Nightshifts

I work as a nurse. Being a student wasnt great, but when I first qualified, I began to realise that I was onto a good thing.

For one thing, the pay was ok, not the pits as is commonly moaned about. Secondly, it was actually not that scary to start as a newly qualified nurse.

The longer term benifits of nursing are good too. There is the shift work and holidays that, even 9 months into working, still makes me amused that this is the job I do.

It works like this......

Our shifts are done on a request basis, we are allocated unless we request "Day off". We are only allocated weekends and nights (if we havn't requested them off) and then are free to pencil in our weekday requests. They may not be granted, but generally they are.

Because we have to work Bank holidays, adding the 8 each year to our regular holiday allowance means I can take up to 7 straight weeks of holiday a year....

So much holiday? There is of course an argument that the stress we have warrents good holidays, but I tend to think of it simply as coincidental. I dont get the bank holidays (although I do get paid more for working on them), and instead get time off "in loo" (I know thats spelt wrong).

Interested in taking up nursing (and 90% of my course were 30+ years)???

Now that you see the carrot dangling in front of you, let me tell you how to get it.... A three year relativly easy nursing course (no A levels required) will get you through, and, if you find a job at the end, then good for you! You will join the strange ranks of people who routinly stop people dieing, while also caring for peoples most intimate hygiene needs.... and thats not something I will say anything more about here!

But wait a second - im a male - and im meant to be a caring nurse?!?!?

more thoughts on that coming soon.............