Nurses and their working lives are at the heart of the funding and morale crisis in the NHS, and the political clash over the public sector pay cap and dwindling staff levels.
Sagila Thiruthanikasalan explains to Felix Magazine the reality of her life as a nurse within the NHS.
“I first came into the nursing profession as an emergency team assistant in July 2008 at St Mary’s Accident and Emergency in London. I was so excited by the prospect, I just wanted to look after people. I had been working in the A&E reception before that and after the 7/7 bombings the department wanted all the staff to be utilised in other areas in case major incidents happened.”
“The initial pilot programme was that I would become an emergency team assistant, like a health-care support worker in A&E. It meant I would work on reception then help the doctors and nurses in their duties as well.
“I wanted to help people, I loved it. I had been unwell and been through a lot of life experiences and realised what made me really happy was helping people. So when I started as an emergency team assistant I was just very excited and very happy to be able to help. I don’t know if it was just my way of giving something back but just being able to do small things, like giving them a wash when they couldn’t move themselves.
“It’s a special feeling of satisfaction and I have no words for that kind of satisfaction; it’s just knowing you have done something good for someone.
“So, within the NHS back then I definitely had more time for patients. The workload for nurses now has definitely increased and the number of patients we get in has also increased. And at the same time the number of nurses has fallen. A lot of staff are going off sick from things like sheer exhaustion and we are using an increasing number of agency staff because we haven’t got enough of our own staff. I know they are always looking for extra staff numbers.
“I remember when I started off I knew every patient’s name and exactly what was wrong with them but now considering the numbers of patients and the complexity of their cases it’s incredibly difficult to do. The workloads have increased. The community services and social service departments don’t have enough funding themselves so a lot of cases that should be dealt with in the community are coming into the A&E departments and we try to do our best.
“Sometimes we have to make choices. For instance, if the choice is of giving a little old lady a cup of tea or stopping a patient bleeding out, anyone would want to prioritise the patient who is bleeding out because they could potentially die.
But sometimes all a patient needs is a cup of tea and a chat and we can’t do that anymore, we rarely have time to do that. We want to save lives, we want to care for patients, we want to make sure patients, if they are palliative, they are as pain-free as they can be. You have got to prioritise any situation but you literally run around like a headless chicken.
“I didn’t notice the pay slipping over the years. When some colleagues were talking about it, it was then I noticed I could no longer afford what I could before. It was little luxuries I used to have, like going out every weekend, going to see a movie, spoiling my nieces and nephews every month.
“A couple of years ago my nephews and nieces were guaranteed to spend a whole day with me each month. We would go the zoo, go to the aquarium, do something nice for a whole day. I can’t do that anymore, I just can’t afford to do that. To me, I like to be the aunt that spoils my nieces and nephews and I hate that I can’t.
“I have had to ask for an extension to pay my phone bill and I’m going to have to cancel my contact lens subscription which is only £30 per month for a couple of months just so I can get caught up with my other bills. I have had to move back in with my parents who live in between Ruislip and Pinner, I was renting a 2-bedroom flat in Watford but could not afford it”.
Felix also spoke to Nurse Nadia who who said ‘Staff are leaving‘ and ‘cost over care‘ with Nurse Christine..
by Bob Graham
The post NHS: A Nurse’s Story – I Just Want to Look After People appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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