Nurse managers urged to be active in promoting environmental sustainability

The RCN is lobbying healthcare providers to adopt strategies on environmental sustainability

• The NHS is the largest public-sector contributor to climate change in Europe
• A resolution passed by RCN congress requires the college to lobby healthcare providers
• Healthcare providers are urged to develop sustainable policies and raise awareness of climate change

Nursing managers need to be aware of sustainability and think about what it may mean in their workplaces, the RCN says as it addresses climate change.

Gwen Vardigans speaking at RCN Congress. The RCN wants nurses to lobby healthcare providers for strategies on environmental sustainability and raise awareness of climate change.

The college is taking action following a debate at its annual congress, in May, in which nurses spoke passionately about the need for it to lead on climate change.

Members passed a resolution putting the issue on the organisation’s agenda for future action.

The congress resolution requires the college to lobby healthcare providers to develop environmentally sustainable policies and strategies, and to raise awareness of climate change.

During the debate Gwen Vardigans, from North Yorkshire, cited environmental protests by schoolchildren inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, protests in London by the Extinction Rebellion movement and extreme weather events, as well as warnings from scientists and the World Health Organization.

She said action was critical and suggested that RCN representatives could become involved in their organisations, encouraging people to reduce waste, recycle and help reduce their carbon footprint.

‘Climate change is the biggest threat of our lives,’ Ms Vardigans told fellow nurses.

‘Sustainability is going to be with us for many years to come, and nurses are going to be at the centre of managing and supporting it’

RCN sustainability lead Rose Gallagher says that despite the many kinds of healthcare setting and nurses in the UK, there are several things that all nursing managers can do on climate change.

Nurses urged to learn about the sustainable development

She says: ‘The most important thing for managers is to be aware of the increasing priority of sustainability and think about what that might mean in your workplace.’

Ms Gallagher says work on sustainability has been growing for several years and urges nurses to familiarise themselves with the Sustainable Development Unit, which is funded by and accountable to NHS England and Public Health England.

Its job is to ensure that the health and care system fulfils its potential as a leading sustainable and low-carbon service. 

‘Sustainability is going to be with us for many years to come, and nurses are going to be at the centre of managing and supporting it, and bringing the public with us,’ says Ms Gallagher.

To learn more please visit World Nursing Congress 2020

Pay nurses more to stabilise social care, charity says

Struggling sector needs to be able to recruit staff – the Health Foundation

The pay of social care staff, including nurses, must be increased to help stabilise the sector in England, a move that would require extra government spending of £1 billion next financial year, a health charity says in a report.

Nurses working in social care earn 7% less than their NHS colleagues, with the gap set to grow under the NHS pay deal, the Health Foundation charity says.

Increasing numbers of people are unable to access social care, providers of care are at risk of collapse, and individuals and families continue to suffer unnecessarily, it says.

Call to align social care staff pay with NHS

The Health Foundation wants the government to spend an extra £1 billion in the year from April 2020 to help align social care staff pay with that of NHS counterparts and address the 110,000 job vacancies in the sector.

This would need to grow year-on-year to an additional £4.4 billion to existing budgets by 2023-24, it says.

The charity wants individuals’ lifetime care costs to be capped at £46,000, which it said would alleviate people’s fears of losing their homes and assets to pay for care. This would cost £3.1 billion a year, it says.

Health Foundation assistant director for health and social care sustainability Charles Tallack said: ‘The current social care system in England is a shameful policy failure which is compounding the suffering of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

‘The new government must start addressing this systematic failure by stabilising the market, boosting staff pay and putting in place reforms that limit the costs for those most in need.’

‘Governments have ducked the need for reform’

Mr Tallack, one of the report’s authors, said social care reform has been sidelined too often. ‘Successive governments have ducked the need for reform for too long, but a solution is within reach.

‘An additional £7.5 billion by 2023-24 is relatively affordable, representing less than 1% of total government spending.’

The charity argued that increased taxation would be an obvious route towards a fairer and more generous system.

Responding to the report, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We have given local authorities access to nearly £4 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care this year, and a further £410 million is available for adults and children’s services.

