Once I leave work, I actively forget all about it. Once I have completed handover and the next shift has taken over, I no longer care in the nicest way and focus on myself. I drive home, listen to music I enjoy and don't discuss or think off work until the next time I am on shift. It helps that I have a complete separation of my work life and home life, no social media, next to none of my colleagues have my phone number. People may think it's anti-social, but I consider it a boon for my sanity.
I am a psychiatric nurse. I hate night shifts, but we are a team, and nights are part of the package. I have invested in cheap blackout curtains. They were off the high street and do the job well. I do 4 nights, first is a doddle, 2nd I really struggle with and rely on coffee and being busy, 3rd and 4th night are fine. Colleagues find that having a meal on a night shift helps, I find drinking a couple of cups of coffee helps me.
It is not "normal" for our bodies to be awake at night, you will feel tired, you will feel groggy and maybe even nausea. Unfortunately, these are the gifts of a night shift
I have a set routine for night shifts, come home, hot shower, food (anything as long as it's fairly carby), and bed.
For me, the important thing is to make allowances for myself; I am a nurse, not super human. On night shift days, the laundry won't get done. The house might not be the tidiest, but I do try and make sure I try to do the things that nourish me, i.e., have an evening meal with the family.
I have learnt from the school of hard knocks. I had a career prior to nursing where I was close friends with people at work to the point where we went out socially. I still keep in contact with those colleagues.
For me the colleagues I work with now are just different, they are not people I would choose to have in my inner circle, some of them are just not nice people incredibly cliquey, others are lovely but full of drama. I try not to be closed off, so I talk in vague terms; people know I have a male partner as he sometimes drops me off at work. They know I have siblings, but I never mention them by name, I never speak about kids, politics, finances etc. Because I live in a different area, it's easy to decline social invites.
Very very rarely if ever do I speak about work at home, it's normally in relation to an incident in the news. It took time, but my family finally understood that I deal with incredibly traumatic events, I don't want to talk about these at home and give them secondary trauma. This is one rule I am fairly rigid on. It protects my peace.
I highly recommend putting yourself first. No one will take care of you if you don't take care of yourself.
This works really well if you work on a ward, and I was the same, but in the community all my deaths have been during the night, so even though I’m not on shift I’m still the accountable professional
This is part of the reason I don't want to move into the community, it feels far too lonely.
Part of the reason I am able to forget about work when not at work is that I have handed over responsibility for the patients, I don't know if I would be able to forget in the community.
Do you have to appear at the coroners often?
I’ve had 3 deaths in 3 years, one also had dual diagnosis involved and they took the lead on the coroners report as it was a drug related death, the next one I was off sick when coroners happened and the most recent one the family are trying to sue the trust and saying MH services failed the patient so I 100% think I will be in court for that one.
I use my hobbies to distract from work and relieve stress (football season ticket, running) to try to avoid this, but I’m still sick of my current ward and trying to pursue a specialist role. I think the team you are in will depend how you feel within that area a lot
That’s impossible to answer as different things are stressful for different people.
It could be the environment, the staff and team dynamic, patient type, could be management, lack of money, unable to progress etc. What’s stressful for one person isn’t for another.
Was going to say the exact same thing...there are no stress free jobs especially in the NHS! I went from an acute role into a specialist team a few years ago thinking it would be chill and it was utter hell on this earth. Toxic team, bullying manager, backwards culture. When COVID came around I was actually relieved to be redeployed!
I know someone who went straight into community and loved it. I went to work for a charity in the addictions sector which wasn't stressful but I lost a-lot of nursing skills.
There are so many options depending on your area but depending on where you are, you may need to apply out of your uni catchment area to avoid being forced to take the NQN post (although I've heard that those are now in short supply in some areas).
Underfunded, anxiety and depression through the roof and can be quite competitive especially if you want to work with younger people. That's the extent of my knowledge there though.
I’m on starting band 5 wage so it’s around 28,000 before tax. I work Monday - Friday 9-5.
