Nursing & Care News | Blog | Secure Healthcare Solutions

If you’re living in the UK, and want to work in the medical field, you may want to think about becoming an auxiliary nurse. This type of nurse is an assistant who is able to work in various different settings. Whilst some auxiliary nurses work in hospitals, others care for patients in medical facilities such as outpatient care centres and nursing homes. If you’re looking for auxiliary nurse jobs in your area, it makes sense to get in touch with the team at Secure Healthcare Solutions. The company specialises in establishment healthcare staffing solutions across the country and is always looking for high-quality staff to fill various temporary and permanent roles within the healthcare sector.

Free Training Available

Secure Healthcare Solutions strives to ensure that its staff are trained to the highest possible standards. That’s why it always has and always will offer free training. As well undertaking mandatory training once a year, there are additional courses available to help you improve your practice. Whatever your experience level, the team at Secure Healthcare will endeavour to support your continuing professional development (CPD). Take a look around the website to find out more about the company the available openings.

As a nurse, you’ll need to go through appraisals, reflective discussions, and confirmation not just to satisfy licensing requirements but to also improve your performance as a health professional. Read on to learn more about these essential processes.

What are appraisals?

Appraisals are an important part of your work life as a nurse. Whether you like it or not, you’ll need to go through these processes to measure your development in the past year, identify the areas where you need improvement, and create personal development for the next 12 months. With the introduction of revalidation in April 2016, appraisals have become even more important since they help nurses prepare for their revalidation and registration renewal.

If you’re an agency nurse, you’re not required to get an appraisal every year. But, just like any other nurse, you do need to undergo reflective discussion and confirmation a few months or weeks before your revalidation date. With this in mind, it makes sense to schedule these processes during your annual appraisal to hit several birds with one stone. Take note, though: your reflective discussion and confirmation should be done within 12 months before your revalidation date. Any sooner than that may raise questions about the relevancy of your revalidation requirements.

What are reflective discussions?

You need to complete at least five reflective pieces as a part of the revalidation process. These pieces should be written within the three years that lead up to your revalidation date.

Your written accounts can be based on your general practice, feedback from your patients or colleagues, and the courses you take for your CPD. You can also relate them to articles that you have read or events that you have attended — as long as these articles or events are relevant to your practice and reflect the four themes of the Code. By writing these accounts, you’ll find it easier to adopt reflective practices and identify the improvements that you can make to your practice.

Once you have completed at least five written accounts, you can undergo the process of reflective discussion. This should be a face-to-face conversation with another healthcare professional who is registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). During this process, you will discuss your written reflections in detail.

When choosing a partner for reflective discussion, you’re not required to select someone who has the same specialism as you and who works with you on a daily basis. However, you are required to fill out the reflective discussion form and obtain your partner’s signature. Doing this will serve as evidence that you’re not professionally isolated and that you interact with others in the healthcare field.

What is the confirmation process?

Before you submit your revalidation application, you’ll need to have a confirmation meeting, which allows you to review the evidence that you have gathered over the past three years. Your confirmation meeting should be with your line manager who may or may not be registered with the NMC. If this isn’t possible, you can have the meeting with a doctor, pharmacist, or any other UK-registered healthcare professional whom you work with.

During your confirmation meeting, make sure to proactively interact with your Confirmer and discuss all the details of your CPD, reflective accounts, and other items in your portfolio. You need to show that you’re dedicated to your practice and have taken accountability for your growth and improvement. You also must demonstrate that you can adapt to changes in the clinical setting.

Of course, don’t forget to complete the NCM appraisal/confirmation form and get the signature of your line manager/Confirmer once your meeting is done. Getting two copies of the form is recommended so you can keep one copy for yourself and include the other in your revalidation application.

Revalidation is a new process that nurses and midwives have to go through before they can renew their registration with the Nurses and Midwives Council (NMC). It’s designed to improve public protection by ensuring that healthcare professionals are fit to practice and that they’re knowledgeable about the latest methods and techniques in the healthcare sector.

