Nursing & Care News | Blog | Secure Healthcare Solutions

“Higher rates of obesity and ill-health have been found in shift workers than the general population,” BBC News reports.

For years, researchers have been linking long-term insufficient sleep to a host of chronic ills, such as cardiovascular disease, digestive problems, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and sleep apnea, not to mention the poor concentration, absenteeism, accidents, errors, injuries and fatalities that lack of sleep can cause in the workplace. More recently, studies have associated less sleep with obesity.

Did you know that getting enough sleep can keep you thin?. There are many hormones that are affected by sleep, and most of them control our appetite, fat, carbohydrate metabolism and the growth of lean muscle. Knowing what these hormones do can encourage you to make a greater effort to get the sleep your body needs to keep your weight in control and to improve your overall health.

According to the survey (The Health Survey for England 2013), shift workers were more likely to report general ill-health, have a higher body mass index (BMI) and increased incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Hormones and Sleep

During sleep, your body secretes serotonin and dopamine. When your body doesn’t get enough sleep, it finds different ways to compensate for the low levels of these hormones while you are awake. The way it typically does this is by sending out signals for sugary foods. These foods cause an immediate release of serotonin and dopamine.

Lack of sleep also increases hormones which increase your appetite. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite and makes you feel hungry, is released in excess so that you feel hungry even if your body has enough food. When sleep deprived, your body is slower to release the hormone leptin, which gives you that full, satisfied feeling after eating. The result of these two hormone imbalances is that you crave sugar and still feeling hungry after eating, which leads to overeating.

But that’s not all. Growth hormone, which is responsible for regulating the body’s fat and muscle proportions, is released mainly while sleeping. (If you have kids, you actually may have seen them grow overnight!) Sleep loss decreases growth hormone levels, which in turn slows our ability to burn fat and increase lean muscle.

And one more thing happens when we don’t get enough sleep—lack of sleep can trigger the release of cortisol, often referred to as “the stress hormone.” This hormone promotes the deposit of fat, mainly in the abdominal or belly region.

Preventing Weight Gain

All of this information explains why night shift nurses often experience weight gain. One simple way to combat the disadvantage of working as a night shift is to make sure you come to work with nutritious meals and snacks planned out ahead of time. Also make plans ahead of time for immediately after you get off work so that you are not tempted to grab fast food or go out to eat.

The key to handling night shift hunger is to realise that your natural hunger and fullness cues are not accurate, and to keep to an eating schedule you have planned out in advance.

During a night shift, plan on eating a substantial meal every four hours and one snack. Make the meals on the lighter side, such as a whole wheat calzone made with spinach, bell peppers, sautéed onion and garlic, and low fat mozzarella cheese.

Another good option would be a chicken stir fry with brown or wild rice. Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and a few meat balls is also a great choice. Notice in all of these meals whole grains are a big part of the meal. Whole grains will satisfy the craving for carbohydrate, but will keep you from eating too much. Whole grains and vegetables will also keep your bowels regular in spite of a crazy schedule at work.

The Right Amount of Sleep

So how much sleep do you need? While everyone is different, aim for getting an average of 8 hours a night (some may need only 7 hours while some as much as 9).

If you are unsure how many hours you need, do an experiment during a time when you can sleep as much as you want for four nights in a row. Record how many hours you sleep the fourth night. After the fourth night of unlimited sleep, you should be naturally awaking in the morning feeling refreshed. The hours of sleep you received the fourth night will be the approximate hours of sleep you should try to get every night.

Don’t let sleep deprivation for nurses set the stage for over eating and weight gain! Take control starting from tonight!

Do you have other healthy living tips for our night shift nurses friends? Share the love !

Choosing the right people to provide care is vital and Secure Healthcare will help you to make the right choice. From companions and domestics through to highly experienced Carers and Registered Nurses. Following a full analysis of an individuals needs and preferences our experienced advisers will only use staff who they feel are entirely suitable.

