r/NursingUK

I work in a District Nursing team as a band 5 Nurse, currently on maternity leave with my second baby. My little one was gravely unwell when he was born, to the point of thinking are we even bringing this baby home (he's defying the odds now and is amazing!) but I'm dreading going back to work. I don't want to miss out on family time of working Christmas, bank holidays, weekends, etc. I'm very tempted to go on the bank, but I'm just worried that it's such a big decision to take. Especially if bank work dries up as it does from time to time. How do you make it work on the bank? Do you do other little side jobs of the work dries up?

this might be a silly thread but i’ve recently graduated and about to start my grad program. i’ve been overthinking about night shift and taking my sleep meds.

for those who take sleep meds, do you take your sleep meds in the day time prior to night shift?

i’m a terrible sleeper at night, let alone having to sleep in the day. im scared that if i take my sleep meds in the day i still won’t be able to sleep and ill be an actual zombie during night shift

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice as I’m feeling a bit stuck and unsure what the right move is here.
I’m a newly appointed Band 6 Resuscitation Practitioner (7 months into the role) with 6 years ICU background although I've been a nurse for 15 years in total. I have a PgCert in Critical Care, ALS and PILS provider status.

I recently applied for a Band 7 Critical Care Outreach Practitioner role. I honestly didn’t expect much as I don’t have Band 6 ICU sister experience, but I was shortlisted which I was really pleased about. I suspect it’s because my current role is quite closely aligned with outreach work.

The issue is that I’ve now been given an interview date at very short notice, and it falls on a working day. I’ve requested annual leave, but realistically it will likely be declined due to staffing pressures, and there’s no one available to swap with as we’re currently really short staffed.

I’m now unsure what to do. I’m worried that if I disclose the interview and push for time off it could put pressure on my current team, or damage relationships at work. At the same time, I don’t want to miss the opportunity if this is a genuine chance for progression.

I also can’t help wondering whether this role might already be earmarked for an internal candidate, and I’d just be putting myself in a difficult position for nothing.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Would you still attend the interview even if it meant challenging conversations at work?
Any advice appreciated.

I’m in my first week supernumerary in A&E. I was in reception with another nurse. She said on handover to the night staff that all the obs are up to date. I clarified it with her and she said yes they’re all up to date. I’ve now found out that most of them were around 6 hours overdue and the senior sister has been informed.

This is far from my standards and never been in a position where my practice could come into question. I feel like I’ve let my patients down and now my team. I will learn from this and check this myself. I’m not really understanding why the two HCAs didn’t do them. I was busy doing all the meds, IVs and BMs etc

Can anyone give any reassurance or some thoughts please!

Hello,

I am currently a band 6 RMN based in primary care for a major mental health trust. I also have previous experience in a community mental health locality team working on the psychosis pathway and previously worked on an inpatient mental health ward.

I have been looking at ADHD assessment opportunities within the private sector and I'm booked onto Ukaan training in August (self funded) and I have been approved by my NHS trust to apply for NMP course (aiming to start Sep/Oct 2026).

I was hopeful of getting a bank role position completing assessments in the private sector as I love my job in primary care (working Monday- Thursday 08:00-18:00) and I don't really want to leave my current role.

Every job that I have looked at in this sector requires experience delivering ADHD assessments using DIVA 5, which as I understand is part of the training on the Ukaan course.

Is there anyway that I could get this experience without leaving my Job in Primary care?

I know the usual route is to go to NHS ADHD service to gain the experience but this would be a last resort. Would the agree for some sort of honorary contract to conduct supervised ADHD assessments on Fridays for 6 or 12 months? I would happily do this on a voluntary basis if necessary.