Nurses and midwives understandably feel nervous about revalidation. However, the pressure is even greater for agency staff, many of whom usually don’t get as much training and support as permanent employees. Fortunately, if you’re an agency nurse, take note that there are some things that you can do to make revalidation easier and less stressful. Here are a few tips you can use:

1. Create a free online account at the NMC’s website. Having an account is greatly helpful since it lets you check your exact revalidation date and get a list of the requirements that you’ll need to prepare. The NMC will also send you a notification 60 days before your revalidation is due, ensuring that you won’t forget it.

2. Prepare for your revalidation at least 6 months in advance. As mentioned above, the NMC will remind you about your revalidation two months before the due date, but two months usually aren’t enough. Remember: you won’t only have to gather the required paperwork but you’ll also need to do mental and emotional preparation and make yourself ready to write your reflective pieces.

3. Speak to friends and colleagues who have already gone through revalidation. Ask questions about their experience and take note of their tips so you’ll have a clear idea of what you need to do. Of course, when the time comes to help someone else in the future, don’t hesitate to share what you’ve learned.

4. Make the NMC code the center of your life. Whenever you write your reflections and have discussions, always link your experiences as well as the lessons you’ve learned to the code. Appraisers and Confirmers will look at how you have internalized the code and made it a part of your life as a healthcare professional.

5. Whenever you undergo training, write your insights about the things that you have learned on the back of the certificate that you’ll receive. This way, you can express your thoughts while they’re still fresh in your mind, and you can use these later on when you’re preparing reflections for your revalidation portfolio. Make sure to keep your training certificates in a safe place!

6. Read nursing and medical articles in magazines a few months before your revalidation is due. This way, you’ll have enough time to digest their content and think of how you can apply them to your work. You can even make it a habit to write notes as you read so you can have more details to add to your reflections portfolio.

7. Before asking a patient for their feedback, make sure that you have built a good rapport with them first. Doing this is important so they won’t feel like you’re intruding into their privacy. Don’t forget to obtain their consent and explain that you need the feedback for your revalidation.

8. Search for forums, support groups, and interactive sessions that are organized by senior nurses or revalidation experts. This way, you can speak with people who have gone through the process and/or know it inside out and can give you helpful tips.

9. Look for free or discounted courses that will help you complete the required number of hours of continuing professional development without paying too much. The NMC doesn’t have a list of prescribed activities, so it’s up to you to choose those that are relevant to your professional development

10. Enjoy the process! Think of your revalidation as a way of doing your part to improve the nursing community and the healthcare sector as a whole.

These are just some tips that agency nurses can use when undergoing revalidation. Do you have any advice to add to this list? Share them with us!

The public health service of England, namely the (NHS), provides the type of healthcare for permanent residents. As it is paid for from the general taxation, these services are free to use. However, healthcare provisions are not all the same all around the UK. Despite the fact that the public system is a more dominant provision, those who are willing to pay will be given private healthcare as well as other complementary and alternative treatments.

The public health service of England, namely the National Health Service (NHS), provides the type of healthcare for permanent residents. As it is paid for from the general taxation, these services are free to use. However, healthcare provisions are not all the same all around the UK. Despite the fact that the public system is a more dominant provision, those who are willing to pay will be given private healthcare as well as other complementary and alternative treatments.

Healthcare Services for Patients

If a patient coming from a clinic or hospital will require any specialist care, he or she will be informed by the medical practitioner where to acquire necessary treatment. This will cover private or public hospitals and the NHS will have to pay for treating a patient in a private institution provided that the hospital meets with criteria of service and cost.

If a patient needs immediate medical services, the general practitioner (GP) will have to request for the bypass of normal booking where they can arrange for an emergency admission. Generally, treatment along with the medication administered for almost all NHS hospitals is free. This will include surgical consumables and any appliances loaned or issued.

