So, workwise I work for the NHS in a medium size hospital as part of the UGI and Bariatric team. We have 5 consultants, 3 registrars, 2 SHO’s, 3 F1’s, 2 bariatric specialist nurses and 1 Clinical Nurse Specialist (aka me). 4 admin are also part of the team.

Usually we have 3 theatre days (Monday, Tuesday and every other Friday) with clinics and endoscopy sessions running alongside it throughout the week.

My working hours are usually 8am – 6pm however occasionally (twice a week) I start at 8.18am and finish around 4 – 4.30pm to drop off/collect our son from school. This means I do a 7am – 7pm shift to make up for the hours.

Ward round starts at the usual time at 8am and we make our way around the hospital wherever our patients are. They should usually be in the surgical building however due to bed pressures all year round they are all over the hospital at times.

Mondays and Tuesdays are a bit more hectic as our registrars – who are doing the bulk of the ward rounds – need to be in theatres (for Americans that means OR) by around 9am for the briefing. Then they come back to finish the rest of the ward round to then head back to theatres to start operating around 9.30am – 10am.

As I have never worked in theatres I find it weird to start that late and apparently varies problem solving initiatives have been trial and failed to speed up the start of the theatre times. Main theatres that is. Day surgery seems to run better in that respect. I think the answer to the main theatre issue is right in front of us. 🙂

Post ward round usually coffee, going through the lists of patients and divide the ward jobs which have accumulated during the ward round. This usually means that the F1 and me are doing the jobs. If we encounter any problems we deal with it and/or seek senior advice.

In addition to this I have to deal with “little side missions” coming though on my phone from various consultants asking me to do various tasks. This can vary in complexity and time consumption. It can be as easy as just printing some blood labels (and send them to the patient with a covering letter) to requesting and arranging scan and follow up. Taking part in studies – i.e. help recruiting patients or consenting them for varies trials – there is always something.

Our admin team seemed to have either my number or my pager on speed dial as I get called when there is a patient on the phone. To be fair – anything medical/nursing related questions they won’t really know.

Being the only nurse prescriber in our team also means that my bariatric colleague heavily rely on me prescribing all the medication for their patient group. The fact that is would be in their best interest to start the NMP course (non-medical prescribing) themselves is only slowly sinking in. I guess if not then it’s just like being a dinosaur and you are being left behind.

Towards the end of the day catching up with the seniors and executing plans for patients is the main aim. Discharging patients is a huge part of the job – especially when the bed manager is on to you every 5 mins to Joe Bloggs out asap.

Then home – hopefully on time – and reset again for tomorrow.