COMMENT
350
The importance of nursing a healthy reputation
L
ike almost all other NHS Trusts in the wake of the Francis inquiry, Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has invested in and increased its nursing establishment numbers. We quickly found out there was a dearth of registered nurses available for employment as staff nurses and that the employment market was, and is, highly competitive—meaning staff nurses can pick and choose where they want to work…thank you very much! However, undaunted, we have gone on to become relatively successful at nurse recruitment. For example, from June through to December 2013, we shortlisted 2000 applicants; and although we still have band 5 staff nurse vacancies, they are relatively small compared with the size of our workforce and with the vacancy numbers at other similar-sized hospital trusts. So how did we do this and what have we learnt? With recruitment, we started by holding open days and placing local adverts, but quickly realised it was our reputation that was important in attracting nurses. By that, I mean not only our reputation as a good employer in general that values its staff, but also our reputation for good nursing care and high nursing standards. Potential nursing recruits were also interested to know what our staffing levels were; what opportunities existed for education and career advancement; what support and supervision were available to them in clinical areas—as well as more general information about such factors as shift patterns, on-site facilities and, for some, affordable housing. We reacted to this information in a number of ways. First, we upped our selection standards and focused on testing applicants’ applied knowledge and skills of the 6 Cs using scenario-based interviews, coupled with a drugs calculation test that candidates had to pass before they were even offered an interview. We based our recruitment on the premise that ‘like attracts like’ and Milton Keynes Hospital would only select (and be known for only selecting) nurses with the right values, especially compassion, and a demonstrably high level of competency and confidence in nursing practice. Although seen by some as a high-risk strategy, especially when we found ourselves rejecting candidates even as our vacancies appeared to loom larger, we think it has paid off. Second, we also offered candidates vacancies in clinical areas that matched their first and second preferences (as well as their skills and knowledge), thus aligning posts to candidates’ career aspirations. Again, there were some nail-biting moments as we found ourselves not filling the less ‘sexy’ areas of nursing, such as female medicine and the acute stroke unit. However, to date, those we appointed have stayed.
Third, for the even less popular areas we used a different strategy: education. For all nursing levels, from health care assistants (HCAs) to matrons, education has become our secret weapon, both for recruiting and for retaining staff. We provide full funding and full study leave. For example, in just over 12 months, 150 of our HCAs will have completed an Open University module in either dementia care or end-of-life care; 75 of our staff nurses will have completed a university module with 30 credits (about a third of a degree) in specialist skills such as care of the acutely unwell patient on a general ward, the complex surgical patient and the respiratory patient; and 40 of our junior sisters and charge nurses will have completed a leadership programme. We have also created an on-site programme with our local university, again at 30 credits, for our less popular clinical areas, so that all the registered nurses on both the acute stroke unit and the gastroenterology ward will undertake a bespoke programme, which is not only skills-based but also focused on service development. As a result, we are becoming known locally as a hospital that invests in our nurses. Finally, we worked with TMP Worldwide, a recruitment company, to market ourselves in nursing recruitment. We chose the image of a red jug for both our website and our external adverts (on bus stops and at train stations, for example), together with some short explanatory text. The red jug, now used nationally to highlight patients at risk of dehydration, is important to us and the messages we want to convey because the concept was born at Milton Keynes Hospital. It originally came from two HCAs on an orthopaedic ward, before being passed on to a ward sister and then senior managers, who listened and turned their ideas into a reality. The red jug has since benefited patients nationally and for us it also symbolises our ethos of listening to our nurses and acting on their comments, ideas and concerns. It is very important for our reputation as a hospital that nurses want to work for us, and is something we want to highlight and disseminate. TMP Worldwide has launched research, ‘Nursing A Healthy Reputation’, commissioned in collaboration with the RCN Publishing Company, which emphasises that the reputation of NHS trusts is all-important for the recruitment and retention of nurses. We have certainly found this to be key to our BJN success.
