Any nurses here? Thinking of retraining as a general nurse.

super fancy breakfast

Hello all.

I've been working for the ambulance service for 7 years now.

It's a job I really love in terms of the clinical aspect of it and dealing with patients, it's an interesting role and I like working in healthcare. Prior to working with NAS I was a healthcare assistant.

While I love the job, there is so much about it that destroys me day to day. I'm not talking about the things I see and have to deal with.

I'm talking about the workplace politics, the red tape, and poor working environment.
Most people in the service are very burnt out, the morale is so low and everyone is miserable. It's full of bully middle management, and upper management do not care. My co-workers are less than enthusiastic and most want to jump ship.

Some of the things that does be going on in NAS is worthy of prime time investigations that would trump a lot of the Gardai scandals of recent years.

There's very little opportunity for promotion, clinical upskilling and the pay isn't great imo. It's a really poorly run service and we're rode sideways by the dispatch centre, have feck all resources and I'm starting to feel like I'll be stuck here forever.

I enjoyed working on the wards and in the acute hospital setting. It was much nicer more positive environment.

In my eyes, the pros of nursing.

Set shifts and get your hours more than 1 week in advance.
Not lobbed from station to station half way across the country.
Not being on transfer lists for half a decade before getting close to home.
Get your lunch breaks, and be able to sit down to eat your food.
Finish on time most days.
Nice management and support system. I could always go talk to the ADON about issues when I worked in the hospital.
You can specialise in many different area's.
Pay could potentially be better than 40,000 (what I'm earning currently) if you get into the right area.
Can emigrate to anywhere for work.
A union that cares about them

Cons: 4 years of university fee's and pay cut. Could easily be 20,000+ in terms of uni expenses
Lose my increments.
Have to spend another few years building experience and landing the right role.
Possibly less exciting.

Are there any nurses here that could offer some insights?
Whats the pay like if I end up working in an ICU or specialised unit?
How hard is it to get these roles?
I don't want to be working on geriatric wards or in nursing homes all my life either, I know that will be part of it but I'd like to do something more hands on than that.

hombres

super fancy breakfast wrote: »

Hello all.

I've been working for the ambulance service for 7 years now.

It's a job I really love in terms of the clinical aspect of it and dealing with patients, it's an interesting role and I like working in healthcare. Prior to working with NAS I was a healthcare assistant.

While I love the job, there is so much about it that destroys me day to day. I'm not talking about the things I see and have to deal with.

I'm talking about the workplace politics, the red tape, and poor working environment.
Most people in the service are very burnt out, the morale is so low and everyone is miserable. It's full of bully middle management, and upper management do not care. My co-workers are less than enthusiastic and most want to jump ship.

Some of the things that does be going on in NAS is worthy of prime time investigations that would trump a lot of the Gardai scandals of recent years.

There's very little opportunity for promotion, clinical upskilling and the pay isn't great imo. It's a really poorly run service and we're rode sideways by the dispatch centre, have feck all resources and I'm starting to feel like I'll be stuck here forever.

I enjoyed working on the wards and in the acute hospital setting. It was much nicer more positive environment.

In my eyes, the pros of nursing.

Set shifts and get your hours more than 1 week in advance.
Not lobbed from station to station half way across the country.
Not being on transfer lists for half a decade before getting close to home.
Get your lunch breaks, and be able to sit down to eat your food.
Finish on time most days.
Nice management and support system. I could always go talk to the ADON about issues when I worked in the hospital.
You can specialise in many different area's.
Pay could potentially be better than 40,000 (what I'm earning currently) if you get into the right area.
Can emigrate to anywhere for work.
A union that cares about them

Cons: 4 years of university fee's and pay cut. Could easily be 20,000+ in terms of uni expenses
Lose my increments.
Have to spend another few years building experience and landing the right role.
Possibly less exciting.

Are there any nurses here that could offer some insights?
Whats the pay like if I end up working in an ICU or specialised unit?
How hard is it to get these roles?
I don't want to be working on geriatric wards or in nursing homes all my life either, I know that will be part of it but I'd like to do something more hands on than that.

Hi just came across this. Nursing is hard but enjoyable. Same middle management bullying happens. Salary is good when you include shift allowance and Sunday pay plus nights. I doubt you would need to complete 4 years. You might be eligible to skip modules due to EMT qualification.