The NHS is killing me...

minimeeze

minimeeze

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Cheryl
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I'm feeling all sorry for myself today :( as I've been sent home from work. I feel as rough as I don't know what, but it's all because of work (if that makes any sense).

I'm not the best sleeper in the world and only managed 3 hours sleep on Thurs night. Went to work on Friday and worked my usual 8.30am - 4.30pm day, then got a phonecall from work at 7.30pm that evening saying that the labour ward was really short staffed and that I had to go in and help them (as I was on call). I then ended up going back to work and working from 9pm - 3.30am. Couldn't sleep when I got back home (by which time I'd been awake for over 25 hours), so took a Nytol, but that just left me feeling really hungover and groggy all day Saturday. Got Saturday off but felt ill all day and didn't sleep too well Saturday night either. Went into work this morning feeling a frazzled wreck - tired, emotional, faint, sick etc (and also in lots of pain, but that's another story). Anyway, my colleagues felt sorry for me and sent me home. I've been in bed from 10am until now drifting in and out of sleep, but still don't feel well.

I feel like I'm under so much stress at the minute - there aren't enough hours in the day to get done everything I need to do. Work is busy and I come home feeling tired every day; the house is turning into a tip as I don't have the energy to do any housework; I'm trying to get all my research and photography done for my course which has to be completed by mid March, and I only get every other Sat/Sun off work plus every Thursday, so I don't get any decent days off together; and I'm worrying about my op which I'm having on the 12th (but at least I get a week off work :lol:).

I desperately want to get another job, away from the NHS as I've seen it go down the pan over the 10 years I've worked for it (and it's been exactly the same in all 3 hospitals I've worked). I have a huge problem though in that this is all I've ever done since I left school/ Uni. I'd love to go back to Uni full time, but financially we cannot survive. I need another job with similar pay, but I don't have the qualifications and/or experience needed :help:

Sorry to go on, but as they say, a trouble shared is a trouble halved :nuts:
 
Aye a trouble shared and all that.

I'm in the same situation if it makes you feel any better :(

Hey, how about a job swop?
you fiddle with dirty things and bits of wire....and i'll stare at wimmins bits :D

I can't suggest anything to help you sleep....unless a conversation with Matty about the inner workings of the gallery do it for you. :D
 
Ah.....but you could play with really dirty bits and more wires than you could poke a stick at :D

and the best bit is.......my dirty bits don't scream at you :D
 
:lol:@ DF! I want to know what those knitting sticks are that you're on about aswell??

Cheryl, I really do feel for you, the NHS is an unforgiving place most of the time, you are totally at their beck and call aswell it would seem?? How about looking for a private Midwifery Clinic and seeing if they have any work going....is that against your principles though? I hate it when life bogs you down and you can't see the wood for the trees. I found some really excellent tablets that work well in the sleep department, boots tension headache relief tablets. I only need to take half a tablet about 8 or 9 pm and then I am really ready for sleep about 10ish. Might help :shrug: Concentrate on your photography...bloody housework!! It's only you two in that house so it really can't be THAT bad can it? I'm gret at tidying when visitors are iminent...you know those black refuse sacks.....?I gather the mess up and take it to the spare room :lol:
 
My missus takes dissolvable co-codamol and within ten minutes she's fast on maybe try that also make your sicky feeling not so bad.
Hang on a minute aint you the Nurse, pot and kettle n all that lol.
I know it's bad not enjoying work i work 12 hours a day monday to friday and have hated nearly all my jobs since i left collage, so loads of sypathy.
All i can say is you are tired and emotional and it will improve as will your peace of mind. I just tell myself i go do the job and take the money and no longer work weekends and i manage with that.
Cheer up and if you need a good moan then feel free and get it out your system.