‘The prime minister is committed to fixing the social care system and we will outline proposals in due course.’

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Climate change and the NHS: can nurses point the way to a greener future?

RCN calls for ideas on how to reduce healthcare’s carbon footprint

A nurse-led strategy to help tackle climate change is being launched by the RCN.

The college says nurses can be a driving force in reducing waste, recycling more and minimising the carbon footprint of health and social care.

The NHS in England is responsible for more than a third of all public sector carbon emissions, according to NHS Digital.

RCN strategy on climate change

Over the next six months, the RCN will be speaking to its members to develop a climate change strategy. This will include a focus on sharing tips on how nurses can develop sustainable initiatives in their workplaces, and lobbying for more sustainable procurement of equipment.

The strategy is a response to the instruction from the RCN's congress earlier this year that the college should lobby healthcare providers to develop environmentally sustainable policies and raise awareness of climate change.

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RCN professional lead for sustainability Rose Gallagher said: 'As nurses we are uniquely placed to play a leading role in protecting the health of our patients from the consequences of climate change. That means doing our bit to reduce the impact the health and care system has on the environment and share best practice while doing so.

'Even small changes are having a big impact.'

New guidance for nurses prescribing via phone or online consultations

New guidance for nurses prescribing via phone or online consultations

NMC and other regulators set principles to ensure patient safety when accessing care remotely

Nurses who provide online or telephone prescriptions now have a set of guiding principles to follow.

The principles, jointly agreed by 13 healthcare regulators and professional bodies, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), are to ensure the safety of patients when they access services remotely.



What the prescribing principles cover

The new principles state that nurses who prescribe medication online or over the phone should:

• Raise concerns if patient identification and verification checks are not adequate.
• Understand how to identify vulnerable patients and take appropriate steps to protect them.
• State their name, job role and professional registration details, and explain to the patient how the remote consultation will work.  
• Explain that they can only prescribe if it is safe to do so. If not, they will refer or signpost to the appropriate services.
• Obtain informed consent and follow mental capacity law and codes of practice.
• Undertake a clinical assessment and access medical records.
• Give patients accessible information about all the options available to them.
• Ensure all information is shared with relevant colleagues and health and social care providers to support ongoing monitoring and treatment.
• Keep notes explaining and justifying the decisions made.
• Stay up to date with training, support and guidance on providing healthcare remotely.

The document also makes clear that healthcare professionals should continue to follow guidelines from regulatory bodies and take clinical guidance into account in their decision-making.

It says it is up to the employer and healthcare professional to outline when remote prescribing is not an option.

Maintaining the quality of care

Roughly 10% of nurses and midwives on the NMC register hold prescribing qualifications, according to the regulator.

NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said that the quality of care must remain the same in remote consultations as in a face-to-face care.

‘The Code already sets out how [nurses] can demonstrate they are appropriately supporting and protecting people seeking their care,’ Sutcliffe said.

‘I hope this guidance helps to clarify further what safe and effective consultations and prescribing practice looks and feels like.’

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Queen’s Nursing Institute named the world’s oldest nursing charity

Queen’s Nursing Institute named the world’s oldest nursing charity

QNI ‘delighted’ to receive certification after 132 years of service

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has been named the world’s oldest nursing charity by Guinness World Records.

After 132 years of supporting nurses in the community, the charity’s record was verified on 5 July, following a nine-month application process.

The QNI received its certificate in September, and today said it was ‘delighted’ to make the news public.  

Marking an industrious history

QNI chief executive Crystal Oldman said: ‘William Rathbone and Florence Nightingale determined that nurses who worked in homes and communities required specialist education and training to do their work, to work autonomously, and to manage the risk for both themselves as Queen’s nurses and the communities that they served.’

In 1887, the QNI was established after Queen Victoria granted the charity £70,000 from the Women’s Jubilee Fund. The organisation’s objectives were to provide the ‘training, support, maintenance and supply’ of nurses for the sick poor, as well as establishing training homes and supervising centres.

Dr Oldman said these objectives are still adhered to today, ‘supporting the same mission for best care in the community’. 