We pride ourselves on ensuring persons needing support are Safe, our care treatment and support helps you to maintain quality of life based on best available evidence, our staff involve and treat you with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. We ensure our services are responsive to your needs and our management ensure high quality care is provided based on an individuals needs.

If you wish to learn more about how we can support you, please contact us and let one of our advisers come to see you and your family for a more detailed plan on how we can support you.

Living independently at home is something most of us would like to do for as long as possible. When that time comes to make the decision to ask for extra support to continue to live independently as much as possible, our home care services are tailored for exactly that.

Tailored Home Care services to meet all your needs

Our trained caring friendly staff have your Dignity and respect at the forefront of delivering personalised care in the comfort of your own home. When providing home care for yourself or a family member or friend, we take the time to get to know you and make sure you are continually happy with the care you received and the staff that support you.

Home care can be arranged on an hourly, daily, weekly basis or a much longer plan to suit your needs. We provides in-home care and support services to people so they can live as independently as possible in their own homes and communities. We support people to live life the way they choose.

The best person to know what support you need to remain as independent as possible in your own home is you. That is why everything we do is designed around your needs and goals. These can be relatively simple like help with shopping through to high dependency 24 hour care.

Housekeeping
Personal care
Companionship
Support with information and advice
Housing support
High dependency care
Live-in care
Respite care
Medication management
Hospital to Home service
Complex and specialist care

What tasks to expect from our Carers and Nurses ?

All our staff can help with personal care (assistance with washing, dressing and toileting), mobility and home management. The UK’s Nursing & Midwifery Council recommends that a qualified Nurse is booked for:

More advanced medical conditions
Management of equipment, e.g. catheters, hoists
Administering (rather than prompting) medication
Wound care, e.g. pressure sores
Professional liaison with local healthcare professionals

Secure Healthcare care can:

Professionally assess your needs
Identify any risk to client or staff (e.g. from manual handling tasks)
Work with your local GP and District Nurse, if appropriate
Create (with your full input) a detailed Care Plan.

If you are still unsure about what type of staff you need please feel free to contact us speak to an adviser or contact your local GP or care professional.

Contact our Homecare Department:
Call us on 01902 302017 or write us to homecare@securehealthcaresolutions.co.uk

Eating healthy can be a bit of a challenge, as healthcare professionals are typically managing long shifts, running around and balancing many things at once. Taking a lunch break can sometimes be impossible. For this reason, snacking might be the best way to keep you going. Snacks can be consumed quickly on the go. Plus, eating 5-6 small meals a day, instead of 3 large meals, keeps the metabolism working at peak performance. Here are some great snack suggestions for busy nurses, doctors or healthcare workers :

