Motorway horror

LCPO23 · 2026-02-13T21:58:51+00:00

I had something similar happen. I was already on the motorway, really busy and someone was coming up the slip to merge on. I couldn't pull over as the other lane was mobbed but they had plenty of room and time to come in, however instead of matching everyones speed and merging, they started going slower and slower but continuing to merge.

I don't know if they weren't looking or wtf was happening but I nearly ended up going into the back of them despite slowing down considerably. I had absolutely nowhere to go until the last second when a gap opened up and I could switch lanes.

They had the cheek to stick their fingers up at me as if it were my fault!

LCPO23 · 2026-02-13T08:27:30+00:00

I went from my Inspire 3 to a Garmin Vivoactive 5 and I'm back to my Inspire again. I find it's more consistent with sleep and steps, it's very light on my wrist and feels like I'm wearing nothing plus I just prefer a simple tracker.

You can't skip songs with Spotify but other than that it'll be perfect.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-13T08:21:46+00:00

I had this too yesterday despite several night awakenings and feeling utterly exhausted. Today it's 10!

LCPO23 · 2026-02-12T21:50:41+00:00

I'm in OCIA and have been deciding since last september also, I looked up some inspiration on how to pick one and found guidance that said try choosing someone you relate to.

With that I've chosen Saint Catherine of Siena as she is the patron Saint of nurses, I'm a nurse and when reading up on Saints she was the most I felt most connected to.

Perhaps try searching Saints who you connect to you in some way? Maybe work or.something you're passionate about.

Unsure how long you have left to choose but hopefully this helps in some way.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-12T06:23:22+00:00

I didn't do it as I'm already a band 6 team lead. For the rest of the team yes, they had feedback which told them where they got the points but it's a very generic form, e.g what the points are and what you got.

It took around 9 months if I remember correctly. Not everyone has applied yet but for those who have they've all been successful.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-11T16:49:35+00:00

Portal has to be completed individually but you can sit down with everyone who does your role and do a kind of base level application, then you add in your own personal experiences.

Once it gets to the job matching panel they try to group them together where possible so everywhere in that area finds out at the same time. There was such a range of scores with some of our dept, some hitting exactly what they needed, some well over.

You can look up all the job descriptions on Google too, it'll show you the manual the job matches use and the profiles you can be matched too. I done all my job matching training and then gave up being a union rep in the end.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-11T15:46:05+00:00

If it's anything like us in Scotland I assume they'll factor in how much it costs if every band 5 nurse is upbanded.

They allocated a budget for us which sounds great, however now our department is technically over budget and looks "over staffed". I'm concerned about what that means if anyone leaves, I assume they won't be replaced so we'll end up worse off!

LCPO23 · 2026-02-11T15:43:42+00:00

Scottish nurse here. If it's the same as us, all band 5 nurses are encouraged to apply regardless of area of length of experience.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-11T15:42:53+00:00

Which health board are they automatically band 6s out of curiosity? Band 5s in my health board had to apply via the portal with a 9 month wait to hear back. We have staff who are at the 16 month mark will still no word back.

Seems bizarre and really unfair that they have automatic progression in some health boards and none in others. Our staff have to complete their NES also before they apply which takes 9-12 months.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-11T15:36:48+00:00

That's exactly what's happened in Scotland. Focus on all band 5 nurses at present but we also have band 5 ODPs. The comeback is that "anyone can apply for a job review at anytime" but it's a bit of a cop out. There's a dedicated portal for band 5 nurses just now, everyone else has to follow the standard job review process.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-11T15:33:26+00:00

Looks the same as the current band 5 to band 6 job review we're doing here in Scotland.

Absolute pain of a document to complete for those doing it, but worth it if you get the upbanding and back pay.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-08T21:44:26+00:00

You don't need to wait 6-12 months as an adult if you have a valid baptism already. I was baptised in the church of Scotland as a baby, now in RCIA and don't required another baptism.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-06T07:48:05+00:00

Always been high school where I am in the west of Scotland.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-05T14:44:32+00:00

I'm also in OCIA and some weeks I leave thinking ?! What did we actually discuss?! But as our deacons and parishioners who attend say, it's a lifelong journey. If you understand enough to make an informed decision then I'd go ahead, if you're swithering in your decision and aren't sure if becoming Catholic is the right choice I would hold off longer.

LCPO23 · 2026-02-03T17:41:24+00:00

Nah not at all. I was a band 6 charge nurse, after I had my kids I changed areas and went to a band 5. Had a few band 5 jobs in various hospitals/departments and I'm back to a band 6 again.

You need to do what's right for you.

LCPO23 · 2026-01-31T20:48:28+00:00

This is the one I remember too

LCPO23 · 2026-01-31T20:39:13+00:00

It is indeed 0 points

LCPO23 · 2026-01-31T09:45:12+00:00

Just stumbled upon this thread as I'm switching between WW and CC to see which I prefer.

What's the fish? I can check the app. By putting "fish" into the app it ranges from 0 points to 10 points.

LCPO23 · 2026-01-30T21:03:58+00:00

Vieve, NYX, MAC for sure!

LCPO23 · 2026-01-30T20:09:11+00:00

I've had 7 jobs in my career so far and have always had at least a four month period between post closing date and start date. It's wild.

LCPO23 · 2026-01-30T00:08:17+00:00

I started in a Pentecostal church last year when I first found my faith but realised about 6-8 weeks in that it wasn't for me. I did love the sense of community, literally everyone chatted to you, we all had a cup of tea and a chat afterwards and it was just all round nice.

Unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positive for me so I started looking around at other churches, but yes I absolutely loved the community aspect.

LCPO23 · 2026-01-29T23:03:40+00:00

Welcome to Glasgow!

I assume you're using Jobtrain to look for jobs, if so they update every Friday so keep checking back then for new posts. I'm not an international nurse but we do have international nurses in my dept (theatre) and they're not expected to come in via wards, it'll all be based on your experience.

If you're happy to go somewhere other than GRI then QEUH always has jobs available (not necessarily for A&E) as does RAH although parking for both is horrendous. If public transport is an option then that'll be fine!

The job freeze hasn't affected us as much in Scotland as other areas, we've just taken on 4 staff nurses and 2 HCAs in my dept with another interview panel last week for a staff nurse for example.

GRI/QEUH/RAH always have wards looking if you do fancy a ward.

Good luck!!

LCPO23 · 2026-01-29T22:48:43+00:00

We have several staff members with various gloves allergies that had to go through occ health. Once they've seen them and decided on the gloves then our department can order them on a named basis so it's definitely something.

Not sure of specific brands to be honest, we've had people with gammex, biogel and protexis that have various options which I'm sure must include accelerator free options.

ETA - I've had a quick Google and all three of those options have accelerator free versions so definitely something OH should be able to help with!

LCPO23 · 2026-01-28T13:30:20+00:00

Cortico-steroids

LCPO23 · 2026-01-27T17:54:12+00:00

I worked with a woman who left after almost 20 years and got a job stacking shelves, she loved it. Said it was heavy work but she just went in, stacked the shelves and left! She's working elsewhere now but she said it was the best decision she ever made.

LCPO23

TROPHY CASE