Shortage of nurses in care homes

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,050
0
Salford
Well the headline is "Care home owner warns of the decline of the ‘great British nurse’ "
Well as a former nurse, married to someone who was a nurse (spent most of her time in what was then called geriatric) and the son of a state registered nurse and a state certified midwife I can only wonder if the issue isn't one of hiring the cheapest staff.
When I started to train as an SRN (after 2 years as an auxillary) we were all told that 20 to 30% would never finish the course and it turned out to be true.
Not everyone is cut out for the job, why in this day and age would I pay £9.000 a year for 3 years at university to then be told to make a patient a cup of tea or wipe their bottom (he said politely) as I was told to do by the all fearer ward sister, if you've got a degree you just want to play with the machine that goes ping.
It isn't anything to do with "British nurses" it's to do with people who made the grade because they care about other human beings, this guys issue is he can't get that for minimum wage.
His best bet would be hire Hattie Jacques as matron and train his own staff, weed out the ones who have no empathy with others who are suffering. Sometimes as a nurse the best thing you can do is make someone a cup of tea or simply talk to the.
I think he hits the nail on the head when he says "To have a successful care home, you need quality staff" note he says Quailty not Qualified, the degree nurse isn't needed it's the one who understands the patients needs we need more of.
As for being British...I rather think he means old style NHS...many of the most caring staff are now not necessarily British, but where many of them did their training the patient care came above having a degree.
There is a move to ensure all nursery nurses should have a degree in the future too, let's see were that goes, all the gear and no idea as they say.
Rant over
K
 

sistermillicent

Registered User
Jan 30, 2009
2,949
0
well said Kevinl. I also blame the removal of the training of SENs, on the whole the ones I worked with were fantastic.
I think litigation is to blame too, I find that over the last ten years I have had to work defensively, writing copious notes about everything I do. I spend more time trying to get paperwork correct than I do seeing the children.