I moved from Canada to be a nurse in the UK – but now I want to quit

“I don’t think you’re going to like it,” said my manager, turning from her computer. She’d just marked my last day of work in her calendar. I’d finally found the courage to announce I was leaving to move to London.

She wasn’t being mean-spirited or spiteful. She was thinking back on the experience of a friend who had moved to the UK to work as a nurse and how disappointing it had been.

And she couldn’t have been more right. It’s been a year since I touched down in London, and not a single week has gone by where I haven’t daydreamed about finding a new career.

I enjoy nursing and it suits me well. But I can’t help but feel undervalued as a nurse in the UK. The basics are the same: nurses look after sick people. So why does it feel so different this side of the Atlantic? It comes down to responsibility, autonomy and respect.

For starters, in the UK nurses tend to leave most decision-making up to doctors. ECG? Show it to the doctor. Blood results? Let the doctor review them. Can’t find a vein? The doctor will insert the IV cannula. In Canada, nurses look at ECGs to determine whether patients should be treated immediately for heart attack or if it’s fine for them to sit in the waiting room. It’s up to the nurse to get something done if a patient’s electrolytes are out of whack. Putting a needle in a vein? That’s a nursing skill – and they’re the best at it.

Back home I was often told that if a patient’s blood levels were fine, I could go ahead and discharge them from hospital. Here, not many nurses bother looking at blood results. No one expects them to.

In Canada, mentors taught me about how symptoms and anatomy related to diagnoses. I was required to fully assess every patient from head to toe by looking, touching, and listening. In the UK, I most often receive feedback about recording blood pressure on time and making sure patients sign the personal property waiver. Here, a nursing assessment can be done without even touching the patient. Nurses document who patients live with, what mobility device they use, and what their risk for pressure sores is. The nurses I work with here know their stuff . But from what I’ve seen, the NHS is geared towards nurses doing tasks, not applying judgement or critical thinking.

Nurses have an important job; they can make or break a patient’s healthcare experience. To be a nurse requires a university degree and membership in a professional body. Nurses give their all for people who are at their worst. It’s a physically and emotionally draining job on the best of days. Yet most NHS nurses I know do extra shifts on top of their full-time hours to make ends meet.

The nursing salaries here are embarrassingly low. After converting from Canadian dollars, I earn £15,000 less per year here than I did back home. Canada’s healthcare system is publicly-funded just like the NHS, but somehow nurses there are paid well.

In nursing school, one of the first courses I took was about the status and history of the profession, from Nightingale to the present. One day the topic of salary came up. The students knew how well Canadian nurses are compensated, but I recall the energy with which my classmates cheered when our professor exclaimed: “And we’re worth every penny!”

But perhaps the most difficult aspect for me has been public perception of nurses in the UK. Back home when you say you’re a nurse, you say it proudly and people’s eyes light up. “My aunt is a nurse, what type of nurse are you?” they ask with interest. Here In the UK, I find people are less enthusiastic. “A nurse? Oh,” they say, and move on to a different subject.

A Canadian friend landed at Heathrow and handed her visa over to the immigration officer.

“What do you do for work?” he asked.

“I’m a nurse,” she said, beaming. “Why?” he said flatly, as the smile fell from her face.

It was a quick introduction to nursing in the UK.

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I moved from Canada to be a nurse in the UK – but now I want to quit

Rise in prisoners moved to mental health hospitals

More prisoners are being diagnosed with mental health problems requiring hospital treatment, official figures obtained by the Guardian show.

The number of male prisoners being transferred to hospital under the 1983 Mental Health Act grew by more than 20% between 2011 and 2014 in England and Wales, said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in response to a freedom of information request.

Campaigners have called for more people with mental health problems to be treated in hospital rather than sent to prison, and some cautiously welcomed the figures.

However, there was concern that they also show the use of hospital orders – court orders that allow defendants to be sent for medical care instead of receiving a prison sentence – has declined by more than 25% since 2011 for men and remains at a similar level among women.

Levels of suicides and assaults in prisons are at record highs, and incidents of self-harm have increased sharply.

In the period covered by the figures, the greatest increase in transfers to hospital under section 47/49 of the 1983 act was among men aged 21-39. In 2011, 442 people (398 men and 44 women) were transferred, which rose to 522 (483 men and 39 women) in 2014, the latest year for which data is available.

In these cases, people may be returned to prison if their mental health improves.

Meanwhile, the use of hospital orders, under section 37 of the act, fell from 464 in 2011 to 341 in 2014 for men, and went up from 81 to 83 for women.

Number of male inmates transferred from prison between 2011 and 2014

Number of hospital orders between 2011 and 2014

Linda Bryant, director of criminal justice services at Together for Mental Wellbeing, said: “While we welcome figures showing more prisoners being treated in hospitals, it could be that people maybe do not have a significant mental disorder when they go into prisons – but the prison environment might exacerbate those conditions to the extent that they might need to be transferred out.”

Andrew Neilson, the director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said it would be concerning if mental health problems were not being picked up earlier. “If things were working, you would imagine there is potential that hospital orders would go up … [The data] suggests people are not getting picked up in the way that they should be, earlier on in the process,” he said.

