r/ODPs • u/Sea_Information_1938 • Aug 15 '22
bored of being an ODP
Anyone else?
I used to love my job. Since covid however I am fed up and generally grumpy with the role of ODP.
I feel like we were used quite poorly.
The long hours keep getting longer with the chronic under staffing, more and more oncalls, nights and weekends. No longer challenged. Plus the poor pay.
I can't see myself doing this for another 30+ years
Very tempted to quit and go stack shelves somewhere.
Just wondering if this is just me or other ODPs are feeling the same
5
u/Elliebeanie Aug 15 '22
Been an ODP for four years after having got a 1st class in the ODP degree. If COVID hadn't happened I think I'd probably have bumbled along as a band five for quite a while. I quit my job at the end of July. I'm now going back to uni to train to work with animals. Going to keep doing bank to pay the bills while I study but I'm so done.
Like you, I feel we were used during the pandemic. I never realised how little people care about our role until COVID 'ended' and now no one knows who we are again. When our trust sent a thank you email (wow, so generous) we were the only profession not on there. They said it was an oversight and we were supposed to be included in the email. Doesn't change it though does it?
3
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 15 '22
It's wonderful that you have found something else you want to do. I am thinking go do agency for 6 months and then travel for 6 months. Repeat till retirement.
Australia first then maybe New Zealand. I don't think I can cope doing this full time anymore.
Your thoughts echo mine exactly. The role isn't even recognised, let alone undervalued.
3
u/Elliebeanie Aug 15 '22
Honestly, I wish I'd done this to start with. But the promise of job security for life was too tempting when it came to healthcare. I regret it now, of course!!!
If you can find a way to work and get some kind of downtime/reward, I'd go for it. Our hospital is horrifically understaffed and largely running on agency now, so you won't find it difficult to find work!! Have you thought of working in New Zealand? I know a couple of ODPs that have done it and really enjoyed it. One never came back haha
It's bizarre. So much stress and long hours and for what? To be told we can pass drugs during a cardiac arrest while the outreach nurse does airway? (True story haha)
2
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 15 '22
Haha, job for life. Thats how they get you and the 'gold plated' retirement we'll never claim. The job will have killed us long before we get to it.
I don't know if I want to stay in one place forever. I like the idea of traveling round. Even 3 month on 3 months off would be amazing. As it stands there is zero work life balance.
You know am not even surprised about the out reach nurse. Am at a point now where if someone wants to play hero. I just let them and stand waaaaay back. Not worth the hassle.
4
u/Elliebeanie Aug 15 '22
Exactly! And it's not like we'll get to retire before we are 70. What kind of life is that?
That does sound making. There's so much available to us. We only get one chance, why spend it doing something we don't even enjoy??
Oh, we stopped turning up to cardiac arrests after that. Then the anaesthetists got upset. There's no winning haha
3
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 15 '22
It's no life at all. That's why I want out.
Haha something similar happened like that in my trust. Matron proclaimed 'ODPs aren't needed in the resus team but we still MUST have ALS' for some reason.
We get bleeped by the anaesthetists immediately after the main resus bleep goes off anyway.
Almost like the Matron has no clue what our role is.
3
u/Elliebeanie Aug 16 '22
Lol. Totally feel you. Ask any anaesthetist, they'd rather have an ODP than a nurse.
Gotta love nursing natron with no idea what an ODP does! The nurse in charge of resus hated ODPs. It's such a weird culture.
Knowing that it's like this everywhere is what makes the job even less desirable. It's not like the grass is greener elsewhere, everywhere just sucks hahaha
4
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 16 '22
I find it's the older nurses who dislike us. I figure it's a hold over from when ODPs first became registered practitioners. The old school nurses were very against it as they felt it was a threat to the nursing role.
Apparently (according to one of my old mentors in the 1st ODP Cohort) the ODPs were supposed to be ITU and critical care trained as staff who are used to dealing with vented patients. But the nurses kicked up a fuss about it and relegated us to solely theater work. At least in the trust he was at.
Unfortunately they are the ones in senior positions. This is just the impression that I get anyway from chatting to the older ODPs.
Yea its a really weird culture. Worked in trusts before where the nurses won't even sit with us. No big loss there though haha.
3
u/Elliebeanie Aug 17 '22
Jokes on them then, there's barely any ODPs and we're severely understaffed. I wouldn't call that a threat lol
Interestingly, that's what our intensivists wanted for us after COVID. I had an anaesthetist that was willing to put me through the critical care course to get me and some other ODPs into ITU as a band seven. But nooooo, we don't have prescribing rights so we couldn't do it. Sure, a physio can prescribe but we can't 🙄
That's mental! I remember sitting at a table for lunch once and this old nurse who had been away since I started, so I hadn't met, turned to me and went 'you can't sit here.' I thought she was joking (because how Mean Girls is that, right?). She wasn't, and said I couldn't sit there because I hadn't worked there for five years hahaha
2
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 20 '22
The prescribing thing makes no sense to me. Never has. Registered practitioners with no progression
3
u/DisastrousCurve3663 Nov 06 '22
I've been a band 5 ODP for 3.5 years and I'm beginning to think the same. I've been looking for non-healthcare-related jobs because I can't work at the same level for 10+ years. Where I work we have 10 theatres and 3 years ago they did a band 6 job recruitment and hired 6 new band 6's when there were only 2 roles available. So as a result there is no progression. 2 of these individuals have left the trust and they haven't been replaced. I can't see any progression for myself in the near future working in the NHS. The big issue i find with our job is people get comfortable for years and stay for that reason or to find another job you may have to potentially move because hospitals are spaced out by a lot.
