Thread by @catemimi1772

Dan is my friend. He is an overseas nurse in the UK from Kenya. He works in one of the Trusts where a strike is due next year by the @theRCN should the negotiations with @RishiSunak and his government hit another snag. I have just been on the phone with him and Dan is resigning

For context, this is a nurse the NHS has invested a few thousand pounds to train in various surgical specialties. But Dan has had enough. He has had another maddening shift today. He had 12 patients in the surgical assessment unit

His shift started at 7.30am. One patient had Necrotizing fascitis. Another had acute bowel obstruction. There was a ruptured appendix among other various surgical emergencies. He was supposed to care for 12 patients with only one nursing support worker who went home at midday

Dan was left alone to figure it out. He had a 30minutes break at 3pm. And even then, his manager came to get him from the staff room for him to go assist moving a patient who needed some transfer. He never had a bathroom break. Never had a drink of water

" I can't do this anymore. I am tired of offering substandard care.... They keep telling us to create beds for new admissions...None of these patients are stable for discharge... They make them sit on chairs to free up beds! I hate this," this is what he has said per verbatim

I have done my best to listen to Dan. But I know he will quit. Just like many others who have collectively had enough. I think journalists in the UK need to do undercover shifts in our wards. Or just be undercover patients. Please witness firsthand what nurses are dealing with

Dan is a great nurse. And it is a shame that NHS will lose him. He is not unique. He is just joining thousands of nurses who are quitting the NHS en masse. The staffing levels are UNSAFE.

We cannot schedule safe rotas though because we do not have enough nurses to begin with. We do not attract nurses to the profession because we pay so little. We undervalue and underpay nursing.

Britain....you just have to do better by nurses otherwise one day the picket lines will be silent. And so will be the voice of the nurse. Because there will be no nurse left to run the show. No nurse to blame for systemic failures.

To my friend Dan, I hope you find it in yourself to stay. But should you not, I am happy to wish you well in your next assignment. You are a wonderful nurse. And I am just one call away
#supportnurses
#NursesStrike
#NHS