A nurse burnt out after just one year working in the NHS has quit and says she now makes more money serving ice cream at a cafe. Mailu Turner first qualified as a mental health nurse in September 2021 and says she was soon left in charge of up to 16 patients - more than double the recommended ratio.
The 22-year-old claims she would regularly feel 'very stressed' and often finish her shift hours late as there were no other nurses to take over, she complained and feared a mistake would lead to her harming patients and putting her career in jeopardy. Just a year after qualifying, Mailu quit her job and moved to Australia, where she now works as an ice cream café assistant making £17 an hour - which she says is almost £4 more than her hourly rate as a nurse.
The server is currently waiting for her unique registration code to be transferred so she can work as a nurse Down Under as she admits she misses her job. However, Mailu claims she feels 'cheated' and 'sad' that after investing so much 'time, effort and money' in training she makes more serving sundaes.
Mailu said: "For eight hours a day, I serve ice cream to customers. It's a lot better here and I get paid more money. The hours are more relaxed and people seem to be generally happier at work.
"I was doing my shifts [as a nurse] feeling very stressed, not getting enough support from staff members or management and finishing my shift with no nurse arriving to take me off duty. I'd start work at 7am and by this time it'd be midnight and there'd be no one to take me off the shift.
"All this time, I was on £13.86 an hour. I quit my job in England and went travelling around South East Asia. I decided that I didn't want to go home even though I love my job as a nurse.
"I started working [in an ice cream café in Melbourne] and when I found out how much I was getting paid an hour, I was mind-blown. It was $30 AUD an hour and when I converted it it was £17, which is more than I would have got paid an hour in England - even on a Sunday or Bank Holiday."
Mailu passed her preceptorship in January 2022, which meant she was able to work alone - but despite allegedly voicing that she'd like more support she was left alone with '15 or 16 patients'. Over the following nine months, Mailu claims she raised her concerns about poor staffing levels but was asked 'where do you want me to pull staff from?'.
She claims that on many occasions she was concerned about the safety of her patients and the shifts were becoming more hectic. Mailu said: "I passed my preceptorship really quickly and what should have happened is I should have always had another nurse with me to help me through my shift.
"That didn't happen and straight away I was left alone with 15 or 16 patients as the only qualified nurse, or only qualified staff member, at some points. I raised it to management I was getting 'oh, you're a young nurse. You can handle it'.
"The second time I raised it and said there wasn't enough nurses and I was so stressed, I got the response 'where do you want me to pull staff from?' I know it's not her fault - there is not enough nurses in the UK.
"If I'd have made a mistake, my PIN would have gone, my licence."
Now Mailu works eight hour shifts serving customers from behind an ice cream counter and although she enjoys the 'relaxed' environment she claims she feels saddened by her experience. She also fears for her nurse friends who are currently striking as 'nothing is changing'.
Mailu said: "I'm a bit sad if I'm honest. I feel sad. I miss my job, I miss caring for people and when I found out what I was getting paid [at the ice cream shop] I felt like an idiot for putting in all the effort, time and money [to train]. I feel a little bit cheated.
"The amount of people that I trained with at uni that are now leaving the profession after one year is terrible. So many people are leaving because of the pressure you're under and the little pay you get.
"I miss my job and being in charged, running the shifts, but I'm putting in minimal effort for an unskilled job. I can't wait to be a nurse here in Australia and see the massive difference.
"It's $44 AUD an hour - the equivalent of about £25 an hour. That's £10 more an hour [than the UK] and that's just the standard rate. I'm in the process of transferring my PIN over so I can work as a nurse here, which is a very lengthy process.
"I feel a bit sad that this is happening to so many people in England and nothing's getting done. All my friends are striking and nothing's happening."
The Department of Health and Social Care [DHSC] were approached for comment but said it was a matter for Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber Foundation Trust.
Kate McCandlish, Director of Nursing at Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), said: "The safety of our patients is paramount and we work hard to ensure that our wards are safely staffed. We always actively encourage our colleagues to speak up if they feel something isn't right in their place of work so that immediate action can be taken.
"We follow safe staffing processes, with the safety of our colleagues of utmost importance and we have robust health and wellbeing support on offer which our colleagues can access at any time.
"We are very sorry Mailu feels this way and we will be looking into the claims she has made. Pay is a national issue and setting pay sits with the Department of Health and Social Care."