The former director of the Prison Reform Trust Juliet Lyon said: “If you’re thinking about someone that’s got mental health needs, it’s hard to imagine a less conducive environment to getting better than a prison. There’s a tension with what’s currently happening in our prisons: the lack of activity, the shortage of staff, the appalling rise of suicide and self-harm, and violence in prisons. “I think the only way really to effect change is to establish the last resort principle that you use prison as a place of absolute last resort in the justice system.”

The father of one man who killed himself in prison said his son had mental health problems and should have been dealt with differently.

Mark Saunders, 48, a bus driver from Basildon, Essex, said the family had been promised several times that 25-year-old Dean was in a “secure, safe” space before he killed himself in a cell at Chelmsford prison in January.

The family believe he should have been detained under the Mental Health Act. “I would have given my life to save him,” he said of his son, who was married and had a child. “And then you have to hand him over and trust them. And you trust them to continue that care. But they didn’t.”

Dean Saunders was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after an incident in which he injured relatives who were trying to prevent him from stabbing himself. Mark Saunders, who was among the injured, had not wanted his son to be sent to prison and felt that he needed help.

Saunders was initially on constant suicide watch in prison after he told a doctor he planned to kill himself.

“He should not have come off constant watch, he should not have been put in Chelmsford in the first place,” said Mark Saunders. “But once he was there, they had a duty of care and they had all of that information at hand.”

The MoJ said: “Every day, our healthcare staff provide support to thousands of prisoners at risk of self-harm or suicide, frequently saving lives through timely intervention.

“But we must improve the way mental health problems are dealt with in the criminal justice system. That is why we are investing £1.3bn to transform the prison estate, while also training staff to respond effectively to prisoners experiencing suicidal, self-harm and mental health issues.”

According to statistics released by the MoJ, there were 34,586 incidents of self-harm in UK prisons last year, an average of one every 15 minutes. There were 105 apparent “self-inflicted” deaths in prisons in the 12 months to June 2016, an all-time high and a 28% increase on the year before.

Andy Bell, the deputy chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, said there were big pressures on people in the prison system, including “those working in it and those imprisoned in it”.

Bell said a national scheme was being rolled out that aimed to treat people before they entered the criminal justice system. In an acknowledgement of the damaging effect that prisons can have on mental health, Liaison and Diversion services are supposed to identify offenders with vulnerabilities at first contact.

In a report released in January, the prisons ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen, found that 70% of the prisoners who killed themselves had one or more identified mental health requirements and noted “too many examples of poor communication and disjointed care”. Estimates by the Prison Reform Trust suggest that the majority have three or more mental health needs.

The former shadow mental health minister Luciana Berger said: “Our mental health services are struggling to cope with the growing demand and professionals are under increasing pressure. The government must translate their rhetoric into reality and make mental health the urgent priority it needs to be.”

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.

Rise in prisoners moved to mental health hospitals

Ireland calls for EU drug agency to be moved from London to Dublin

Ireland is set for a post-Brexit battle with five other EU countries to be the site of the new headquarters of the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The Irish health minister, Simon Harris, has said he will be pressing the case in Brussels for the relocation of the EMA, one of two key EU agencies that will move once Britain leaves the union.

“The minister has asked his officials to prepare for a bid to bring the EMA to Dublin. We will be making the case that Dublin offers significant advantages as a location, not least the advantage of the English language, a strong pharmaceutical and R&D sector presence,” said a spokeswoman for Harris.

Related: Brexit could lead to longer waiting times for new medicines, warn experts

Spain has already staked its claim to either the EMA or the European Banking Authority as part of a land grab in the aftermath of June’s EU referendum. Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Germany have also expressed interest in hosting the EMA.

Harris’s spokeswoman said officials in Dublin had “already begun laying the groundwork” and in September will seek a formal inter-departmental working group to flesh out Ireland’s bid.

The EMA, with a staff of 890, is the largest EU body in Britain and has overseen pan-European drug approvals since 1995 from its headquarters tucked away among global banks in London’s Canary Wharf.

Spain, which joined the EU in 1986, will argue that it is time it was considered for one of the more important EU institutions, and the EMA and European Banking Authority are two of the largest.

The EMA works with individual regulatory authorities from all 31 European Economic Area member countries.

Ireland calls for EU drug agency to be moved from London to Dublin

Oscar Knox, the brave five-12 months-outdated whose battle against cancer moved 1000"s, dies

His family’s fundraising appeal raised the £250,000 needed to spend for immunotherapy remedy in America and his mothers and fathers set up the Twitter account to enable family and pals to obtain updates on his progress. The account quickly acquired thousands of followers.

The political leaders led the tributes following information of Oscar’s death. Mr Robinson said his ideas and prayers have been with his mother and father and sister Isobella.

“Their sense of reduction and devastation is immeasurable,” he explained.

“When I met Oscar I was struck by his infinite vitality and sense of exciting. He had a great capability to conquer the problems he and his loved ones faced together.

“Oscar was an amazing small boy who lived his life to the total and filled those close to him with admiration and hope. He will be deeply missed by absolutely everyone who met and loved him.”