Jane Naish Deputy Chief Nurse Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
© 2014 MA Healthcare Ltd
Editorial Board David Aldulaimi, Consultant Physician, Gastroenterologist, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Palo Almond, Academic and Research Consultant, Anglia Ruskin University Irene Anderson, Prinicipal Lecturer and Reader in Learning and Teaching in Healthcare Practice, University of Hertfordshire Russell Ashmore, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, Sheffield Hallam University Steve Ashurst, Critical Care Nurse Lecturer, Maelor Hospital, Wrexham Christopher Barber, Residential Nurse Dimitri Beeckman, Lecturer and Researcher, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, King’s College London Lizzy Bernthal, Research Fellow and Lead Nursing Lecturer, Medical Directorate, Birmingham Martyn Bradbury, Clinical Skills Network Lead, University of Plymouth Emma Collins, Senior Sister, Practice Development Lead, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Alison Coull, Lecturer, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Stirling, Scotland David Delaney, Charge Nurse, Clinical Research, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Jane Fox, Independent Consultant, Derbyshire Alan Glasper, Professor of Child Health Nursing, University of Southampton Angela Grainger, Assistant Director of Nursing, King’s College Hospital NHS Trust, London Michelle Grainger, Ward Manager, Moseley Hall Hospital, Birmingham Helen Holder, Senior Lecturer, Nursing Studies, Birmingham City University Mina Karamshi, Specialist Sister in Radiology, Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead Joanne McPeake, Acute Specialist Nurse/Senior Staff Nurse in Critical Care; Honourary Lecturer/Practitioner in Critical Care, University of Glasgow Andrew McVicar, Reader, Dept of Mental Health & Learning Disabilities, Anglia Ruskin University Danny Meetoo, Lecturer in Adult Nursing, University of Salford Mervyn Morris, Director, Centre for Mental Health Policy, Birmingham City University Aru Narayanasamy, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Ann Norman, RCN Criminal Justice Services Nursing Adviser and Learning Disability Nursing Adviser Joy Notter, Professor, Birmingham City University & Saxion University of Applied Science, Netherlands Anne-Maria Olphert, Chief Nurse, Director of Quality, Erewash CCG, Derbyshire Hilary Paniagua, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Wolverhampton Ian Peate, Director of Studies, Head of School, Gibraltar Health Authority Bernadette Porter, Nurse Consultant, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Trust Angela Robinson-Jones, Consultant Nurse, Gynaecology, Liverpool Women’s Hospital John Tingle, HRS Reader in Health Law, Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University Geoffrey Walker, Matron for Medicine, Cardiology and Specialist Nursing Services Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Catherine Whitmore, Research Nurse, Diabetes and Endocrinology, University of Liverpool Jo Wilson, Director, Wilson Healthcare Services, Newcastle Cate Wood, Lecturer, Bournemouth University, PhD student at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Sue Woodward, Lecturer, Specialist and Palliative Care, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London
British Journal of Nursing, 2014, Vol 23, No 7
British Journal of Nursing. Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 165.123.034.086 on December 6, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
350
The importance of nursing a healthy reputation
L
ike almost all other NHS Trusts in the wake of the Francis inquiry, Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has invested in and increased its nursing establishment numbers. We quickly found out there was a dearth of registered nurses available for employment as staff nurses and that the employment market was, and is, highly competitive—meaning staff nurses can pick and choose where they want to work…thank you very much! However, undaunted, we have gone on to become relatively successful at nurse recruitment. For example, from June through to December 2013, we shortlisted 2000 applicants; and although we still have band 5 staff nurse vacancies, they are relatively small compared with the size of our workforce and with the vacancy numbers at other similar-sized hospital trusts. So how did we do this and what have we learnt? With recruitment, we started by holding open days and placing local adverts, but quickly realised it was our reputation that was important in attracting nurses. By that, I mean not only our reputation as a good employer in general that values its staff, but also our reputation for good nursing care and high nursing standards. Potential nursing recruits were also interested to know what our staffing levels were; what opportunities existed for education and career advancement; what support and supervision were available to them in clinical areas—as well as more general information about such factors as shift patterns, on-site facilities and, for some, affordable housing. We reacted to this information in a number of ways. First, we upped our selection standards and focused on testing applicants’ applied knowledge and skills of the 6 Cs using scenario-based interviews, coupled with a drugs calculation test that candidates had to pass before they were even offered an interview. We based our recruitment on the premise that ‘like attracts like’ and Milton Keynes Hospital would only select (and be known for only selecting) nurses with the right values, especially compassion, and a demonstrably high level of competency and confidence in nursing practice. Although seen by some as a high-risk strategy, especially when we found ourselves rejecting candidates even as our vacancies appeared to loom larger, we think it has paid off. Second, we also offered candidates vacancies in clinical areas that matched their first and second preferences (as well as their skills and knowledge), thus aligning posts to candidates’ career aspirations. Again, there were some nail-biting moments as we found ourselves not filling the less ‘sexy’ areas of nursing, such as female medicine and the acute stroke unit. However, to date, those we appointed have stayed.