Fresh or dried fruit. Fresh fruit is portable, refreshing, and can be eaten quickly. Fruits that are ready to eat when you want them are best, such as apples, bananas, grapes, or berries. Oranges and other citrus fruits can also be a good snack, but it is best to peel them ahead of time so they can be consumed quickly on the go. Dried fruit is also a great healthy snack idea, but watch out for added sugar and preservatives. When it comes to fruit, fresh is best.
Sliced apple (or a banana) with peanut butter (2 tablespoons is 1 serving).Apples alone are a great snack because they are highly portable and are low on the glycemic index, which means that it digests more slowly than many other carbohydrates and does not cause an extreme spike in blood sugar. Pairing an apple with peanut butter, which is a good source of protein and good for you fats, will keep you feeling full even longer. Sliced apples can be easily dipped in peanut butter and eaten on the go. Bananas are a great source of potassium, which is essential for proper muscular function. For additional convenience, peanut butter can be purchased in serving-sized packages
Brown rice cake with nut butter.Anything paired with nut butter is a great workday snack. Brown rice cakes are low calorie and can be kept at work for easy access.
Hummus is another food that is low glycemic and a good source of fat and protein. It can be consumed with multigrain crackers or whole wheat pita bread, or with veggies, such as cucumbers, celery, carrots, or peppers, for added nutritional value. Hummus can be purchased in a snack-size or in a larger container that can be stored in the break room refrigerator.
Mixed nuts.Nuts are low glycemic and high in fat and protein, in additional to other health benefits. This is another snack that is easily eaten on the go, but be weary of your serving sizes. A serving of nuts is 1 ounce, which is typically about a handful. Choosing natural or lightly salted nuts over those with higher sodium. Pair the nuts with some dried cranberries or raisins for a healthy trail mix.
Greek yogurt.Greek yogurt is high in protein, so it helps you stay full throughout your shift. Its portability makes it a great grab-and-go snack. This is another item that is easily stored in the break room refrigerator. Add fruit, nuts, or granola for greater energy.
Oatmeal is full of protein and fibre, helping you get through your day. It is also warming and comforting, which makes for a soothing snack. The healthiest variety is plain or original oatmeal, but there are also many different flavors available. Adding fruit, nuts, and honey is a good way perk up plain oatmeal.
Cottage cheese.2% milk fat or nonfat cottage cheese is high in protein to keep you full longer and low in fat and calories. This snack can be bought in convenient snack-size packages or in a larger container and left at work. Cottage cheese is versatile and can be eaten with virtually anything. Try it with fresh fruit or fruit preserves, veggies, or avocado to mix it up.
Protein or granola bars.There are many different brands and flavors of protein and granola bars to choose from. Reading the label is key to finding the healthiest ones, as some pack so much sugar they are basically glorified candy bars. Look for bars that are lower in sugar and that contain 10 or more grams of protein and 4 or more grams of fibre.
Fruit smoothie or protein shake.Fruit smoothies and protein shakes can be purchased at the grocery store or made at home before work and stored in the refrigerator until snack-time. If buying them pre-made, watch out for smoothies and shakes that are high in sugar or contain a lot of preservatives.

Have any other favourite healthy snacks? Leave a comment to share it with us – Sharing is caring too !

Are you a Health Care Assistant in the Birmingham area who has a passion for care? If the answer is yes, then Secure Healthcare could be the right option for you!

Visit our open day to find out more about the new roles we have to offer (temp and perm).

We specialise in supplying Health Care Assistants to Nursing Homes, Residential homes, NHS hospitals, Mental health hospitals and the community across the UK. Secure Healthcare is never short of a variety of hours to cover and so has a shift to suit every worker.

Our business operates 24 hours a day 7 days a week and ensures we give you constant and regular work on a daily, weekly and long term basis, we build strong relationships with our personnel which allows us to make your work with us hassle free.

This enables you the ability to specify your own work availability each week and be allocated the shifts that suit your lifestyle and commitments….

This is only one of the outstanding benefits of working with Secure Healthcare.
We offer many exciting and unique prospects such as;
• Excellent pay rates
• Free and easy to use online training updates
• Weekly Payment
• 24/7 on-call support team
• Bonus Schemes

Secure Your Career with Secure Healthcare Solutions Today.

To Book you place please call us on 0121 285 9449 or contact Vidas Savickas by Email if you would like more information using cv@securehealthcaresolutions.co.uk

Registering with us shall require you to provide two professional references. One of which is to be either your current or most recent employer. It is also necessary for an enhanced DBS disclosure to be carried out.

Applicants must also have at least six months care experience in the past 2 years.

We look forward to welcoming you soon ?

Last year’s report by Skills for Care on the state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England estimated that just under 340,000 social care employees leave their jobs each year. On average, in care homes there are about 2,800 unfilled manager jobs at any one time while, despite concerted recruitment drives, vacancy rates for social workers in the statutory sector have jumped from 7.3% in 2012 to 11% in 2016, and turnover rates continue to climb.

Sharon Allen, chief executive of Skills for Care, says: “Recruitment and retention is without a doubt the biggest issue for adult social care employers because to have sufficient [levels] of the right people with the right skills is absolutely fundamental to providing quality care and support. It is a big concern for everybody and we’re trying to help promote careers in social care … but there are many challenges.”

