Freda 💙

When treating patients, we need to look beyond "bad" lifestyle choices, which often mask deeper issues. We must do better in acknowledging and addressing the underlying causes. (Source: van der Kolk, B. (2014). 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒)

Eek. Time to search for my blue badge holder and update my bio! #NoLongerAnNQN

x.com/i/status/19145… Another must!

Another useful product! This beats any pen torch. It's hands-free lighting means I can care for patients without disturbing others. It sits comfortably around your neck with simple settings to use. I think I should start joining forces with Amazon 😜amzn.eu/d/0hZh3JKv

This product allows me to sleep during the day when I work nights. Alongside the blackout, I use the speakers to drown out background sound. A great gift for anyone who works nights or is an inpatient and struggles to sleep in a hospital setting. amzn.eu/d/0bxtLR96

My final preceptorship meeting is in two weeks and then my preceptorship is complete. I feel ready in terms of progression and practice, but I’m nervous about letting go of the safety net of being an NQN.

One of the hardest parts of nursing is not having time to chat and having to cut conversations short. Some patients are so lonely and crave connection. I miss my student days when I could give them that. Now I’m often rushing, juggling priorities, and I hate letting them down.

After a couple weeks of nights including last night (!!), I'm back on days tomorrow. Here's me hoping I can get up and manage through the day. The transition from night to day is always brutal.

Working a New Year’s Eve shift has its own kind of uniqueness. I told a patient just before midnight that I’d pop back later to check on them, and they replied, “You’re going to take a year to do that then?” 😀 Happy 2026 to all. May this year bring joy and plenty of humour.

Today my heart is with the Australian Jewish community. I will hold space for the grief, and still try not to let it overshadow my annual leave and family time, or dim the light of Chanukah for my children. 🇦🇺🕯️🕎 (3/3)

During my break, I learned that one of the victims was someone I knew from my childhood. I also have friends and family who were at the scene. Geographically we may be far apart, but the degrees of separation in the Jewish community are small. (2/3)

Usually I would share a more joyous Chanukah post like the one quoted, but I don’t feel there right now. Yesterday, whilst at work, I heard the devastating news from Australia shared by a patient. (1/3)

@VertueKarin On a more basic level, I’m struggling with how no one questioned what his nutrition plan should have been. Even if the NBM status was applied in error, which needs its own investigation, any patient who is NBM must have an alternative source of nutrition in place.

I don’t understand how not one person questioned the NBM. From the housekeeping HCAs Nurses Drs physio LD nurse (if they had one) there must have been hundreds of opportunities where the question could have been asked. itv.com/news/2025-10-0…

@VertueKarin @alisonleary1 Absolutely. It’s important that we recognise how much our patient population has changed, as well as the current pressures on nursing. I struggle when the issues we face are viewed through a historic lens, as it disregards the realities we are dealing with now.

@RN_Freda @alisonleary1 You are right. The other question I keep asking myself is about families and communities. Have we lost this aspect in a patients support network. The amount of elderly frail people living alone as families disperse leaving the state to care for loved ones. Is this part of it?

Safe staffing levels means not relying on a skeleton rota. We need enough staff on the ground to cover sickness & other unexpected absences. The current flu season means the NHS is already stretched, & the staff left on shift are pushed beyond capacity, impacting patient safety.

@alisonleary1 Sadly it’s not even that we don’t have staff available. We are overworking the ones we do have, which leads to burnout, long-term sickness, and people leaving the NHS altogether, and we’re not putting out posts for the many willing unemployed NQNs or international nurses.

@NHSPbank Update, after many months, I am finally now on the bank as an RN! Surely I can't have been their only member who upgraded from unqualified to qualified? There were bureaucractic barriers every step of the way.

Trying to upgrade my @NHSPbank account to B5 RN has been a bureaucratic nightmare. For weeks I’ve emailed, escalated, called, but IT issues block me. I’ve worked hard to qualify, my ward is ready to book me, yet I face a brick wall. Do they not understand that careers progress?

Any tips on getting rid of this marker stain on my uniform pocket? 😞

I love nursing and the work I do every day. But it’s hard being part of a system that keeps squeezing more and more out of already stretched nurses and support staff. It isn’t fair on patients or on us, and when good people leave, everyone loses. #SafeStaffing saves lives.

Gutted to be on a night shift during the #CelebrityTraitors final. Absolutely loving this season and just hoping to avoid spoilers until I can catch up on Friday morning!