Providing innovative care and influencing policymakers

The charity supports community nurses through a national network of Queen’s nurses.

It funds nurses’ own ideas to improve patient care, campaigns for investment in community nursing services, publishes research into nursing practice, links up working and retired nurses for regular telephone contact, and works to influence government, policymakers and employers.

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Helping nurses to ‘defuse’ after difficult situations

Essential information

Making time for nursing teams to reflect on challenging or difficult situations and ‘defuse’ can support their psychological well-being and enhance their self-care and management, according to the RCN.

It can help to sustain a workforce, improve communication and reinforce teamwork. It allows teams to share successes and positive experiences.

What’s new

Advice on responding after challenging situations and when staff should meet to reflect on them is the subject of new guidance from the RCN.

The leaflet, Time and Space: Enabling Defusing Activities, sets out the benefits of giving nursing staff the chance to react to and reflect on the incident or event and gives advice on how this review should be structured.

It sets out advice on regular catch-ups before, during and after shifts, and a more detailed discussion after particularly busy or difficult shifts.

The leaflet is part of the RCN’s new package of mindfulness tools. These tools are intended to help nurses and other staff in all clinical settings focus on the present, protect themselves, reduce stress and improve patient care.

When it comes to defusing difficult situations, the nurse in charge should assume responsibility and explain the importance of honest and open communication and reflection, encouraging the team to connect regularly.

They should plan an agreed time that the whole team can get together mid-shift and briefly check that original task allocations are working and manageable, re-evaluate this if necessary and raise any concerns. The nurse in charge should bring the team together again at the end of the shift.

Following more challenging shifts, the RCN says that the nurse in charge should acknowledge it has been difficult, thank everyone for their efforts and allow strong views to be expressed.

It is an opportunity to reassure staff that what they are feeling is normal, and to give them a sense of proportion, perspective and control over what has happened. If physical restraint has been used, it is a chance to check the physical well-being of staff.

Implications for nurses

Advice for defusing sessions after difficult situations:

• Keep it fairly brief.
• Ask how everyone has been feeling during the shift and how they are feeling now.
• If any strong feelings or opinions are expressed, just let this happen. Do not feel that you have to rationalise these opinions or come up with an answer. The simple message should be, ‘it’s okay to have feelings and it’s okay to express them’.
• Ask staff if they have any important points or observations they want to make about anything that has happened during the shift or any problems, for instance, racial abuse, threats, issues with procedures or equipment. Do not try and solve these issues at this point. Where necessary, encourage staff to raise these issues at the weekly staff meeting/clinical supervision.
• Try to give staff a sense of proportion, perspective and control over what has been happening during the shift.
• Emphasise areas of good practice and thank staff.

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Nurses cannot routinely use mental health support service – despite claim they could

Government backtracks on health secretary Matt Hancock’s Twitter statement

The government has confirmed that a mental health support service for NHS doctors and dentists in England will not be routinely available to nurses – despite the health secretary tweeting that it would. 

The NHS Practitioner Health service was set up last year to provide confidential support for NHS doctors in London if they felt they were struggling with their mental health. This service has now been expanded and is available across England for NHS dentists as well as doctors. 

Conflicting information from the government

Health secretary Matt Hancock claimed on social media that the expanded service would also support nurses and other NHS staff.

However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) subsequently clarified that this was not the case.

Encouraging nurses to seek help

An DHSC spokesperson said: ‘Nurses and all other NHS staff are encouraged to access mental health services local to them, but can contact NHS Practitioner Health if they feel they have nowhere to turn and the service will aim to signpost them to the most appropriate help.

'We want all staff to feel supported at work, and the upcoming NHS People Plan will put the well-being of all employees across the health service at the heart of ensuring the NHS is a great place to work.’

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Has intentional rounding turned ward nursing into a tick-box exercise?

Routinerounds are more to do with managing risk than patient-centred care, studysuggests

Routine ward rounds may not be the best way for nurses to deliver care, King's College London (KCL) research suggests.