Hope your feeling better soon
 
Sorry to hear that you are down in the dumps Min have a :hug: to start with - The NHS sounds like most government run bodies i.e. dying on their feet & only the dedication of most of the staff prevents the whole thing from going down the pan - Perhaps you could look at your options away from there as it is clearly starting to affect your health? - does your other half know how you are feeling as us blokes are crap at noticing these things :lol:
Hope you are back to your old self soon & ripping into us here on a more regular basis ... Paul ;)
 
Totally agree, woked for the NHS for (on and off) 30 years. Its even worse now than it was 20 years ago. I worked 18 straight nights last month because we had no staff, so where are all these nurses that the government tell us about, we are actually losing staff and they are refusing to replace them. Its crap, thank God I can retire soon. Find another job is all you can do. :bonk: :bonk: :bonk:
 
off topic....Marianne.....I'm cr@p with a camera so knitting looks like a new hobby of choice :D
 
PaulBoy said:
does your other half know how you are feeling as us blokes are crap at noticing these things :lol:
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That is so true Cheryl (or so Kay tells me :nuts: ).
:hug: :hug:

'Nurse Kay' will ring you soon (put yer ear plugs in ! :lol: )

Rich
 
I don't know much about how the whole NHS thing works. But can you try to find a job in the private sector? They usually treat people much better and pay more I would imagine.
 
A few years back my wife felt the same way, and was looking at all kinds of options for getting out of the NHS. One of her colleagues then suggested switching to the community.

I must say she hasn't looked back since, the hours are more regular and she only does 1 weekend a month. She also does bank in the evenings which really bumps the pay up as the unsociable hours pays well.

It might be worth considering, you know the old saying a change is as good as a rest. It also means you get your social life back, and you can plan things with your other half.

Another alternative, that some of her colleagues has done is gone into health visiting, pays good, regular hours. Finally the one bonus for staying with the NHS is that you get to keep the pention going, which should be really good for the future.

Hope this helps and gives you some food for thought. Oh and here's a :hug: from me. :)
 
Sorry to hear you are having such a bad time. I'm on the other side of the story, expecting a baby and trying to get any amount of decent care out of NHS. SO I second that...NHS sucks. wanna be my midwife?
 
lee said:
A few years back my wife felt the same way, and was looking at all kinds of options for getting out of the NHS. One of her colleagues then suggested switching to the community.

I must say she hasn't looked back since, the hours are more regular and she only does 1 weekend a month. She also does bank in the evenings which really bumps the pay up as the unsociable hours pays well.

It might be worth considering, you know the old saying a change is as good as a rest. It also means you get your social life back, and you can plan things with your other half.
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The joke is... I AM a community midwife :lol: I still have to work every other weekend, and be on call for home births, so it still means working all day and night :(
When the 'changing childbirth' guidelines came out years ago, it was recommended that a midwife had a caseload of 60 women - I have near on 200 :eek: Like everywhere else in the NHS (except managers :suspect: ) we are just so short staffed. It's not that there aren't the staff available, there just aren't the funds available to employ them :cuckoo:
 
Oh dear, I really feel for you, having been in that situation myself so many times in the past. :hug: Was particularly bad when my kids were both under 5 and I was working full time as a community midwife.

I am still in the NHS but took a sideways leap, away from hands on care. The hours are better at least (money same). Do you put in a Critical Incident/near miss form everytime you have to work such crazy long hours?

Not easy I know, but your health will suffer if you don't do something, soon.
 
oh b****r, that really is crap, sorry Mini
 
Sympathies and hugs Min ... sounds like a real bummer ... :hug:

It is a real joke innit ... they call it the National Health Service and yet the they make the majority of people working for sick all the time ... bizarre that is ... :suspect:

Seriously though ... people above have made some sensible comments about the private sector Cheryl ... do you not have a private hospital near you that requires your skill set ... pay and conditions are much closer to that of a civilised world ... :shrug:

Get out soon and don't grind yourself down any further ... it is not worth making yourself sick for imo ... ;)






:p
 
I have a solution :D :D

FUKITOL.jpg
 
LOL @ Lofty

Sorry to hear you're having a crap time of it Cheryl. Try to crack the sleep thing first - once you've got a few decent nights under your belt things as a whole will look brighter. The op as well - it's natural to be worried about it but I suspect you're beating yourself up about worrying about it in part at least because of your training. Yes you might be used to being in a hosiptal but it's different when it's you you're there for, not someone else. You're quite entitled to be nervous so bloomin' well LET yourself be nervous eh?! Nothing whatsoever wrong with that!
 
No disrespect to anyone but have you guys considered that the reason establishments like the NHS are ruined is because of the dedicated staff rather than despite them? If people refused overtime a. The hospitals would HAVE to employ more staff and b. people like minimee wouldn't get ill through stress and fatigue.
 
