[Seti]

I used to work as a qualified nurse, my mother is stil working in a hospital as a qualified nurse. Mum is a rare breed of nurse, she comes from what they call the "old stock". It's not paperwork that is important but the patients welfare. Unfortunately, a lot of the nurses feel undervalued for the important roles they play. For example nurses take responsibility for wound dressing, drugs, other staff and junior doctors in a lot of instances, as well as a whole heap of other roles.

Agency nurses do get paid a lot more than the poor nurse on the Whitley pay scale. Foreign nurses come here on a special one year contract where they are paid for their specialities as well as reciving bonuses to find a new home, funiture etc. Nurses who were trained in the UK get none of this. Student nurses currently receive a bursary of £6,500 a year if they have children. If they do not have children they get £5,832.

The WHitely pay scale applies to all nurses working in a NHS facility. New nurses do not start on £17,000 . For an idea of what nurses earn, bear in mind anything after a G grade is management so they don't see any patients anymore, go to http://www.rcn.org.uk/downloads/pay/Paycard2004-5.pdf

Russ I am sorry to hear that your mother had such a bad experience in hospital. You should complain to the nurse manager. Personally I could never wear shoes that disrupted the ward, either they were too painful or i couldn't run fast enough in them! That is an example of how todays nurses are trained. They spend three years in a course with very little hands on experience. Some nurses can't even perform basic skills when they are newly qualified. Please complain !

As for myself, I no longer nurse. I became disillusioned with a profession that thinks more of paper than it does of the patient. Also I now have MS so I receive a lot of care. Any nurse that breaks fundemental rules of hygeine or basic communication skills tend to get the rough edge of my tongue. As for lifting they have these marvellous things called hoists now Btw want another big topic. Care agancies that emply unqualified staff no longer take people out in wheelchairs because of health and safety issues. More bureacracy.

Sian