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I was looking after a lady with diabetes whose blood sugars were consistently through the roof – we’re talking 20+ most of the time.
I walked into her side room one day and in front of her was an entire sweet shop’s worth of treats: chocolates, sweets, biscuits, and she was happily working her way through a slice of chocolate cake.
I gently reminded her that her blood sugars were already very high and explained the long-term damage uncontrolled diabetes can cause.
Her daughter, who was sitting beside her, immediately chimed in with, “It’s okay, I’m a GP.”
I just stared at her for a second thinking, So because you’re a GP you’ve decided we’re speed-running diabetic complications now?
Obviously I smiled politely, carried on being professional, and kept my thoughts firmly inside my head because the NMC likes us to remain employed.
But honestly, moments like that make me understand why the GMC and NMC discourage healthcare professionals from treating their own relatives. Common sense and clinical judgement seem to disappear the minute it’s someone you love.
Anyone else had a “I’m qualified, therefore physiology no longer applies to my family member” encounter?

Hi all,

I was on a night shift last night. Around 9pm the daughter of one of my relatives kept demanding tea and biscuits from me and also a foot stool for herself. I told her that there is a vending machine outside for tea , she refused this.

I said ‘no’ to these demands as I don’t have time to deal with this.

Are there exceptions you would offer relatives refreshments ? I only offer if the patient is EOL.

Thank you !

My main aim is to be a well rounded nurse where I have a permanent job but can work in most ward areas on bank (I would like to work on bank for the flexibility and experience).

For my statutory job, which ward areas in your opinion give a well rounded baseline capability?

My current job is temporary contract so have been applying to different areas and going to interviews. I have an upcoming one for a stroke ward.

Thank you in advance.

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.

Qualified 3 months working in community MH. Currently doing a preceptorship. Am I able to pick up bank inpatient shifts? With no post-reg inpatient experience and different trust to where I trained?

Considering most paperwork is going digital, with much important information on your intranet, SharePoint, notes etc, surely it’s in your best interest to know the basics of a computer?

We’ve all met that person who uses a single finger to slowly type something on their keyboard. They always end up finishing late because they can’t get a grasp of how to use a computer.

But today… I’m a community nurse and I went to see a patient in a nursing home. I asked the nurse to send a photo of a patients pressure ulcer to me. But she said she didn’t know how to use email? Like come on lol

Hi all,

Recently I’ve been having issues with an other nurse. She is incredibly rude to me. She waves her hands at me out of frustration and expects me to skip my breaks to help her. She also gets very frustrated with me and is very rude.

When I was relieved by the charge nurse for break. She said to me infront of other nurses “ for good shake who is looking after the patients”. She also exasperated loudly and left the staff room. This embarrassed me infront of other nurses.

I brought this behaviour up to my charge nurse. She spoke to her and then she found it appropriate to apologise to me in front of a patient and their family and used the excuse that she has a lot on.

Should I report this behaviour further ?

I am less than 12 months qualified. In my role, I have had shifts where I am required to stay later due to workload, lack of staff, sick patients etc.

This accounts for probably less than 20% of my shifts (I'm only counting staying later than 10 minutes beyond shift end).

I started this job with the mindset of 24 hour care and a determination not to work for free, knowing that the job is already demanding enough. Thankfully, in my area, those few occasions are supported by other staff and our manager and we are normally reimbursed/hours are changed to log the extra time spent on the ward.

I've noticed that there are other members of my cohort in the hospital that seem to stay late regularly and far beyond the time I would stay even during those busy shifts. Recently I went to a nearby ward on a night shift and saw a member of my cohort at almost 10pm. Naturally, I assumed they were on night shift, but saw them leave shortly after. I'm aware this colleague has been leaving late regularly.

I haven't asked if they are being reimbursed, but given that none of the other day staff are remaining, it would seem they are finishing day staff tasks and therefore unlikely to be having the hours logged.

Fellow NQNs - are you staying late regularly?? Does your manager recognise those hours? How does this affect you?

And veteran nurses - do you see this often? Is it a result of our current staffing issues, or has this always happened with newly qualified nurses?

TLDR; Are NQNs being kept late where other staff would pass on tasks? Is this a systemic or individual issue? Does it happen often to our experienced nurses and is your time recognised?