The practice, known as intentional rounding, is widespread in England, with 97% of NHS acute trusts using it in some way, researchers found.

But the KCL findings suggest intentional rounding results in ‘tick-box’ nursing, not individualised care.

Practice of intentional rounding found not to promote therapeutic relationships

Study authors say that although intentional rounding 'may satisfy an organisational culture preoccupied by risk management', it does little to promote the nurse-patient relationship.

‘Few front-line or senior nursing staff felt intentional rounding improved either the quality or the frequency of their patient interactions’

Researchers suggest the principle of intentional rounding should now be reviewed.

What is intentional rounding?

Intentional rounding is a set of regular checks at set intervals. It was introduced in hospitals in England in 2013 as part of the government’s response to care failures at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust.

It normally involves checking the patient's positioning, their personal needs, pain level and control and placement of items they need, together known as the ‘four Ps’.

Intentional rounding requires nurses to:

• ·         Introduce themselves
• ·         Perform scheduled tasks
• ·         Investigate the four Ps
• ·         Assess the care environment
• ·         Use a prescribed way to end the round, telling the patient when they will be checked again
• ·         Document the round

Patients want more natural interactions than intentional rounding allows

Lead author, Ruth Harris, professor in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at KCL, said: 'Checking patients regularly is really important but intentional rounding tends to prompt nurses to focus on completion of the rounding documentation rather than on the relational aspects of care.

'Few front-line nursing staff or senior nursingstaff felt intentional rounding improved either the quality or the frequency of their interactions with patients and their family.'

Patients were found to value less formulaic interactions with nursing staff, which occurred when nursesdelivered other care activities.

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Nursing Conferences Brochure Download | Nursing Conferences Abstract Submission | Nursing Conferences Call for Abstracts | Nursing Conferences Registration | Nursing Congress 2019 Group Registration | Nursing Congress 2019 Australia

Nursing Conferences Brochure Download | Nursing Conferences Abstract Submission | Nursing Conferences Call for Abstracts | Nursing Conferences Registration | Nursing Congress 2019 Group Registration | Nursing Congress 2019 Australia

ConferenceSeries llc Ltd is pleased to invite you to participate in the 53rd World Congress on Nursing and Healthcare (Nursing Conferences) during June 21-22 2019 Brisbane, Australia with a theme, “Exploring Innovations and Latest Advancements in Nursing & Health Care”. 

ConferenceSeries llc Ltd Organizes 1000+ conferences every year across the USA, Europe and Asia with support from 1000 and more scientific societies and publishes 700+ open access journals with over 100,000 eminent personalities, reputed scientists as editorial board members.

This year World Nursing Congress 2019 meeting makes a stage for specialist’s cooperation at the same time it is a global platform to discuss and learn about exchange research evidence, innovative ideas and models of best practice. World Nursing Congress 2019 covers a wide range of nursing topics such as Nursing Education, Nursing Practice, Healthcare Management, Nursing Types, Pediatric Nursing, Midwifery and maternal aid, Community Nursing, Emergency Nursing, Clinical Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Critical care Nursing. The World Nursing Congress 2019 organizing committee is confident that participants will benefit from the high value scientific program. We welcome all the researchers/practitioners to join us at Brisbane, Australia for two days of stimulating discussions, knowledge sharing, and networking events.

Why to Attend???

World Nursing Congress 2019 Conference provides a global platform for exchanging ideas and make us updated about the latest innovations in Nursing Education and Opportunity to attend the presentations delivered by Eminent Scientists from all over the world.

Benefits:

Accepted abstracts will be published in Journal of Nursing and Care provided with DOI

Global networking: In transferring and exchanging Ideas

Who can attend?

World Nursing congress 2019 brings together professionals and Nurse practitioners interested in various fields like Travel nursing, Pediatric nursing, Geriatric nursing, Forensic nursing, Nursing informatics, Oncology nursing, Mid-wifery and Women’s health, Surgical nursing, Post-operative nursing, ambulatory nursing, Dialysis nursing, Emergency care nursing, critical care nursing, Public healthcare, Cardiovascular nursing from different responsibilities like education, research, management. Renowned healthcare practitioners, registered nurses, professors, research fellows, students and delegates, who are seeking updates and discussions in the recent trends; who would like to meet and connect with top-seeded professionals will have excellent opportunities to quench their thirst to gain knowledge.

