Not a great start to my third year as a registered nurse.

I worked a 10 hour shift today, and I'm on a 7.5 hour early shift tomorrow. Today I finished half an hour late. Here follows a brief account of the bed status throughout my 9am to 7pm shift.

Bed 1: Medical lodger. Late review (dr unavailable despite being bleeped). Discharged. Needed hospital transport. No ward clerk so 20 mins on hold to transport service. New admission an hour later, for theatre tomorrow.

Bed 2: Pre-op patient. Unwell so surgery cancelled. IV antibiotics 3x daily.

Bed 3: Medical lodger discharge to nursing home. To discharge ward at 9am. Morning meds not done so gave them before having handover. Then ICU patient pm, nearly 2 months in dept due to complications. Can barely stand (needs 2 staff), needs hoist to transfer. IV antibiotics. Poor oxygen levels. Low mood. No appetite. Poor swallow. Fluid balance chart. Pressure area care.

Bed 4: Chest lodger. IV antibiotics x2, 3x daily. Continuous IV infusion. Late review (dr did not attend ward) so some meds delayed.

Bed 5: Pre-op patient. Will need bloods etc tomorrow.

Bed 6: Empty at 9am. ICU patient pm. 1st day post major surgery. Heart monitoring, fluid balance, IV line care plans, 1 nurse to transfer, pain management, hourly urine output, 4 hourly observations.

Bed 7: Discharge post op patient. On call dr busy on another ward, take home meds prescribed late. Dispensed by pharmacy, home mid to late afternoon. Own transport. Then pre-op admission for surgery tomorrow. Paperwork, observations and bloods.

Bed 8: Empty am. Pre-op admission for theatre tomorrow. Paperwork, observations, bloods.

Bed 9: Empty am. Pre-op admission for theatre Friday. Paperwork, observations, bloods.

Bed 10: Empty am. Transfer from other side of the ward due to episodes of loose stools. IV antibiotics 3x daily. Poor respiratory status. A readmission following recent surgery-unwell at home. Barrier nursing.

Bed 11: Post op patient. Heart monitoring. Loose stools. Barrier nursing.

2 nurses, no healthcare assistant for the full day shift. The night shift will be one nurse and one healthcare assistant, with the HCA expected to cover the other side of the ward too.

Might not sound a lot to the non-nurses amongst us, but add to that the chasing of doctors to see their patients, the giving out of tablets, the recording of observations, assisting with washes/showers, doctors rounds, the never-ending phone calls, the visiting times, having the time to talk to the patients, pressure area care, writing, form filling, referrals to other agencies, liaising with other specialities, eg. physiotherapists, dieticians, specialist nurses, microbiology. I'm lying here wide awake scared of going into work tomorrow. This is no way to live.