I work on Christmas Day, simply because I have to THE SECRET NURSE
THIS is an anonymous contribution from a nurse who was shocked by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s comments about the trolley crisis being related to consultants and nurses taking annual leave during one of the busiest periods for the health service. They debunk Dr Leo Varadkar’s assertions on the floor of Dáil Éireann, which he doubled down on during a visit to Helsinki, Finland this week.
I’ve been a nurse for more than 20 years in different hospitals. I’ve worked on maternity wards, in A&E and on medical wards. It’s never an easy job although I love it, but December is difficult.
It was so distressing to hear Leo Varadkar, he’s a doctor and he’s worked in hospitals. How can he say it’s our fault the hospitals are overcrowded when he’s worked alongside nurses on wards? There are rules about annual leave, it’s not a secret.
Annual leave is restricted for nurses at my hospital over the Christmas, like it is in any hospital. We have between 24 and 27 days’ leave, we’re told we can take a week in the spring, two in summer and a week in autumn.
We cannot take annual leave for the two weeks before Christmas, we cannot take time off in a block over the Christmas and we cannot take leave the first week of January.
We work Christmas Day every second year and if you are off, you are definitely working on Christmas Eve and St Stephen’s Day. I’ve spent 16 years doing that, working at Christmas and my kids at home opening presents with my husband.
He says parents should get the day off, but the young nurses have families too. You have to be fair to everyone.
This year, I’m on the night shift Christmas Day, so 13 hours. The day shift is split just for that day, so the girls do 8am to 3pm or 3pm to the evening handover.
And when I say 13 hours, everyone knows it will be longer. If you’re meant to finish at 9pm, you could be there until 10 doing the handover.
We don’t get paid for that, but you can’t just leave.
Of course, it will be just nurses, junior doctors and porters rattling around the hospital. The clerical staff are off, and even the canteen is closed on Christmas Day. I usually bring in turkey sandwiches for my ward; we have a small kitchen, so you can make tea. That’s our Christmas dinner.
I have children so believe me I have asked for time off. I ask every year for a week or even a few days together – I’d love to go to my kids’ Christmas concerts and be there for them over Christmas. But we can’t do it.
It is true some elective wards are closed but that’s because people do not want to come into hospital for non-urgent procedures over the holidays. If the wards were open, if surgeries were scheduled, the nurses would be there.
There are always some wards closed because there aren’t enough nurses to staff them. It is also the case in many hospitals that surgical day beds would be used for A&E admissions over the holidays.
The A&E is crazy; one third of the admissions are alcoholrelated. The week after Christmas is the worst – you get men in for detox after being on a bender for the week. They can be violent, they’d grab at you and call you ‘hoor’ and all sorts.
We get a lot of women recovering from overdoses, it’s so sad. And some people put elderly parents in for the holidays, I’ve tried to call families and they’re abroad.
I’ve seen a child die after a road accident, still-births.
When politicians and HIQA visit hospitals they don’t see that, it’s made spick and span for them.
When I was a little girl I put plasters on my dolls – all I wanted was to be a nurse. I loved my job, and I still love being with the patients when I have time to talk to them.
I had my letter of resignation written a few months ago.
But I’m stuck, we have children and a house. What would I do? I dream about a nine to five job, with weekends off and seeing my kids.
I wonder do people think we volunteer to work over Christmas, do they think we earn a fortune? It’s normal pay except for the three public holiday days.
I work on Christmas Day because I have to, that’s the system in my hospital – and in any other hospital I’ve worked at.
I don’t know of any large general hospital, or maternity hospital that doesn’t restrict annual leave for nurses and midwives over the Christmas and New Year.
The Taoiseach is a doctor himself. He’s worked Christmases. It’s terrible, you would think he, of all people, would understand.