Nurse Rachel Floyd has always taken great pride in wearing the famous blue NHS Wales uniform.
After passing her nursing degree in 2018, she was taken on as a cardiac nurse by Swansea Bay University Health Board before securing her "dream" job caring for deeply unwell and dying patients in their own homes.
While her current role has always given her a huge sense of accomplishment, in recent times she has found herself struggling to make ends meet.
As well as working 22.5 hours a week for the health service, single mum Rachel, 33, also has the responsibility of looking after her two young children – and has needed to call upon Universal Credit to top up her finances as a result.
But in doing so she said she is unable to claim travel expenses and is likely to have most of the £500 NHS bonus payment – recently announced by the Welsh Government – taken away from her.
"I am in awe of all the NHS stands for, and it has been my dream to be a part of the taskforce that fights for free and high-quality health. But the pressures, the logistics, and the lack of appropriate pay often makes me question why I chose this career," she said.
"I understand that there are a million other nurses just like myself who are struggling and it's not due to the NHS but the inappropriate and cold-hearted UK Government and the 'one size fits all' benefits system which simply does not work."
She said her take-home monthly pay, coupled with the "unjust" Universal Credit rules which have stopped her claiming fuel mileage, means her family cannot escape poverty.
"I have a mere £20 left each week and have had to contact nurse charities to assist with my shortfall on occasions. I have not accessed foodbanks, however it has been very close," she admitted.
"We do not have a lavish lifestyle. Day-to-day expenses are impossible to manage as the cost of living goes up. Our salary remains the same – we work more, we get paid less."
Rachel, from Gorseinon, Swansea, said community nurses in her health board are "extremely overstretched" and are taking on an ever-growing caseload.
"There are more fast-track hospital discharges and individuals being discharged with more complex conditions than ever before," she said.
"We are often the forgotten army of nurses. We never take our lunch break as there is never time, we very rarely stop for a comfort break because our office is our car, and our workload does not allow time for this. I cannot remember the last time I took a 30-minute lunch break or finished on time.
"However this is now the norm and we just accept it."
For the last two years, Rachel said she has not claimed a single penny in fuel expenses which, she believes, amounts to "thousands of pounds" she is unable to recoup.
She explained: "I receive a monthly top-up via a Universal Credit payment which helps each month. However as a community nurse we are expected to use our own personal vehicles, fuel them ourselves, and then claim back any expenses each month which will then be paid with our monthly salary.
"However as I receive benefits, any monies paid with my salary that are over my allowance for each pound Universal Credit will deduct 63p. So for every pound I fuelled my car I received an income tax deduction of 20% plus a reduction of 63p per pound.
"My fuel expenses are not an earning. I have contacted Universal Credit, who are of no help, and explained that it is paid with my salary so classed as an earning – even though it is clearly stated as expenses on my payslip."
She said while the NHS bonus payment from the Welsh Government is to be welcomed, people in her situation will not benefit.
"It's fantastic for the higher earning-households who are not on any benefits as they will see the full £500, but us part-time individuals doing the same role will only see perhaps £185 if not less.
"The bonus payment that we all deserve is not going to benefit those who need it the very most. It creates disparity between lower and higher earners – a reverse Robin Hood."
For two months during the pandemic, Rachel said she worked full-time to help her primary care team with the workload and staff sickness.
But she ended up needing to take substantial amounts of time off due to her 10-year-old daughter, Lola, becoming very unwell with Covid-19. She also said her take-home pay hardly changed at all.
"Lola developed paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMs) as a result of contracting Covid-19 and spent a week in Morriston Hospital's high-dependency unit," she said.
"The inflammatory syndrome affected the function of her left ventricle. This was in January and my daughter is only now slowly gaining her strength and function."
Rachel, who has recently needed to take time off work through stress and anxiety, said there is a desperate need to improve the pay of NHS Wales staff.
"As a nurse I often return home crying at how emotionally demanding our role is. Nobody will understand our role unless they undertake it themselves. It is extremely hard but we do it because we love helping individuals."
In response a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokesman said: "We thank all NHS staff who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit – bonuses are treated as earnings and payments are gradually reduced as someone’s earning increase."
