Archive for the 'Nursing' Category

With the country in economic turmoil, and both the government and the opposition talking of public spending cuts, it seems inevitable that public sector workers will be the first in line to be cut. Despite recent announcements that the UK is now technically out of the recession, the country is far from recovering just yet, and the job market is still crashing with the unemployment rate hovering around 8%.

So, are nurse jobs and others within the healthcare system safe? With staffing difficulties arising before the recession kicked in, there was hope that maybe nursing would be seen as a secure career to move into, and that more people would choose to train in the profession. However, as within the private sector, the recession has bitten back, and the NHS needs to make savings of £15bn- £20bn by 2014. In a report leaked to the Health Service Journal, the government was advised to cut the NHS workforce by 10% over the next five years to make the savings needed. The government says that it has rejected this advice, nevertheless, it seems that recruitment freezes are occurring nationwide, putting current staff under strain and preventing newly qualified nurses from starting their careers.

Nursing Times conducted a survey which showed that a high percentage of those surveyed had experienced cost controls and cuts within their trust as a direct result of the recession, with almost half stating that their trust had a freeze in recruitment. This figure was highest within the community nursing sector, with just over half of those surveyed stating they had experienced recruitment freezes within their workplace.

With these cuts being implemented, nursing jobs are becoming ever more pressurised, with sickness and maternity leave not being covered sufficiently and overtime being discouraged or banned altogether. Some nurses have reported that their teams are at “breaking-point”, and under pressure to see more patients in less time and to discharge them as early as possible. They are also finding that they are underequipped, again due to cost cutting.

Unison head of nursing, Gail Adams said the figures obtained by Nursing Times were of no surprise and stated that “funding cuts were among the top five concerns for NHS workers, with fear of losing their jobs topping the poll”.

So what is the solution? How can the NHS make the savings required of them? UNISON Head of Health, Karen Jennings, said that there is a need to “listen to staff who know where the real savings can be made. Working with staff to improve productivity is the way forward.” It has been suggested that savings could be made by paying less for branded prescription medicines and by bulk-buying other supplies. Savings could also be made by NHS organisations sharing support activities such as human resources. However the savings are to be made, there is a need to protect nursing jobs, to maintain the quality of patient care and standards, and to look after NHS staff as a whole.

Mentoring programs are absolutely crucial for the novice nurse. Mentoring programs provide amplified job satisfaction for the novice, multiply custody for the experienced nurse, push support and guidance, and multiply patient outcomes for the healthcare organization cutback both time and money.

Where have all the experiences registered nurses left? There is a worldwide famine of nurses. In the United States forlorn, there were 750,000 void positions in 2007. The hindrance is dense and includes the amplified retirement of the aging attention population, dwindle of the number of novice nurses, and the high yield rate of nurses in universal but especially with modify nurses. destitute effective environments with long and lopsided hours, tedious demanding patient loads, and a need of mentoring have reserved recruitment at an all time low.

Critical care nurses, counting crisis span nurses are in high plead, representing the record challenge for nurse recruiters. In desperation, hospitals regularly place novice nurses in critical care positions. The typical yield rate is about 14.6 percent. nowadays, the stress of the attention environment contributes to the nurse leaving the bedside for less-stressful jobs. Job dissatisfaction is a large contributor to the attention famine.

There is a large charge accrued by strength care organizations due to the need of custody, and the successful organization wants to form better campaign to save their novice nurses and the experienced nurse. A strength care organization will also mislay money when it has no workers to provide careful care for patients, and doctors have to take their clientele elsewhere. This action could have a long-term force, as patients words to others about their infirmary experiences and care. The harm of patients means a harm of revenue. If the part is incapable to save the nurse, short staffing issues findings, adding to the financial burden on the part.

The requisite to form strategies that actively recruit and save nurses is necessary to the impending of the attention profession. Nurses have earned the reputation for “eating its babyish.” This is regularly due to unsupportive and unfeeling environments and the novice nurse’s need of experience. The belief of mentoring is not new to attention. The story of mentoring dates back to Homer’s Odyssey. Florence Nightingale was also known to have many mentors and being a guru for others.

Mentoring relationships encourage commitment, custody, and teamwork.

Mentoring programs are crucial for the novice nurse to live this stressful environment. strict mentoring programs must be structured and have didactic components. The components should have the following:

- Patricia Benner’s Theory

- Malcolm Knowles Theory

- Generational Issues and Impact

- lateral bureau violence

By counting wisdom sessions with open discussions, a novice nurse will feel more support, empowerment, and will be a positive function kind for other nurses. The strength care organization will also increase their custody statics with a strict mentoring encode.