u/theunknownnn12xo

i currently work as an hca in the nhs and im still in my probation period so my notice period is one week. im hoping to start university in october to study nursing and i was already planning on leaving my permanent hca role and just doing bank shifts while im studying.
the only thing is my university place depends on me passing an exam at the end of august. i should get my result at the beginning of september. if i pass then i will definitely be going to university and i was planning to hand in my notice once i get my result.
i also have a holiday booked for september which i paid around £1500 for. the holiday was booked in march and i officially started my job in april after months of waiting.
i requested the annual leave months in advance around june/july but my manager declined it because apparently too many people are already off. regardless i am going on the holiday because ive already paid for it and its been planned for ages.
if i pass my exam then its quite simple because i can hand in my one week notice and leave before the holiday. what im worried about is what to do if i dont pass the exam because then i might need to stay working for a bit longer while i sort out my next steps.
i was thinking that if that happens i could ask my manager if i can take the holiday as unpaid leave instead. if she refuses that as well then honestly i would rather resign and just work bank shifts elsewhere than lose my holiday.
i dont want to just not turn up or have unauthorised absence on my record. if i do resign i would give my proper notice and work it.
what would you do in my situation? would you wait until you get the exam result and then decide? and if the unpaid leave was also refused would you resign and just do bank work instead? im also worried whether any of this could affect my nhs reference or me working on the bank afterwards.

hi everyone,
i’m a new hca and only started in april. i really want to become a nurse in the future, but after today i just feel like i’m not good enough.
we had such a stressful shift today. a patient had just stepped down from hdu and another hca said she was busy and didn’t really want to do the patient’s obs, so i said i’d do them because i wanted to help and these sets of obs really needed doing. so i stayed behind to do a full set of obs.

when i first did them, her oxygen sats were 81%, her respiratory rate was high and her news2 score came out as 8. i immediately escalated it to the nurse because i thought that was the right thing to do.
not long afterwards her oxygen sats went back up to 95-96%, and they wanted to cancel the met call but it was too late because the team had already arrived.
i’ve come home feeling awful because i keep thinking i wasted everyone’s time. the whole ward had such a horrible day, panic alarms were going off, everyone stayed late and some staff were even crying because of how stressful it was.
i’ve only been here a short time and i genuinely try my best every shift. i always try to help where i can and learn from everyone around me. i really do want to become a nurse one day, but today has knocked my confidence so much. i feel incompetent and i’m scared to go back on monday in case everyone thinks i overreacted or did something wrong.

i am just overthinking and spiralling. idk, i feel so incompetent.

hi what happens if you leave before you finish your probation period? currently a hca and leaving in two months due to go uni so i wont complete my probation. i am also on hca bank while will help me when studying
it says on my contract i can give a one week notice since i am on probation, but do you guys think it better if i did two/three weeks notice?

hi i am currently struggling really bad with night shifts, its not doing them per say, but more so the sleep. i cant sleep when i get in from my night shift (7:30-7:30). i have done it all, blackout eye mask, white noise, fan going and i cant manage a good sleep. today i slept from 8-1 but it was broken sleep and i woke up every hour and i have another night shift tonight, luckily we get a two hours break so i will spend majority of that sleeping.

i really struggle to nap in the day tbh, before the night shift and after and its giving me so much anxiety as i am person who usually gets full 8 hours of sleep every night and i feel like this type of sleep pattern (not getting enough sleep when doing nights) can have serious future health consequences.

i have been in the job for one month (hca) and i am going to study nursing in october, however i know nights will be part of placement. but this is making me really depressed tbh and anxious. sorry i am massive overthinker

does anyone have any tips or advice? i am so stressed about working tonight.
is it worth speaking to my manager and asking to reduce nights? next month i have 3 nights and july i only have two, so should i toughen it up? i think its more the nights back to back (doubles) than the single ones, that’s the problem.

bought a new one , so hopefully getting it done by end of the next week

what can i do in the mean time please