Third, for the even less popular areas we used a different strategy: education. For all nursing levels, from health care assistants (HCAs) to matrons, education has become our secret weapon, both for recruiting and for retaining staff. We provide full funding and full study leave. For example, in just over 12 months, 150 of our HCAs will have completed an Open University module in either dementia care or end-of-life care; 75 of our staff nurses will have completed a university module with 30 credits (about a third of a degree) in specialist skills such as care of the acutely unwell patient on a general ward, the complex surgical patient and the respiratory patient; and 40 of our junior sisters and charge nurses will have completed a leadership programme. We have also created an on-site programme with our local university, again at 30 credits, for our less popular clinical areas, so that all the registered nurses on both the acute stroke unit and the gastroenterology ward will undertake a bespoke programme, which is not only skills-based but also focused on service development. As a result, we are becoming known locally as a hospital that invests in our nurses. Finally, we worked with TMP Worldwide, a recruitment company, to market ourselves in nursing recruitment. We chose the image of a red jug for both our website and our external adverts (on bus stops and at train stations, for example), together with some short explanatory text. The red jug, now used nationally to highlight patients at risk of dehydration, is important to us and the messages we want to convey because the concept was born at Milton Keynes Hospital. It originally came from two HCAs on an orthopaedic ward, before being passed on to a ward sister and then senior managers, who listened and turned their ideas into a reality. The red jug has since benefited patients nationally and for us it also symbolises our ethos of listening to our nurses and acting on their comments, ideas and concerns. It is very important for our reputation as a hospital that nurses want to work for us, and is something we want to highlight and disseminate. TMP Worldwide has launched research, ‘Nursing A Healthy Reputation’, commissioned in collaboration with the RCN Publishing Company, which emphasises that the reputation of NHS trusts is all-important for the recruitment and retention of nurses. We have certainly found this to be key to our BJN success.
Jane Naish Deputy Chief Nurse Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
© 2014 MA Healthcare Ltd
Editorial Board David Aldulaimi, Consultant Physician, Gastroenterologist, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Palo Almond, Academic and Research Consultant, Anglia Ruskin University Irene Anderson, Prinicipal Lecturer and Reader in Learning and Teaching in Healthcare Practice, University of Hertfordshire Russell Ashmore, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, Sheffield Hallam University Steve Ashurst, Critical Care Nurse Lecturer, Maelor Hospital, Wrexham Christopher Barber, Residential Nurse Dimitri Beeckman, Lecturer and Researcher, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, King’s College London Lizzy Bernthal, Research Fellow and Lead Nursing Lecturer, Medical Directorate, Birmingham Martyn Bradbury, Clinical Skills Network Lead, University of Plymouth Emma Collins, Senior Sister, Practice Development Lead, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Alison Coull, Lecturer, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Stirling, Scotland David Delaney, Charge Nurse, Clinical Research, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Jane Fox, Independent Consultant, Derbyshire Alan Glasper, Professor of Child Health Nursing, University of Southampton Angela Grainger, Assistant Director of Nursing, King’s College Hospital NHS Trust, London Michelle Grainger, Ward Manager, Moseley Hall Hospital, Birmingham Helen Holder, Senior Lecturer, Nursing Studies, Birmingham City University Mina Karamshi, Specialist Sister in Radiology, Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead Joanne McPeake, Acute Specialist Nurse/Senior Staff Nurse in Critical Care; Honourary Lecturer/Practitioner in Critical Care, University of Glasgow Andrew McVicar, Reader, Dept of Mental Health & Learning Disabilities, Anglia Ruskin University Danny Meetoo, Lecturer in Adult Nursing, University of Salford Mervyn Morris, Director, Centre for Mental Health Policy, Birmingham City University Aru Narayanasamy, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Ann Norman, RCN Criminal Justice Services Nursing Adviser and Learning Disability Nursing Adviser Joy Notter, Professor, Birmingham City University & Saxion University of Applied Science, Netherlands Anne-Maria Olphert, Chief Nurse, Director of Quality, Erewash CCG, Derbyshire Hilary Paniagua, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Wolverhampton Ian Peate, Director of Studies, Head of School, Gibraltar Health Authority Bernadette Porter, Nurse Consultant, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Trust Angela Robinson-Jones, Consultant Nurse, Gynaecology, Liverpool Women’s Hospital John Tingle, HRS Reader in Health Law, Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University Geoffrey Walker, Matron for Medicine, Cardiology and Specialist Nursing Services Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Catherine Whitmore, Research Nurse, Diabetes and Endocrinology, University of Liverpool Jo Wilson, Director, Wilson Healthcare Services, Newcastle Cate Wood, Lecturer, Bournemouth University, PhD student at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Sue Woodward, Lecturer, Specialist and Palliative Care, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London
British Journal of Nursing, 2014, Vol 23, No 7
British Journal of Nursing. Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 165.123.034.086 on December 6, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
