New job title blurs boundaries and will confuse the public.

In response to the consultation on the introduction of a nursing associate role (News, February 3), I believe it is ill-advised to include the word 'nurse' in the title, because this necessitates the involvement of the nursing regulator, and will therefore incur costs.

Nurses in independent care homes: issues, challenges and potential.

Many registered nurses in the UK work in the social care sector in independent care homes and nursing homes. This article explores the challenges related to providing nursing care for adults in care homes, issues arising for nurses and nursing in the social care sector, and providing a career pathway for nurses in the social care sector. Steps need to be taken to ensure that cooperation, collaboration and leadership in nursing in the social care sector is recognised and that appropriate representation of nurses in social care takes place at national level.

Development and implementation of a Safeguarding Tracker Tool.

This article reports on the development and implementation of a Safeguarding Tracker Tool at one hospital that cares for vulnerable patients who are suffering from early onset dementia, Huntingdon's disease and alcohol-related brain injury. The tool was developed in association with the local multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH). The hospital has in place systems and processes for training staff in their safeguarding role and have developed a Safeguarding Tracker Tool to record individual safeguarding concerns, communicate with and involve all relevant people and agencies, investigate the concern and establish an action plan.

Safeguarding vulnerable adults.

This article explores some of the issues surrounding safeguarding vulnerable adults, examines some of the related legislation and literature, and outlines the responsibilities of those who care for this patient group. The article describes how one hospital that specialises in caring for people with early-onset dementia, Huntingdon's disease and alcohol-related brain injury who require additional support, has provided staff with appropriate evidence-based information about safeguarding adults.

Recruiting competent newly qualified nurses in the London region: An exploratory study.

AIM: This paper reports a study commissioned to address concerns that not all newly qualified nurses (NQNs) were perceived to be competent at the point of appointment to their first post. It seeks to understand how competence is interpreted in the context of selection and recruitment, and explore the different expectations and experiences of employing Trusts across the London region. BACKGROUND: Competence is a significant topic in nursing and there is much literature around the concept, what it means and how it relates to behaviours and values with no universally accepted definition. However, there appears to be little evidence about how competence is assessed in practice in the selection and recruitment of NQNs to their first post. METHODS: The study took a three-phase, mixed method approach including a literature review, an electronic survey to map current assessment and selection procedures, and focus groups to identify the competencies perceived essential by senior nurses. FINDINGS: Most Trusts reported assessing core competencies, and could report how they do this with respect to literacy and numeracy. Employers could describe what they required from NQNs, and how applicants both met and did not meet expectations. Several personal attributes were considered as important as key competences, but these are not described in the KSF or NMC frameworks, and it is not clear how these are assessed in selection processes. CONCLUSION: There appeared to be a large variation in the number and types of competence assessments being used for recruitment, with little consistency in the detail of the assessments, although broadly similar assessment exercises are used. There appears to be little evidence as to the validity of the measures being used and whether in fact they are measuring the competences that are being sought or considered most important. It would appear that practical skills are more easily assessable, but there is a lack of clarity regarding the assessment of those competences that are considered equally important but appear to be more elusive to assessment such as communication and teamwork. It is also unclear how a number of 'personal qualities' described as essential for NQNs are being assessed at recruitment.

Personal health budgets: common myths and misconceptions.

Personal health budgets (PHBs) were introduced at 61 sites across England; 20 of which were evaluated in a report published in November 2012. There has been collective resistance to PHBs and negative reporting in the professional healthcare press. However, there is some early evidence that PHBs are proving to be successful. Nurses in the community are having a pivotal role in their implementation. This article addresses a number of negative and often misleading myths about PHBs that have been publicised in some areas of the professional press.

Role of careers advisers in nurse recruitment.

The aim of the national Image of Nursing programme is to attract high calibre recruits to nursing. This article describes research into the role of careers advisers and how they perceive the image of 'nurses' and 'nursing'. It explores their professional profiles, perceptions and attitudes to nursing as a career, knowledge about the requirements and opportunities for entering nursing, and the resources used. The findings identify a number of systemic influences, in six themes, from which are derived 16 recommendations. Nurse leaders across healthcare services and universities are ideally placed to review, revise and develop the recommendations to optimise high calibre nurse recruitment and provide a more positive image of nursing.

Safeguarding children: the benefits of a peer-review process.

Nurses in hospitals and in the community are increasingly taking a leading role in safeguarding children. NHS London established a Safeguarding Improvement Team (SIT) in 2009. The SIT project was designed as a one-off activity to raise performance related to safeguarding children in London. This article presents a peer-review process that was established by NHS London and implemented across the 31 PCTs across London. This article presents the peer-review process methodology and a summary of the findings from the SIT visits. Feedback was requested from participants about participants' perceptions of the peer-review process immediately after the SIT visits and again, several months after the completion of all SIT visits. Findings show that the peer-review process was of value, both organisationally and professionally, and the process itself led to identification of good practice as well as gaps in existing practices. The non-threatening nature of the peer-review process was particularly valued, as was the feedback offered by the review teams.

Safety Express: a strategic health authority's approach.

The Safety Express programme is a national workstream within the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) programme that is designed to improve health outcomes and quality care, as well as reduce costs associated with the following four patient harms: pressure ulcers, falls, urinary tract infections in patients with catheters and venous thromboembolism (VTE). NHS London developed a pilot project to implement Safety Express across London. This paper presents case studies of the outcomes of the Safety Express pilot in three locations in London. Findings from the pilot showed that the proportion of patients who were harm-free from pressure ulcers, falls, urinary infections (in patients with a catheter) and new VTE compares favourably with the national average, with an overall decrease in all four.

Preparing leaders for safeguarding children.

The purpose of child safeguarding is to identify children at risk of abuse or neglect and to reduce this risk. NHS trusts are required to have named and designated safeguarding children clinicians, who need strong leadership skills. This article presents the design and implementation of a leadership training programme developed for these professionals, and an evaluative research study of the programme.

Diversity, fulfilment and privilege: the image of nursing.

AIM: To explore the image that nurses have of nursing and the image of nursing held by the public to determine the difference between the two and the impact of this on nurse recruitment. BACKGROUND: Recruitment and retention nurses are important to the Strategic Health Authority for London (NHS London) who commissioned a study to explore the image of nursing. METHOD: Qualitative survey research was used. Data were collected from nurses and from the public. RESULTS: Three themes emerged related to the image of nursing held by nurses. These were diversity, fulfilment and privilege. However, the public image of nursing does not reflect these. The public appear ill-informed of what nurses do, purporting to respect nursing but would not recommend nursing as a career choice for themselves, their children or their pupils. This study could have been enhanced through the use of questionnaires to gain quantitative data about the image of nursing. CONCLUSIONS: The public image of nursing appears positive but also has negative aspects. The public image is different from nurse's image of nursing and is based on myth, misconception and stereotype. This may influence recruitment of nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The results of this study offer a way forward to develop recruitment strategies that target changing the public's image of nursing.

Support for practitioners switching work environments mid-career.

Patterns of healthcare demand are changing, so services are increasingly being located in communities. Nurses and nurse managers must. therefore, prepare themselves for mid-career transitions into new roles or working environments. This article explains how these transitions can best be made and offers some tips for nurses and nurse managers who are about to make them, or who want to help colleagues make them, successfully.