We’re having a giveaway on the Nurses.co.uk Facebook page

We’ve been really lucky to partner with Oxford University Press, and in conjunction with Rob Burton and Graham Ormrod, we have 3 signed copies of this fabulous book to giveaway.

It’s an essential resource for anyone about to make the transition from student nurse to fully qualified practicing professional.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning, is to go the Nurses.co.uk Facebook page and follow the instructions.

You have until 27th Jan 2012 Midnight GMT to enter. Good Luck!

The Nurses blog has a new home!

We’re really happy to announce that the shiny new home of the Nurses.co.uk blog is now up and running!

We wanted to give you all the benefits of the blog articles in the same place that you can apply for nursing jobs as well as get great career advice and read one to one interviews with both recruiters and nurses.

Our old blog will still be available for you to reference previous articles, but to make sure you don’t miss out on forthcoming articles, go and subscribe to our new blog. Simply enter your email address in the subscription box to receive every blog straight to your inbox.

See you over there! Don’t forget – go subscribe so you don’t miss out!

Healthcare workers still in the dark over appropriate use of social media

The Guardian recently published an article that follows up from freedom of information requests it sent to the 25 biggest NHS trusts (devised by number of employees). The responses collected show that between 2008 / 09 and October 2011, 72 separate actions were taken by 16 different trusts against members of staff who were found to have used social media in an inappropriate way.

Facebook comments, photos posted and discussions were found to be common forms of inappropriate use of social media, with examples given including comments that related directly to patient care, a manager and a confidential employment issue. Several of the trusts were unable to provide specific details of the outcomes of each action because the information was not stored centrally, but there have been warnings and some dismissals.

Last year I published a guide for nurses on using social media safely, and while the NMC will probably be reviewing their guidance in conjunction with the forthcoming code review, I think common sense must prevail. There are some simple things you can do to make your facebook profile more private, but you also need to think before you post. Think about the NMC code, it’s requirements and whether or not what you’re about to post could be construed in a way that is contrary to those requirements. If you are in any doubt at all, just think… is it worth risking everything you’ve worked so hard for?

Healthcare Assistant training to be standardised

The government recently announced that were would be a new code of conduct drawn up to standardise the quality and level of care that care assistants must provide. There is currently no single recognised qualification, nor a mandatory professional registration scheme that nurses and midwives have with the NMC.

The new code of conduct will cover issues including communication, confidentiality, nutrition and hydration amongst other things and will be overseen by Skills for Health and Skills for Care. The report into creating these standards is due to be published next year, but this will only result in a voluntary register of HCA‘s and Care Assistants.

RCN Chief Executive and General Secretary Dr Peter Carter said, “The RCN believes that a mandatory approach is essential in order to maximise public protection and support health care assistants to deliver a consistently high standard of care across the UK. This would include a legal register for health care assistants and is something we have been advocating for some time.”

It’s Self Care Week 2011

Following previous successful Self Care Weeks, it’s now Self Care Week 2011. It’s an opportunity for NHS, social care and voluntary care organisations to raise awareness of local services that can help people of all ages take care of themselves at home in their daily lives.

As part of this initiative the Dept of Health established the Self Care Forum website earlier this year with the aim of embedding self-care into every day life and the choices we make to sustain our health.

There are resources freely available on the self care forum from leaflets about how to manage / avoid colds and flu to dealing with pain. The focus is very much on making choices that enhance a healthy lifestyle, but also recognising the difference between minor symptoms that can be treated with over the counter drugs, such as for hayfever or thrush, and major symptoms that require a GPs attention, such as lingering pain or chronic symptoms.

I’d be interested to know how those in community nursing or social care find this initiative relevant to their work, and whether people can be, or should be, taught to self-care with the aid of accurate resources.

Care of the elderly back in the news

I feel a lot of deja-vu writing this post, and yet it’s also with sadness that I’m writing about another report damning some NHS hospitals in their care of the elderly.

The Patient’s Association has released a report entitled, “We’ve been listening, Have you been Learning?”, their third of this kind since 2009, highlighting poor care given to vulnerable elderly patients in NHS hospitals. It details first hand experiences of the worst care some patients who contacted the Patient’s Association received while in hospital.

Peter Carter, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the patients had been “clearly failed” in the cases highlighted. ”Each and every nurse is personally accountable for their own actions and must act promptly to raise concerns if staffing levels or other pressures get in the way of delivering good patient care.”