Target Audience:

• Professors
• Doctors
• Registered Nurses
• Nurse Practitioners
• Pharmaceutical Industries
• Healthcare Industries
• Directors of Association and Societies
• Scientists
• Nursing Lecturers
• Nurses

Scope and Importance

The 53rd World congress on nursing aims to bring together experts from various disciplines of healthcare practice, education, research and management and provides an ambient platform for practitioners, public health professionals, researchers and students to sow and reap knowledge on recent and current advancements in the various fields of Nursing and Healthcare. Nurses and related healthcare professionals will have an ample opportunity to connect with colleagues, researchers, exhibitors and young talents and have discussions on emerging trends and challenges in real-time practice.

The conference offers the participants, sessions on clinical trends, education, research and healthcare management. Nursing is a field with higher degrees of scope in the future giving robust employment opportunities with highlighted scopes for travel nurses and foreign nurses with special visa statuses in Clinical data management is gaining more importance in Australia as it is expected to reduce the expenditure of the government caused due to redundant data and repetition of diagnostic tests.

This World Nursing congress 2019 aims to have in-depth discussions on healthcare trends, management systems with respect to improved efficiency in healthcare and reduced expenditure. According to reports from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Australia, the country spent $240 billion on healthcare in 2016, which approximates to 4.2% of the GDP. The numbers are expected to increase 3% every year and reach 10% of the GDP by the year 2018.

Elderly Inmates Increasing the Need for Correctional Nurses

With the current economic woes, governments are looking at ways to trim costs. The burgeoning correctional system is one place being reviewed.  Upwards of 25% of a state’s budget may be allocated to this concern. However, it is unlikely that much can be spared from correctional healthcare budgets. Costs have been escalating for many reasons, not a small one is the increasing age of the inmate population. The elderly inmates increasing the need for correctional nurses. Information in this blog post comes from two excellent articles. The Council of State Governments published a report – Graying Prisons. Dr. Glenda Reimer’s extensively referenced article The Graying of the U.S. Prisoner Population appeared in the July, 2008 issue of the Journal of Correctional Health Care.

The Extent of the Problem

The elderly inmate (defined as over 50 years of age) is the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated US population. The National Institute of Corrections documents a 172.6% increase in the decade ending 2001 when a total of 113,000 inmates had this designation. This growth is expected to continue for many reasons including longer sentencing, the general aging of the US population as a whole, and get-tough-on-crime reforms.

An Aging Inmate is Older than You Think

Due to a tendency toward poor dietary and exercise habits, coupled with high levels of substance abuse, the inmate population has a physiologic age an average of seven to ten years older than chronological age. This is exacerbated by a general lack of access to health-care services and a poorer socio-economic background than the general public. In fact, a study by the Florida Department of Corrections found, in 2000, that two-thirds of the inmates surveyed had their first significant health care experience while in prison.

Most Common Chronic Conditions Affecting the Older Inmate

Elderly inmates have high levels of chronic illness that must be managed within the security environment. A study by the National Institute of Corrections found these conditions of greatest frequency:

• Arthritis
• Hypertension
• Ulcer Disease
• Prostate Problems
• Myocardial Infarction

Correctional Nursing Needed More Than Ever!

The increasing percentage of aging inmates and their corresponding chronic disease load is requiring an increase in need for correctional nurses. Government statistics do not seem to be kept on current and projected employment in correctional nursing. This needs rectified. Inquiries are in process.

Nurses are needed to provide patient education, medication compliance counseling, and management of the care coordination necessary to deliver chronic care is a security environment.

Systemically, some state governments have initiated designated facilities for housing long-term care and acute care delivery in a centralized fashion. Concentrating healthcare services can lead to cost savings overtime, but can be expensive to initiate.

The need for dedicated quality nursing care to the incarcerated population is great. This specialty nursing practice needs attention and increased visibility.