Recognition of a Business Mind Part 2

Recognition of a Business Mind Part 2

How did you recognise the symptoms of burnout in your earlier career?
If I can say, and it may come out off hand for a caring profession of nurses as a whole, it can be as a whole very uncaring towards its own. I’m not sure whether the NHS, private or whoever really noticed the symptoms of burnout at that time as real, it was the pressure and the intensity of targets, figures and money, it wasn’t about the health of the staff. I once said my ideal job would be being a staff advocate, to support colleagues who are suffering because suffering is real and we all want to be this super Nurse and carry on forever, and especially in emergency medicine, burnout is massively real until you get to the day you walk in and say “I can’t do this anymore!”. That’s what I did. I walked in and had an horrendous shift with over a hundred patients in the department and thought I’m not able to give any quality nursing care and I’m trying to meet targets and this is not what I signed up for. I wrote my resignation there and then and pushed it under my Matrons door and felt she didn’t care.
I do think every ward should have a staff advocate, not your Matron or someone from HR but someone else you can tell you can’t cope anymore. This burnout is real and can get to the point where you can end up on medication, you feel stressed, you don’t sleep. This advocate role would solely be there for the staff instead of get on with it, get on with it, and you get home and you can’t talk or sleep. I think emergency medicine could be a bit more heightened but some sort of staff advocate full time or part time that you can sound off to and say the things you want to say like I can’t cope any more or I hate this, I’m not eating I’m very stressed I’m on edge all of these things are signs.

How have you managed to turn this around in your business?
When I put in my resignation I basically walked away and l lost my pension in a way and told myself I may not earn what I did then, which is fine, but, I have that freedom to say I don’t have to work today, I will allocate my time, but still put in my 40 hrs a week, I will do them in a different way. With my staff, I feel I am a good boss, I understand that kids have nativity plays and I’ve only got one day to go shopping at Christmas when my hubby is off work, I understand that I’m unwell today or the kids are unwell. I absolutely get that if that fits around the business, that’s fine. I’d say I’m ultra-sensitive to my staff, whether that’s a good thing or bad thing my staff appreciate it, they can come and tell me anything. My staff are worth their weight in gold, and they give it back to me four fold. They know I get it, I’ve been a single parent and If I can meet their needs, I will. I think flexibility is good and might not fit the needs of an emergency department but could possibly.

Could you go back to your A&E specialism?
I can honestly say I loved my work, the change of patients the change in specialities it was exciting and fulfilling to the point of the intensity that you couldn’t give the care you wanted due to the pressure. I even went back during the pandemic as I felt a sense of duty. Just walking back through the doors, it felt like a comfy pair of shoes that warmth, and this is what I was born for, but within months I started to feel the same way again and could feel the pressure again and I felt like nobody cared.
I am one of the strongest people I know, I’ve been a single parent, a teenage mum, lost my Dad early, and a friend to suicide but I can honestly say A&E broke me physically. I think it’s time to look at why we are losing nurses it’s not only about pay its about caring for nurses. Richard Branson said “if you look after your staff, they will look after your business”.