I always say "knowledge is power". We all have mandatory trainings I feel it would be a bit more useful to have some face to face ones. I know, I know, it's extremely challenging to attend but it would be beneficial for us and the patients:

-) IT. I can't anymore with people who have been working in the Trust for over a decade asking "how do we print the labels?" Or "where do I record the fluid balance?"... but has anyone ever taught us? Once I qualified there was a brief simulation of the electronic system but it touched the basis only, the everyday practise is a bit more complex and I can't rely on the kidness of my colleagues

-) Payroll. A couple of years ago there was a mistake with payroll and everybody got a different pay, that's when I realised how many people have been working in the NHS without being able to read their payslips. As an immigrant I had to learn by myself what a tax code is, how deductions work and how the payslip is written and explained to all my colleagues who were like "ooooh". Well, it shouldn't have a been a IEN to teach people this stuff, as adults we all are responsible of our income but how are we supposed to do so without appropriate education?

-) policies and procedures. We have to escort a patient to the radiology department, we have to take a patient to theatre, we have to do this or that... but why? Well, because I said so. I think if we provided staff with proper explanations and rationales of why we do this or that in this or that way they would be more understanding and potentially suggest some improvements. Surely behind every rule there is a story, it would be useful for people to know so that we can prevent mistakes and incidents in the future. Rules put there without any apparent reason will look like more and more bureaucracy that nobody actually likes

As the title says I suppose,
Does anyone?
People are lumbered all over the staff room, wherever they can lie down, does anyone go to their cars?
Our car park from our unit is closer than the canteen, so getting back and too isn’t a long walk.

Hi,

I'm a totally disillusioned with NHS life RMN. Qualified 18 years - 10 years low secure, 2 years PICU, 6 years inpatient CAMHS manager. It was always my plan to swan off somewhere hot, it never happened but I'm now seriously considering it. I'm single with no kids (but a mortgage), at 43 its now or never.

Does anyone know of any subreddits, facebook groups etc I could join? I thought RCN might have one but it seems not. I don't have the first idea where to even start and have so many questions, I'd really like to speak to people that have actually done it! Signposting to useful sites and any advice/tips/words of warning gratefully appreciated 😊

Thank you!

Years ago, I was working a night shift on AMU and I only had four patients. Absolute luxury.
I went into my bay and Patient 4 had his daughter visiting. She was the next of kin alongside her mum. I introduced myself, had a bit of small talk, and since the day staff had already updated her, there wasn’t much else to discuss. About 15 minutes later she left.
A few minutes after that, the phone in the bay rang (each bay had its own phone). It was another daughter asking how her dad had been during the day. I asked whether she was the next of kin, already knowing she wasn’t.
She said no.
I explained politely that the next of kin had already been updated and that, due to confidentiality, I couldn’t give out any information. I suggested she speak with them instead.
She immediately became annoyed and told me that the nurse the previous night had told her everything she wanted to know.
I replied, “I can’t speak for what the previous nurse did or didn’t do, but my hands are tied.”
That’s when she hit me with, “Well, my mum is a manager on another ward in this hospital and I’ll be reporting you to her.”
Without missing a beat I said, “In that case, what’s your mum’s name so I can report her for using her position to intimidate staff?”
Silence.
She hung up.
Naturally, I documented the whole interaction.
Not long afterwards she turned up on the ward looking furious, huffing and puffing, refusing to speak to me directly but radiating attitude from across the bay. I just carried on with my shift.
Funny enough, the complaint never materialised.
Confidentiality is confidentiality, regardless of what or who you are.

Broke down in tears at work today following miscommunication- wasn’t told something so cos I didn’t do it I was made to feel like the whole outcome was my fault in regards to a patient being aggressive
I’m beyond burnt out.
I don’t usually cry or breakdown but that broke me.

So angry at myself for crying cos now I look like a weakling. I’m already the youngest nurse in the place don’t need this added to it!!

Just asking for a frend

For context I have been a nurse for 5 years and honestly so burnt out currently a band 6 inner London weighting. I’m thinking of leaving bedside for sure within the next 6 months but was also thinking about leaving nursing as a profession all together. Been looking online and there’s a lot of info it’s all a bit confusing. Anyone that left nursing or at least bedside, what do you do now? , how was the adjustment going into a non-clinical role? And how was the pay difference?