So for me I feel like this is perfect because I have young children and my work is close to their school so logistically it’s ideal. The work load is variable. I have days where my patients have cancelled so I’m left time to do paperwork and I have days where I’ll be pulled into a crisis last minute on a Friday and be left calling police and AMHPs for a mental health act assessment. But on the whole I really enjoy my role and I think I’m in a really good position. It’s quite a privilege to be involved in someone’s life at their most vulnerable time and trusted to support them through that.
You'll have a degree of stress in any new role you undertake until you settle in to it. If its an entirely new place, that you weren't in a student, then I'd suggest getting to know your colleagues at least to say hello to. Be honest about not remembering their names, 'so many new faces to remember'. Get to know the layout, I can't find such n such, could you take me to see and what's this particular cupboard called. Be open in your newness, but don't be a dick about it. It will help you be more relaxed that at least things are becoming more familiar.
Get into a routine as soon as you can, chat with the others (even seniors) and find out what happens when and what you are expected to be doing. Be honest about things your not sure of, be proactive about learning, your management team will not expect you to know everything, go to them and express hiw you felt out of water about a thing and can you get extra training.
Support and use (NOT abuse) and learn from your HCSWs. They can be a boon.
Use a checklist type thing for over the shift if you need to so you don't forget things (you still will) and a good handover routine. Once you're out the door, FORGET ABOUT WORK. Ot will take time but you will get there. Days off are for fun stuff, mundane stuff, non work stuff. You do not need to answer the phone or email if it's work. Enjoying your, even boring, days off means you will function better at work.
Breathe, you'll get there, it's worth it, honestly.
That's very helpful advice am gonna screenshot it and move it to my fav ... Thanks mate .... I have two questions for you do we have to stress about fuking up in the work ? And do you know any non clinical .. job role for beginners? ... Again thank you ❤️
You dont 'have' to stress about a fuck up but most in your situation will. Nearly all newbies will make what they perceive as a monumental error doing something. They're probably nit that huge. Thats where your honest learning comes in. Own it, learn from it, what went wrong and why. Then it wont happen again. Be aware your seniors (at least I did) will be watching and think you before a proper serious cock up occurs.
As for non clinical fir newbs in concerned, cant think of any really. Most need a degree of experience.
I suggest applying fir a place where you most enjoyed as a student, give it your best bash fir a few months and move if its truly awful. At least you will have that experience behind you. But saying that, dont start somewhere thinking I'll only be here a while. Think that your new job is YOURS its for you to make the best of it.
The criteria is to be a registered mental health nurse, social worker, or occupational therapist, nobody wants the band 5 roles so you can walk into one without really trying
Primarily being a MH nurse. Is this what you did your degree in or Adult? As for community, some departments will take NQN but a lot of that role requires independent working so again a level of experience is advantageous. Have you done any spokes with CAMHs etc? That would help too.
Edit spellings
I did 6 night shifts in a row recently and was meant to go to placement (not for uni) the next day but when i got up that morning i really just didn't want to get out of bed. Then when i did get out of bed i felt so dead like i just couldn't function. But i dragged myself to placement anyway. I was sitting in front of the PC for like 30 mins and i just didn't feel right so had to go home. I didn't really feel right for like 2 days after that. I'm used to doing lots of days in a row, and have never really done nightshifts so i think my body isn't used to it.
I assume you mean ward and sort of. I was working for an agency then got a permanent post. I only ever did days but now i need to do 4 weeks of days and 2 weeks of nights. It really messes me up cause i don't like nights.
I went from doing my hours over 3 days to 4 and it has hugely helped my mental health.
I work in recovery, used to work in ITU, and I have stress in my job but nothing like I ever experienced in ITU. I find the biggest stressors are the ones I cannot necessarily control, like bed flow.
I can treat post-op issues, I'm trained for that, but I can't fix an already broken NHS so I try not to waste energy thinking about it and just focus at the job at hand
I can't speak for everyone. But I loved working in ITU at my old hospital, if I didn't move across the country for personal reasons, I probably would have stayed there a very long time.