Mr McGuinness stated: “Oscar touched the hearts and minds of everybody and inspired numerous folks by way of his constructive mindset and resilience.

“The day Oscar and his loved ones visited Stormont was one of my most uplifting days in politics and you couldn’t assist but be enthused by his vibrancy and spirit.

“Oscar was a small warrior who faced down sickness and setbacks and showed all of us how precious daily life is.”

Oscar was an enthusiastic Celtic supporter but his campaign was also backed strongly by Glasgow Rangers fans – a measure of the boy’s capacity to unite.

When Celtic played Belfast side Cliftonville in Glasgow final summer time in a Champions League qualifier Oscar was the crew mascot.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell mentioned: “This is totally devastating information and our thoughts and prayers are with Oscar’s mothers and fathers, Stephen and Leona, and his small sister, Izzie, at this desperately sad time.

“We can not even start to recognize the soreness of their loss, but I hope that there will be a modest measure of consolation in realizing that there was real love and affection for Oscar from the Celtic family members during the world.

“Oscar’s courage throughout his sickness was really inspirational, and it was a real pleasure for everyone at the club to meet Oscar when he was our team mascot last July.

“This is a very sad day for the Celtic loved ones but, much more importantly, for the Knox family members, and our thoughts and prayers are with them right now.”

Oscar Knox, the brave five-12 months-outdated whose battle against cancer moved 1000"s, dies

Spanish nurses protest about cancer sufferers moved to maternity ward

Nurses in Spain have raised worries about cancer and other sufferers being moved to a hospital maternity ward. Photograph: Alamy

Nurses are warning of the hazards to mothers and newborns at a hospital in Madrid in which individuals with cancer and respiratory infections are routinely moved to the maternity ward since there are typically empty beds there due to Spain’s falling birth fee.

SATSE, the union that represents nurses in Spain, mentioned the Fuenlabrada hospital has more and more resorted to shuffling patients among wards in an attempt to handle overcrowding. On some days, up to 75% of the sufferers in the maternity wing should be on other wards, the nurses’ union told Spanish every day newspaper 20minutos.

Whilst all of the sufferers have their own rooms, they do share hallways and frequently nursing personnel. Nurses slammed the practice as inadequate, notably in the case of newborns who risk being exposed to infections in the first hrs of their lives.

The nurses stressed that they felt compelled to talk out after quite a few complaints surfaced about the scenario. One patient comprehensive the uncomfortable juxtaposition of sufferers who are nearing the end of the lives and other sufferers in the maternity ward. “You see families suffering due to the fact their family members member is dying and you happen to be hearing the cries of newborns subsequent to you,” she informed 20minutos.

The hospital blamed the practice on shifting demographics. When the hospital was created ten years ago, it was developed to care for a younger, much more fertile population. Today’s ageing residents, coupled with a birth price that is now a single of the lowest in Europe, implies the demands on the hospital have transformed. The Fuenlabrada hospital, recognised as one of the ideal in which to give birth in the country, has observed the number of births in the hospital plunge from just beneath 3,000 6 years in the past to about 2,000 in 2013. “It would be ridiculous not to use the empty beds to aid ease the amount of sufferers waiting to be taken care of,” mentioned a hospital spokesperson, including that all preventative measure and protocols were in area to minimise any hazards.

The nurses’ union is demanding that the hospital end the practice by rising the amount of beds offered in other wards. Provided the hospital’s shrinking price range, administrators stated that was an unlikely solution. As element of the country’s austerity measures, the Spanish government minimize €7 billion from the country’s healthcare program two many years in the past.

The hospital said it had been left with no other selection but to move individuals wherever they could discover an empty bed. “It truly is greater than obtaining patients sitting in emergency for days and days. In a hospital you have to attend to individuals who need to be handled.”

Spanish nurses protest about cancer sufferers moved to maternity ward

Thousands of hospital sufferers currently being moved at evening

Practically 200,000 hospital patients have been moved over evening final yr, with patients currently being shunted close to like “parcels”, figures show.

Each and every hospital in England was asked for the amount of individuals who moved beds or wards amongst 11pm and 6am.In the 58 trusts that gave figures, 195,372 men and women were shown to have been moved at evening final 12 months.

The hospitals reported moving 20,003 individuals a lot more than after, with a lot of reporting that the very same patient had been moved four or 5 instances at evening. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals explained that one patient was moved 24 times final yr.

“The greatest concern is not just the pressure to the patient but the safety aspect as nicely,” Dr Mark Temple, Acute Care Fellow at the Royal University of Doctors, advised the newspaper.

Amongst the hospitals that had been in a position to supply 5 years of data, evening moves have risen by 17 per cent given that 2009, much more than the seven per cent general rise in hospital admissions.

“It’s just dehumanising and requires away each and every bit of dignity,” Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Individuals Association explained. “It’s not extremely dignified and it’s not quite compassionate.

Some trusts raised questions in excess of the accuracy of their personal information, and other folks admitted that they did not hold such information.

Thousands of hospital sufferers currently being moved at evening