Job Hunting
For most of the intake getting a job was fairly easy. They could use the benefits of nepotism (go back home and work in Daddy’s nursing home) or during their placements they had probably come across a ward that required staff and if they impressed were in with a fair chance of getting a job. I don’t know what happened to other incompetent students without nursing home owning relatives but I decided to look southwards and stick a pin in the Nursing Times.
I knew I wanted to work in acute admissions. Well I didn’t want to but everyone said to start in acute to get the experience. They were right. I would suggest to anyone that does not have an all consuming love for another branch of mental health (or nursing home owning relative) to start out in acute. I searched the Nursing Times for a couple of months before my course ran out. I automatically ruled out London on the advice that they seemed too desperate. I also wanted to go very far away as I felt like a change of scenery. Eventually I found one that looked fairly likely. In a town in the south of England, very very far away.
The Job Advert.(roughly)
Wanted four D grade staff nurses for newly built acute admissions unit. Applicants need to be enthusiastic and blah blah blah. Relocation fee of 2000 pounds. Unit comprises of female adult , male adult and elderly functional wards.
The Job Advert. (translated)
[Note: if you want to know more about job advert translation there is another page on the site with examples. It's not entirely made up. Part experience and part actually helping create a job ad - Mental Nurse.]
We have lost so many staff we are desperate to replace them. Applicants need to be very keen to work ridiculously excessive hours and eager to obey authority. We will give you extra money we need you so much, hopefully you won’t notice the strings attached. All our units are short staffed we don’t know how to retain anybody.
Phoned up. Got sent an application form, filled it out and sent it back. Why does anyone want to know how many high school certificates you have ? They’re useless, especially if you already have a professional qualification. I decided to try for a place in the acute elderly side, feeling this would be more at my pace and simply I was still just a little bit scared of mad people or emotionally distressed is the current term now I think.
I very rapidly got a reply and an offer of an interview. I was very excited. I blew my remaining credit card allowance on purchasing a suit that had been previously owned by a clown, sadly it did not include the squirty flower and the floppy shoes.
I traveled hundreds of miles and arrived hours early and sat around in the hospital canteen chewing my nails. I examined the unit from the outside. It was at the very bottom of a steep hill on the grounds of a large general hospital. It was round with a central courtyard and had two floors. It looked very clean and from the outside I could not hear the sounds of alarms, screaming or other distressing noises. It had two main exits one on the ground floor and one on the first floor which exited further up the hill. This turned out to be quite an insightful design decision as absconders tended to do a runner from the bottom public entrance whilst we could simply saunter out the top entrance and wait for them. They could only run up the hill as most of the rest of the area was fenced off.
I went for my interview with the Furies. They asked fairly standard questions. What did I know about the mental health act etc. What did I feel I could bring to the job? What would I do if I found a bath full of water ? Did I want a tour ? Yes indeedy…
One of the questions they asked is here
Three wards as described. A purpose built ECT unit. An occupational therapy unit. Built in line with the “Bricks and Mortar” report. I wondered why they showed me around the female unit specifically but assumed the elderly ward was too busy or that the clients might have found the sight of me too distressing. The unit was fairly quiet, no alarms, screaming or other distressing noises. It was very pleasant. I left with a spring in my step and whistling a perky tune, feeling quite happy in my clown costume.
Within days I had been offered a job over the phone. I accepted with glee, written confirmation would be in the post very soon they said. Could I start the day after my college course finished ? Yes of course…
My letter arrived I had been offered a D grade post on the female acute admissions ward ! This was a bit of a surprise. I accepted anyway. The extra two grand bonus payment blinded me to the potential disaster I was letting myself in for.
Starting Work
I arrived the day before I started at approx 2230. Only having been told I was to start at 0900 the next day. Starving and exhausted I started my great adventure.
Originally the project 2000 course was apparently meant to include your first 6 months of employment. You would be properly preceptored and then qualify. Obviously someone somewhere decided this would not be cost effective or something. With hindsight I can see why. Turns out roughly four staff on the female ward alone had all started within two weeks of one another, I was the last.
Nothing in my training ever prepared me for actually being given responsibility over staff and clients. Generally as a D grade there is always someone a bit more senior around, but you are still expected to be able make a decision.
Particular problems I can remember :
- *clients taking advantage
It was just like being a student again. Particularly with clients regularly coming up and saying they desperately needed any prn medication ending in a -pam. Particularly anyone diagnosed as suffering from a personality disorder.
- nursing assistances outright ignoring me
Only happened a couple of times. After a few months they started to listen when they realised I knew what I was talking about.
- sheer terror
I was in a building full of mad people, as I saw it. I didn’t really know what I was doing and felt out of my depth for quite a long time.
- never being able to understand ward politics
I still don’t. Since I read the Games People Play though I have got much better. It took a long time to realise that a lot of the stupid bits of documentation we were asked to do were not decided at the local level but rather trickled down from several competing government initiatives. I was very annoyed when I learned that many of the documents we completed were never actually used for any meaningful research.
- sheer terror
I hated having to tell people they were being sectioned.
- being unwilling to take risks
Particularly with depressed people. I often hated letting them off the ward as I always asked myself “but what if they do something….?”. It took a long time to trust my instincts and the risk assessments I completed.
- Documentation
Everything needed to be written down. Often with multiple forms for single incidents. There seems to be more paperwork now than when I started. Much of which is never used for anything useful.
Luckily the unit has an excellent support structure. The other staff (except the new starters) were all very experienced and helpful. The G and F grades did have a six month preceptorship program. Ask about these things at an interview. Is there a system of supervision (clinical and supportive), how often can you expect it, ask about staff turnover.
Good things about the unit included :
- consultants that cared
- excellent support from senior staff
I certainly don’t think I would have lasted at all without this.
- being on the grounds of a general hospital
Very, very handy.
- excellent ward layout
Much of the ward could be unobtrusively observed or listened to from a single central location. We also had a good mix of bays, single rooms and slightly more private single rooms.
- having occupational therapy on site (for the clients)
- having an ECT suite downstairs
Easier for someone having ECT for the first time to have a bit of a tour. Also it had a decent sized recovery room and then a tea and coffee room.
- good team spirit.
Of course if we couldn’t work together well the place probably would have started falling apart.
Doing The Job
Even with a six month preceptorship program three staff were offered E grade positions after three months, something similar was happening on one of the other wards. This not due to brilliance on the part of the staff, though I don’t think that any duffers would have been offered a post, but due to the rapid turnover. This turned out to be the curse of the unit. Rapid promotion, followed by burnout, then leaving followed by hunting for new staff. Everyone offered an E grade post got it. Though on the other ward they were asked to wait for an extra three months before they took up their posts.
After under two years of working I was number two (by a fortnight) in the longest time spent working on the ward stakes. Staff turnover in London is apparently even more rapid. I have heard stories about job interviews were interviewers had essentially agreed to take anybody that came in through the door.
Living Down South
The town was within commuting distance for London, though just outside the London Wieghting Allowance area. No matter what anyone ooop north says I found everyone I knew very friendly and nice. As a general rule though people wouldn’t speak to you socially at the bus stop or wherever. Property prices round this end of the country are ridiculous, as well as rentals. If you are coming from elsewhere be prepared for a shock. While some hospitals may offer you accommodation they will probably prefer you not to stay there for too long.
Loading ...
*hides*
