Nurse tired of bureaucracy and paperwork joins agency after quitting full-time job

A nurse, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told us why she has quit her full-time hospital job and joined an agency list instead.

“I have been a nurse for more than 15 years and am fiercely proud of the NHS and all it represents.

“But I was tired of the bureaucracy, politics and paperwork which was taking up so much of my time, at the expense of patient care.

“I finally threw in the towel to start my own business but I have stayed on the bank and do agency shifts to top up my income as I get established,” she said.

“Whenever I go back to the hospital, I can see the frustrations which drove me from a job I love have only deepened among my colleagues.

“Morale is low and it is hard to blame those who are casting around for work elsewhere.

“But patients should be glad some of them are returning for agency shifts — they remain dedicated to caring for those in need, which is why they entered the profession in the first place.

“Now I can go in, do the job I trained for and get away again without having to deal with stressful side-issues.

“It’s better that than being lost to the NHS altogether.”

Now I can go in, do the job I trained for and get away again

Picture: Peter Byrne. Stressful side-issues drove one staff member from her NHS career.