With 80% of all jobs in adult social care held by women, something is clearly making women want to leave the sector. And the problems are not just confined to social care. In the NHS, figures from NHS Employers show that 77% of the workforce is female. There are currently 24,000 nursing vacancies (including in social care), according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

In community health nursing, there has been a 12% drop overall in full-time equivalent staffing numbers since September 2009, despite growing demand.

In the East Midlands, district nurse Mary Black says her team and other colleagues are struggling to cope, because of a mixture of unfilled vacancies, maternity leave and long-term sickness absence, which directly affect patient care. “We firefight every single day: moving patient visits, ringing round to see if other teams can help, and we often have to cancel or defer. We have bank and agency nurses to cover vacancies, but not usually sickness or maternity leave, so it means the staff who are left have lots more visits to do each day,” she says. “There is no continuity, as often there’s a different agency nurse each day and there are a lot of duties and patient visits that an agency nurse can’t do, so the complex patients fall to our permanent members of the team. Agency staff often cancel at the last minute and sometimes don’t turn up.”

Black says: “It often feels like we’re not giving our patients a very good service, we cannot spend the time with them that they often need. Incidents and complaints will have risen.”

Rob Davies, a senior physiotherapist at a large hospital in the south-west, which he asked not to be named, says it struggles to attract recruits from further afield. For the last eight months, there have been 12.5 full-time equivalent vacancies for junior physiotherapists and two for senior specialist ones. With major trauma status, and a busy outpatient unit, an overnight and weekend service, the 140 members of the physiotherapy team are swamped, even when they have a full roster of staff. Stress is now the biggest cause of workplace sickness, he says. “[Staff shortages] affect everything from how you manage the caseload, and what you can do for patients, and it contributes to staff stress. It affects morale. I’m surprised that more of us in our department don’t go off sick.

“When you don’t have the right staff levels, we have to see patients on a prioritised basis,” he says. “Patients don’t get the quality and sometimes it means people get sub-optimal outcomes. It’s frustrating and demoralising.” Some of his colleagues have voted with their feet: leaving for private sector jobs with better work-life balance, or moving somewhere with lower house prices. “They are on the same money as it’s nationally done but the property prices are different,” Davies says. In the South-West, the shortages are particularly acute for more junior grades. “It tends to be easier to recruit more senior physios as they are a band up so the pay is better but it still can be an issue getting the right people down to us.”

Last month’s report on the public sector workforce by the Reform thinktank is blunt about the impact of staffing problems. “Public services fail when employees fail,” it concludes. “This is the dramatic lesson from a number of high-profile errors in recent public service delivery. In many instances, quality is compromised, not because of individual incompetence, but the way the workforce is structured and organised.”

With potentially fewer candidates from the EU and more existing staff retiring, it will be crucial for the NHS and social care sectors to attract younger people. Allen says that there is already close working with schools and job centres to promote social care as a career and adult social care has had “phenomenal success” with apprenticeships, although the government’s levy on large employers to help fund apprenticeships could risk this success. “There’s more we can do to promote social care as a really great career for young people,” says Allen. “It’s not just about getting people in, it’s about keeping them.”

As we get older, there are plenty of challenges to overcome. Mobility can be an issue. Your memory could begin to fade. The things you used to take for granted become more difficult. The development of a health problem or a condition such dementia may mean you need someone to watch out for you.

Most of us want to stay in our own home – it’s not only good for mental and physical wellbeing but allows us to stay connected to our local community, the friends and people we’ve shared our space with for so long.

Dementia and increasing frailty as the years go by naturally leads everyone to evaluate what’s best for the future. Decisions about what to do are usually down to close family members who can be torn between keeping mum or dad in their home and making sure they stay as safe and secure, and happy, as possible.

It’s easy to think there’s no real alternative but to move your loved one into a care home where they can receive professional, around the clock attention. For years, it’s been the traditional way we care for our older relatives. But for many people it’s simply not the right solution.

