me. So this way I think is the best route.
Thanks fo

 

[Minniespal]

Sounds like a good plan Michelle

 

[CustardTart]

That's a sensible plan. Good luck, Michelle!

 

[tennisfan]

Sounds like a good plan. Good luck