#rcn strike

That was a dangerous narrative perpetuated by the government and media at the height of Covid. It prevents them from being seen as human with human needs. Now it’s being used by the same media and government to justify the horrendous working conditions and pressure they are being put under.

Nurses stay unpaid after every shift to help their patients and colleagues. That’s great! Nurses are heroes ❤️

Nurses working through their breaks to help their patients. That’s great! Nurses are heroes. ❤️

Nurses are dealing with unalive and traumatic situations every day. Nurses are heroes ❤️

Nurses get beaten and abused on shift by patients and relatives but it’s ‘part of the job’. Nurses are heroes ❤️

There is nothing heroic about a person not getting adequate rest between shifts. An exhausted nurse should not be looking after anybody other than themselves. They are human.

There’s nothing heroic about a person not being able to provide themselves with adequate nutrition or hydration. They are human.

There is nothing heroic about not receiving proper support or acknowledgment of the trauma they go through every day. Same with assistants and paramedics. They’re still human.

There is nothing heroic about being black and blue by a patient or stalked by a relative and having to see them the next day. Not being able to do anything about it because it’s seen as ‘part of the role’.

There is a massive difference between ‘knowing what you’re getting into’ as a newly qualified nurse and treating them with disrespect, running them into the ground and expecting them to be ok with not having their basic needs met for the needs of the general public.

The nurses wages do not reflect their working conditions or the trauma they experience and have to heal from. They are human and grieve for their patients too. They don’t reflect that this a vocation requiring a degree. That nurses don’t just ‘make beds’, they insert tubes down peoples throats to breathe for them, take chest drains out, keep people alive with complex concoctions of medications they’ve mixed. And so much more.

The NHS has relied on the generosity of its nurses and assistant staff for too long. That generosity is wearing out. What we are being put through isn’t worth our wages anymore.

At the moment, this is a scenario most NHS nurses worry about whilst going to work every day.

For each extra patient a nurse has outside the safe ratio of care, mortality for those patients raises 7%.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary’s, solution is that nurses should work harder. We’re already doing the work of 4 nurses, 2 assistants, the cleaner and cook. We are already exhausted.

Patients do not deserve to be treated by exhausted nurses.

Trade union members and supporters took part in a major rally in Manchester city centre on 1st Feb, as teachers and university staff joined rail, bus and civil service workers on strike.

Trade union members and supporters took part in a major rally in Manchester city centre on 1st Feb, as teachers and university staff joined rail, bus and civil service workers on strike.

Ministers have the power to stop strikes but have failed to open negotiations on NHS pay. Now, more hospitals in England will see strike action.

These will take place on 18 and 19 January – with further dates to be confirmed in the new year. You can find the full list of employers where strike action is happening on these dates here.  

Two days of strike action were held in England, Northern Ireland and Wales on 15 and 20 December. Thousands of nursing staff took to picket lines to make their voices heard.

Royal College of Nursing General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “The Government had the opportunity to end this dispute before Christmas but instead they have chosen to push nursing staff out into the cold again in January.”

“I do not wish to prolong this dispute, but the Prime Minister has left us with no choice.” Pat, who has been visiting picket lines across the UK, said: “The public support has been heart-warming and I am more convinced than ever that this is the right thing to do for patients and the future of the NHS.”

“The voice of nursing will not be ignored. Staff shortages and low pay make patient care unsafe – the sooner ministers come to the negotiating table, the sooner this can be resolved. I will not dig in, if they don’t dig in.”