Live-In Carers

There can be numerous reasons why you don’t want to choose the care home option. Mum or dad may well want to stay in the family home for a start. If they’ve lived in the same location for most of their life, why wouldn’t they want to stay? You might be worried the care homes in your area are not up to the right standard or that they cope with too wide a range of residents and won’t be able to give your loved one the attention they need.

Another option is to hire a live-in carer. This is where a professional carer comes into your home and stays in the spare room, catering to your elderly parent’s needs on a full-time basis. While care homes are staffed with compassionate and caring professionals, they can’t normally give the kind of one to one care that older people need.

With a live-in carer, this is exactly what you get.

At Secure Healthcare Solutions we know that care isn’t a once size fits all issue. What works for one person, won’t necessarily be suitable for another. We also know that elderly relatives who remain in the familiar surroundings of their home have a better quality of life than those who find themselves uprooted to a care home.

Letting a stranger into your home to look after your mum or dad can be a big decision, of course. Our selection process is quite involved with a care assessment test and face to face interview as well as on the job monitoring. We make sure that all our staff are fully vetted and have a DBS check. Their job is to build a strong, caring relationship, not just with their ward but those around who have an emotional and familial connection. That’s why we take such care on who comes to work for us.

At Secure Healthcare Solutions, we believe t’s not just about having a full-time carer at home. It’s about the right plan tailored for your needs, getting the perfect match and a carer who essentially becomes a part of the family. Yes, they can handle all medical, health and personal needs but they also provide the companionship that so many of us need in later life.

If you wish to learn more about how we can support you, please contact us and let one of our advisers come to see you and your family for a more detailed plan on how we can support you.

Let us help you get the care you need for the life you want.

Live-In Carers

With a live-in carer, this is exactly what you get.

If you wish to learn more about how we can support you, please contact us and let one of our advisers come to see you and your family for a more detailed plan on how we can support you.

Let us help you get the care you need for the life you want.

Caring for a loved one with dementia poses many challenges for families and caregivers. People with dementia from conditions such as Alzheimer’s and related diseases have a progressive biological brain disorder that makes it more and more difficult for them to remember things, think clearly, communicate with others, or take care of themselves. From angry outbursts to more physical manifestations of behavior, understanding and dealing with our loved one’s dementia behaviors may be one of the most stressful parts of being a caregiver. Dementia involves more than just memory loss. A person with this disorder can be a challenge to take care of. Caring for a loved one with dementia poses many challenges for families and caregivers.

The cause of the disease can have a bearing on the type of care given. Before embarking on caring for such a patient consider the following questions.

Is the dementia part of a brain disease process?

Is there a history of brain injury?

Is it the so called senile dementia which is considered part of the aging process?

Where to care for the dementia patient

Depending on the severity and predominant symptoms, a person with dementia can benefit from either home care or institutional based care. Where only personal care issues are involved, a general carer may be able to offer care to the patient. However, where symptoms pose a risk to self and others, then a professional nurse may come in to offer at home care services.

Seven Tips for Communicating with a Person with Dementia

Set a positive mood for interaction. …
Get the person’s attention. …
State your message clearly. …
Ask simple, answerable questions. …
Listen with your ears, eyes and heart. …
Break down activities into a series of steps. …
When the going gets tough, distract and redirect.

Emotional and Physical support

People with dementia feel anxious when they realize that they have mental related problems. Showing Care, patience and reassuring them will help them to cope better and enjoy improved self-worth. Other measures to help these patients lead a dignified life include:

Helping them remain clean
Helping them dress
Helping them eat a healthful diet
Assisting them to remain as physically active as possible. This will be determined by their degree of mental or physical disability.
Legal representation and protection. Some people may take advantage of the altered mental status of dementia patients. Help them get their rightful state support where necessary and protect their finances from potential fraudsters.

