Prepare to be a student nurse!

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Matt

We were having a discussion on the Nurses.co.uk Facebook page about the advice qualified nurses wish they had been given when they were students. We had a fair few responses so I’ve put them into an article for you here – How to prepare for life as a student nurse as well as few other points about finance, books and shoes.

The majority commented that the best of advice is to ask questions, of both staff and patients whenever you need to. Every nurse and midwife was once where you are now, learning and finding their feet. Ultimately patient safety and your safety are the key concerns so unless you are absolutely confident with what you’re doing, you should be asking questions.

Another common theme is that nursing is not just a job it’s a way of life. You have to be passionate about what you do in order to provide the best care and have a rewarding career. Whichever branch of nursing you’re studying, I’m sure at some point you will find the training difficult, and it’s the passion you have for caring for others that will help you overcome those tough times.

The most difficult subject to cover concerns bullying, and it is an issued raised by someone in the discussion. No one, whether student or staff member, should have to put up with bullying so the best advice is to read your university handbook and find out the procedure for handling it. You may feel insecure about reporting bullying but you have to speak up for yourself and protect your learning experience. Bullying doesn’t happen to everyone, and I’m sure there are plenty of nurses and midwives who have never suffered it, but just in case it’s best to know who your support network are and where to communicate your concerns.

Above all advice, the best sentiment is to simply enjoy it! The years you spend training will fly by and before you know it you will be qualified and managing your own caseload of patients. Even then, as a newly qualified nurse you won’t know everything and you will still need to ask questions.

How to prioritise your nursing CV with compelling information

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Matt

As you progress through your nursing career your CV will become longer as your experience develops. You will have your current job and responsibilities, previous jobs and responsibilities as well as your professional development achievements, all of which can easily take up at least 2 sides of A4. So how do you condense all of this information into an eye catching but informative CV that will show an employer you’re perfect for their job?

In a study released today, recruiters spend just six seconds scanning your CV to decide if you are a potential match for the job! The study showed that almost 4.8 of those six seconds are spent looking at the following:

name
current title & employer
previous title & employer
previous start and end dates
current start and end dates
education

As you can see from the list a recruiter is primarily interested in your current job and previous employment experience, as well as your education. While this study was not specifically related to the healthcare or nursing sectors, I think it’s easy to understand the trend that’s being illustrated here, which is that you have a minimal amount of time to show a recruiter that you have both the experience and education to fulfill the position.

So how do you condense down a career’s worth of experience into a maximum of 2 sides of A4 paper to make a CV that will catch a recruiter’s eye? The answer is there is no simple answer, nor is there one solution that will suit everyone but there several points you can consider.

1. Put your current job title, employer and employment dates at the top of your CV – directly underneath your name and contact details. If you’re applying for a job that’s similar to your currently one or a similar role at a higher level, then the fact that you’re already working in a related job will work in your favour. Go into detail about the responsibilities you manage and whether you have expanded or developed the role in any way.

2. Continue your employment history in reverse chronological order from there onwards (most recent first). If you have a nursing career history that is several jobs long, your most recent jobs are going to be of most interest to a recruiter. A recruiter will value clear, informative lists of responsibilities, competencies and accomplishments, so you can add in professional development achievements relevant to the role if you like.

3. Don’t give too much space over to your education history unless it is relevant. First and foremost you are a nurse, so the professional development achievements you have will probably supersede your original nursing qualification. That’s not to say you should omit details of your nursing course, you definitely shouldn’t, but there’s probably not a great deal of requirement for lots of words about every module you studied and every placement you undertook. Only include that level of detail if it’s directly relevant to the job you’re going for now.

4. Don’t include too much detail about any past jobs before you became a nurse. Of course you can mention your previous jobs if you feel they are relevant and if they help a recruiter to understand your history, but don’t go into too much detail about them. Your nursing career probably began when you became a student nurse, so anything before that is less significant and by reducing the priority given to it you can create space for the facts that are important.

5. Optimise the layout for maximum effect and visual appeal. This doesn’t mean add lots of colour or images (I say this just in case.. because we have seen it done!), it means make the layout inviting to the eye. Use bullet points and lists instead of sentences where possible and ensure there is enough white space around each section to give the reader a clear idea of what they are looking at. Solid paragraphs of text can be very off putting for a reader that is only scanning your CV.

If you can write your CV with a recruiter in mind, you are more likely to be successful with your job application. Think about the questions they will be asking as they read your CV, and do your best to answer them as you go. As always, you can find all current nursing vacancies on Nurses.co.uk.

Change4Life launches alcohol awareness campaign

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Matt

We all remember the plasticine people from the Change4Life campaigns of recent months and years that have highlighted different ways to make small changes for a healthier lifestyle. Well, now they’re back with a new focus and it’s alcohol. The campaign is called “Is drinking sneaking up on you?”, and it highlights the dangers of thinking you only have the occasional drink when actually that occasional drink turns into two or three drinks every night.

In 2010 Professor Tim Key, an epidemiologist at Oxford University, published a study in the British Journal of Cancer that highlighted alcohol and obesity as the the two most significant dietary factors relating to the risk of developing cancer. His study stated that in generally well-nourished people, the effect of eating more fruit and vegetables had yet to show up with any significance against the risk of developing cancer. “Available data suggest that general increases in fruit and vegetable intake would not have much effect on cancer rates, at least in well-nourished populations.”

“Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet and a good source of nutrients. But so far the data does not prove that eating increased amounts of fruit and vegetables offers much protection against cancer. But there’s strong scientific evidence to show that, after smoking, being overweight and alcohol are two of the biggest cancer risks.”

This is the recent campaign video from Change4Life.

RCN survey reveals CQC needs to be stronger and more efficient

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Matt

A survey conducted by the RCN shows that while nurses are acutely aware of the role the CQC plays in championing excellence in care, there are areas of its work that require improvement.

The RCN surveyed its nursing members to get a better understanding of the general perception of the CQC, to find out about the issues its members had faced when communicating with them, and to get feedback on the quality and frequency of inspections. They devised a two tier system, which involved those of band 6 level and above being offered a more in-depth survey than those at band 5 level and below. The survey offered band 6 nurses and above a greater opportunity to contribute in accordance with their influence as leaders in quality of care.

The key findings of the survey include:

Nurses recognise the importance of the role of the CQC and believe that the CQC can play a role in championing staffing levels.
Support for staff is very effective in some areas, but that’s not universally consistent throughout the country.
Nurses highlighted areas that require significant improvement within the CQC itself such as speed and accuracy when dealing with enquiries or concerns, and frequency of inspections carried out.

The RCN has offered 10 points they would like to see actioned in order to improve upon the issues raised. These include ensuring every provider has an unannounced inspection every year, a standard two week target for responding to anyone reporting poor standards of care (which, if not met, will mean a review of staffing levels within the CQC itself), and a greater focus on enabling CQC staff to maintain their NMC pin while update their nursing expertise on a regular basis.

You can read the full list of recommendations in this document published by the RCN.