For instances where a patient chooses to acquire treatment in a private arrangement of NHS hospitals with agreement from a consultant, the patient will be billed. This can also be applicable for insurance companies. This can be done because from the beginning, NHS hospital consultants are given permission to continue private duties and enabled private patients to jump the queue of the NHS.

NHS Healthcare vs US Healthcare

Most developed countries such as the UK rank above the United States in terms of health measurements. This is because of the fact that its citizens have longer life expectancy with lower child or infant mortality rate. More so, the UK has a lot of acute care hospital beds per person with lesser deaths that are related to medical or surgical mishaps.

Accordingly, the impressive performance of Britain has been ranked by the World Health Organisation higher than that of the US. There are measures, however, wherein the US outperforms that of the UK such as the lower rates of cancer mortality.

Existence of Private Health Insurance in the UK

The existence of Britain’s private health insurance works similarly with that of the United States. As incentive for workers, many employers are able to provide private health insurance plans. However, only a few patients choose private medical services over the NHS system. For this reason, they can choose the specialists they want and they are able to get rid of waiting lists intended for non-emergencies.

An average of 8 weeks is given to patients under NHS requiring admission to hospitals. Meanwhile, 4 weeks are given to out-patients and 2 weeks given for those needing diagnostic testing. Although NHS patients can choose the hospital they need to get treated, choosing their own specialists are of no avail to them.

7% difference in death rates have been linked to staffing alone. In a five-year investigation into the number of deaths in NHS hospitals, research suggests that:

Health care facilities with the highest staffing levels have the lowest death rates
The lack of nurses in a healthcare facility is considered one of the leading causes of hundreds of patients’ death after an emergency surgery.
The chance of surviving within 30 days of being admitted for an emergency operation is low in hospitals with fewer nurses, doctors and surgeons.

This only shows that nurses play a vital role in the health care industry, and the lack of them may account for a lot of patient’s death.

Based on the same research, the reason that many die after emergency surgery is because there is not enough nurses to care for them. An insufficient number of staff to spot and manage complications is also a key factor in determining whether a patient lives or dies in a particular facility.

Unfortunately, shortage of nursing is prevalent that NHS have to recruit from different parts of the world to fill gaps on rotas. These include nurses from India, Portugal, Philippines and Spain.

The problem is also foreseen to worsen with plans to scrap bursaries for future nurses and midwives. Taking out the bursaries of up to £20,000 could make the profession less enticing for a lot of people.

Still, there are ways to overcome nursing shortage.

1. Partner with providers of staffing solutions

Secure Healthcare Solutions is a specialist in health care staffing, supplying organisations with temporary and permanent solutions in the sector. They are hiring plenty of nurses that could become part of a clinic or hospital’s team, provided that you register with them. The agency also runs a referral program that are sure to encourage nurses to bring their peers into the organisation, and help eradicate shortage.

2. Create the right atmosphere

Secure Healthcare Solutions would take care of recruitment, but it is your responsibility to retain nurses within your employment. The best way to do this is to create an atmosphere that appreciates anything and everything a nurse does.

Keep work schedules flexible

Being overworked and stressed do not make happy nurses. Although nursing jobs are hardly easy and stress-free, it doesn’t have to be the cause of quick turnovers. You can offer relief by allowing nurses to juggle between work, home life and educational opportunities. Flexible scheduling would help create a working atmosphere that is productive and positive.

Offer opportunities for career development

There is a call for 80% of nurses to have a bachelor’s degree come 2020. If anyone in your nursing staff doesn’t have a degree, help them achieve the highest level education possible. Doing so will make nursing staff feel more satisfied with their job. When this happens, expect them to stay within the organisation and to work with excellence, and not out of gratitude for the opportunity given.

Listen to their needs

No one knows better how to improve workflow than those in the field. In the case of healthcare facilities, input and insights from nurses should be considered vital information, as they are the ones directly interacting with patients. So make sure they are given ample face time. It is also important to implement their suggestions to show that their opinions and input did not go to waste.

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