Opinion

Comment

Nurse retention: steep rise in newly registered nurses quitting profession means action is needed to boost morale and reduce burnout

Nurse burnout busters: my staff retention to-do list for managers and nursing employers

Here’s how to give newly registered nurses – and all nurses – the workplaces they deserve

Smiling nurse helps patient get up from bed, showing how ward nurse intervention is important in preventing inpatient falls

Staggered break times turns out to be a winning falls-prevention strategy for inpatients

How a hospital team has all-but eliminated falls in a simple but systematic way

Blurred image of healthcare professionals moving at high speed with a hospital trolley along a corridor, suggesting the time and workload pressures facing emergency department staff

DNACPR tragedy will prey on the consciences of nurses involved, but they are all of us

Patient’s death tells us what we already know, but will it change anything?

Image shows a member of healthcare staff facing an open cupboard and holding a plastic bottle of medication

Paracetamol theft: does the punishment fit the crime?

Why I find it hard to swallow nurse’s six-month suspension for taking ward painkillers

Illustration showing two nursing team members in uniform standing pointing at a huge shift roster, as if discussing filling or swapping shifts

Unsocial shifts and rotas: what’s your breaking point?

Nurses are flexible but there has to be give and take if the NHS is to boost retention

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Illustration shows three jigsaw pieces, one piece showing a manager with a clipboard trying to resolve conflict between two other people (one with arms raised as if to strike) on the other two jigsaw pieces

Bad behaviour exists in nursing, but supportive colleagues are there too

Bullying attitudes may arise when nurses lose compassion, and could drive others to leave

Expert advice

urses face a dilemma when friends and family ask them about health issues

My family and friends keep asking me for health advice. What should I do?

How to maintain professionalism when faced with health questions outside work

A stoma bag is positioned on a patient’s abdomen by gloved hands

Stoma care: tips on how to support patients, dispel myths and banish stigma

Practical advice on nursing care and addressing individuals’ lifestyle concerns

Image shows two surgeons watching a screen as they perform robotic prostate surgery on a patient in an operating theatre, with nursing staff in attendance

What are High Intensity Theatre lists and what role do nurses play in them?

So-called ‘HIT’ lists are an innovative way to tackle surgical backlogs

Illustration of article about NHS mileage rates shows nurse filling her car at a petrol pump

NHS mileage rates and why no change should no longer be an option

With petrol price spikes hitting staff in certain communities extra-hard, what can be done?

A picture of a pig-shaped money box sitting on top of coin stacks of decreasing size, with a person’s hand hovering above about to place a £2 coin inside the money box

How you can take your pension and keep a salary

Find out whether a flexible retirement option, such as retire and rejoin, could be for you

Image of a figure depicting a nurse carrying a large structure designed like a DNA double helix

How genomics is changing patient care and what you need to know

Already used in many areas of nursing, it can offer patients more individualised treatment

Editorial

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A smiling senior nurse chats to a younger colleague and shares information via a tablet computer

Why the wisdom and knowledge of our older colleagues should be valued

Too many older nurses feel undervalued and are leaving the profession

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A nurse manager listens to a stressed nurse while they chat and drink a mug of tea

What can you do to ease stresses in the workplace?

If unaddressed, work-related stress can affect a nurse’s work performance and health

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A nurse consults two screens of digital information about a patient lying on a hospital bed

Digital nursing and mental health: we need you to inspire and share best practice

We welcome contributions from any potential authors on these and other topics

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Primary care nurse Julie Roye accepts her award at the RCN Nurse of the Year ceremony

RCN award winner demonstrates compassionate leadership in action

Julie Roye and her team improved uptake of smear tests in a diverse patient group

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Senior nurses are just as prone to workplace strains and stresses

We need greater awareness of how staff shortages and the pandemic are affecting senior nurses

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Covid-19

Stay calm and provide practical leadership

Model good management and leadership, and demonstrate exemplary infection control

Your views

Nurse choosing extra shifts

Extra shifts: would you be willing to do more to help clear the NHS backlog? 

NHS staff already work over their hours, often unpaid to help cut patient waiting times

Will revising job profiles change how nurses are valued?

Revisions to nursing bands may make little difference without appropriate pay rises

Illustration of weighing sometimes conflicting interests in nursing care of patient choice against harm prevention shows scales with one frowny face on one side outweighed by multiple, smaller smiley faces

Patient choice versus harm prevention: where do you strike the balance?

Shared decision-making means providing information that allows informed consent

Illustration showing an outstretched hand catching three floating squares bearing a heart design, suggesting a show of appreciation

Would a gratitude scheme help make you feel valued?

Giving ‘hearts’ colleagues can swap for gifts – our readers consider if it has an impact

Backlog

Fitness to practise cases: is the NMC doing enough to tackle the backlog?

We ask our readers if more money will resolve the growing FtP caseload

A nurse appears apprehensive while being questioned by a senior nurse

Can difficult personal circumstances excuse mistakes at work?

We ask our readers if factors outside of work should be considered relevant

Reviews

Book review: Snowball in a Blizzard: The Tricky Problem of Uncertainty in Medicine

Retired practice development nurse Valerie McGurk reviews Snowball in a Blizzard: The Tricky Problem of Uncertainty in Medicine

Book review: Transitions to Practice: Essential Concepts for Health and Social Care...

Principle lecturer Kay Norman reviews Transitions to Practice: Essential Concepts for Health and Social Care Practitioners

Book review: Revalidation: A Journey for Nurses and Midwives

Professional development and revalidation lead nurse Carolyn Middleton reviews Revalidation: A Journey for Nurses and Midwives

Book review: Nurses and Nursing: The Person and the Profession

Patient experience and quality manager Eleanor Sherwen reviews Nurses and Nursing: The Person and the Profession

Book_Reviews_04

Book review: Learning for Organizational Development

This book offers useful advice easily transferrable to nursing management settings

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