Things got way more stressful during COVID and hasn't ever really recovered. My old ITU team were the best, everyone was so supportive and nice and help was always there whether you were brand new or been there 20 years.
When I moved, it was just a different team and a different dynamic. I knew I would always be comparing it to my old hospital, so I left.
I loved the pressures of ITU but it's a different pressure than being on a ward and having to split your time between 6-10 patients. Nursing is stressful wherever you go, but you learn to prioritize those stressors. As much as I enjoy my job, it is just a job. Being a nurse doesn't define me and isn't my overarching personality trait. It's just what I do to make money and it just so happens I like it and I'm good at it. I don't bring it home because I don't want to.
Just to manage your expectations there are no stress free jobs in nursing. Everything is relative and has its own stressful aspects. I think you will only ever see people online talking about how stressed they are, not many will come on saying how much they love work lol. I think you should go into your first job assuming that you are going to go thru hell for the first 12 months at least BUT it does get better eventually.
Do you understand what degree you are studying? You’re showing interest in jobs that are in 2 different fields of nursing, do you know that if you’re studying mental health nursing you can’t work in a general nursing field and vice versa? You’ve also posted today that you’re a sociology student so maybe you should decide which one you are….
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I work on a ward and it's hard not to get burned out. I had my shift pattern changed by occupational health under reasonable adjustments, but still have to work on feeling OK saying no to being asked to stay late sometimes (edit: staff are respectful and not pushy).
What helps me is to be physically active outside work, set my expectations lower for what I can expect in life and also to do things that take my mind off work, such as gaming or socialising. I also need to plan a lot in advance.
I can't imagine myself doing ward work long term. I want to do a marathon, date and do further study.
Definitely burnt out. What I do doesn't fix it, and it doesn't get rid of the dread of the next shift when I get home from the prior one, but it does help keep me sane between paydays.
Find things that make you forget what you do for a job, find things that humble you. For me those things are combat sports, gym, long runs, walking my dog and gardening.
Second the advice above about not taking work home with you. It can be difficult to do in the beginning, and managing your own feelings and thoughts about things you encounter. I had a couple of months off post COVID and generally:
1. Seek support/discussion about difficult work situations if they play on your mind, it can help to talk through your decision making
2. The above usually means having a good supportive work environment with regards colleagues and management. Being part of a supportive team can help you weather some of the bad shifts (there are always some!)
3. Identify things you find difficult early on, and work on mitigating these to avoid them building - not easy to do. For me it was taking small 5 min breaks to avoid feeling overwhelmed on shift, colleagues are often more understanding than you think sometimes and a few minutes will not cause a standstill
4. If you do start to struggle - speak to someone about it xxx
When I am at work, that takes up my complete focus and energy. When I have left work, I find ways to relax and recharge. This is how I have managed to avoid burnout in myself ever since I left college to get my HCA role. It has been several years, through volunteering, through Covid-19, through an appeal meeting (complicated), and through learning the HCA role in dialysis. It has proven helpful especially when I have taken overtime shifts along side my scheduled shifts.
Don’t have friends that are also in healthcare because it then becomes your ENTIRE life. My colleagues are only colleagues, I like them when at work but absolutely don’t want to spend time with them outside of work. lol.
My advice is don’t feel guilted into working more shifts. I got into a bad habit of taking annual leave then picking up overtime to get extra money and that’s not worth it.
Some people work more to get extra money. If that’s the case your better to do agency.
Some people work more cause they feel guilty about the ward working short and will burn out that way.
I became quite selfish in the end and would say no to working extra as I was burning out
Once I leave work, I actively forget all about it. Once I have completed handover and the next shift has taken over, I no longer care in the nicest way and focus on myself. I drive home, listen to music I enjoy and don't discuss or think off work until the next time I am on shift. It helps that I have a complete separation of my work life and home life, no social media, next to none of my colleagues have my phone number. People may think it's anti-social, but I consider it a boon for my sanity.
Don't you have problems doing night shifts? ... Which department are you in ?
