Why force nurses to repeatedly prove they are up to the job?

Skills passport would allow nurses to move between employers and settings without having to re-do unnecessary training for all-too-familiar competencies

I have been fortunate enough over my career to work in several clinical environments. I’ve worked in paediatrics in inner-city hospitals, a mixed adult/paediatric emergency department in regional Victoria, Australia and specialist tertiary care centres. I was an agency nurse in London, working in community children’s nursing, adult emergency departments and district nursing.

Competencies need to be proven at each successive workplace

I have gained innumerable skills in my 19-year career. I’ve inserted intravenous cannulas in countless patients aged from 28 days to 90 years. I have given intravenous medicines, administered blood