fed up - is it worth it (student nurse)

firstdirect-fiend

my GF qualified as a nurse 5 years ago and immediately went to work for a nursing agency to do bank work... the pay is better than being employed by the NHS, there is normally a lot of flexibility in hours (esp. if you are looking to start a family), and there is a lot of job variation

Mind you, the only work available is in general RGN and RMN clinical nursing with no other prospects (theatre work, paediatrics, etc.)
Is this an option for you?

DrFluffy

Snow_Angel wrote:

I thought newly qualified med students did rotations first and didn't specialise at first?
I know of a newly qualified physio who was commuting from London to the West country every Monday and Friday with a wife and child in London. He'll have to do that for 18 months until he can get senior posts and move back.

Not amymore. The F1 and F2 system requires you specialise early. This now includes 'fighting' for jobs you want/need as soon as you get out of med school. Where as under the old PrHO system you only needed certain key rotations if you wanted to go on to become say and Obs'n'gobs or a GP, now all specialities require you to have done the 'right' foundation placements (and yes, time to consultant has also been changed to reflect this early specialisation - yet another ill conceived Government inititative...)

DrFluffy

firstdirect-fiend wrote:

my GF qualified as a nurse 5 years ago and immediately went to work for a nursing agency to do bank work... the pay is better than being employed by the NHS, there is normally a lot of flexibility in hours (esp. if you are looking to start a family), and there is a lot of job variation

Mind you, the only work available is in general RGN and RMN clinical nursing with no other prospects (theatre work, paediatrics, etc.)
Is this an option for you?

Could be controversial and say it's people like your GF and their agencies who are screwing NHS nurses over...

taffgirl_2

Hi Emma,
I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time. I think talking to your Uni counselling service might really help - also, do you have friends on your course who could boost your spirits? Why are they still on the course? (their reasons might apply to you too?!) Try and steer clear of group moaning sessions though - they can be quite cathartic but if you are feeling down, they can be counterproductive... (I'm a med student and have friends who keep me committed despite some of the bureaucratic nonsense and debt!)

Remember, once you've qualified, you have a qualification for life that you can use anywhere in the world - and in 2 years time who knows what the government will be doing... Possibly a recruitment drive for new nurses to offset the shortages apparent after these recent redundancies...?? :-)

You sound like you enjoyed the work involved in the placement... That must be a good sign...

Anyway, good luck and hope things start to feel better soonest...

emma_b_4

agency work - i would have done agency work but i seriously doubt if the same opportunities in thsi kind of work will be available when i qualify, i know the trust i was in have really cut down on them as the are expensive.
i was doing bank work to support myself, on neonatal ward but the work has dried up now due to lack of funds...same old !

snow angel..hmm..im wandering myself what is more important in my life now its strange just how much losing my baby has affected me in so many ways, when it first happened i threw myslef back inot things and now im flagging a bit and thinking about things. it was may when i had my miscariage.

my next placement is iwht sure start and if they had any jobs going i would consider it..but then again do i look like a trustworthy employee..left my job to go to uni..leave uni to go back to work? i duno
but its on my mind all day now, not uni.

i dont feel i need counselling i feel like i need to sort my head out and decide, i am just so skint (know we all are!) and its causing so many stresses and arguments already, and it might sound sad but my fiance is more important to me, and maybe i wouldnt have sed that b4 i lost the baby but like i said it has made me re-assess what i want

nobody can predict what the NHS will be like in 2 years i know its impossible, nobody could say if i would even be successful at getting a job if there was one! its all a gamble, but im not used to gambles and im not keen!
i am an independant person and hate having to rely on my OH to fund me and to have to scrimp through.

im having a real whinge today arent i, sorry.

ps, we are also trying for a baby now, although i dont know if we will succeed, but that is taking up quite a lot of my thoughts and changin the way im thinking

emma_b_4

taffgirl, my one friedn on the course has just dropped out! LOL i do have other friends but they are all younger than me and living at home and v diff circumstances.. we dont get together much as they dont live nr me and we are all on pment all the time doing shifts

and most of them are feeling same as me really

i hope your right that there may be a recruitment drive, im also thinking ther closing some of children wards down and recruiting community nurses, which is what i would like to do anyway rather than ward work, so maybe there just adapting the care into childrens homes etc ?