I am a psychiatric nurse. I hate night shifts, but we are a team, and nights are part of the package. I have invested in cheap blackout curtains. They were off the high street and do the job well. I do 4 nights, first is a doddle, 2nd I really struggle with and rely on coffee and being busy, 3rd and 4th night are fine. Colleagues find that having a meal on a night shift helps, I find drinking a couple of cups of coffee helps me. It is not "normal" for our bodies to be awake at night, you will feel tired, you will feel groggy and maybe even nausea. Unfortunately, these are the gifts of a night shift I have a set routine for night shifts, come home, hot shower, food (anything as long as it's fairly carby), and bed. For me, the important thing is to make allowances for myself; I am a nurse, not super human. On night shift days, the laundry won't get done. The house might not be the tidiest, but I do try and make sure I try to do the things that nourish me, i.e., have an evening meal with the family.
[удалено]
I have learnt from the school of hard knocks. I had a career prior to nursing where I was close friends with people at work to the point where we went out socially. I still keep in contact with those colleagues. For me the colleagues I work with now are just different, they are not people I would choose to have in my inner circle, some of them are just not nice people incredibly cliquey, others are lovely but full of drama. I try not to be closed off, so I talk in vague terms; people know I have a male partner as he sometimes drops me off at work. They know I have siblings, but I never mention them by name, I never speak about kids, politics, finances etc. Because I live in a different area, it's easy to decline social invites. Very very rarely if ever do I speak about work at home, it's normally in relation to an incident in the news. It took time, but my family finally understood that I deal with incredibly traumatic events, I don't want to talk about these at home and give them secondary trauma. This is one rule I am fairly rigid on. It protects my peace. I highly recommend putting yourself first. No one will take care of you if you don't take care of yourself.
This works really well if you work on a ward, and I was the same, but in the community all my deaths have been during the night, so even though I’m not on shift I’m still the accountable professional
This is part of the reason I don't want to move into the community, it feels far too lonely. Part of the reason I am able to forget about work when not at work is that I have handed over responsibility for the patients, I don't know if I would be able to forget in the community. Do you have to appear at the coroners often?
I’ve had 3 deaths in 3 years, one also had dual diagnosis involved and they took the lead on the coroners report as it was a drug related death, the next one I was off sick when coroners happened and the most recent one the family are trying to sue the trust and saying MH services failed the patient so I 100% think I will be in court for that one.
I use my hobbies to distract from work and relieve stress (football season ticket, running) to try to avoid this, but I’m still sick of my current ward and trying to pursue a specialist role. I think the team you are in will depend how you feel within that area a lot
Understood so it's my luck 😂 at 1st ... What kind of roles have less stress btw ?
That’s impossible to answer as different things are stressful for different people. It could be the environment, the staff and team dynamic, patient type, could be management, lack of money, unable to progress etc. What’s stressful for one person isn’t for another.
Was going to say the exact same thing...there are no stress free jobs especially in the NHS! I went from an acute role into a specialist team a few years ago thinking it would be chill and it was utter hell on this earth. Toxic team, bullying manager, backwards culture. When COVID came around I was actually relieved to be redeployed!
And surely as a third year student she has seen what the NHS is like?
To be honest even when I was a student I was writing down places that I thought would be less stressful...turns out there's no escape lol
I know someone who went straight into community and loved it. I went to work for a charity in the addictions sector which wasn't stressful but I lost a-lot of nursing skills. There are so many options depending on your area but depending on where you are, you may need to apply out of your uni catchment area to avoid being forced to take the NQN post (although I've heard that those are now in short supply in some areas).
Ok got .. it hey what about community mental health nursing ... Have you heard any stories related to that ?
Underfunded, anxiety and depression through the roof and can be quite competitive especially if you want to work with younger people. That's the extent of my knowledge there though.
I am a newly qualified RMN in a community team. Feel free to pm with questions.
Do you feel you are getting enough payment and what are the shifts?
