The need to recruit and retain healthcare workers on an overall scale is the greatest challenge currently being faced within the UK.Figures from the last few years and predictions into the future show catastrophizing concern into the shortage of staff, and therefore, the English government pledged to support an additional 50,000 nurses in the NHS by no later than 2025, with a grand 38,000 being recruited from overseas.Alongside this pledge, is a wish to improve or build upon programmes that the NHS have in place for internationally educated nursing staff. To create a ‘destination of choice’ they want to ensure that a higher quality induction and pastoral care is firmly in place through the development of a sustainable and ethical internatio ...

The NHS Long Term Plan (NHS England, 2019) highlights how advanced clinical practice is central to helping transform service delivery and better meet local health needs by providing enhanced capacity, capability, productivity and efficiency within multi-professional teams.Advance Practice can be further explored via Health Education England's Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England. All health and care professionals working at the level of advanced clinical practice should have developed their skills and knowledge to the standard outlined in the framework; the capabilities are common across this level of practice enabling standardisation. The four pillars that underpin this practice are:1. Clinical Practice2. ...

This is the 1st of 4 chats we are running throughout July focusing on our relationship and capacity to help support the needs of HCSW, to learn more about this series of chats please visit the introductory blog here.These chats are very welcome to be contributed to by nurses and HCSWs with all levels of experience, and educators of both too, we hope you'll all join in to deliver a rounded and interesting discussion. For the purpose of clarity, the Healthcare Support Worker Programme, sets out that healthcare support worker is an "umbrella term that covers a variety of health and care support roles, including healthcare assistant (HCA), nursing assistant, theatre support worker, maternity support worker and more.                              ...

As nurses we are very used to understanding the health needs of the people we care for and caring for women experiencing menopause and perimenopause symptoms like anxiety, mood swings, brain fog, hot flushes and irregular periods is a part of the roles of some nurses.  However often we forget our own care needs and those of our colleagues; NHS Employers states 'Menopause is not just a gender or age issue, as it can impact on colleagues both directly or indirectly, and it should therefore be considered as an organisational issue. All managers need to know about it, and how they can support their staff' Given that 77% of the NHS workforce are women (NHS Employers) and the menopause potentially affects so many people within health and care eit ...

This is the 2nd of 4 chats we are running throughout July focusing on our relationship and capacity to help support the needs of HCSW, to learn more about this series of chats please visit the introductory blog here.These chats are very welcome to be contributed to by nurses and HCSWs with all levels of experience, and educators of both too, we hope you'll all join in to deliver a rounded and interesting discussion. For the purpose of clarity, the Healthcare Support Worker Programme, sets out that healthcare support worker is an "umbrella term that covers a variety of health and care support roles, including healthcare assistant (HCA), nursing assistant, theatre support worker, maternity support worker and more.                              ...

To delegate or not to delegate that is the question !! Delegation requires some complex thought: who do you delegate to? what do you delegate? how do you ensure that delegation is appropriate? how much support should you give? The NMC have a helpful Caring With Confidence video on Delegation that starts to unpick some of these questions:This tweetchat aims to explore the key aspects of delegation and will follow the tweetchat formula below: From 8:15pm Pre tweetchat 2 x poll questions 8:30 - 9pm Tweetchat 3 questions From 9pm Post tweetchat 2 x poll questions   The tweetchat will ask the following questions: Question 1 (poll) - Are you confident with delegation in your nursing role? Yes / No / Other (please state) Question 2 (poll) - How of ...

This is the 3rd of 4 chats we are running throughout July focusing on our relationship and capacity to help support the needs of HCSW, to learn more about this series of chats please visit the introductory blog here.These chats are very welcome to be contributed to by nurses and HCSWs with all levels of experience, and educators of both too, we hope you'll all join in to deliver a rounded and interesting discussion. For the purpose of clarity, the Healthcare Support Worker Programme, sets out that healthcare support worker is an "umbrella term that covers a variety of health and care support roles, including healthcare assistant (HCA), nursing assistant, theatre support worker, maternity support worker and more.                              ...

This is the 4th, and final for now, of 4 chats we are running throughout July focusing on our relationship and capacity to help support the needs of HCSW, to learn more about this series of chats please visit the introductory blog here.These chats are very welcome to be contributed to by nurses and HCSWs with all levels of experience, and educators of both too, we hope you'll all join in to deliver a rounded and interesting discussion. For the purpose of clarity, the Healthcare Support Worker Programme, sets out that healthcare support worker is an "umbrella term that covers a variety of health and care support roles, including healthcare assistant (HCA), nursing assistant, theatre support worker, maternity support worker and more.          ...