When dealing with difficult behaviors from someone with dementia, it’s important to remember that they are not deliberately being difficult. Our loved one’s sense of reality may now be different from ours, but it is still very real to him or her. As caregivers, we can’t change the person with dementia, but we can employ strategies to better accommodate any problem behaviors. Both the environment you create at home and the way you communicate with your loved one can make a significant difference.

Dementia can cause mood swings and even change a person’s personality and behavior. This Fact Sheet provides some practical strategies for dealing with the troubling behavior problems and communication difficulties often encountered when caring for a person with dementia. If you are the main carer of a dementia person, don’t forget to care for yourself. Burnout is a real possibility. To avoid this, always source for help and take needed break every now and then.

Be aware of the signs of dementia

Memory loss is one of the key symptoms, but others include:

increasing difficulty with tasks and activities that require concentration and planning
depression
changes in personality and mood
periods of mental confusion
difficulty finding the right words

If someone you know is becoming increasingly forgetful, you should encourage them to see their GP to talk about the early signs of dementia.

Finally, there are so many more behavior interventions, treatments and specialty care providers now than ever before. Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk to one of our qualified advisers.

You can read more top tips for talking about dementia on the UK Alzheimer’s Society website.

We’ve become used to hearing stories about how our healthcare professionals, including nurses, are routinely subjected to abuse in the workplace. In most environments, this would not be tolerated but seems to be on the increase in our hospitals, particularly where our A&E departments are concerned.

According to Nursing Times, as many as 90% of nurses have experienced violence and verbal abuse while trying to do their job.
In 2012, The Telegraph reported that there were some 163 attacks on staff every day and the general consensus is that this situation is no better today.
It’s not just a problem that is particular to the UK. A study in America at the turn of the millennium found similar results.
The UK, however, currently has one of the highest incidences of violence against nurses in Europe.

But how does abuse affect our healthcare providers and where can they find help and support if they need it?

While the NHS has had a zero-tolerance approach to violence and abusive behaviour since 1999, instances of attacks appear to have remained disappointingly high. Abuse come from a variety of sources including patients and relatives who have mental health problems or simply believe they are not getting the treatment they deserve, as well as those under the influence of alcohol.

Areas such as A&E are at particular risk because of the emergency situations they face, the fact that there is all too often overcrowding and the emotional level many people are operating at when they arrive. While hospitals are under increasing pressure, it’s not just problems with patients and relatives that are at the heart of verbal and physical abuse. The NHS and even private hospitals are not immune from instances of bullying within the workplace.

We expect a lot from our nurses. Often, they’re working long shifts between 12 and 14 hours and managing traumas and medical problems that require urgent attention. We expect them to do this with all the compassion and professionalism they can muster. It’s no wonder that many nurses and other healthcare professionals are revaluating their career choices and deciding whether they want to stay in the profession at all. That goes for people working in a wide range of areas from A&E, the NHS to nursing homes and private care.

While organisations such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council have put in measures to handle instances of verbal or physical abuse in the workplace, there doesn’t seem to have been much change for the better over the last decade or so. The support that nurses get is also still largely piecemeal and varies from trust to trust.

Just like any other group of people, nurses, midwives and healthcare workers need support and can easily find themselves isolated. There’s no doubt that institutions such as the NHS and all the other Nursing Agencies have to do a lot more to protect nurses and other professionals while they are trying to help the people in their care.

The good news is that charitable organisations such as the Cavell Nurses’ Trust have long been providing support for a range of healthcare professionals. Not only do they help when nurses are suffering from hardship and can’t make ends meet, they assist individuals come to terms with illness, life changing experiences and the impact of violence and abuse in the workplace.

According to Nursing Times, as many as 90% of nurses have experienced violence and verbal abuse while trying to do their job.
In 2012, The Telegraph reported that there were some 163 attacks on staff every day and the general consensus is that this situation is no better today.
It’s not just a problem that is particular to the UK. A study in America at the turn of the millennium found similar results.
The UK, however, currently has one of the highest incidences of violence against nurses in Europe.

But how does abuse affect our healthcare providers and where can they find help and support if they need it?