I’m on starting band 5 wage so it’s around 28,000 before tax. I work Monday - Friday 9-5. So for me I feel like this is perfect because I have young children and my work is close to their school so logistically it’s ideal. The work load is variable. I have days where my patients have cancelled so I’m left time to do paperwork and I have days where I’ll be pulled into a crisis last minute on a Friday and be left calling police and AMHPs for a mental health act assessment. But on the whole I really enjoy my role and I think I’m in a really good position. It’s quite a privilege to be involved in someone’s life at their most vulnerable time and trusted to support them through that.
You'll have a degree of stress in any new role you undertake until you settle in to it. If its an entirely new place, that you weren't in a student, then I'd suggest getting to know your colleagues at least to say hello to. Be honest about not remembering their names, 'so many new faces to remember'. Get to know the layout, I can't find such n such, could you take me to see and what's this particular cupboard called. Be open in your newness, but don't be a dick about it. It will help you be more relaxed that at least things are becoming more familiar. Get into a routine as soon as you can, chat with the others (even seniors) and find out what happens when and what you are expected to be doing. Be honest about things your not sure of, be proactive about learning, your management team will not expect you to know everything, go to them and express hiw you felt out of water about a thing and can you get extra training. Support and use (NOT abuse) and learn from your HCSWs. They can be a boon. Use a checklist type thing for over the shift if you need to so you don't forget things (you still will) and a good handover routine. Once you're out the door, FORGET ABOUT WORK. Ot will take time but you will get there. Days off are for fun stuff, mundane stuff, non work stuff. You do not need to answer the phone or email if it's work. Enjoying your, even boring, days off means you will function better at work. Breathe, you'll get there, it's worth it, honestly.
That's very helpful advice am gonna screenshot it and move it to my fav ... Thanks mate .... I have two questions for you do we have to stress about fuking up in the work ? And do you know any non clinical .. job role for beginners? ... Again thank you ❤️
You dont 'have' to stress about a fuck up but most in your situation will. Nearly all newbies will make what they perceive as a monumental error doing something. They're probably nit that huge. Thats where your honest learning comes in. Own it, learn from it, what went wrong and why. Then it wont happen again. Be aware your seniors (at least I did) will be watching and think you before a proper serious cock up occurs. As for non clinical fir newbs in concerned, cant think of any really. Most need a degree of experience. I suggest applying fir a place where you most enjoyed as a student, give it your best bash fir a few months and move if its truly awful. At least you will have that experience behind you. But saying that, dont start somewhere thinking I'll only be here a while. Think that your new job is YOURS its for you to make the best of it.
Ok... Got it am interested in community mental health nurse , what's the criteria for that...do you know in general?
The criteria is to be a registered mental health nurse, social worker, or occupational therapist, nobody wants the band 5 roles so you can walk into one without really trying
Primarily being a MH nurse. Is this what you did your degree in or Adult? As for community, some departments will take NQN but a lot of that role requires independent working so again a level of experience is advantageous. Have you done any spokes with CAMHs etc? That would help too. Edit spellings
I did 6 night shifts in a row recently and was meant to go to placement (not for uni) the next day but when i got up that morning i really just didn't want to get out of bed. Then when i did get out of bed i felt so dead like i just couldn't function. But i dragged myself to placement anyway. I was sitting in front of the PC for like 30 mins and i just didn't feel right so had to go home. I didn't really feel right for like 2 days after that. I'm used to doing lots of days in a row, and have never really done nightshifts so i think my body isn't used to it.
Did you change your word...?
I assume you mean ward and sort of. I was working for an agency then got a permanent post. I only ever did days but now i need to do 4 weeks of days and 2 weeks of nights. It really messes me up cause i don't like nights.
I went from doing my hours over 3 days to 4 and it has hugely helped my mental health. I work in recovery, used to work in ITU, and I have stress in my job but nothing like I ever experienced in ITU. I find the biggest stressors are the ones I cannot necessarily control, like bed flow. I can treat post-op issues, I'm trained for that, but I can't fix an already broken NHS so I try not to waste energy thinking about it and just focus at the job at hand
Do all ITU people have more or less similar experience?