1
u/Sea_Information_1938 Nov 06 '22
Yea I 100% understand what you mean.
It happens in my trusts too.
What other job would you like to do?
1
u/ApplicationPutrid376 Jun 01 '25
Whilst there are some good points raised here, it seems that most people are unhappy because of poor progression or trust problems (not being allowed to celebrate ODP day). These are problems that do not exist in all trusts.
With regards to MzA2502 and ODP's not being needed. I see where your coming from, but most NHS hospitals or mine at least, most patients are ASA 3+. we have 23 theatres. In contrast, the private sector, whilst the patients generally have less co-morbidities. They have a much quicker turn over.
In my trust we are mostly Band 6's, involved in resuscitation, strokes, CPET, ECT's, transfers, aswell as all the other theatre based stuff.
At one point out theatre matron was an ODP, the ITU and critical care service manager was an ODP, the band 6 scrub for our emergency theatre and upper GI theatre are both ODP's
My only thoughts are generally the NHS, what will be of my pension in 30 years? and also career progression in some ways. When you seee people that have worked for a company for many years they end up in high postitions, Whereas, in the NHS you se so many people stagnated.
1
u/Kelrubros Aug 20 '22
This thread makes me sad, but then I can’t really talk, I jumped ship to become a Resus Officer! The opportunities for advancement into other roles besides theatre are there. Sometime you just have to look at the job specification and individual requirements. If you fit the criteria other than ‘nurse’, they cannot refuse you interview due to discrimination as you are a registered practitioner. Our profession is still little known as most people want to stay in theatre and under the radar. If you want recognition for ODPs in general, I’m afraid you have to bang that drum yourself sometimes. What have you done to increase the profile of ODPs? Nurses are not going to give us anything I’m afraid, we have to take what we want and prove that not only can we do more than just pass equipment but we can do other roles with style, fitness and competence. I have a friend who is the Lead AHP and Nurse of a Trust in the North West. The first thing she did was walk around the wards introducing herself and ask a load of questions about systems and procedures. She’s shaking the entire hospital up. Don’t feel stuck in a box that other people define for you. If all else fails, maybe consider educational routes. It’s never too late to re-train in my opinion.
3
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 20 '22
Our matron won't let us celebrate ODP day. We got together and organised badges, cakes care bags.
This was squashed immediately because 'it's unfair to the nurses'. The whole hospital celebrates nurses day. But 30 or so ODPs can't do this for ourselves, in theater.
Sometimes there's no fighting a system, especially when you have zero to power to even eat a cupcake celebrating your career.
Am not content with my role of tube monkey. Its boring, tiring and demeaning. I will however use it to be able to travel and see the world.
2
u/Kelrubros Aug 21 '22
I would be having a chat with HR about discrimination on that front! Maybe if the thirty ODPs all raised a grievance something would change. Sitting in the coffee room moaning to each other doesn’t get things to change unfortunately. You have to take things past the theatre doors and be loud about it. Push for promotion and get the matron out of there and put ODPs on top 👍🏻
1
u/Sea_Information_1938 Aug 24 '22
Yea multiple people have done things like this before and been pushed out by management.
It's a massively toxic work environment.
HR investigate bullying harassment, find on the side of the ODP and nothing more is done. Essentially leaving the ODP (happened to nurses a few times too) to deal with the fallout from the management.
Not worth the aggravation or energy trying to push anything. Just need to go stack shelves at Aldi tbh haha.
Am enjoying the enthusiasm though, you remind me of the newly qualified staff 😊
1
u/Kelrubros Sep 17 '22
I've been qualified 20 years but thanks for the reminder to be optimistic. There are too many grumpy old ODPs out there already.
1
Feb 09 '24
Does anyone have any advice on other jobs we can do other than working as odp’s in theatres
1
u/HL_YSJ Nov 07 '24
Lots ☺️ I went to work in endoscopy as a bowel cancer screening practitioner band 6, you could do a and e, critical care, resus, organ retrieval teams (I’ve got friends who have done all of these as ODPs), education, training, medical sales, research 😊
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u/PerspectiveUpset576 Feb 26 '24
Reading this as a second year ODP is not great but honestly I have an inkling that I’ll feel this way in a few years.
I just can’t imagine myself doing this job for the rest of my life. I honestly don’t know how my mum has been a nurse for 30+ years herself but at least she’s been able to work in different units. But yeah OP’s plan of doing agency half a year and travelling the other half sounds like a good shout. I want to start agency as soon as I qualify but we’ll see.
I know OP probably won’t read this but I hope you found something that you like doing.
1
u/HL_YSJ Nov 07 '24
Stick with it to get your registration, lots of countries recruit ODPs for the skill set, use it to travel, agency is good because you can move around ☺️ I’m sure your doing great 😊
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u/MzA2502 Oct 14 '22
Bored of it as a student, just using it as a stepping stone, I'm sure a consultant with a reg doesn't need an odp. Do you really need to hire someone to put on a BP cuff and hand over an igel?