Every nurse I’ve ever spoken to about the cause of falling standards and poor care will immediately give one of the issues as a shortage of nursing and care staff. Despite repeated assurances from the top that frontline care and staffing levels will not be affected by budget cuts, that’s exactly what’s happening. Rarely is there an incident of poor care that can’t be directly related to the staff not having enough time to complete everything they need to do on a shift.

Having read all of the first hand accounts and those from the relatives of the individuals who received care contained within the report, the underlying factor seems to be that resources are simply stretched too thinly. The staff on these wards in most cases seem to simply not have the time to attend to patients in the way they would want, and the facilities are just simply unavailable in many cases to support person centered care.

You can read the full report here.

Job Applications – How many is too many?

I’ve always been an advocate of quality over quantity when it comes to job applications (especially in the nursing jobs and social care sectors), but how do you strike the balance between sending quality applications and maximising your chances of getting a job?

Unfortunately I don’t think there is one simple answer to this question. The answer is going to be personal to you and your situation. If you’re desperately looking for a nursing or social care job, aren’t currently working full time and you have the time to carefully plan and tailor each of your applications, the answer will be that you can manage more applications than someone working full time and only passively seeking the ideal position.

The key thing is not to overload yourself by trying to do too much. You have to consider the possibility that every application you make will attract an invitation to interview, which you will have to prepare for and book time off work to attend. Imagine if you’ve sent 10 separate applications, all of which attract the employer to contact you by phone or email – you now have 10 different contacts to manage, plus to decision whether to move forward with every single one.

Only you can decide how many job applications you want to send at any one time, but I would definitely say less is more. Don’t forget you can always follow up the ones you’ve sent but not heard back from by contacting the employer directly. Not only does this show you’re a committed job-seeking candidate, but also that you’re on top of your game by keeping records of communication and following up where you’ve not received a response.

Healthcare Assistants can become full RCN members

The RCN AGM has voted to allow Healthcare Assistants, Healthcare Support Workers and Assistant Practitioners to become full members of the RCN. The motion was passed with a strong 81.2% in favour, which the RCN accredited to the overwhelming need to fully recognise the important role that HCAs and support workers play.

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter said, “It has never been more important for all members of the nursing team to stand together to protect jobs and patient care. I am absolutely delighted that our members have taken this decisive step to welcome all nursing colleagues into the RCN.”

Two new seats on the RCN council will be available for health practitioners in any of the new roles that are eligible for membership.

Assisted suicide guidance for UK Nurses and HCAs

The RCN has just published guidance for nurses and healthcare assistants on how to handle requests from patients about assisted suicide. It aims to offer patients the appropriate guidance from their healthcare professionals, and to give nurses and healthcare assistants a clear grounding in where they stand legally, professionally and ethically.

While it doesn’t encourage nurses to bring up the subject of assisted suicide, the guidance recognises that patients can sometimes address the issue if they’re unsure of their palliative care options or end of life care, and that they sometimes just need to start a discussion with their nursing professional to address their concerns.

You can read the guidance in full here, it lays out the legal position very well and offers practical advice about how to handle certain questions and conversations with patients.

How to get a job in domiciliary care

Domiciliary care is a career path that is open to anyone regardless of career experience. You can get a domiciliary care job at any point in your life from straight out of full time education to later in life after several different jobs.

It’s an incredibly rewarding job to have, as long as you have a genuine passion for helping others. It can be extremely hard work at times and you will no doubt encounter all types of people who have very different needs, so if you don’t have a genuine passion for the job you will quickly find the work unfulfilling and stressful.

When recruiting for domiciliary care jobs, recruiters often look for people who will be suited to the work rather than experienced social care or healthcare assistants. You will need to have a patient attitude, a positive approach, attention to detail and good communication skills. Of course, if you do have healthcare or social care experience then that’s a bonus, but it’s much more important to have the right approach to domiciliary care.

When you’re applying for a domiciliary care job, make sure you highlight your personal qualities in the covering letter, or in a section on your CV. Showing you’re aware that approach and attitude are as important as experience will definitely show the recruiter you understand the role. If you don’t hear back from an employer or recruiter straight away, feel free to follow it up with after a suitable length of time, say 2 -3 working days. It shows you’re a committed candidate serious about finding work in domiciliary care.