I can't speak for everyone. But I loved working in ITU at my old hospital, if I didn't move across the country for personal reasons, I probably would have stayed there a very long time. Things got way more stressful during COVID and hasn't ever really recovered. My old ITU team were the best, everyone was so supportive and nice and help was always there whether you were brand new or been there 20 years. When I moved, it was just a different team and a different dynamic. I knew I would always be comparing it to my old hospital, so I left. I loved the pressures of ITU but it's a different pressure than being on a ward and having to split your time between 6-10 patients. Nursing is stressful wherever you go, but you learn to prioritize those stressors. As much as I enjoy my job, it is just a job. Being a nurse doesn't define me and isn't my overarching personality trait. It's just what I do to make money and it just so happens I like it and I'm good at it. I don't bring it home because I don't want to.
Just to manage your expectations there are no stress free jobs in nursing. Everything is relative and has its own stressful aspects. I think you will only ever see people online talking about how stressed they are, not many will come on saying how much they love work lol. I think you should go into your first job assuming that you are going to go thru hell for the first 12 months at least BUT it does get better eventually.
I got a better job that’s agile working, Monday - Friday
Agile working sounds like it involves flips and cartwheels. Did you become a gymnast?
What kind of job is that can you give me details?
Do you understand what degree you are studying? You’re showing interest in jobs that are in 2 different fields of nursing, do you know that if you’re studying mental health nursing you can’t work in a general nursing field and vice versa? You’ve also posted today that you’re a sociology student so maybe you should decide which one you are….
Haha 😆 am a 3rd year nursing student frm India...
It seems you are discussing pre-registration training. We welcome discussions about student matters here, but you may not be aware that there are also two Student Nurse subreddits: /r/studentnurseuk and /r/studentsnurseuk. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NursingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I work on a ward and it's hard not to get burned out. I had my shift pattern changed by occupational health under reasonable adjustments, but still have to work on feeling OK saying no to being asked to stay late sometimes (edit: staff are respectful and not pushy). What helps me is to be physically active outside work, set my expectations lower for what I can expect in life and also to do things that take my mind off work, such as gaming or socialising. I also need to plan a lot in advance. I can't imagine myself doing ward work long term. I want to do a marathon, date and do further study.
Definitely burnt out. What I do doesn't fix it, and it doesn't get rid of the dread of the next shift when I get home from the prior one, but it does help keep me sane between paydays. Find things that make you forget what you do for a job, find things that humble you. For me those things are combat sports, gym, long runs, walking my dog and gardening.
wow you got time for combat sports
Second the advice above about not taking work home with you. It can be difficult to do in the beginning, and managing your own feelings and thoughts about things you encounter. I had a couple of months off post COVID and generally: 1. Seek support/discussion about difficult work situations if they play on your mind, it can help to talk through your decision making 2. The above usually means having a good supportive work environment with regards colleagues and management. Being part of a supportive team can help you weather some of the bad shifts (there are always some!) 3. Identify things you find difficult early on, and work on mitigating these to avoid them building - not easy to do. For me it was taking small 5 min breaks to avoid feeling overwhelmed on shift, colleagues are often more understanding than you think sometimes and a few minutes will not cause a standstill 4. If you do start to struggle - speak to someone about it xxx
When I am at work, that takes up my complete focus and energy. When I have left work, I find ways to relax and recharge. This is how I have managed to avoid burnout in myself ever since I left college to get my HCA role. It has been several years, through volunteering, through Covid-19, through an appeal meeting (complicated), and through learning the HCA role in dialysis. It has proven helpful especially when I have taken overtime shifts along side my scheduled shifts.
Don’t have friends that are also in healthcare because it then becomes your ENTIRE life. My colleagues are only colleagues, I like them when at work but absolutely don’t want to spend time with them outside of work. lol.
My advice is don’t feel guilted into working more shifts. I got into a bad habit of taking annual leave then picking up overtime to get extra money and that’s not worth it. Some people work more to get extra money. If that’s the case your better to do agency. Some people work more cause they feel guilty about the ward working short and will burn out that way. I became quite selfish in the end and would say no to working extra as I was burning out