It's not overtime (because I don't get paid overtime for doing it), and if I refused, I wouldn't have a job. Simple as that really.
Because of tight budgets etc, any 'extra' hours I work (and believe me, this is a daily thing!), I have to take back as 'time owing'. The joke is that we are too short staffed / busy to be able to take any time back. They owe me about 2 days in total, and other than managing to take back an hour here and there, that's about it.

Have just discovered I'm gonna need 2 weeks off after my op, then I have 2 weeks annual leave, so at least I get a month off after friday :D
 
Glad to hear youre going to get a big fat month to recuperate, Min.
Just think of all that rubbish tele waiting for you, the dust on the mantlepiece, the knickers under the bed ...he! he!
Yup youll definately feel better for a gentle decluttering, and just being able to slob out, getting back to some of the simple stuff, and being able to just be you.

Like others Iwish I had some pearls of wisdom for you regarding the job situation but unfortunately, I dont.
I know it doesnt help you personally when youre on your knees with exhaustion but without people like you ... where would we be. :hug:

Hope the op goes well and I look forward to all those posts in the coming weeks that start with 'Im bored....' :lol:
 
Sorry to hear your job has become a monster. I am a great fan of midwive's and think they do a great job, they never seem to get the right support from their employers.

When you have your 4 weeks off mini do something different! Shake off all the old ties (even here if it helps) and try something new. Get your head into something you would not normally have time to do and you will be amazed how things become clear.

Good luck with the op.

:thumbs:
 
minimeeze said:
It's not overtime (because I don't get paid overtime for doing it), and if I refused, I wouldn't have a job. Simple as that really.
Because of tight budgets etc, any 'extra' hours I work (and believe me, this is a daily thing!), I have to take back as 'time owing'. The joke is that we are too short staffed / busy to be able to take any time back. They owe me about 2 days in total, and other than managing to take back an hour here and there, that's about it.

Have just discovered I'm gonna need 2 weeks off after my op, then I have 2 weeks annual leave, so at least I get a month off after friday :D
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Well, they can't sack you for not working extra hours.

I suppose the decision you need to make when you go back to work is; Is it worth risking your health to avoid conflict with your bosses. My answer would be no. Life is too short. If they ask you to work on, just say no and cite the fact that you are worried about your health as a reason.
 
What has happened to the NHS since 1979 just stinks. As far as I can tell almost none of the people in this country actually like what has been happening to it, but we aren't offered any real choices about it getting worse year on year when elections come around.
 
BBW said:
Well, they can't sack you for not working extra hours.
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They may be able to if, like me, it's in your contract that "Extra hours, within reason, may be required from time to time" The problem comes when it's down to defining what "Within reason" and "From time to time" mean.....!

BBW's second point about making an issue of the fact that you're worried about the state of your health though - is a good one. Particularly in an environment where you making a mistake because you're too tired to think straight could be critical.
 
Hello,

I know how you feel. I was a Ward Manager in the Learning Disabilities sector of the N.H.S. for 30 years. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 20 years and then new reforms came into being and the job became less enjoyable, instead of caring for patients, my staff and I became embroiled in paperwork. With cutbacks we had more patient with less staff but were expected to give the same level of care.
I got out through ill health when I was 52 and have never regretted it, and although the superannuation scheme is excellent I would never advise any young person to go into the profession. :shake:
 
Min - I really feel foy you after 40+ years of NHS dentistry and the last 4 in the community. My mate was chairman (sorry person) of the local NHS trust and at one time they had 297 PRIORITIES from the government. If only they didn't have to be doing something that makes the news - it ends up as crisis management - they make it and the poor buggers on the front line have to manage. I dispair of the NHS - doesnt pay to look after your teeth as it costs as much (and the dentist gets the same credit) for one filling or twenty! I really feel for you. I was lucky going into the Community and hospital service for the last four years as it was a paid hobby - but I could take on the Chief Exec without a career to worry about - and won! Saved the Dental units thousands and got a hell of a lot of forms not having to be filled in as I asked what justification they had that I could tell the papers that necessitated taking me away from patient care and what use could they prove the information was useful for future patient care! Hope the operation goes well - nurses make the worst patients! We look forward to hearing your progress and seeing all those wonderful photographs you will have time to take.. God bless!
 
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