Alison Moore

Nursing Standard

Final lessons from road-testing revalidation

As of April 1, all nurses and midwives will have to revalidate with the Nursing and Midwifery Council every three years to remain on the register. The largest of the UK revalidation pilots took place at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Wales. This article looks at how the pilot experience has equipped the board to predict nurses concerns and steer them through the revalidation process.

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At the vanguard of partnership working

The concluding part of our series on vanguards looks at how integrating services is prompting nurses to develop and extend their roles. If the NHS is to cope with rising demand and limited resources, staff in different sectors will have to work in partnership across traditional boundaries.

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Vanguards: support for care home staff

In the second article in our three-part series on vanguards, we look at care homes. Care home vanguards offer staff the opportunity to develop their clinical skills, resulting in fewer residents being sent to hospital for treatment or end of life care.

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Vanguards: the quest for joined-up care

Organisations in vanguard areas are developing new ways of working to improve and integrate care. In the first article of our three-part series on vanguards, the nurse at NHS England leading the way to new models of care predicts they will become the ‘norm for the future’.

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Reaping rewards of a standard approach

Efficiency savings need not be merely quantified in simple cash terms. Standardising products and methods also improves use of staff time and can reduce mistakes when dealing with patients on wards and in theatre.Compassionate nursing and efficiency are two sides of the same coin.

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Blowing the whistle on bad practice

Delilah Hesling, the UK’s first patient safety ombudsman, says she found supporting staff a struggle, despite having her chief executive’s support. Managers could be obstructive and staff were initially reluctant to come forward. The new guardian roles being introduced need to have ‘teeth’ if they are to be effective, she warns.

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Use staff wisely to save NHS money

The NHS could save up to £2 billion a year by improving workflow and containing workforce costs, according to Labour peer Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency. Changes in areas such as rostering and management of annual leave must avoid increasing the pressure on staff.

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Select the very best tools for the job

The NHS could save £1 billion a year through better procurement, according to Lord Carter, a speaker at this week’s CNO summit. In the first of a three-part series on how organisations can make savings, Alison Moore talks to nurses in specialist procurement roles.

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Seven-day services open new doors

In the drive to deliver seven-day NHS services, organisations have been told to focus on a number of initiatives centred on senior hospital doctors. This narrow focus does not take into account the skills and competencies of specialist nurses, who could be the key to delivering improved care outside core hours.

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Revalidation support for agency workers

Revalidation presents particular challenges for agency nurses who work in different settings and may lack support. Enlightened agencies are helping staff to prepare.

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Big lessons in revalidation

A huge revalidation pilot at Aneurin Bevan Health Board in Wales – more than 800 staff embarked on the process in February – has delivered important lessons for other organisations and individual registrants about what to expect when they begin the process.

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Thinking big on quality

The Northern Ireland Practice and Educational Council for nursing and midwifery is a small organisation that has a big impact. Set up in 2002, it promotes high standards of practice by working closely with Northern Ireland’s five trusts.

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Trust trials new model of testing competency

In April 2016, the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s new revalidation model will come into force. The Western Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland was one of 19 organisations across the UK that undertook a pilot to test the new model.

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How over-recruiting saves cash

If two good nurses apply for one post, an increasing number of NHS trusts will appoint both. Over-recruitment secures good staff when they are available, saves on recruitment costs and avoids the need to fill gaps with agency staff.

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Get them moving with a free app

Health visitors in Kent have helped to develop an app that promotes healthy activity in young children, from birth to starting school. Entitled Born to Move, the app suggests simple steps parents can take to stimulate their children and boost their physical and intellectual development.

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Boxing clever in the pursuit of integrated care

There is a broad consensus that integrating services and organising care around the patient can improve outcomes and make better use of resources. But many issues arise and RCN congress this month will debate whether the drive to integrate health and social care services is ‘helping or compounding’ pressures in the NHS.

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Using legislation to save patient lives

Wales is set to become the first UK country to establish a legal duty for safe nurse staffing levels. A bill being debated this week by the Welsh assembly would require health organisations to enable safe nursing care and take all reasonable steps to ensure minimum staff-to-patient ratios for adult acute beds in hospitals.

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‘A light at the end of the tunnel’

Northern Ireland is implementing a new nurse staffing model, backed by £12 million in extra funding. As well as a 70:30 skill mix between registered and unregistered staff, the model allows for ward sisters to focus solely on their supervisory role. Other major benefits include an increased availability of permanent posts and reduced reliance on bank staff.

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