My advice? Stay away from ‘hell’ of nursing

My friends said to me ‘‘don’t come back, it’s not like it used to be’’. I had left my A&E department back in smalltown New Zealand about 10 years ago to work in bigger hospitals abroad, and I had fond memories of my years working in my hometown.

Sure it was busy and tough and sometimes quite physically rough, but we were happy, and we did get a break now and then to catch our breath, and we all got on and had some good laughs.

But now it’s hell. The beds in the emergency room are full all the time, as are the beds in the wards. This creates a backlog of patients, when grandparents can spend the night in A&E on a gurney in the corridor, struggling to keep warm.

Each time I speak to my old colleagues they seem to have hit a new low, a new breaking point they never knew existed. There is often little joy in the job, and it’s not because they don’t care, it’s often because they can’t give the care they could give if only they had the chance.

It’s also because patients and families are becoming more demanding, and if you dare tell them otherwise, your career could be in trouble.

A classic example I dealt with was a 20-year-old man with a minor ankle sprain who called for an ambulance - he lives one block from the hospital. When I cautiously suggested perhaps an ambulance was unnecessary, he got angry and told me ‘I know my rights’ followed by ‘I pay taxes.’ I had to see the hospital public relationships team after the patient complained.

On top of that, is the ridiculous amount of paperwork, because if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.

I remember spending 20 minutes at the end of the day working on the notes, but now you sometimes spend 20 minutes out of every hour on the computer, which isn’t good for the patients.

We live in an age where nurses

We live in an age where nurses are working on the edge, on the absolute limit of sanity, all the time.

are working on the edge, on the absolute limit of sanity, all the time. But if you get one thing wrong, or simply don’t get to do all that needs to be done because it’s physically not possible, your career can be over, and you could end up in court.

If anyone I know were to ask about becoming a nurse, sadly I’d say ‘stay away.’ There’s a lot more money to be earned as a builder, plumber, electrician, mechanic or painter. But it’s not just about the money, it’s about the physical and mental strain you put on your body, that you take home.

I am still nursing overseas. I run a clinic in a private setting. I also do some temping work in London hospitals, and it’s hell.

The NHS is past breaking point, and this winter has been absolute misery for patients and staff.

Just the other night I saw a 16-year-old who had fallen off his bike the previous day and bumped his head. It was me who, after a thorough neurological assessment, decided he had no serious injury and did not need a doctor, or CT, and was fine to go to sleep.

I did a far more in-depth assessment than was needed, but when you go to bed for the night, you do have the occasional thought pass through your mind, asking ‘what if I’m wrong?’.

You may say ‘it’s just part of the job’ but nursing did not used to be like this.

These days an experienced nurse is often working more like a doctor than a traditional nurse, but we don’t get the same sort of pay, and it’s interesting when a doctor stuffs up, they get some extra education, while a nurse is more likely to get struck off.

Nurses have voted against a pay offer from district health boards, and ‘‘a week of action’’ is on the way.

But whether or not there will be a strike is still undecided.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) industrial services manager Cee Payne made the announcement in Wellington yesterday.

Nurses should ‘‘get ready for a week of national action starting April 9,’’ the NZNO said.

A key next step will be to ballot members on industrial action.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was important to move quickly. ‘‘I’d like to see DHBs put forward a process to unlock the impasse which involves an independent panel being established which will review the barriers and make recommendations to both parties.

‘‘Our health system, the people who use it and the people that work in it deserve our full support to resolve this issue.’’

District Health Boards (DHBs) had offered 27,000 of its members, which also include midwives and healthcare workers, a 2 per cent annual increase in salary, a $1050 lump sum payment, and a commitment to a pay equity settlement no later than July 1, 2019.

NZNO took the offer to its members last week.

Payne said nurses had suffered from ‘‘severe underfunding of the health system’’, and struggled under an increase in health care needs, an aging population and work force, and rising costs in the delivery of health care.

The organisation wants the DHB to agree to a collective agreement that supported its nurses and its professional standard of care, she said.

‘‘We will ensure that we meet our good faith obligation and collective bargaining. The issues that we’re facing today, for our members, have arisen from a decade of severe underfunding of the health system.’’

There were plans for further action on April 9.

‘‘These rallies will be an opportunity for nurses to demonstrate their dissatisfaction into nurses’ pay.

‘‘Increased work loads, increased patient acuity (meaning our patients are sicker when they arrive at the hospital), stress, fatigue and lack of job satisfaction’’ had increased over the last decade. Payne said that had contributed to high staff turn-over and low morale.

‘‘Other issues are impacting on members in the workplace. These include: inadequate levels of staffing, unhealthy shift rostering and under-valuation of nurses’ work.’’

Industrial action was ‘‘likely’’ but also ‘‘the last resort’’ but Payne said she was hopeful the Government and employers would ‘‘step into this dispute’’ to address pay and staffing issues.

‘‘Nurses feel their skills, their knowledge and the work they do is under-valued and not sufficiently recognised by DHBs.

‘‘We will remain open to any meaningful discussions with the DHB employer and the negotiation team.’’

DHB spokesman Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the latest offer was ‘‘right at the limits of affordability’’.

Contingency planning was already underway in case of strike action, but Bloomfield said DHBs still hoped to avoid that. ‘‘Nurses are highly respected and essential members of the health team and we don’t want them thinking they have to take industrial action to be heard.

‘‘Obviously we’re disappointed that our latest offer has been rejected but DHBs will ask for an urgent meeting with the NZNO to find a way forward.’’

Underfunding was an issue, he said. ‘‘Over the last five years we haven’t seen a per capita increase in health funding. ‘‘More funding has gone in to the health sector year on year but we’ve also had quite big population increases and we’ve had more pressure [on the sector] coming in.’’

Asked how DHBs would cover services if there was a strike particularly in the face of a global shortage on midwives, Bloomfield said: ‘‘that’s something we need to work through as part of our contingency planning’’.

But opposition health spokesman Michael Woodhouse said the situation was the current Government’s mess to clean up. ‘‘It comes as no surprise that the New Zealand Nurses Organisation has rejected the DHBs’ offer of a 2 per cent pay increase given the very high expectations created by this Government.